Aoki Tsuki was always worried about one thing: Shisui's eyes. It wasn't right for them to just sit there unused.
What should I do?
After racking his brains for several days, he finally decided to target White Zetsu Clone, and Zetsu teamed up with Tobi to deal with him time and time again.
It's perfectly reasonable to retaliate!
As I mentioned before, if I said I was going to cause them trouble, I must keep my word.
Zetsu's clones are scattered throughout the Shinobi World. They are fast and highly concealed, making them difficult to find and even harder to capture in the past.
Things are different now. His mobility has been greatly improved, and it wouldn't be difficult for him to turn the entire Shinobi World upside down. No matter where the treasures he has his eye on hide, it won't matter.
"Speaking of which, there's definitely one hiding somewhere. I'll see how I find you..."
"My foolish student, it's time for you to fight for your teacher."
Aoki Tsuki shared his experience and knowledge about Sage Mode with 'Hotaru' via Telepathy, urging her to cultivate diligently.
Who would have thought that, after all the twists and turns, this little girl would become his de facto disciple?
Amegakure.
"How's the intelligence gathering on the Tailed Beast going?"
"By combining the information from Zetsu and Yue, we have a general idea of the whereabouts of all the Tailed Beast."
"Notify Sasori and Deidara to choose an appropriate time to capture them."
"Um."
Pain suddenly looked up at the sky, a look of shock on his face, then chuckled softly.
"Hmph, this guy is getting stronger and stronger."
"What's wrong?"
"The moon is back," Pain pointed, "It looks like it flew back from the sky."
Konan was stunned after hearing this, and a little doubted her life. She could fly by relying on the Dance of the Shikigami, but considering the issue of Chakra, she would take the bus (walking) for long journeys.
"When did that guy learn to fly? And he's using it to travel?"
"Who knows? I understand him less and less. It's hard to believe he's really from our village."
Pain was always wary of Aoki Tsuki, after all, the latter had been in Root and secretly cooperated with Orochimaru.
He was only truly at ease after decisively assassinating Danzo, who had done what he had always wanted to do but could not.
"I'm used to it. He's a very thoughtful person, so it's normal for him to come up with all sorts of strange techniques. Even a genius like Itachi doesn't seem to be able to handle him."
Konan sighed and went off to get busy, her days packed with activities.
Perhaps without realizing it herself, her opinion of Aoki Tsuki had changed from 'This guy is afraid of dying, but he's quite useful in crucial moments' to 'As expected of him.'
Pain watched Konan's departing figure with a cryptic expression, then slowly walked to the statue's tongue, looking down at the village through the rain.
"It'll be over soon; all of this is due for a resolution."
There must be a White Zetsu Clone hidden in Amegakure to monitor Pain's actions.
Aoki Tsuki's plan was to use his Sage Mode to sense Natural Energy and then combine it with Karin's Mind's Eye of the Kagura to investigate.
Even if the other party is integrated into a building, it can still be found.
The two students are now qualified Genin, quite strong, and occasionally go out on missions.
The teacher couldn't take advantage of the student for nothing, so he used the old method: assigning tasks to Karin and having her do them.
After receiving the mission, Karin happily went to the meeting place.
"CC, it's you?"
Karin was immediately displeased, fearing that the teacher had ill intentions.
" Karin, your teacher is actually quite wealthy. This is the only way I can give back to the village. I sincerely want to help everyone."
As my prized student, you'll definitely have to start with me.
"Oh, I see."
Karin felt a little relieved. As long as it wasn't something she stole from her mother, everything was fine. "What do I have to do for you to give me the money?"
"Oh, my good child, you've finally grown up. I'm so proud of you."
Aoki Tsuki was happy that Karin was so sensible, and then said:
"Let's play a game of 'catch the thief.' The target is hiding in the village, in a place you'd never expect. The only clue is that it can blend into the soil, rocks, and trees; it's not a normal human."
"If you can find his location for me, this 200,000 taels is yours."
"200,000 taels? That's a lot!" Karin's eyes widened in disbelief.
Genin to death on a C-rank mission, and that's distributed according to the team's contribution, so they might only get a few thousand taels in return.
"Yes, you heard me right. This is a hidden mission. It's officially a D-level mission, but it's actually an A-level reconnaissance mission. I'll give you a week."
The money is right here; whether you can earn it depends on your skills.
"Hey, I'll definitely find it!" Karin shouted.
"You should say this to yourself. It's getting late, I need to go back to sleep. Good luck."
"Tch! It's good to be rich."
Karin murmured enviously, then immediately threw herself into the task of catching the thief; deep down, she wanted that huge sum of money.
It took Karin five days to go from being full of confidence to having a mental breakdown.
What seems like a simple task is actually not simple at all. Amegakure is a very special place, as the rainwater contains Pain's Chakra.
