On the outskirts of the Mountain Graveyard.
"Not bad!"
"What's not bad?"
Kakashi Hatake looked up at Shihōin Naraku, who was muttering to himself. He had not quite caught what Naraku had said.
"Nothing."
Naraku shook his head. Akame had joined the Akatsuki, even if only as a reserve member. This operation had given him a more comprehensive understanding of the Akatsuki, along with some seemingly insignificant intelligence.
I was still wrong, Naraku murmured inwardly.
He had always thought the Akatsuki was relatively independent, but through Akame's perspective, Naraku discovered that without Amegakure supporting it from behind the scenes, the Akatsuki could never have developed this far.
For any organization to grow, strength alone was not enough.
The reason the Akatsuki had developed this far while surrounded by enemies, without leaking large amounts of intelligence, was precisely because Amegakure had been helping it behind the scenes.
After all, an organization focused on dangerous wartime missions consumed vast amounts of supplies.
Explosive Tags, Ninja tools, scrolls, and all sorts of other supplies-purchasing these alone would have been enough to expose the Akatsuki to the outside world and draw attention.
Anyone who saw an organization buying so many supplies over an extended period would grow suspicious and find ways to investigate.
But for a shinobi village, that was perfectly normal.
After all, with so many Ninja, consuming more supplies was only natural.
And although Amegakure could not compare to the Five Great Shinobi Villages, it was no small village. Under Hanzō's leadership, it had once nearly succeeded in rising above its position.
Had the Five Great Nations not tacitly worked together to suppress it, there was no telling what Amegakure might have become.
Even though wartime losses had greatly diminished Amegakure's strength, its foundations remained.
Only with a shinobi village like that