"A rookie who has mastered space-time abilities?"
Everyone in Akatsuki immediately perked up.
Space-time abilities were extremely rare. No matter how strong a ninja was, once they mastered space-time ninjutsu, they became almost impossible to deal with. In the future, such a person might become a top-tier powerhouse like the Tobirama Senju or Minato Namikaze.
However…
When the newcomer A Fei made his first appearance, he tripped and fell flat on his face.
The entire scene was awkward as hell.
Then he started enthusiastically greeting the Akatsuki members as if they were old friends. He behaved like a completely inexperienced rookie ninja—clumsy, noisy, and frankly unreliable.
Strangely enough, the guy was oddly likable.
After A Fei's performance was acknowledged, he was assigned to the team of Itachi Uchiha.
Itachi secretly frowned.
He couldn't understand the masked man's intention in pretending to be such a fool. Why would the real mastermind behind Akatsuki pretend to be a useless rookie?
Was it just some twisted sense of humor?
Or had the betrayal of Juzo Biwa made him decide to personally monitor the organization to prevent something similar from happening again?
After the Akatsuki meeting ended, Itachi contacted Orochimaru through the ring and demanded information about Uzumaki.
"Orochimaru, what's happening in the Land of Uzumaki? Why did Shisui Uchiha join Uzushiogakure, and who exactly is this Uzumaki leader? I need information from you."
After receiving the message, Orochimaru's lips slowly curled into a smile.
"Information isn't free," he replied calmly.
"If you want something from me, you'll have to offer information that interests me as well. If there's a chance, we could meet in person."
"You could consider it a little reunion between two traitors of Konoha."
"I promise I'll give you something… satisfactory."
"I don't trust you," Itachi replied coldly. "But I can meet you. The location will be chosen by me."
"That won't work," Orochimaru said with a soft chuckle. "What if you try to kill me?"
"You're asking for information from me, so know your place."
"However, I'll give you one more piece of free information."
"Jiraiya has also discovered the Uchiha hiding in Uzumaki."
After sending that message, Orochimaru immediately cut off the communication.
What he had just said actually revealed quite a lot.
Orochimaru and Sasori had already attacked the Land of Uzumaki once. Meanwhile, Konoha had now discovered Uzushiogakure as well.
Sooner or later, conflict might erupt along the coast of the Land of Fire.
Once upon a time, Itachi had chosen the village over his clan.
If another conflict erupted now…
Which side would he stand on?
For the first time in a long while, Itachi had no answer.
At that moment, he sensed movement behind him.
A figure wearing the Akatsuki cloak with red clouds and a spiral mask slowly emerged from the ground and walked toward him.
"Madara," Itachi said calmly, "why are you teaming up with me this time?"
"I'm not Madara-sama!" the masked man shouted loudly. "I'm A Fei! Senior Itachi, you've got the wrong person!"
The exaggerated reaction made Itachi frown.
"Madara, are you even trying to fool me? Besides you, who else could possibly master space-time ninjutsu?"
"I'm A Fei!" he insisted again.
Then he suddenly removed his mask, revealing a horribly distorted face.
Itachi looked at the scarred face carefully. After confirming that there was no Sharingan visible, he concluded that this man was not the masked mastermind.
But then…
How had he used that underground movement technique just now?
At that moment, another figure quietly appeared behind Itachi.
It was Obito Uchiha.
"A Fei really isn't me," Obito said in a low voice.
"But when necessary, I'll contact you through A Fei. If something important happens, you can pass the message to him."
Itachi looked at Obito thoughtfully.
"…Is this because of Juzo Biwa?"
Obito nodded.
"You can think of it that way. With the identity of A Fei, I can stay close to the Akatsuki members and prevent them from betraying the organization."
After a brief pause, he continued:
"The team arrangement between you and A Fei won't last long. A new member is already on the way."
"This time, the recruit is also a Kirigakure jonin. But unlike the traitor Juzo…"
"He's quite different."
A new teammate again…
Although Itachi's expression remained calm, he couldn't help feeling a little curious.
After traveling day and night, Jiraiya returned to Konoha in just two days.
After knocking on the office door and entering, he saw Hiruzen Sarutobi sitting behind the desk.
The old Hokage was smoking powerful dry tobacco while secretly looking at a stack of photos that were… absolutely not suitable for children.
Originally, Hiruzen planned to hide the photos to maintain his dignified image.
But since the visitor was his own student Jiraiya, there was no need to pretend.
After all, master and disciple shared certain… questionable hobbies.
Clearing his throat, the Third Hokage looked at Jiraiya and asked seriously:
"How did your investigation go this time? Did you find Naruto's whereabouts?"
Jiraiya hesitated slightly before answering.
"We found Naruto… but the situation is far more complicated than we expected."
Hearing that, the Third Hokage frowned.
"What do you mean by complicated? Did Naruto refuse to return to the village? Did he refuse to travel with you?"
"It's worse than that, old man," Jiraiya said with a bitter smile. "And you might find it hard to accept."
The Third Hokage calmly picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said:
"I've served as Hokage for decades. There's nothing I haven't seen. Just say it—I can handle it."
Jiraiya nodded and began explaining.
"While investigating in the Land of Rivers, I accidentally discovered traces of Orochimaru."
"While tracking him, I obtained information related to the Uchiha. It turned out that Orochimaru was planning to attack them."
"So I followed him all the way to the Land of Uzumaki and helped Shisui repel Orochimaru's attack in Uzushiogakure."
Hearing that, the Third Hokage's expression turned strange.
"What does that have to do with Naruto?"
"And how did the Uchiha appear in the Land of Uzumaki? Uzushiogakure was destroyed decades ago. How could Orochimaru attack it?"
Jiraiya spread his hands helplessly.
"Because Uzushiogakure was rebuilt by Naruto."
"He took the Uchiha and the remaining wandering Uzumaki survivors… and rebuilt the village."
The Third Hokage slowly set down his teacup.
His face became stiff with disbelief.
"After leaving Konoha… Naruto gathered the Uchiha and built a new ninja village?"
"That's not a joke, Jiraiya."
"You know what that means."
Jiraiya nodded with a bitter smile.
"Of course I know."
If Naruto leaving the village could still be explained by his identity crisis…
Then leading the Uchiha and establishing a new ninja village was outright rebellion.
A country only allowed the existence of one ninja village.
No ninja village would ever tolerate another village appearing within its sphere of influence.
Although the Land of Whirlpools was an overseas nation, it was extremely close to the Land of Fire.
Allowing Uzushiogakure to rise again would be an undisguised provocation to Konoha.
If Konoha tolerated it, the village would lose face in front of the entire ninja world.
The Third Hokage slowly looked at Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya," he said seriously.
"I need an explanation."
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