The State of the Akatsuki

Long Ye frowned at the mention of the curse.

"Mi Xiang may be alive again, but we can't let anyone know. We still don't know who did this to her!"

His words made the old man's expression turn grave. He nodded in full agreement.

Long Ye thought for a moment, then his expression changed. He looked at the old man and asked:

"I remember you saying that after Mi Xiang died, you sought someone out and used his eye technique to temporarily seal her soul with the Death God?"

The old man nodded at once. "That's right!"

Something seemed to dawn on him at the sudden question. "Could he have done it?"

Given their new connection, Long Ye saw no need to hide certain things. He got straight to the point:

"I happen to know him. He belongs to an organization called the Akatsuki. I examined that curse before, and it most likely came from the Evil God Cult. As it happens, a member of the Akatsuki comes from that cult."

He said this because one person had come to mind: Hidan.

The man was immortal. Even cutting off his head would not kill him. More importantly, he specialized in curses. Hidan might well have been the one who cursed Mi Xiang.

The old man's expression changed. "I see! It must have been them!"

"What are you thinking?" Long Ye asked.

"Back then, that man came to me and asked me to make ten rings for him..."

"These rings would work much like the Thousand-Faced Mask you took. With one on each of ten people's hands, they could sense one another's exact locations even from a thousand miles away..."

"He also demanded that they allow instantaneous long-distance travel, so a wearer could appear beside another ring-bearer with a single thought..."