At this point, the Akatsuki was nowhere near as terrifying as it would be four years later.
None of the powerful rogue ninja—Deidara, Kisame, or Hidan—had joined yet.
The remaining slots were filled with unlucky nobodies from the transitional period.
Pain had assigned Itachi Uchiha Biwa Juzo of the Ten Ninja Swordsmen as his partner.
This guy had been beaten into the "Lucky Three Treasures" by Might Duy and had nearly lost his life. Afterward, he wandered everywhere and only stumbled into the Akatsuki by sheer coincidence.
As for his strength, he could not even touch the threshold of Kage Level. At best, he counted as a Jonin.
He carried the title of Elite Jonin, but when it came to an actual fight, he was nothing of the sort.
Forget Kage Level—even thirteen-year-old Itachi Uchiha could handle him however he pleased.
Quite a few people misunderstood Itachi's strength, believing he had already reached Kage Level on the night he slaughtered his clan.
But back then, he was still just a thirteen-year-old kid.
His talent was indeed frightening, but his actual combat strength was only about on par with Kakashi four years later, at the Elite Jonin level.
What truly made him impossible to guard against were the special ocular techniques of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Tsukuyomi, Amaterasu, and Susanoo—any one of them could temporarily unleash Kage Level damage.
But the cost was brutal. Using any of those three techniques left his body feeling hollowed out, and he could not hold on for more than a few seconds.
The illness that plagued him later had been rooted in his excessive use of the Mangekyō Sharingan during this period.
Among the rest, Sasori and Orochimaru had been paired together.
Kakuzu had also been assigned an unknown Jonin partner—though the guy did not yet