The Rinnegan's perception is also extremely powerful; the White Zetsu Clone clones must be hidden in sufficiently concealed places to avoid being detected by Pain.
Where exactly is it hidden?
On the street, Karin walked aimlessly, looking around as she went, conducting a meaningless patrol.
The entire village was within her perception range. Over the past few days, she had scanned the village again and again, but found nothing unusual.
"Could it be that it doesn't even exist, and the teacher is just playing a trick on me? Yes, that must be it, a liar!"
Finally, Karin found an excuse and convinced herself.
She gave up.
Subconsciously, I followed my usual route home, passing a training ground where I discovered that the Ajisai was still cultivating, day after day, tirelessly.
"Why? Why do I have to work so hard...?"
Karin couldn't understand it; in any case, her abilities seemed to develop without her even realizing it, and she could learn Ninjutsu very quickly.
If it works, that's good enough. What's the point of constantly repeating the same exercises?
That night, I tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep, realizing that I still wanted that money.
Aoki Tsuki got up in the morning to buy steamed buns and found that Karin was already waiting at the door. Judging from her expression, he knew that the mission had failed, which was within his expectations.
Karin's awakened abilities are too powerful; if she isn't suppressed, she'll inevitably become increasingly arrogant.
"The results are out so quickly?"
When questioned by the teacher, Karin said dejectedly, "That guy was hiding too well, I couldn't find him, but... I thought of a new way."
"Oh, tell me about it."
Karin hesitated for a moment, but ultimately couldn't resist the lure of money. She tentatively suggested, "Perhaps we can team up. I'll only take half the payment, and you can save some money too."
Holy crap, who taught him that move?
Aoki Tsuki was secretly surprised and asked curiously, "Joining forces with the employer is a very bold idea. Explain your reasoning."
"I've been looking for several days, but I just can't sense the guy you mentioned. I thought about it carefully last night, and maybe my senses aren't sharp enough."
"Teacher, didn't you develop a technique to enhance mental acuity? If we combine your abilities, we'll definitely be able to find him."
"Haha... you truly are worthy of being my student."
Actually, that was Aoki Tsuki's original plan, but he wanted to take the opportunity to temper Karin's temperament.
Who would have thought that when the child couldn't solve the problem, he would come up with the same method and become a master craftsman?
"Alright, since you've put it that way, let's team up this time, master and apprentice. As you said, I can only give you half the reward."
'Success!' Karin was overjoyed.
After breakfast, the two went to the top of a high-rise tower and sat cross-legged.
Aoki Tsuki placed his finger on Karin's forehead, then entered her spiritual world, arriving at the small fire where he saw Karin's spiritual consciousness.
"Begin, activate your Mind's Eye of the Kagura."
"Knew."
Karin nodded, formed a hand seal, and instantly countless clusters of light lit up the dark void in all directions, like stars in the pitch-black universe.
These orbs of light varied in size, with the largest one being larger than all the other orbs combined.
'What the hell'
Aoki Tsuki couldn't help but complain, thinking that after so many years of hard work, his Chakra was pretty good.
Today, for the first time, I saw that my Chakra orb looked like the moon, Nagato's Chakra looked like the sun—there was absolutely no comparison.
His only consolation was that ordinary ninjas were no match for him; he was second only to one person.
Invisible ripples emanated from Aoki Tsuki's spiritual body, and Karin, with the help of her mental perception, began to discern them one by one.
A clue emerged moments later.
"Found it! So that's how it is. No wonder I couldn't find it." Aoki Tsuki suddenly realized.
He handed the money he had prepared in advance to Karin, saying, "The mission is complete. This is your reward. Now, leave the rest to me."
After Aoki Tsuki left, Karin jumped up with joy.
"Hahaha... I'm rich!"
Genin, Karin, had earned so much money for the first time. "I'm going to buy my mom a decent birthday present."
On the streets of Amegakure, two Genin around each other's shoulders.
" Shuhei, what do you think Lord Pain is collecting so many corpses for?" the Midorino Otoko asked curiously, after all, he hadn't been in the business for long and was curious about everything.
Shuhei looked around and, seeing no one was nearby, whispered, "Have you heard a rumor about Lord Pain?"
What rumor?
"It's said that Lord Pain can control the undead, and these corpses are used to protect the village in crucial moments. Do you know why it rains Tenten?"
"I've heard this is a gift from Lord Pain."
"That's right. I heard from the guards that this rain is actually Lord Pain's magic; any intruders who enter the village will be detected."
"So that's how it is, amazing!" the Midoriba Otoko exclaimed.
"Brother Nan, I heard you got in through connections with Lord Yue. That's impressive. I went through a lot of trouble to get this position."
"Haha... it's nothing really. You know my wife works in a bubble room, and Mr. Yue is one of her big clients."
"To be favored by Lord Yue, how enviable!"
Shuhei praised him verbally, but in his heart he thought, 'I'll give it a try later.'