Land of Rain.
Behind Konan, sheets of flawless white paper formed into a pair of angelic wings that lifted her whole body into the air.
Under Biwa Jūzō's upward gaze, Konan directly flew across the gorge and landed on the side where he and the wood clone stood.
The wings behind her scattered with a roar. Her expression did not change as she touched down, paper forming beneath her toes to hold her up.
So not a speck of muddy rain-soaked ground stained her body.
Seeing her fly over so brazenly without caution, Biwa Jūzō realized what Uchiha Keizumi's wood clone had said was right — this woman was definitely a clone! If she were the real one, she wouldn't dare face the "Lava Release Monster" alone. Unless, of course, she also knew this was just a wood clone.
That thought flashing through Biwa Jūzō's mind nearly tangled him up in the word "clone."
"The task I gave you… was to obtain certain special intelligence. Not to betray Akatsuki by bringing him to the Land of Rain." Konan's amber eyes swept toward Biwa Jūzō. "When you joined Akatsuki, I warned you already. Betraying Akatsuki comes at a cost beyond your imagination. At such a time, 'death' might even be a luxury."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa…"
Biwa Jūzō flatly denied it. "Don't project your malicious assumptions onto me. Did you ever say I couldn't bring Uchiha Keizumi over?"
He paused, then pressed on under Konan's increasingly frosty look: "What's more…"
"The man who knows Uchiha Madara's secrets standing before you — doesn't that help you understand him better? Isn't that exactly what you want?"
Biwa Jūzō exhaled. Things had come to this, so he could only toughen his stance.
He looked straight at Konan and went on: "Or is it that this so-called Lava Release Monster of Konoha frightens you? Strictly speaking, I've overfulfilled the task you gave me. Surely our Akatsuki organization wouldn't discard a newcomer like a worn-out tool, right?!"
Konan gave Biwa Jūzō a long look.
Then, without changing her expression, she turned her gaze to Uchiha Keizumi's wood clone.
She said, "Even here in the Land of Rain, your name is well known. Uchiha Keizumi, the Uchiha genius who rose during the Third Shinobi World War; the founder of the shinobi way of [Absolute Justice]; the man who dared kill the Land of Fire's daimyō alone and still escaped the capital alive."
"You may not know it, but your deeds have already spread throughout the entire shinobi world. Many gossips have even begun confusing you with your clan's ancestor Uchiha Madara, believing you to be his second coming."
Here Konan's eyes narrowed slightly.
"As far as I know… 'Uchiha Madara' seems quite interested in you. He has been secretly investigating everything about you. That makes me realize you must hold some secret concerning him."
"We can make a deal. The Akatsuki can help you kill someone — anyone, as long as it's within Akatsuki's capabilities."
"What you need to give the Akatsuki is the secret of Uchiha Madara."
The air suddenly fell silent. Rain began to fall again in a fine drizzle. Konan did not bother to use her shikigami paper to shield herself from the rain; she let the raindrops soak her, the black robe with red clouds clinging to her body, a few strands of hair stuck together against her pale face.
Biwa Jūzō felt the atmosphere grow somewhat heavy; he inexplicably felt a little nervous, and thought it rather absurd.
He, one of the seven swordsmen of the Mist — actually feeling nervous in a scene like this? If word got out it would be embarrassing.
Uchiha Keizumi's wooden clone finally spoke. He, too, stared directly at Konan, meeting those amber eyes and said, "I don't need the Akatsuki to help me kill anyone. If we must trade intelligence for conditions, the best terms would be to have every core member of your Akatsuki led by the neck and slaughtered."
Konan was taken aback.
A trace of annoyance flashed across that cold, lofty face.
Before she could speak, Keizumi's wooden clone continued expressionlessly, "However… if publishing that guy's information to the public could trip him up a bit and make his life worse, I'd be quite willing to do that."
"If that brain-damaged bootlicker could die because of that, all the better — even if he doesn't die by my hand, but dies in internecine strife among villains."
"Besides, Uchiha Obito's secret isn't even a secret to me; it isn't even worth calling intelligence."
Keizumi's wooden clone's blunt words rendered Konan momentarily stunned.
For a moment she didn't even have time to dwell on being sneered at as a "villain."
Konan frowned. "Uchiha… Obito?!"
"You tell it." The wooden clone glanced at Biwa Jūzō.
"Huh? Me?" Biwa Jūzō broke into a sweat; he noticed Konan looking at him too.
Gah! This guy had dragged him into it — wasn't that plainly implying that he also knew the 'Uchiha Madara' secret but hadn't proactively reported it to that woman?
At this moment, Biwa Jūzō could only take a deep breath.
After calming himself, he put on a strained face and simply recounted everything he knew.
Konan listened in dead silence.
She suddenly felt absurd… A Uchiha kid younger than her had actually fooled both her and Nagato.
The other party was simply a Konoha genin named Uchiha Obito; the so-called "Uchiha Madara" was merely the other party bluffing.
But Konan did not think this intelligence was false.
Because only that way could it explain why "Uchiha Madara" cared so much about Uchiha Keizumi.
