The Masked Man's Investigation

"Ding! Congratulations to the host, the side quest has been completed!"

"Don the Akatsuki red-cloud black robe uniform (1/1), completed. Reward: Reiatsu +1!"

"Your Reiatsu has successfully broken through to LV.4, promoted to intermediate level!"

"EX Reward: 'Way of Destruction No. 90: Black Coffin'!"

Reiatsu has promoted to a new tier?

As the system voice faded, Chen Xiaoxi's eyes lit up instantly.

He hadn't heard this notification for Reiatsu promotion in several years!

And now, just one short day after leaving the secret realm, he had managed to pull it off through the rewards of these side quests!

"Is this what they mean by 'every little bit helps'?"

With a faint smile on his face, Chen Xiaoxi raised his hand, and a wisp of Reiatsu emerged from his palm.

It was clearly evident that both the density of his spiritual power and the sense of oppression it exerted far exceeded his previous level.

When Chen Xiaoxi tried to focus this Reiatsu onto a flowerpot in front of him—

Bang!!

The moment the Reiatsu covered the flowerpot, it was as if it had been struck by an invisible, immense force, and it exploded instantly!

Amidst the swirling dust, the bouquet of flowers had already been reduced to debris.

Just as expected!

His current Reiatsu was finally capable of interfering with the physical world!

The smile on Chen Xiaoxi's face grew even more intense.

The benefits of increasing his Reiatsu were almost self-evident.

"It seems I cannot afford to slack off on future side quests either," Chen Xiaoxi murmured to himself with a smile.

If his current intermediate-level Reiatsu already possessed such power, he believed that as long as he completed enough tasks, he would eventually reach a level where he could be invincible in this world through Reiatsu alone!

A moment later, Chen Xiaoxi's attention returned to the system panel.

EX Reward: "Way of Destruction No. 90: Black Coffin"—

A signature technique of Aizen Sosuke from Bleach, a high-level Kido with the sequence number 90!

Upon release, it traps the opponent within a massive black cube, and in an instant, countless shadow blades emerge, attacking with thousands of spiritual swords flowing with gravity-defying pressure.

A high-level Kido like this implies immense destructive power, as well as extreme difficulty in casting.

However, for Chen Xiaoxi, who possessed "Excellent" level Kido proficiency, he was able to master it completely the moment he learned its incantation.

Furthermore, he could easily release it without any incantation afterward!

Although skipping the incantation would sacrifice a portion of its power, the advantage was speed.

If my Kido reaches the [Ultimate] level, I wonder if skipping the incantation would still retain the full power of the complete chant... Chen Xiaoxi thought to himself, though he wouldn't know for sure right now.

Moreover, while such high-level Kido had great power, it also consumed a massive amount of spiritual energy, so he naturally wouldn't use it casually under normal circumstances.

Two days later.

In a hidden meeting room inside a cave in Amegakure.

Three seats were arranged in a triangle, positioned on three sides of the room, with one person sitting in each.

On the left sat a figure in a red-cloud black robe with blue-purple hair and an iris flower in her hair—the White Tiger of the Akatsuki, Konan.

On the right sat the leader of the Akatsuki, Pain, also wearing a red-cloud black robe, his pale purple Rinnegan glowing faintly in the darkness.

Strangely, the person sitting in the middle seat was not wearing the Akatsuki uniform.

Instead, he wore a black robe with a dark green scarf draped over his shoulders, and his face was covered by an orange swirl mask, obscuring his features.

Only one right eye, flickering with a blood-red light, was visible.

It was the mastermind behind the Akatsuki, one of the three great actors of the organization—the Masked Man.

At this moment, he sat with his legs crossed, resting his chin on one hand, and spoke in a low voice:

"I have already learned from your reports about Sasori of the Red Sand being killed by that fellow named Chen Xiaoxi."

"So, tell me..."

"What intelligence do you have regarding this person who has suddenly appeared?"

The Masked Man spoke in a low, heavy voice.

At this moment, he was not in a very good mood.

One had to understand that he had put a great deal of thought into selecting the members of the Akatsuki when he first planned it.

Furthermore, he had specifically emphasized to Pain and Konan that Sasori of the Red Sand, the rogue ninja from Sunagakure, possessed unquestionable Kage-level strength.

With the power of his puppets, he was a formidable talent who might one day be capable of wiping out a small nation.

And yet, He had only been gone for a few days when he suddenly received a message sent by Konan.

The content within it stated that Sasori of the Red Sand had been killed in an instant by a boy carrying a blade...

Killed in an instant?

Was there some mistake?

What was even more absurd was that this boy who had killed Sasori had now actually become an official member of the Akatsuki!

Without seeking the opinion of the Masked Man, the mastermind behind the Akatsuki, Pain and Konan had taken it upon themselves to give him a uniform and a ring.

The Masked Man was naturally displeased with all of this.

However, Pain remained the public leader of the Akatsuki organization, and he did indeed have the authority to decide on members.

The Masked Man certainly would not bicker with him over such a matter.

It was just that, The Masked Man could not bring himself to trust someone he knew absolutely nothing about.

Whether it was Nagato and Konan, Kakuzu and Sasori, or the likes of Uchiha Itachi, whom he planned to recruit later, the Masked Man was confident in his ability to manipulate them all.

Only this newcomer who had suddenly appeared, Chen Xiaoxi, was an unexpected variable.

Moreover, he was an existence at the Super Kage level!

This made things very difficult.

That was why he had specifically rushed back to discuss this matter in person.

For the sake of the future Eye of the Moon Plan, he would not allow any situation within the Akatsuki that he could not control.

Upon hearing the Masked Man's words, Pain and Konan exchanged a glance before Pain spoke indifferently:

"We have not heard any useful intelligence from his own mouth."

"We only know that he does not belong to any organization, and he should be like us—a displaced person who was a victim of the past Great Ninja Wars."

"Furthermore, we have already made a preliminary judgment regarding the abilities he controls—"

"Oh?"

The Masked Man's eyes narrowed slightly.

After a brief pause, Pain continued:

"The short blade at his waist is perhaps some kind of mysterious ninja tool. It possesses the characteristics of both 'extension' and 'retraction,' allowing its length to be adjusted freely. Moreover, it is extremely fast and possesses immense destructive power."

"According to what Konan witnessed, he used this ninja tool to kill Sasori of the Red Sand from the Land of Wind."

"..."

Hearing this, the Masked Man remained silent and nodded slightly.

It was not strange for such a miraculous ninja tool to exist, but he did not care about it.

After all, with the ability of his Mangekyo Sharingan, "Kamui," he had no fear of any physical weapons.

Pain then continued in a calm tone:

"His second ability is the capacity to freely release various strange techniques without hand seals: azure Fire Style, golden Lightning Style, and a levitation technique that allows him to walk on air as if it were flat ground..."

"According to our observations, every time he uses these techniques, a strange radiance seems to appear in his pupils."

"Therefore, we believe..."

"It is highly likely that he possesses some kind of mysterious ocular jutsu unknown to us—that is, his golden pupils, which are different from those of ordinary people."

"Of course, these are merely our deductions and have not been verified."

Pain finished speaking in a methodical manner.