While Ren was still happily basking in his office, feeling like he'd struck gold.
The news of the Third Hokage of Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Hiruzen Sarutobi had spread throughout the Shinobi World in just over a day.
The first to learn of this were, of course, the Akatsuki.
After Konan relayed the information she had received from Zetsu to Nagato...
Nagato's first thought was to bring Hiruzen Sarutobi into the Akatsuki.
Compared to the original story, the Akatsuki is still short-staffed at this time, even though they have received news that Sasori will return soon.
Excluding Obito and Zetsu, the Akatsuki only had seven members.
Based on Nagato's understanding of the person who claimed to be Madara Uchiha, he probably wouldn't participate in the Rice-Carrying Plan.
However, the weak image that Jue has been deliberately projecting means that there are still two people short of the number needed to cast the Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals.
As the former Hokage of Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi's strength is certainly not an issue.
With Orochimaru's defection preceding them, Hiruzen Sarutobi, as Orochimaru's teacher, harbored some prejudice against Konoha rogue missing-nin of Nagato.
As for the fact that Hiruzen Sarutobi was also Jiraiya's teacher, Nagato didn't care at all.
After developing Shinra Tensei, Nagato felt he had become a true god, and he had long since abandoned those meaningless relationships.
Struggling with a shortage of manpower Nagato ultimately chose to Hiruzen Sarutobi into the Akatsuki.
"Have Zetsu keep a close eye on his movements. I will personally recruit him into the Akatsuki next."
Konan had no objections after hearing this, and the matter was settled.
When Black Zetsu learned of this order, he thought it was all too smooth. Couldn't Nagato see the potential problems?
Thinking of Nagato's charlatan-like appearance towards Deva Path Pain Nagato, Black Zetsu felt relieved.
Now that everything is settled with Hiruzen Sarutobi, we need to make arrangements for Itachi's side.
After learning this news, Obito felt something was wrong; it wasn't that Obito had suddenly become smarter.
After failing twice, Ren had already traumatized Obito.
Obito found it unbelievable that Hiruzen Sarutobi was able to escape Konoha unscathed. How could Hiruzen Sarutobi have gotten away like that?
Obito wanted to remind Nagato, but didn't want to go himself.
Even Obito, who was once incredibly Nagato, couldn't stand Nagato's current self-important and overly dramatic behavior.
While discussing with Black Zetsu how to remind Nagato, Obito was instead persuaded by Black Zetsu and stopped paying attention to the matter.
After Akatsuki, there are the other four major ninja villages in the Shinobi World.
The four shadows surprisingly shared the same idea.
That is, there is definitely something wrong with Hiruzen Sarutobi's defection. The fact that he defected should be undeniable, but the reasons and inside stories are pure nonsense.
The four shadows reacted differently upon learning the truth.
Sunagakure.
After reading the entire document, Rasa instructed the border troops to be on high alert and prevent Hiruzen Sarutobi from reaching the Land of Wind.
Rasa felt that Konoha might be planning to use Hiruzen Sarutobi as a pretext to invade the surrounding areas.
Iwagakure.
After reading it, Ōnoki burst into laughter. He had thought of the same possibility as Rasa, but he thought it was unlikely.
He directly instructed his subordinates to spread the news far and wide, while also promoting the unity of Iwagakure. He was extremely adept at praising others while belittling them, and of subtly promoting his own agenda.
After arranging everything, Ōnoki was still in a good mood. Although his opponent was unlucky and he didn't benefit from it, he was still happy.
Konoha has really made a huge fuss this time; they've almost completely lost face in the entire Shinobi World.
But as he laughed, Ōnoki grew somewhat dejected. Konoha was so wealthy that even the Kage could defect!
This reminds Ōnoki of Deidara's mysterious disappearance once again.
Kumogakure.
Darui was also in a very good mood, but it didn't last long. He was happy that Konoha was in trouble, but Kumogakure had really suffered a great loss of vitality in the past few years.
He then focused his attention back on business. It must be said that the methods he learned from Konoha were indeed effective, and they had siphoned off a lot of blood from the surrounding small countries.
Kirigakure.
Mei Terumi couldn't possibly be indifferent like others, as Kirigakure had a deep cooperative relationship with Konoha, or rather, the Uchiha Clan.
After pondering for a moment, Mei Terumi gave the order.
"Kirigakure issue an announcement: Kirigakure will assist Konoha in hunting down missing-nin in the Land of Water, to show our stance."
"Yes, Lord Mizukage!"
Mei Terumi reminded them once again.
"Although it's unlikely, if we do find traces of Hiruzen Sarutobi in the Land of Water, we should just send some ninjas to make a show of it and avoid any conflict. This matter is not as simple as it seems on the surface."
Ren was unaware of, and did not need to know, the opinions of the other faction leaders on this matter.
There are many clever people in the Shinobi World. Ren wasn't trying to deceive too many people; as long as the Akatsuki believed him, that was enough. If they didn't believe him, there was always Black Zetsu to cover for them, right?
Those who managed to infiltrate the Akatsuki, aside from their strength, were truly lacking in many other aspects.
The other major ninja villages are unlikely to have any genuine communication with Akatsuki. It's a foregone conclusion that Hiruzen Sarutobi and Itachi will join Akatsuki; it's just a matter of time.
Ren thinks this is a sure thing.