"What is this guy doing?"
Aoba wondered.
Just then, the masked man suddenly turned around and looked in the direction where Aoba was hiding. In a hoarse voice, he said, "Come out, Konoha brat.
"I've already found you."
Aoba's heart skipped a beat. He had not expected the other party to discover him.
There was no point in hiding any longer, so he stepped out from behind the large tree and watched the man warily. "Who are you? Why are you here?"
The masked man chuckled, his laughter carrying a trace of eeriness. "Who I am isn't important.
"What's important is what I'm doing here." He raised the container in his hand and said, "Inside this container is a portion of the One-Tail Shukaku's chakra.
"I'm refining it here to make it purer."
"The One-Tail Shukaku's chakra?"
Aoba's pupils constricted. "You're actually refining a Tailed Beast's chakra? So the Akatsuki's goal really is the Tailed Beasts!"
"That's right."
The masked man nodded. "The Tailed Beasts' power is incredibly strong. As long as we gather all the Tailed Beasts, we can achieve true peace."
"Using the Tailed Beasts' power to achieve peace? That's nothing but a fool's dream!"
Aoba shouted angrily, "Once the Tailed Beasts' power goes out of control, it will bring an enormous disaster upon the entire Shinobi World.
"You Akatsuki are the ones destroying peace!"
"Heh, a brat is still a brat. You don't understand what true peace is at all."
The masked man sneered. "Once we complete the plan, you'll understand.
"But before that, you have to die here."
As he spoke, the masked man rapidly formed hand seals. "Ninjutsu: Kamui!"
Aoba suddenly felt a powerful suction force. His body actually began to distort.
His Golden Eye narrowed slightly, immediately seeing through the principle behind the other