After Nagayama left, Haku and Sasuke immediately asked Naruto who the visitors were.
By now, anyone with even a little influence in the shinobi world knew that the organization that had declared war on the Five Great Nations was the Akatsuki.
With former members of the Akatsuki visiting at a time like this, Sasuke and Haku were understandably worried.
Hearing their questions, Naruto looked at Sasuke without hiding anything.
"If I'm right, one of them should be Itachi's former teammate, Kisame, one of Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen."
"And you've both met the other one, Sasuke, Haku. He was one of the two Akatsuki members we ran into when we were leaving the Land of Waves after our first visit."
At Naruto's words, Kakashi, Sasuke, Haku, and Sakura all remembered something.
"It's him?"
Sasuke frowned. "What does the Akatsuki want, sending them here at a time like this?"
Naruto smiled and waved a hand. "Don't worry. The Akatsuki has become the enemy of the entire shinobi world. To put it bluntly, the mastermind has already squeezed every last bit of value out of those two. They probably couldn't accept the truth once they learned it, so they came to us."
Snake Aunt smiled and spoke up. "Don't worry. With Naruto's current strength, no one can hurt him."
Soon, everyone heard footsteps coming from the corridor outside the Main Hall.
The footsteps were unhurried.
Two women with an exotic air soon came into view.
Kisame still strolled along with Samehada slung over his shoulder, but his old nonchalance was gone. Perhaps Itachi's death had caused it.
Ever since Hidan had been killed, Kakuzu's capabilities alone had been limited. Beyond making money for the Akatsuki, he had no other use left, and his face now lacked its former confidence and pride.
When the