"Itachi, are you alright?"
Kisame Hoshigaki showed a worried expression. Ever since Itachi returned from Konoha, he had been unwilling to speak.
Although he didn't usually talk much, he would never remain completely silent like this.
Uchiha Itachi stood by the river, silently staring at the surface of the water.
Konoha had undergone such tremendous changes!
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen, and the Hokage advisor Shimura Danzō had stepped down and were imprisoned in Konoha's prison.
Most importantly, the truth behind the Uchiha clan massacre had become known to everyone.
Originally, he had planned to sneak into Konoha to gather intelligence and, at the same time, take a look at his foolish little brother.
But instead, he discovered that the truth of the Uchiha massacre had been exposed.
Uchiha Sasuke came to question him in agitation, asking whether the truth was really as the Third Hokage had said.
At that moment, he fell silent.
Sasuke learning the truth was completely different from his original plan.
For a time, he didn't even know what to do.
Uchiha Itachi did not respond to his younger brother. Instead, he directly left with Kisame, and on the way, he even taught Kakashi—who tried to stop him—a lesson.
After a long while, he finally said in a low voice, "Kisame, let's go back."
Ever since the night of the massacre, his identity had been destined to never return to Konoha.
He could only join the Akatsuki as a spy!
"Understood."
Kisame Hoshigaki silently followed behind Itachi. He knew that Itachi's emotions were extremely complicated at this moment.
Meanwhile, news of Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama appearing in Konoha quickly spread throughout the ninja world.
...
Akatsuki.
"Obito, have you heard the news that Senju Hashirama and Madara-sama appeared in Konoha?"
Black Zetsu's figure slowly emerged as he informed him of the news from Konoha.
"Black Zetsu, I am Uchiha Madara!"
Uchiha Obito stared at Black Zetsu with his scarlet eyes and spoke coldly.
"As for the news from Konoha, it's just someone deliberately spreading rumors."
If Uchiha Madara were truly alive, how could he not come to find him?!
Moreover, he had personally witnessed Madara breathe his last…
"You're right." Black Zetsu nodded. "You are Uchiha Madara!"
The moment it received the news, it had already sent White Zetsu to investigate, but found no trace of Uchiha Madara.
It only learned about it from Konoha's ninjas.
Those people had only appeared briefly before disappearing. It couldn't be ruled out that it was a staged act within Konoha using transformation techniques.
The purpose was to force the Third Hokage, Hiruzen, to step down.
After all, from beginning to end, those people had not displayed any overwhelming power.
If it were truly Uchiha Madara himself, he would have already begun capturing the tailed beasts to carry out the "Eye of the Moon" plan.
"As long as you understand!"
Uchiha Obito snorted coldly as his figure slowly disappeared.
Although he appeared very certain, he was worried that someone might have tampered with Uchiha Madara's corpse.
He had to personally go and verify the situation!
After all, Konoha possessed a forbidden technique capable of summoning the dead—the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama's [Edo Tensei].
Black Zetsu looked at the place where Obito had vanished, its eyes flickering.
What a self-righteous fool!
He spoke with such certainty, yet still went to verify it himself.
Before coming here, it had already checked Madara's corpse. There were no signs of it being tampered with.
...
On the other side.
"Madara, where are we going?"
Senju Hashirama asked in confusion.
Senju Tobirama and Uchiha Izuna also looked at Uchiha Madara in confusion upon hearing this.
After leaving Konoha, they did not use the Dragon Vein to return.
Instead, they began wandering aimlessly through the ninja world.
Mainly because Madara was leading the way, leaving them unsure of their destination.
"The Land of Rain."
Uchiha Madara said softly.
He knew that the Akatsuki was being used by Obito, with the goal of collecting the tailed beasts through them…
At the same time, the leader of the Akatsuki, Nagato, had the Rinnegan transplanted into him when he was young, in order to be used to revive him.
So he wanted to go to Amegakure to take a look.
After all, he had once promised that kid that he would give him a pair of Rinnegan.
And Nagato's eyes just happened to be suitable as a gift.
"What are we going there for?"
Senju Hashirama didn't understand why his close friend wanted to go to the Land of Rain. That country rained constantly and wasn't exactly a great place to visit.
But if Madara truly wanted to go, he wouldn't object.
Uchiha Madara did not explain. He couldn't possibly say that he was going to give that kid a gift, could he?
With his personality, such words were difficult to say.
"Big brother can go wherever he wants!"
Uchiha Izuna had no objections.
It didn't matter where he wanted to go…
Senju Tobirama frowned slightly, but seeing his elder brother and Izuna like this, he said nothing.
Forget it—since they were already here.
The group admired the scenery along the way as they headed toward the Land of Rain.
...
Akatsuki.
"Renya, Tonton, the leader is calling for you."
Konan found Renya and Tonton and brought them to Pain.
"Leader, what is it?"
Renya was a bit surprised. They had only joined the organization for two days—surely they weren't being assigned missions already?
Hadn't the plot even started yet?
The Deva Path of Pain stared at Renya expressionlessly. After a long silence, he spoke in a low voice.
"I heard you're quite wealthy?"
He hadn't known at first, but accidentally overheard a conversation between Kakuzu and Hidan.
That was how he learned that Renya was very rich.
"I have some assets."
Renya had no intention of hiding it. Since Pain had come looking for him, it meant Kakuzu and Hidan had already exposed it.
There was no need to conceal it now, and he was curious about what the other party wanted to do.
The Deva Path of Pain nodded slightly, while Konan's eyes lit up.
"In that case, lend me some money?"
After hesitating for a moment, the Deva Path of Pain extended his hand and spoke in a low voice.
Renya: "???"
Damn it, wasn't he here to rob the Akatsuki?
How had the plan not even started, and he was already being asked for a loan?!
"How much do you want to borrow?" Renya added, "Actually, I don't have that much money either…"
If he had known this would happen, he shouldn't have shown off in front of Kakuzu.
With Kakuzu's attitude of doing business strictly for money, it wouldn't have mattered even if he hadn't said those things.
Now look—he was being asked for a loan by his boss.
"I need three hundred million." The Deva Path of Pain said, "Don't worry, I'll pay you back soon."
Renya: "…"
Wasn't the Akatsuki supposed to be rich?
Later on, Konan could even use six hundred billion explosive tags.
So what was going on now?!
The dignified leader of the Akatsuki, a wielder of the Rinnegan…
And he had to borrow money from him—what kind of joke was this?!
In the end, Renya did not refuse. He lent three hundred million to Pain and even required him to write an IOU.
After Renya and Tonton left, Konan softly asked,
"Pain, why did you borrow money from him?"
With Kakuzu in the organization all these years, hadn't they already saved up a lot of money?
She didn't understand why he needed to borrow from Renya.
"To test whether it's true."
The Deva Path of Pain said in a low voice.
He had a feeling that Renya and Tonton's purpose for joining the organization wasn't pure.
Although the Akatsuki recruited rogue ninjas, each of them had a clear identity and background.
But Renya and Tonton were like they had appeared out of thin air.
There were no clues about them anywhere in the ninja world…
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