Night.
The Hokage Building.
Heavy black clouds hung over Konoha, obscuring the full moon on the horizon and shrouding the entire village in darkness.
Konoha was pitch-black that night. After a busy day, the villagers had gone to bed early, and only the Hokage Building still glimmered faintly in the darkness.
Inside the office, Chihane and Orochimaru sat across from each other at a desk, their expressions grave. An intelligence report lay on the desk, clearly containing something that deeply concerned them.
After a long silence, Orochimaru picked up the report and said to Chihane with a troubled expression, "There's something very wrong with this Akatsuki. If they keep growing at this rate, they'll probably become the greatest obstacle to our unification of the shinobi world."
Then, seemingly remembering something else, he asked Chihane worriedly, "Chihane, based on what Kakashi told us, are you confident you can deal with their mysterious leader?"
Several portraits were attached to the report in Orochimaru's hand, depicting Nagato and Blue B. It detailed how Nagato had forced his way into Kumogakure, killed Blue B, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, despite being surrounded by the entire village's forces, and sealed the Eight-Tails, Gyuki.
This had happened earlier that very day. Thanks to Konoha's extensive information network, the report had reached Chihane's office almost immediately afterward.
Kumogakure had suppressed the news after the incident. Aside from Konoha, few other powers knew about it yet, but news like this could not be kept under wraps. Within a few days, it would likely spread throughout the shinobi world.
Orochimaru had not taken the Akatsuki seriously before. After all, Kakashi and Might Guy had nearly wiped out their headquarters by themselves last time. He had never believed the Akatsuki could offer much resistance to Konoha's grand plan, especially with Obito Uchiha