"Cough, cough, cough, cough…"
The arrival of the new year had cast a strange, wordless calm over the entire shinobi world.
But in the Land of Rice Fields, within the walls of Otogakure, Orochimaru—seated among stacks of documents—frowned the moment he heard the sound of coughing.
"Is it getting worse again?"
The cough, of course, came from Kimimaro, and it was beginning to irritate Orochimaru more than he'd care to admit.
Last time, he'd thought of seeking out Tsunade in hopes of finding a solution to Kimimaro's condition… only to unexpectedly run into Jiraiya instead.
That stroke of bad luck had seriously soured his mood. And just thinking about Danzo made his expression turn dangerous.
He was almost certain: the moment he set foot in Amegakure, Danzo would leak his movements to Jiraiya.
"He might even give me intel on Jiraiya himself—let Jiraiya waste his time chasing ghosts while Danzo takes the credit for feeding me the lead. Tch…"
You really had to hand it to him—this guy had almost become Hokage. Tricks like these were near-impossible to hide from his eyes.
"…Still, I'll let it slide this time, seeing as he's been pretty diligent with the funding."
Orochimaru cast a glance at his newly built laboratory. In the end, he decided not to stir up trouble with Danzo for now.
That man was still useful—and, to be fair, was practically a major shareholder in Otogakure's operations. Orochimaru figured it was best to leave it be… for now.
But he wasn't going to forget this.
"Kimimaro's condition, though… that's the real problem."
He stood and walked over to Kimimaro, who immediately began to rise as well.
"Orochimaru-sama."
"Don't move. Just stay seated."
With a single hand, Orochimaru pushed Kimimaro back down, then began carefully examining the state of his body.
"…So it's getting worse, huh?"
As he felt the uncontrollable, violently surging Yang Release chakra raging inside Kimimaro, Orochimaru found himself genuinely troubled.
The power was immense—but the stronger it grew, the more deadly it became.
He had considered it—just like when dealing with the cells of Senju Hashirama, he thought about using the Sharingan to neutralize the imbalance in Kimimaro's condition.
"The problem is, I can't find anything suitable to counterbalance it. And the stronger that force gets, the more it devours him… if this keeps up…"
Orochimaru had essentially already pronounced a death sentence. At this rate, Kimimaro wouldn't last more than a year or two.
It irritated him more than he cared to admit. This vessel—painstakingly cultivated—was really going to fall apart because of some so-called Kekkei Genkai illness?
"What a shame… If you'd had time to fully mature, you might've even been a match for Jiraiya's new student."
Orochimaru sighed inwardly. But there was nothing he could do about it now.
And thinking of that "new student" of Jiraiya's—his mood dipped even further. That brat really wasn't ordinary.
He had actually defeated the Fourth Raikage… even severed the man's arm!
"Flying Thunder God Technique… Sage Mode… Tch, what a terrifying kid. Especially that Sage Mode—it takes an absurd amount of chakra to use. And yet he…"
Orochimaru unconsciously licked his lips, when suddenly—something clicked.
"An absurd amount of chakra, huh…"
Lowering his head, he turned his attention back to Kimimaro, sensing the rampaging Yang Release chakra within, the very chakra that was devouring his life from the inside out.
Then—an idea struck.
"Maybe… I've been thinking about this all wrong. Maybe I should try something else."
If that chakra was so voracious, so hungry for absorption, why not feed it?
Why not let it run its course—to the end—and see what remains?
Sure, it might kill Kimimaro. But at this point, the boy only had a year or two left anyway.
So why not take the gamble?
"Besides, it's hard to find something that naturally matches this power… but if it's just a massive, ownerless pool of chakra… that can be arranged."
Orochimaru's mind drifted deep into calculations.
...
Meanwhile, in the Land of Rain, within the shadows of Amegakure, Pain—newly restored through the Naraka Path—glanced at the projected figures in front of him and spoke in a detached voice.
"Since everyone is here… let us begin."
...
"Tch, what kind of mess is it this time?"
On the palm of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Hidan's phantom, as always, was running his mouth nonstop.
