Zou Hyuga sighed as he watched Orochimaru and Shinnō disappear down the street.
Despite sounding heartfelt, Orochimaru's earlier words had held little sincerity. He wanted to draw Zou Hyuga in and establish a third faction within the Akatsuki.
At present, the Akatsuki was divided into two major factions.
The Nagato Faction, led by Nagato, consisted mostly of the Akatsuki's original members and the missing-nin personally recruited by Konan and Nagato.
People like Hidan, Kakuzu, and Sasori.
In a sense, Zou Hyuga was also a member of the Nagato Faction.
The other was Obito's Masked Man Madara Faction, composed primarily of missing-nin from Kirigakure. It still held covert control over Kirigakure, treating it as a breeding ground.
Then there were people like Orochimaru and Shinnō, who had clear goals of their own.
They would never truly risk their lives for the Akatsuki, merely using it as a platform to achieve their aims.
Zou Hyuga was not at all surprised that so many factions had formed within the tiny Akatsuki. After all, things were no better in the village-even worse, in fact.
At least the Akatsuki had someone as powerful as Nagato to have the final say. The village had no such person.
As for Orochimaru and Shinnō knowing he had once come into contact with the Leyline, he merely laughed it off. If they truly intended to make a move against the Leyline, they would never have informed him.
With his ties to Ryūchi Cave, Orochimaru could not possibly be ignorant of the Leyline's significance.
And they must have had some other objective in coming to Daimyō Castle.
Reining in his wandering thoughts, Zou Hyuga left the izakaya and headed out of the city. He had yet to collect the Chakra Armor.
Meanwhile, with Orochimaru and Shinnō.
After leaving the