All the doubts were answered at that moment.
They did not know how long they remained silent, nor how long it took to absorb such staggering information
Konan's expression finally showed some fluctuation.
She looked deeply at Uchiha Keizumi. "You traveled 500 kilometers from the Land of Fire to the Land of Rain to tell me all these secrets without asking for anything in return, only simply to make Uchiha Obito suffer? Honestly, I don't believe that. My subconscious tells me your purpose in coming to the Land of Rain is definitely not so simple."
——Of course it's not that simple! Do you think this guy is targeting just one Uchiha Obito? He's targeting the entire Akatsuki!
Biwa Jūzō secretly muttered a few complaints in his mind.
"But a man like you—so long as you don't say it, probably no one in the world could guess what you're thinking." Before the wooden clone could speak, Konan continued, "Whatever your purpose may be, I'll give you just one piece of advice."
"Don't naively think that with your so-called absolute-justice ninja way you can contend against the entire Akatsuki. Stay away from the world you shouldn't be touching, that way you might live a little longer — consider this a reminder given in return for your selfless sharing of intelligence."
Then she turned to Biwa Jūzō: "I still doubt your loyalty to the Akatsuki. This mission doesn't count, because you caused complications and did unnecessary things."
Biwa Jūzō: "???"
He had nearly lost his life in Konoha, and yet this suspicious woman still wanted to exploit him, a newcomer?
However...
Her words also meant he had not been expelled from the Akatsuki.
Biwa Jūzō felt that this woman was only doing so on account of Uchiha Keizumi. She wanted to keep him as a channel of communication with Uchiha Keizumi. He, once a member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, had now become a mere tool, a mouthpiece!
Biwa Jūzō suddenly realized Konan's true intent.
While his thoughts were running wild, Biwa Jūzō saw with his own eyes wings regenerate behind Konan.
But at that moment—
A kunai grazed past Biwa Jūzō's ear and, in the blink of an eye, pierced Konan's throat.
"To let someone like you, putting on a high-and-mighty act and treating the lives of innocents as child's play, leave here unscathed—even if only a paper clone—still feels thoroughly unpleasant."
The wooden clone spoke indifferently.
Konan narrowed her eyes, her body instantly scattering into countless sheets of paper.
She… was indeed also a clone.
"Truly cautious." Biwa Jūzō looked at the fluttering paper talismans and clicked his tongue. "If she'd come in person, she might have fallen into our hands."
As soon as those words left his mouth, Biwa Jūzō froze for a moment.
Something was wrong!
Why had he said 'fallen into our hands'? Since when had he instinctively assumed he would cooperate with Uchiha Keizumi to wipe out the Akatsuki?
Damn! Could it be I've been brainwashed by his [Absolute Justice]?
Was it Sharingan genjutsu?
When did it happen?
…
"Huff… instantly destroying my paper clone before it even had time to react — he's truly formidable."
Inside the Akatsuki base within the Land of Rain, Konan exhaled slowly.
The paper clone's memories surged into her mind all at once, making her brow crease slightly.
Only after quite a while did she settle herself.
"Him?" Nagato's brows furrowed as well. "The one who met your clone was that newcomer Biwa Jūzō, right? He struck at your clone?"
"No."
Konan shook her head. "Biwa Jūzō may look untrustworthy and appear not fully loyal to the Akatsuki, but for now he doesn't have the guts to strike at a core member of Akatsuki. The one who destroyed my paper clone was Uchiha Keizumi of Konoha."
Nagato's expression flickered with a trace of strangeness. "He came to the Land of Rain?"
"Mhm."
Konan nodded. "Exactly the same as the rough intelligence we first heard — he's very hard to communicate with and obstinate to the extreme. I don't even really understand what he's trying to do."
She recounted what had just happened, and Nagato pondered deeply. "He just so simply told you the information."
"Nagato."
Konan cut off Nagato's thoughts. "The intelligence Uchiha Keizumi holds concerning 'Uchiha Madara' is indeed astonishing. The truth is—Uchiha Madara has long been dead. The one cooperating with us is a Konoha shinobi named Uchiha Obito."
"Hah!"
A shadow passed through Konan's eyes. "In other words, a Konoha genin once stood before you and me, arrogant and instructing us what to do. He was just a petty little Konoha brat hiding his head and showing his tail!"
"Biwa Jūzō told me… Uchiha Obito is Jiraiya-sensei's disciple's disciple, and his sensei was Namikaze Minato. Strictly speaking, he is our junior—and Yahiko's junior as well."
Konan's voice still echoed faintly in the pitch-black cavern.
No matter what purpose Uchiha Obito had, whether he was truly of one mind with the Akatsuki—
In Konan's eyes, deception was intolerable. When she realized he had deceived her, and with a colossal lie at that, she no longer trusted Uchiha Obito in the slightest.
Nagato sank into a long silence.
"Nagato." Konan continued, "Biwa Jūzō… he also spoke on behalf of Uchiha Keizumi, describing Uchiha Obito's abilities and pointing out his weaknesses in particular."
"In front of you and me…"
"He now holds no more secrets!"
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