But after glancing at Pain, he suddenly grinned.
"And I heard you guys lost, huh? Tsk, tsk, how do you even lose an ambush?"
At those words, Kisame couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Uchiha Itachi and Pain, however, remained as calm as ever.
After all, they both knew exactly what kind of mental state Hidan was in.
Rather than wasting time dealing with this lunatic, it was better to focus on more important matters.
"The mission failed due to unexpected variables. We were exposed earlier than planned, and we underestimated Kitagawa Gen's capabilities."
Pain spoke indifferently.
"Still, we more or less accomplished our objective. But we must remain cautious—now is not the time to engage Konoha directly."
"Tch."
Hidan clicked his tongue again and pursed his lips. He wanted to mock them for acting so arrogant even after losing.
But after thinking about it, hadn't he lost too?
So in the end, he shut his mouth.
"Besides that, we need to continue our operations—to divert Konoha's attention. We also need new members."
Seeing that no one else spoke, Pain continued.
"The mission to recruit Deidara ended in failure. Our current personnel is still incomplete. If there's anyone worth recruiting or recommending, I expect you all to provide suggestions."
A shortage of powerful shinobi would severely impact the execution of future plans.
Nagato understood that well. But when it came to deciding who to recruit, even he didn't yet have a clear answer.
There were plenty of rogue shinobi in the ninja world, but those who were both strong and met Akatsuki's standards? Honestly, not that many.
Of course, to him, they were all more or less the same.
But even so, he had to consider the logistics and consequences of each operation.
"No solid recommendations for now—but there are a few candidates worth observing."
It was Black Zetsu, responsible for intelligence, who spoke up after some thought.
"Many ninja have defected from Kirigakure, including several from the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. We could start by targeting them."
"Aside from that, there are a few who've remained well hidden—yet possess formidable strength. Some are Konoha defectors. There are even remnants of the Sky Ninja who were supposed to be extinct."
"These individuals… might all be potential recruits."
Konoha defectors?
Pain couldn't help but glance at Uchiha Itachi upon hearing that. At the same time, he thought of Orochimaru—and that Uchiha Obito.
He suddenly realized something: the defection rate among Konoha shinobi was surprisingly high.
"I'll leave the scouting to you. You'll be in charge of assessing them. If they're suitable, we'll bring them in."
"No problem."
Black Zetsu nodded, and Pain said nothing more on the matter. His gaze turned toward Kakuzu and Sasori.
"How are your recoveries going?"
"We've mostly recovered," Kakuzu replied after a brief pause, catching Pain's gaze, "but we're still missing some key materials."
"I need to find a suitable, powerful Wind Release–type shinobi. That's not an easy task. So, I'll need more time to fully recover."
"Wind Release?"
Sasori turned his head at those words and gave Kakuzu a glance.
He immediately realized—they were thinking the same thing. Kakuzu also wanted to find a Wind Release user and use their body to craft a human puppet!
Sasori considered Kitagawa Gen's Flying Thunder God Technique to be a real nuisance.
If he wasn't careful with those kunai marked with seals, he could easily fall victim to them.
Especially when paired with that Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique—it became nearly impossible to distinguish the real attacker from the fakes. He couldn't afford to overlook a single one.
Wind Release—was the best countermeasure against those kunai!
'That bastard's not thinking of competing with me, is he?'
Sasori frowned to himself. Even within the same organization, none of them revealed their most guarded secrets.
Just like no one knew the true state of his body—or even where his core was—he had no idea what secrets Kakuzu held either.
"My Third Kazekage puppet has been repaired, but I need to replenish my other puppets."
That was what he thought internally, but he also voiced part of his situation aloud.
"So I plan to take a trip to the Land of Wind and see if I can make up for what I've lost."
"The Land of Wind?"
Kakuzu raised an eyebrow. The Land of Wind was a desolate, unforgiving place, but it probably had more Wind Release users than anywhere else.
Thinking that, he cast a quick glance at Sasori, and a notion was already forming in his mind.
But that look happened to be caught by Sasori—instantly deepening his unease.
'Damn it… That bastard really is trying to compete with me?!'
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