The gloomy sky of Amegakure was still raining.
Just like Obito's heart, gloomy, suffocating.
Time flew by, and after searching for Nagato and Konan for more than a month, Obito and Zetsu discovered a cruel reality.
Nagato was lost. To be precise, they had lost Nagato's location.
Now there were already faint signs of chaos in Amegakure, yet Nagato and Konan still had not appeared.
"Still haven't found them?", Obito asked in a deep voice.
Zetsu's figure popped out of the ground beside him, splitting open to the left and right like a pitcher plant.
"No, don't know what happened, but they seem to be deliberately hiding from us."
"What about Kisame?", Obito's eyes were deep.
He had laid out his plan for so long, yet now it all felt like being reset to square one, he was anxious but helpless.
"He also hasn't had any news recently, might be in the Land of Water. I don't have any feelers there."
Most of the White Zetsus were still in training, unlike the time during the Fourth Ninja World War when White Zetsus roamed everywhere.
The number of White Zetsus was limited, so wanting to monitor the entire ninja world was undoubtedly wishful thinking.
Just then, the ring on Zetsu's hand suddenly emitted a wave.
Zetsu was a little surprised, "Nagato is calling."
Obito's eyes lit up, "Let's see what he says?"
The identity Obito was playing now hadn't stepped onto the stage yet as an official member.
So he didn't have a ring and couldn't access the space of the Demonic Statue's projection.
Zetsu used a jutsu to enter that dim space.
This time after entering the space, everyone was present, Pain, Konan, Kakuzu, Sasori, Kisame.
Pain slowly opened his eyes and swept his gaze across all the people below.
"Everyone should have understood the intel on the Uchiha clan, right?"
The most discussed topic in the ninja world recently was the Uchiha's combat power.
After all, Rengoku had crippled the Raikage, and did it right in front of everyone.
Kakuzu muttered gloomily, "Now the Uchiha's prestige is very high in Konoha. If nothing unexpected happens, Uchiha Rengoku's next move is to compete for the Hokage position."
Sasori gave a laugh from within Hiruko, "The Third Hokage won't hand over the Hokage seat to the Uchiha clan."
"It'd be best if they start fighting."
Kakuzu refuted, "Now the Uchiha already have high-level power. The possibility of a violent coup is low."
"On the contrary, the Uchiha may develop for a while before causing any more waves."
"Enough,".After Pain spoke, Kakuzu and Sasori both quieted down.
"Kisame, have you tracked down Juzo?"
Kisame's distinctive voice came, "Juzo has already rejoined Kirigakure. The Fourth Mizukage pardoned his crimes."
"He's been hiding in the village; I can't sneak in to capture him."
Pain replied, "Since that's the case, withdraw from the Land of Water. Don't waste time there."
"I understand," Kisame answered, perfectly coordinated with Pain.
Pain continued, "The last operation failed and caused our organization to lose considerable strength."
"Next, Konan and I will look for funding and potential recruits. Amegakure will be temporarily managed by Kakuzu."
"What?", Kakuzu was shocked, what did that mean? They were just dumping a whole village on him?
Pain never took back his words once spoken. This wasn't a discussion; it was a notice.
He ignored Kakuzu's surprise and went on, "Sasori saved Konan last time, so resource allocation will tilt in his favor."
This sentence was directed at Kakuzu.
Sasori let out a pleased laugh. Pain was strong, but when it came to rewards, he didn't fall short. Indeed, saving Konan was the right decision.
"Konan will be returning to Amegakure soon. Kakuzu, go back and wait for her."
Kakuzu thought for a while, still didn't understand why Pain would give him control of Amegakure.
But he had always liked money and also managed the organization's finances.
Amegakure was still a ninja village, there were profits to be made.
So Kakuzu accepted it, "I understand, I'll head to Amegakure as soon as possible."
"Zetsu stays, the others may move freely. I'll contact you if there are missions."
The others acknowledged, and the projections disappeared.
Now only Pain, Konan, and Zetsu remained.
Zetsu asked, "Where have you two been?"
Pain sneered, not answering Zetsu at all, his attitude was quite poor.
Although Pain had always been arrogant, at least they could still communicate before. This kind of behavior was a first.
Zetsu didn't know what was going on with Pain, so he stayed silent for a moment.
At this point, Konan spoke, "Juzo defected, and this mission's failure weakened our organization considerably."
"We need to go dormant for a while, gather strength, and wait for the right time."
Akatsuki's funds weren't all used by Konan to buy explosive tags.
Some were used for the organization's development, including recruitment, training, and daily expenses.
Akatsuki was a loose organization, and some missions even issued rewards to motivate members.
But those weren't the biggest expenditures, the biggest cost came from Obito.
In the past, Nagato and Konan had no idea what the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path really was.
So Obito would skim off part of the funds, saying it was for maintenance of the statue.
In reality, he used all of it to train White Zetsu.
Although White Zetsu existed since earlier times, turning them into real combat power required massive resources.
This was also why Obito didn't start the Fourth Ninja War early.
"If Madara wants something, he can go find it himself," Konan's tone carried mockery toward Obito.
Zetsu now noticed that Nagato and Konan's attitude was completely different from before.
Obviously, after Konan's trip to the Uchiha, she had likely learned something.
"I understand. I'll pass it on to him," Zetsu also felt troubled now. After replying, he disappeared.
Nagato didn't stop the jutsu. Instead, he began calling the bearer of the "Vermilion" ring.
After a short while, Rengoku's shadow appeared here.
He looked around left and right, 'So this is the Demonic Statue's projection technique, huh? It's just like a hologram.'
Experiencing it himself felt different from just seeing it.
He looked toward Pain, 'How are things on your side?'
Pain's tone when speaking to Rengoku was completely different, "Lately I've gradually stopped supplying energy to the Demonic Statue."
"But my body is still recovering very slowly."
Rengoku nodded slightly, "Have the black rods in your body been removed?"
Pain didn't speak for a moment, only showing a dim expression.
Konan answered, "Those black rods have already pierced into Nagato's internal organs. It's very difficult to remove them. We wanted to see if you have any ideas."
What she didn't say was, just removing the outermost rods almost cost Nagato his life, which is why they came to ask Rengoku for help.
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