Amegakure.
The village had now become Akatsuki's semi-public base.
Many outside forces knew that Akatsuki was entrenched in Amegakure.
But they did not know exactly who was here.
Akatsuki's leader, Pain,
still did not make public appearances.
Even for particularly troublesome missions, Pain rarely showed himself, instead assigning an additional member to the team.
He remained hidden in Amegakure, constantly developing his Rinnegan on one hand.
On the other, he was steadily developing Amegakure.
Ever since Uchiha Zhengye had gifted the village the relevant biogas digester technology,
Amegakure had immediately undergone a tremendous transformation.
In this place of endless rain, there was naturally plenty of humus to be found for biogas fermentation.
With surplus heat available, both greenhouse vegetable cultivation and medicinal herb cultivation
allowed Hidden Mist Village to quickly shake off its former poverty.
A year ago, they had even obtained a complete set of hydroelectric generator units discarded by the Land of Earth from a small country Sasori had conquered.
After nearly half a year of stumbling adjustments, the entire Amegakure was now supplied with electricity.
The whole village was developing at a rapid pace.
Furthermore, Akatsuki had become a highly sought-after organization on the black market.
Pain's way of doing things had also changed somewhat.
The central tower of Amegakure.
At the windward opening atop the tower, Pain looked down at the neon lights flickering through the rain across every corner of Amegakure.
A half-black, half-white figure poked his head out from the nearby wall.
"There's some news you should be interested in."
Zetsu spoke in a hoarse voice.
Pain did not turn around, merely saying flatly, "Speak."
"Hidden Mist Village's Six-Tails Jinchūriki has defected."
Pain turned around. "Your people are still keeping watch over at Hidden Mist Village?"
Zetsu let out a raspy laugh. "Hehehehe. Friction