"What's going on with you two? Don't tell me you've actually made up. That's too boring, hmm."
Deidara, an Akatsuki member, stared at the pair with obvious disappointment. Even for someone obsessed with explosions and "art," what ordinary person didn't enjoy a good spectacle? The surrounding Akatsuki members immediately started booing after seeing the two apparently reconcile.
Hidan, already irritated by everyone's reactions, instantly became even more annoyed.
"Damn it, can't we make up or something?! You think I won't cut all of you down?!"
With his usual explosive temper, Hidan immediately pulled out his triple-bladed scythe, looking ready to slaughter everyone present. Fortunately, Kakuzu reacted quickly and grabbed his arm before things escalated further.
Hidan: "What are you doing?!"
Kakuzu: "Never mind, never mind…"
If this scene involved a husband and wife instead of two grown men, it would genuinely look like a virtuous wife dragging back her hot-headed husband.
Ridiculous!
The commotion was quickly suppressed by Pain, specifically the Deva Path.
"Kakuzu, Hidan, weren't you two acting like you wanted to kill each other not long ago? How have you suddenly reconciled?"
"Leader, people change."
Kakuzu calmly faced Pain. Hidan had always behaved recklessly, so nobody found his attitude suspicious.
But Kakuzu was different. Unlike Hidan, Kakuzu was rational and calculating. Precisely because of that rationality, Pain was more likely to notice something strange about him.
Pain silently stared at Kakuzu. The Rinnegan in his eyes seemed capable of tearing straight through Kakuzu's soul. Kakuzu forced himself to remain calm and maintained eye contact until Pain finally withdrew his gaze. Only then did Kakuzu secretly breathe a sigh of relief.
Pain then turned toward the rest of Akatsuki, slowly raising both arms before solemnly declaring:
"Everyone, the time has come. It is finally time to act."
Akatsuki The Tailed Beast Capture Plan!
Pain passionately announced his ideal of using the tailed beasts to create a weapon capable of forcing peace upon the world. Although everyone outwardly listened seriously, most members were merely cooperating on the surface. Very few truly agreed with Pain's philosophy.
However, that was enough.
Pain firmly believed in his own power the power of a "god." After witnessing the might of the Rinnegan and the Six Paths of Pain, almost nobody inside Akatsuki dared even consider resisting him.
"Kakuzu, Hidan you two are responsible for capturing the Two-Tails and the Seven-Tails."
"Deidara, Sasori you two are responsible for the One-Tails and the Three-Tails."
"When Itachi and Kisame return, inform them that they will handle the Four-Tails and Five-Tails. The remaining tailed beasts will be handled personally by me."
After speaking, Pain disappeared from everyone's sight.
Part of it was to maintain the mysterious aura of a "god." More importantly, controlling the Six Paths remotely through chakra receivers placed an enormous burden on Nagato's already deteriorating body.
Far away in Amegakure, Nagato Uzumaki suddenly regained consciousness and immediately began gasping for breath. Beside him, Konan hurriedly used a cloth to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.
"Nagato… your condition is getting worse and worse…"
"N-nothing… it's fine… our dream… will soon become reality… until then… I… won't fall…"
Nagato lowered his head, breathing heavily as he spoke. Konan looked at him with worry, an ominous feeling growing in her heart.
Even if their dream world truly arrived someday… would Nagato really smile?
Would she?
Akatsuki's Tailed Beast Capture Operation officially began.
Meanwhile
Chinatsu's Akatsuki Member Capture Operation officially began as well.
After Pain dismissed the meeting, Hidan and Kakuzu immediately used a messenger pigeon to send all the gathered intelligence back to chinatsu Uchiha in Konoha.
At this moment, chinatsu was still struggling to come up with a proper name for her future organization.
As for Naruto and Sasuke, after officially becoming Chunin following the exams, they were finally qualified to accept higher-ranked missions. To stop the two from constantly clinging to her and causing trouble every day, chinatsu had directly kicked them out to handle B-rank and above missions.
At the very least, this bought her a few peaceful days.
chinatsu sat lazily in a folding chair within the Uchiha compound, holding a slice of watermelon while absentmindedly thinking of organization names as she ate.
Every time she spat out a watermelon seed, she muttered another terrible candidate name.
"Dark Power?"
Too chuuni. Sounds like the title of some low-budget light novel.
"The Yamaguchi-gumi? No… chinatsu-gumi? Uchiha-gumi?"
…That somehow sounds even weirder.
After muttering countless bizarre names, chinatsu finally collapsed deeper into the folding chair like a retired old woman.
"The weather's so nice today… I'll just nap and do absolutely nothing…"
She placed both hands behind her head, adjusted herself into the most comfortable position possible, and slowly closed her eyes.
Just as she was about to drift off to sleep, a white messenger pigeon suddenly descended from the sky and flew directly toward her.
Whoosh!
Before the pigeon could land on chinatsu's forehead, a violent gust of wind abruptly interrupted its trajectory.
The poor pigeon froze in terror, frantically flapping its wings and waving its claws as though trying to say:
"I'm just delivering mail! Please don't turn me into pigeon soup!"
Yamanaka Fu looked down at the message tied to the pigeon's leg. After confirming it wasn't disguised using the Transformation Technique, he removed the scroll and quickly approached chinatsu.
"Young lady, your letter."
"Ah… a letter… whose… wait…"
Still half asleep, chinatsu slowly opened her eyes. After mumbling a few confused words, her brain finally started functioning again.
A messenger pigeon?
Then it could only be from Hidan and Kakuzu.
Seriously… I wanted at least one peaceful day off…
chinatsu painfully climbed out of the folding chair, took the letter, and opened it. The handwriting was unmistakably Kakuzu's.
Her eyes rapidly scanned through the contents.
After finishing, she collapsed backward into the chair and sighed deeply.
"Looks like it's time to get busy again~"
Akatsuki had officially begun hunting the tailed beasts.
For now, Hidan and Kakuzu's group could be ignored. Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki also weren't immediate concerns. According to the original timeline, their mission wouldn't progress that quickly.
That meant the most urgent target right now was Deidara and Sasori's team.
Chinatsu silently closed her eyes for a moment before suddenly standing up.
The laziness from earlier vanished instantly.
"Gaara and Shukaku are still in Konoha, so Deidara and Sasori's immediate target should be the Three-Tails Isobu… which means the Land of Water."
After leaving a written note behind for Naruto and Sasuke, chinatsu grabbed a pair of sunglasses, placed a hat on her head, and stretched her body slightly.
Destination
The Land of Water!
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