Cloud Shinobi Delegation

The Cloud Shinobi delegation has entered the village.

The day after Kato Osamu and his group arrived in Konoha, a delegation of about ten people from the Cloud Shinobi entered the Konoha. Although the number of people was small, each of them seemed to be filled with an arrogant attitude and showed a hint of disdain for the reception they received from Konoha.

"Who are you? Is Konoha deserted? Why send an unknown nobody like you to greet us?" At the Konoha Gate, the Cloud Shinobi delegation and the Konoha Jonin Shikaku Nara, who had come to greet them, were locked in a tense standoff. A considerable number of onlookers had also gathered, and upon hearing the Cloud Shinobi envoy's words, their eyes widened in disbelief, followed by a surge of anger...

"Shikaku Nara, I think you should have heard of this name..." Shikaku Nara's expression was also somewhat unpleasant, but he held back for the time being.

"Never heard of such a thing as cats and dogs coming to greet us..." The Cloud Shinobi envoy revealed a mocking smile. How could he not recognize Shikaku Nara? He practically hated this Konoha strategist to the core. However, the situation had now reversed, and he was deliberately acting this way, partly to humiliate Shikaku Nara, and partly to test Konoha's attitude. If Shikaku Nara tolerated it, then Konoha's desire for peace would be evident, and the subsequent negotiations would allow him to extract a hefty sum from Konoha...

"If this is the attitude of the Cloud Shinobi envoy, then I think you can head back home. Konoha is not some worthless nobody that can be bullied at will... It seems that all the Cloud Shinobi are uncivilized barbarians..."

"You..."

Shikaku Nara knew that the Cloud Shinobi envoy was doing this on purpose, and he looked at the envoy with a cold glint in his eyes.

"Alright... Shikaku Nara is renowned Jonin the Shinobi World, a famous strategist of Konoha. Even if people in this Shinobi World don't know the Third Hokage, they must have heard of Shikaku Nara Jonin's name. Odei, don't be rude!" The envoy on the carriage and Odei played good cop and bad cop, casually glossing over the matter while subtly planting a seed of discontent for Shikaku Nara. Shikaku Nara's eyes narrowed slightly.

It seems the Cloud Shinobi envoy has come with ill intentions; Shikaku Nara also felt that this negotiation would be somewhat difficult.

"The Lord Hokage requests the arrival of the Cloud Shinobi envoy. Please proceed to the Hokage Building..."

Knowing they couldn't afford to cause any more trouble, the Cloud Shinobi followed Shikaku Nara to the Hokage Building without further incident, and the group slowly departed. Meanwhile, the Konoha who had just witnessed the scene were somewhat in an uproar, burning with anger at the Cloud Shinobi's arrogant attitude.

"Damn Cloud Shinobi! How dare they?"

"Hmph, attack! Wipe out the Cloud Shinobi! Let's see how arrogant they can be then!"

In the crowd, a simple-looking young man slowly walked away, his eyes filled with disdain and contempt.

"Is this what Konoha is like now...? It's really disappointing..." The simple-looking young man suddenly stuck out his long, thin tongue and pursed his lips.

"Kabuto, has the target been locked in...?" Behind the young man, a silver-haired boy nodded gently with a smile on his face.

"Lord Orochimaru, it's all ready. Three members of the Nara Clan, three members of the Akimichi Clan, and three members of the Yamanaka Clan —all Chunin —are ready to act at any time..."

"Alright... Osamu-kun can sometimes really bring you some surprises..." Orochimaru played with the translucent ball in his hand, within which two or three 'creatures' made of Chakra, resembling pale blue Fire Fly, could be vaguely seen floating.

"With the teacher's Soulfire Insect to lock onto the target's location, this mission is much simpler..." Kabuto Yakushi said with a hint of pride, as if Kato Osamu's ability was his own...

"Let's leave here first..." Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi disappeared from the crowd, leaving only the villagers who were still indignant and cursing the Cloud Shinobi.

Meanwhile, Kato Osamu and Mei Terumi were quietly eating tricolor dumplings with Kushina Uzumaki at a dumpling shop.

"So, now you've figured out what you're going to do?" After finishing a string of three-colored dumplings, Kato Osamu looked at Kushina Uzumaki, who remained silent and unmoved.

"I... I want to take Naruto away from here..." Kushina Uzumaki's words were still innocent, which made Kato Osamu laugh.

"Do I need to remind you? Even as a former Jinchuriki and an adult, you couldn't escape Konoha's control, let alone a six-year-old Naruto..."

"I... Osamu-kun, are you really not going to help me...? I... I can bring Naruto with me..."

This is probably the power of a child, enabling the usually proud Kushina Uzumaki to say such shameless things, seemingly intending to cling to Kato Osamu.

"Why should I help you? Bringing you to Konoha was just a transaction... I have nothing to do with you and your husband..." Kato Osamu shook his head, ignoring Kushina Uzumaki.

"I..." Kushina Uzumaki fell silent; she seemed to have lost all value that Kato Osamu could possibly have...

"Does the food in Konoha suit your taste?"

"Not bad... just a bit too sweet..." Mei Terumi tasted the three-colored dumplings and nodded. She never said anything about what Kato Osamu wanted to do.

"Afterwards, let's go check out the Hokage Rock; the scenery there is quite nice..."

"Good..."

