Land of Rain, Amegakure.
Slender raindrops formed threads as they fell from the gray sky, producing the pleasant white noise of a steady patter.
But the pedestrians hurrying along the streets in straw raincoats and bamboo hats clearly had no fondness for this unending drizzle, yet could do nothing about it.
Atop the tallest steel tower in the center of Amegakure, the leader of the Akatsuki and the village's true ruler-Pain's Deva Path-sat casually on the tongue of a statue of the King of Hell, gazing calmly at Amegakure shrouded in drizzle.
"Pain, Danzo of Konoha has sent two letters." Konan floated over, her entire body enveloped in a red-cloud robe, her beauty cold and striking.
"Two?"
"One is addressed to Hanzō, the other to the Akatsuki."
Deva Path's expressionless face grew a little colder, and a contemptuous sneer curled his lips.
"Heh, so this is Konoha. These are the Five Great Shinobi Villages. They sanctimoniously maintain a respectable image while handing all sorts of dirty work to the smaller shinobi villages. Tell me, what's the mission this time?"
Without any visible movement from Konan, the two letters opened themselves. Her cold, beautiful eyes swept over them, and her pupils contracted slightly when she noticed a certain name.
"It's a routine assassination mission, but the targets are..."
Deva Path frowned and spread his fingers. One of the letters flew into his hand.
"Orochimaru, and... Naoki Senju of the Senju Clan... Heh, Danzo certainly lives up to his name as the Darkness of the Shinobi. He would even strike at the Senju Clan, who founded Konoha."
"Then... Pain, are we still taking this mission?" Konan asked quite seriously. Assassination missions posed no difficulty for them; they were very experienced in that line of work.
But the target's status as a member of the Senju Clan was extremely troublesome. This could even be bait Konoha had put out to find an excuse to start a war. Moreover, Orochimaru was another extremely troublesome factor. His ability to defect from the Akatsuki was already proof of his strength.
"We'll take it. Why wouldn't we? Let someone from Konoha kill the Senju Clan member. Even if this is Danzo's scheme, it'll still be enough to drag Konoha's reputation through the mud. Gather the organization's core members and select the personnel for this mission."
"Understood."
Konan transformed into fluttering sheets of white paper and slowly drifted down from the top of the tower.
An Akatsuki base on the outskirts of Amegakure.
Pain's Deva Path emerged from a secret passage. The dim candlelight flickered, casting several oddly shaped shadows across the room.
"Pain, what's the mission this time? If I'm not involved, I still need to get back to studying my art," Sasori complained from within Hiruko.
Pain's Deva Path swept his gaze over everyone in the darkness. Those rippled Rinnegan forced them all to avert their eyes, not daring to meet his gaze.
"This mission is to hunt down Orochimaru, a missing-nin of the Akatsuki, and kill a member of the Senju Clan named Naoki Senju while we're at it."
"The Senju Clan? Interesting. That reminds me of when I fought the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju."
The First Hokage!
Kakuzu's words startled everyone. Even Deva Path's lips twitched involuntarily as he looked at Kakuzu, who was speaking with easy confidence.
Unlike the others' shock, however, Deva Path's gaze held a deeper meaning. As the Akatsuki's leader, he naturally knew Kakuzu's background and abilities inside out.
Kakuzu had accepted a mission from Takigakure to assassinate the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. The precise details of their encounter were unknown, but the mission had undoubtedly failed. Fearing retaliation from Konoha, Takigakure lost all its previous nerve, so they decided to hand Kakuzu over to Konoha and beg to be spared.
But after learning of this, Kakuzu broke straight out of prison, slaughtered Takigakure's leadership, seized the village's secret technique, and escaped, becoming a bounty-hunting missing-nin. Eventually, he had personally recruited Kakuzu into the organization, where he became the indispensable head of the Akatsuki's finance department.
Uchiha Itachi kept his eyes lowered, his face expressionless, as though he cared nothing about any of this. In reality, he committed every word of this information to memory.
A shinobi who could fight the First Hokage, that mysterious Madara Uchiha, and the Akatsuki's leader with his Rinnegan. The Akatsuki's strength truly couldn't be underestimated!
Not dwelling on Kakuzu's words, Pain continued:
"Orochimaru's defection from the organization is unforgivable. The task of recruiting new members will go to White (Konan) and Boar (Zetsu). Next, we need to select the members for this mission. Any volunteers?"
An eerie silence settled over the room. In the end, Kakuzu, who had drawn everyone's attention earlier, stepped forward.
"Let me go. Orochimaru will fetch a good price on the black market, and the bounty on a Senju Clan member isn't low either."
Pain nodded in satisfaction. There weren't many members left who worked tirelessly without complaint and devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the Akatsuki. Unlike the others: some did nothing but squander the organization's funds making dolls, some defected at the drop of a hat, and some couldn't be trusted at all.
His strength just isn't quite enough, though. Orochimaru won't be easy to deal with, Pain-or rather, Nagato-thought to himself.
"Itachi, you'll carry out this mission with Kakuzu. Information on Orochimaru will be delivered to you later. Naoki Senju is currently under Orochimaru's protection, so they can be treated as a single target. As for Orochimaru's whereabouts, the Akatsuki's intelligence network will assist you, so make sure you complete the mission."
"Yes, leader."
Before turning to leave, Pain's Deva Path gave Uchiha Itachi a deliberate look. This would be a good opportunity to test his loyalty...
Once those Rinnegan disappeared, everyone in the room visibly relaxed a little. Kakuzu's two beady eyes shifted, and he walked over to Uchiha Itachi.
"A Uchiha missing-nin from Konoha. I hear you were teamed up with Orochimaru?"
Uchiha Itachi gave this missing-nin who could fight the First Hokage an indifferent glance. Outwardly, he remained calm, but inwardly, he grew wary and began analyzing the enemy's information.
"That's right, though not for long."
"Good, then. I hope you won't hold me back during the mission."
Uchiha Itachi did not argue, but when he opened his eyes again, the scarlet Mitsudomoe spun slowly. The other members watching them all averted their gazes. Meeting the eyes of a Uchiha's Sharingan was hardly a clever move.
But Kakuzu, standing directly in front of him, had no time to look away. The instant he met the Sharingan's gaze, he fell into a Genjutsu. The world, which had been perfectly normal, began to distort. He felt himself become a tiny insect, flying and flying...
Although the Genjutsu wasn't particularly powerful and Kakuzu broke free in just a few seconds, cold sweat broke out instantly. He knew this was a warning from Uchiha Itachi.
When he looked at Uchiha Itachi again, there was no trace of contempt left in Kakuzu's beady eyes. That display of Genjutsu alone was enough to earn Uchiha Itachi a place in the Akatsuki. In the Akatsuki, only strength counted.
Konan, who had been watching the entire time, took two sets of documents from somewhere and handed them to the two men.
"This is the information on Orochimaru's Ninjutsu. In three days, we'll give you his whereabouts."