Kisame stared blankly at the sky, unable to come back to his senses for a long time.
She was the first girl in this life who had been gentle to him.
Even though she was killed by him, she had never blamed him in the slightest.
She had only thought that his life was very hard.
Orochimaru waved his hand, and nearby Yakushi Kabuto came over to clean up the sacrificial remains on the ground.
Rengoku stood beside, watching Kisame's dazed look, knowing he would keep standing there for a while.
So he asked, "What's her name?"
Kisame came back to his senses, but his expression was gloomy:
"Kyoko, Kurita Kyoko."
"Any regrets?", Rengoku asked softly.
He hadn't even said it yet, but upon hearing it, Kisame's eyes began to lose focus.
Seeing that Kisame was about to be broken by himself, Rengoku whispered into Kisame's ear, "In the Shinobi World, there exists a secret technique that can truly revive people."
Kisame's spirit was jolted, his eyes focused again. As if he had found new meaning in life.
He looked at Rengoku, asking with some disbelief, "Re...ally?"
Rengoku affirmed, "Let's talk back there."
Saying so, he walked toward Orochimaru's laboratory.
Kisame knew this wasn't the place to talk, so he followed behind Rengoku.
Orochimaru had a playful smile on his face, then followed as well.
Once the group reached the basement, Rengoku then began to speak, "You know the leader of your Akatsuki organization has Rinnegan eyes."
"But you don't know that the Rinnegan has an ability called 'Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique.'"
"This technique can completely resurrect the dead."
Kisame wasn't instantly overwhelmed by joy. Instead, he asked cautiously, "A power this strong must come with some kind of limitation, right?"
Rengoku nodded slightly, "Resurrecting the dead requires a huge amount of life force. The wielder of the Rinnegan will most likely die."
Kisame frowned in thought. His relationship with Pain couldn't be called bad, but it was just organizational.
Pain would definitely not give up his life to save someone unrelated to him.
However, since Rengoku mentioned it, there must be another way.
"Mm, go on, Rengoku."
Rengoku found that Kisame actually wasn't dumb, just a bit straightforward.
"Those Rinnegan eyes Pain has are actually Uchiha Madara's...", Rengoku gave Kisame a rough explanation about Madara and Nagato's situation.
Kisame was greatly shocked, "So what you're saying is, not only are those eyes Madara's, but he even plans to use those eyes to revive himself?"
Rengoku nodded, "Exactly. That's Madara's plan."
"Whether his plan can succeed is uncertain."
"So if you want to use the Rinnegan, you'll have to go the second route."
Kisame curiously asked, "And that is?"
"The Rinnegan actually isn't that amazing. To put it bluntly, it's the third stage evolution of our Uchiha Mangekyo Sharingan."
"I brought Orochimaru into the clan to create an artificial Rinnegan."
"If you want to revive Kyoko, you can come work for me."
Kisame's eyes flashed with brilliance, "You're confident?"
Rengoku nodded, "Ten years. Within ten years, it can absolutely be done."
Kisame answered directly, "Alright, what do you need me to do now?"
Rengoku replied, "Go back to Akatsuki for now. Do what you're supposed to. Occasionally send some information about Pain."
"I don't need you yet. Kyoko's body must be preserved, it will be needed for the resurrection."
"Go find Rinjin. He'll take you out."
Kisame gave Rengoku a bow, "Thank you, Rengoku."
He then bowed to Orochimaru, "Thank you, Lord Orochimaru."
After that, he left without looking back.
Whether what Rengoku said would become true or not, at least he had now seen Kurita Kyoko one last time.
Orochimaru didn't care about these things, he just watched Rengoku with a playful expression, "That Kisame has decent strength."
Rengoku scoffed, "More than just decent."
He even captured the Eight-Tails Killer Bee alive. Aside from later battles between gods, Kisame was definitely among the top tier of powerhouses.
"Strong people, the more the better."
———
[Hokage's Office]
"Hokage-sama, the Uchiha clan is asking Sunagakure for three billion in ransom."
"Sunagakure can't afford that much, and they didn't bring the One-Tail Jinchuriki Gaara."
Upon hearing the ANBU report, the Third Hokage frowned tightly.
"Three billion..."
That much money was a lot even for all of Konoha's revenue.
For Sunagakure, it went without saying.
Sunagakure was notoriously poor. Its current operation relied entirely on Rasa being a gold miner.
Rengoku naming such a high price clearly showed he didn't intend to return the Jinchuriki.
There was no need to guess what Uchiha intended, obviously to use it as a resource.
But with the current situation, whether they had the One-Tail Jinchuriki or not didn't even matter.
The Third Hokage sighed. He simply couldn't afford to provoke the Uchiha clan.
"How long until Jiraiya returns?", The Third Hokage took a puff of his pipe and tapped on the table.
ANBU replied, "According to Jiraiya-sama's last letter, he should return around the time of Uchiha's leadership change."
"Alright, I understand. You may leave for now."
After the ANBU left, the Third Hokage asked Sarutobi Ishishu, who was hidden in the shadows, "Did Danzo's people already take the Tsuchigumo people?"
Sarutobi Ishishu answered, "Yes. Root intercepted the intelligence we intentionally leaked."
"They've already sent people to bring the Tsuchigumo people ahead of time."
"This move of yours was quite risky."
Sarutobi Ishishu wasn't very approving.
The Third Hokage sighed helplessly, "Danzo's existence is extremely disadvantageous to me."
"He's always had conflicts with the Uchiha. As long as there's an opportunity, Danzo will never let the Uchiha clan go."
"Right now Naruto doesn't have ANBU watching him. With Danzo's personality, he won't let this chance slip."
"Can't the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan still see it?", Sarutobi Ishishu asked in confusion.
The Third Hokage shook his head, "The Hyuga clan is too obsessed with their Byakugan."
"Danzo has already developed a barrier that blocks the Byakugan."
Sarutobi Ishishu fell silent for a moment, "This plan is quite difficult to execute. The Uchiha are too strong, they're not something we can control."
The Third Hokage slowly took another puff of his pipe, "Let's get rid of Danzo first. Right now Root members and my ANBU are mixed together. It puts me in a very passive position."
"We'll make further plans when Tsunade and Jiraiya return."
———
[The Next Day]
Gaara carried the lunchbox Rengoku had given him, and came to school with Sasuke and Karin.
As soon as they entered the classroom, Gaara saw Naruto.
Naruto also energetically waved his hand, "Gaara!"
Gaara's face lit up with joy and walked over to Naruto.
"Gaara, it's so great that you're not gone!"
Naruto didn't know what had happened, but as long as Gaara stayed even one more day, he'd be happy for one more day.
Although Gaara was a bit sad that Sunagakure wouldn't pay to ransom him, he still felt a bit happy inside about staying in Konoha. It was somewhat contradictory.
"Mm, seems like I'll be staying a while longer."
Naruto grinned, "If you're happy here, stay a while longer!"
During their recent time together, Naruto and Gaara had shared their past experiences with each other.
Naruto naturally didn't want Gaara to go back and suffer again.
A flash of clarity came to Gaara.
'Right, if you're happy here, then just stay longer. Why think so much?'
Sasuke saw Gaara and Naruto chatting excitedly and turned his face away.
He sat in his own seat.
Karin poked Sasuke with her finger.
Sasuke turned his head and saw Karin grinning, "Naruto isn't playing with you anymore~"
Sasuke rolled his eyes in frustration, "Childish!"
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