"Oh my, you three finally came online~"
At the appearance of "Obito Uchiha" and the others, the grinning White Zetsu broke the silence in the mental space.
"Obito, we were just discussing whether something had gone wrong on your end..."
The other members of the Akatsuki also turned to look.
One thing in particular caught the [Wood Clone]'s attention...
Kakuzu's gleaming green eyes moved between Kisame Hoshigaki and Juzo Biwa, but carefully avoided making contact with Obito Uchiha.
As though one extra glance would trigger some unpleasant memory.
Old man Kakuzu's reaction... how interesting... had Obito Uchiha beaten him up?
The [Wood Clone] filed that information away.
"Obito Uchiha" and "Juzo Biwa" said nothing.
The honest "Kisame Hoshigaki" volunteered an explanation.
"We ran into a little trouble in the Land of Water. It's been taken care of."
Hearing this, the other Akatsuki members withdrew their gazes.
The combination of the [Wood Clone] and the [Impersonation Technique] was so perfect that none of the other Akatsuki members noticed anything amiss.
Even Deva Path Pain's onion-like [Rinnegan] failed to see the true appearances of "Obito Uchiha" and his companions.
"Since everyone is here, let's begin the reports."
Seeing that "Obito Uchiha" remained silent, Deva Path Pain first turned to Sasori of the Red Sands and his companions.
"Sasori, Kakuzu, Orochimaru. You go first."
"We've arrived near Sunagakure in the Land of Wind."
Sasori of the Red Sands spoke first, his voice devoid of any emotional fluctuation.
"We've finished investigating Sunagakure's perimeter defenses.
"However, we still need to make a final confirmation of the One-Tail Jinchuriki's precise location.
"I've already sent the pawn planted inside Sunagakure to investigate. We'll have results by tomorrow at the latest."
"Sunagakure is in even worse shape than I thought."
Kakuzu, standing beside him, picked up the thread,