Konoha, Hokage's Office.
Jiraiya's body, covered by a white cloth, lay quietly on the ground. The others stood silently, their expressions solemn.
"I never expected Pain to be a puppet controlled by Jiraiya's former student," Utatane Koharu said, her brow furrowed. "That's why I always said, we are ninja; sympathy is completely unnecessary."
Sasuke looked at her coldly and said, "Isn't this the bitter fruit sown by you old folks?"
"Kid, what's your attitude? I'm an elder of Konoha," Utatane Koharu said angrily, but what greeted her was the blue and white electric light in Sasuke's hand.
"Don't force me to kill you right now," Sasuke's indifferent eyes stared fixedly at her. He held no respect for this old woman who caused the Uchiha clan's downfall and had constantly belittled him.
"Itachi, is this your good brother?!"
Seeing that Sasuke wasn't backing down, she quickly turned her attention to Itachi.
"My brother doesn't need your concern," Itachi glanced up at Utatane Koharu and said indifferently.
"You, you guys..."
The brothers' identical disdainful expressions made Utatane Koharu grit her teeth in anger.
She was a disciple of the Second Hokage, a shadow guard, and an elder of Konoha. How had she fallen to this point?
Everyone else watched the unfolding events with amusement, a single thought occurring to them simultaneously: times have changed.
"Alright, the immediate priority is to come up with countermeasures. Jiraiya's death has had too great an impact on Konoha," Mitokado Homura said, his face grim, breaking the stalemate.
The power wielded by the Akatsuki had already exceeded his imagination, filling him with fear.
As for why Itachi hadn't reported the Akatsuki's intelligence...
Don't ask why, just accept it as plot.
"According to the latest intelligence, the Jinchuriki of the Three-Tails to the Seven-Tails have all been captured and controlled by the Akatsuki. The situation for the remaining Jinchuriki is also not optimistic," Mitokado Homura said, tapping the table with a serious expression.
"That's right, perhaps it's time to contact the other countries. This is not an event that a single village can handle," Tsunade said. "Kazekage Gaara, the Two-Tails Yugito, Gyuki Killer Bee, and the Nine-Tails Uzumaki Naruto."
"No one knows what will happen after all nine Tailed Beasts are gathered, so our three ninja villages, no, the entire ninja world must be involved," Tsunade said, her brow furrowed in seriousness.
"You actually want to seek help from outsiders! Seeking protection like this will only make the village weaker," Utatane Koharu snorted and said, "I disagree with this matter. We don't need their help."
"It's precisely because of stubborn old fossils like you, who are stuck in the past, that the Akatsuki organization had an opportunity to grow step by step to this point," Tsunade said angrily. "I have already decided on this matter. You don't need to interfere."
Afterward, without paying attention to Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, Tsunade turned to Elder Shima and asked, "Does Naruto know?"
"Yes, he's being comforted by his wife and Bunta right now. But that's Naruto, I believe he'll recover quickly," Elder Shima said with certainty.
"Is that so, good." Tsunade nodded. The sooner he learned Sage Jutsu, the more he'd have for self-protection.
Elder Shima coughed twice and said, "Actually, the reason I came this time, besides returning young Jiraiya's body and explaining the situation, is that I also want to see Neji."
"See Neji? What's wrong with Neji?"
"How should I put it?" Elder Shima patted Jiraiya's body all over and finally found a crumpled piece of paper, which he handed to Tsunade. "You can see for yourselves."
Tsunade took the note suspiciously and was stunned the moment she opened it.
...
Inside a luxurious villa in Konoha, Neji gently knocked on the door and walked alone into a rather dark basement.
Because he had many secrets he couldn't let people discover, under Tsunade's arrangement, he moved into this luxurious villa with very little expense.
Naturally, some were happy and some were sad. Shion and Karin were quite pleased, but Hinata and Hanabi looked a bit displeased.
At this moment, Neji frowned slightly at the strong smell of decay surrounding him. No wonder Orochimaru liked to hide in dark places. Honestly, you couldn't do this kind of thing without being in a gloomy environment.
Looking down, he saw rows of corpses beneath his feet. Their clothing varied, and their ninja headbands were all different.
"It was worth running around all this time. I finally found quite a few. And Orochimaru's collection helped a lot too," Neji said with satisfaction, looking at the corpses.
After a round of "careful selection," Neji threw out all the weak and useless ones, leaving only the renowned ninjas in the area.
"Hmm, not bad."
Then, Neji turned his gaze to another row of white figures behind him.
A whole row of White Zetsu.
He had gone to considerable trouble to catch them.
"Excellent, the sacrifices are accounted for," Neji smirked under the pale light, his Byakugan enhancing his chilling appearance.
Seeing Neji like this, the White Zetsu were greatly terrified and struggled with all their might to break free from their restraints, but they were too weak.
"Don't struggle. Just quietly be sacrifices for Edo Tensei," Neji strode forward and said, "Don't worry, it will be quick and painless."
However, the White Zetsu seemed genuinely unable to feel pain, acting as if nothing had happened even when Madara cut off their arms. They probably had no pain receptors.
(White Zetsu: I have a thousand unsaid complaints... Don't White Zetsu have any rights? This is racial discrimination!!)
But no matter how much they cried out, they could only become bargaining chips for souls in the end.
After a series of maneuvers, ninjas resurrected by Edo Tensei stood quietly in coffins.
If anyone were present, they would be greatly shocked, for these were the 'Kage' of various villages.
And they were all Orochimaru's collection, but Neji had stolen them, reaping the benefits without doing any of the work.
"I wonder what the Akatsuki will think when they see these people? It should be quite something. Of course, it would be even better if those five could be resurrected," Neji thought to himself, looking at the five corpses lying in a corner.
After finishing everything, Neji turned and walked out of the house. It wasn't because he wanted to do anything specific, but rather because the ninja world was about to be thrown into turmoil, and he just wanted to relax before it happened.
It was broad daylight, and the streets were crowded with people. They greeted Neji repeatedly when they saw him, offering him gifts, which made Neji a little embarrassed.
But this was the ninja world; strength was everything. Otherwise, for merely criticizing the Third Hokage earlier, Neji would have been driven out of Konoha.
"Huh? Isn't this our future Sixth Hokage?"
---
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