Listening to their conversation, Kushina Uzumaki grew even more melancholy. Looking at the bright red dumplings, she could only wonder if Naruto had tasted them, and how Naruto day had gone...

"Fine, you have two choices..."

"The first option is to proceed according to plan. I will forge a new identity for you. You can stay in Konoha. If you can change Naruto's life and Konoha's attitude towards him, that's your business..."

"Another option is for him to serve me wholeheartedly. Perhaps in the not-too-distant future, there will be a chance for Naruto to completely escape this predicament..." Looking at Kushina Uzumaki's absent-minded appearance, Kato Osamu shook his head slightly.

"Huh? When is the near future? What will happen to Naruto?" Kushina Uzumaki was stunned for a moment, then her eyes lit up with surprise. She couldn't change Naruto's situation with her own power, but Kato Osamu was different...

"These days, you'll stay with Mei Terumi and cherish this one chance you have to see Naruto Uzumaki..." With a smile at Mei Terumi, Kato Osamu's figure suddenly disappeared from the shop.

He sensed the call of the Kuchin Ring...

"It's been so long... I almost forgot I was still a member of Akatsuki..." Kato Osamu chuckled wryly. Akatsuki hadn't summoned him in ages, and he'd delegated most of his usual tasks to Mei Terumi, keeping him busy with his own affairs...

In an instant, he returned to his temporary room. Kato Osamu focused his mind on the Kuchin ring, where blurry figures began to appear one after another.

"Kuchin, long time no see..."

"Zero..."

There were only four or five figures in the space, suggesting that each team had only summoned one person. Kato Osamu remained silent, waiting for Nagato to explain the situation.

"The reason I've summoned everyone today is to explain a situation... Jiraiya, one of the Three Legendary Sannin of Konoha, is Jiraiya investigating the organization. The organization's information is still top secret, and we are still in the stage of accumulating strength. During this period, everyone should try to keep a low profile..." Nagato, who was Zero, did not speak. It was White Tiger Konan, who was acting as Nagato's mouthpiece, who explained the situation.

"Jiraiya? I wonder what it would be like to make him Human Puppet?"

How much is his head worth?

Seeing that Kakuzu and Sasori were somewhat disdainful, Konan didn't say anything more. These people were fearless, and this was their normal state.

"Furthermore, the Azure Dragon has been missing for many years. If any of you have suitable candidates, please make recommendations. The organization's principle is to have none but not to have the wrong one..."

"Finally, Kuchin at that..."

Kakuzu and Sasori suddenly vanished from the void, leaving only Nagato, Konan, and Kato Osamu. Kato Osamu was somewhat puzzled; did he have some mission for them to be left alone?

"Kuchin, I remember you're skilled in Sealing Jutsu?"

Nagato's voice, which had been hoarse for a long time, seemed to carry an undeniable certainty.

"Yes, I'm quite skilled in Sealing Jutsu..."

"That's good... I'll have Tobi bring you some information on Sealing Jutsu later. You can take a look at it first, and come to headquarters as soon as possible. We need to develop a large-scale Sealing Jutsu for our subsequent plans..."

"This is of paramount importance; everything else can be put on hold..."

"Zero, I need some time to train in Ninjutsu recently... If it's about developing Sealing Jutsu, I can recommend someone to develop the Sealing Formula for me... Her Sealing Jutsu skills are no less than mine..."

Upon hearing this, Nagato seemed to frown slightly, but did not immediately refuse...

Who is it?

"Kushina Uzumaki..."

"Hmm?" Nagato's face showed a hint of surprise. If he remembered correctly, Kushina Uzumaki was already dead...

"I resurrected her..." Konan's face showed a hint of emotion. Nagato could also resurrect someone using the Rinne Rebirth, but it had too many limitations and required sacrificing one's own life. Kushina Uzumaki had been dead for many years; if she could be resurrected like this...

Could Yahiko also be included...?

"Zero, White Tiger, you should know that I was present during the Nine-Tails Rebellion. At that time, I captured Kushina Uzumaki's soul, and recently used her body tissue to clone her body and import her soul into it..." Kato Osamu didn't want to tell them about his ability to enter the Pure Land, and the idea of resurrecting someone was too horrifying. Even so, Nagato and Konan were somewhat shocked.

If that's the case, does that mean the Akatsuki are invincible? If they preserve their souls intact at the moment of death, and Kato Osamu is alive, they can be resurrected by cloning a body?

"Perhaps we have all underestimated the Spirit Transformation Technique..." Nagato, despite possessing the Rinnegan, could not yet manipulate souls at will, but Kato Osamu, who had no special bloodline, had actually developed the Spirit Transformation Technique to such an extent...

"Kuchin, this matter needs to be kept strictly confidential... Bring Kushina Uzumaki to the Land of Rain as soon as possible..."

"Good!"

After exiting the spatial dimension, Nagato and Konan still wore expressions of shock. They hadn't expected such a simple inquiry to yield such significant news. If the method of preserving souls was feasible, then the entire Akatsuki's strategic policy seemed to need to be adjusted...

"Kuchin Kato Osamu... was 'he' the one who introduced the organization?" The one standing in Nagato was none other than Obito Uchiha Madara Uchiha. "But judging from the situation, it seems 'he' is unaware of this news for the time being?"

Konan's eyes flashed, as if she understood Nagato's meaning: Kato Osamu and Obito Uchiha weren't as harmonious as she had imagined...

"If possible, help Kuchin perfect this secret technique..."