Gua left Konoha's camp,
left the Land of Grass,
and headed straight for the Land of Rain.
After entering the Land of Rain, he grabbed a shinobi at random to ask for directions and easily pinpointed Pain's lair.
The reason it was so simple
was that Pain had only recently wiped out Hanzo of the Salamander for good, so he was now making a grand show of winning people over.
Naturally, Pain had stepped into the public eye in the Land of Rain.
That meant his affairs were no longer secret.
At least, they were no longer secret among the Land of Rain's shinobi.
Following the directions he had gotten from that shinobi, Gua made his way over.
Throughout the journey, Fugaku secretly followed behind him.
He could see how alert Gua was and how carefully he moved.
But that did not change one fact:
his attempt to rescue Kabuto was extremely reckless.
He did not even know what kind of organization lay behind the Masked Man.
Even within Konoha's intelligence network, the Akatsuki was an extremely mysterious presence.
Not just mysterious, but powerful!
What? You said Orochimaru had stolen all the intelligence on the Akatsuki and brought it back?
What did that have to do with Fugaku?
Fugaku had only heard the Akatsuki's name. He had never heard about its members.
That was why he regarded the organization with such apprehension.
After Kabuto had been abducted that day, the conclusion he reached with Asuma, Inoichi Yamanaka, and Shibi Aburame was that they could not attempt a rescue.
According to their intelligence, the Akatsuki's base was likely in the Land of Rain.
And Hanzo of the Salamander of the Land of Rain had died some time earlier.
An unknown figure named Pain
had taken control of the Land of Rain,