After a brief rest, he left Shikkotsu Forest alone, infiltrated the Land of Fire, and began gathering intelligence.
At the same time, his consciousness sank into his Sea of Consciousness as he began receiving the stream of memories shared by his incarnation, "Uchiha Shinichi," far away in the Land of Rain.
The memories surged in like a tide:
—Relying on the strength of his "awakened Mangekyo Sharingan" and his "deep understanding of Konoha," Shinichi had steadily risen within Akatsuki and earned Pain's—Nagato's—"trust."
—Shinichi had "inadvertently" revealed intelligence that Sand Village and Sound Village had colluded and were preparing to launch the Konoha Crush Plan during the Chunin Ninja Exams.
—Shinichi had "anxiously" analyzed the situation: this was a heaven-sent opportunity! The Third Hokage was old, Danzo was lying low, and Konoha's only top-tier combatant was Jiraiya. If Sand Village and Sound Village launched their assault, Konoha would inevitably suffer grievous losses and be left hollow within! This was the perfect time for Akatsuki to capture the Nine-Tails and achieve its "great ideal"!
—Obito Uchiha, disguised as Madara Uchiha, agreed, believing they could capitalize on the chaos.
—After weighing his options, Nagato was persuaded by the goals of "capturing the Nine-Tails" and "weakening the Five Great Nations." He agreed to Shinichi's proposal and decided to personally make his move at the most chaotic moment of the Konoha Crush Plan!
To ensure nothing went wrong, Nagato even agreed to let Shinichi bring along Hiruko, who had recently performed well and possessed a bizarre Kekkei Genkai.
Neji slowly opened his eyes, a faint curve of complete control tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Orochimaru... in my eyes now, you're no different from a clown jumping about. Your so-called Collapse Plan is merely an appetizer in my game."
He muttered in a cold