Inside a dark cave, several figures shimmered faintly with multicolored light as they performed hand seals toward a container. A massive amount of chakra flowed through thin threads into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Once all the chakra within the container had vanished, two of the statue's nine eyes were open.
After finishing this process, Pain—possessing the Rinnegan—spoke first: "There are nine tailed beasts in total. We've completed two already. Seven remain. Each squad has been assigned to capture two. Since our collection of the tailed beasts has begun, we must accelerate our pace."
"That's right," Sasori said, "As for the One-Tail, I will handle it myself. After all, it's my former village—I'm quite familiar with it."
"It doesn't matter to us which two we get. Either will do just fine," said a voice laced with sinister amusement.
"Hey, Kisame, don't act like your team's the strongest or anything! Me and Kakuzu could take out every last one of them on our own, no problem!" shouted an arrogant voice.
Kakuzu coldly replied, "Hidan, shut up."
The only female member, Konan, spoke up, "Of the nine tailed beasts, eight have already had their locations confirmed. However, the Three-Tails hasn't appeared in recent years. Despite Akatsuki investing considerable manpower trying to locate it over these past few years, no trace of it has ever been found."
Hearing this, the members of Akatsuki fell silent. It was indeed very strange—a wild tailed beast should find it difficult to stay hidden so perfectly according to logic. Could it be that some organization had already captured it and hidden it away?
Considering this, Pain said, "Kisame, the Three-Tails used to belong to Kirigakure Village. You're most familiar with it, plus you specialize in Water Release techniques. Furthermore, Samehada in your possession also shares a connection with it. Therefore, capturing this tailed beast shall be assigned to your team."
Kisame glanced at his partner and happily agreed, "With Itachi's Sharingan available, locating a wild tailed beast won't be any trouble at all. No problem."
"Good. If that's settled, then we'll disband now."
Back inside the cave, all the colorful lights disappeared, leaving complete darkness behind—as if nobody had ever been there before—except for the eerie glow from two pupils belonging to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Following the conclusion of the Chunin Exams, Tenten said goodbye to Sasori with a bright smile, finally having shared her feelings. Remaining ninjas from different countries began returning to their respective villages, eager to share news about the brand-new Sunagakure Village. As for Sasori's speech, barely anyone really paid attention to what he was saying.
Right now within Sunagakure Village, a similar conversation was happening between Sasori and Anya.
"For more than two years, I've sent numerous members from Zero Organization to investigate potential appearances of the Three-Tails, yet all attempts turned up nothing—not even Akatsuki succeeded in finding anything."
If previously Sasori had confidence in locating a wild Three-Tails, after more than two years, he had long lost that certainty. Instead, confusion overwhelmed him.
There were very few things nowadays that could truly challenge Sasori. Anya thus started taking this issue seriously and asked, "When did the Three-Tails appear last?"
"For this, Sasori had already done his research and quickly said, 'From what I know, that traces back to more than ten years ago. Anbu members from Kirigakure used a secret jutsu to implant the Three-Tails into a kunoichi of Konoha. They wanted the tailed beast inside her body to cause chaos in Konoha. Eventually, this kunoichi was killed on her way back to the village, and the Three-Tails vanished ever since.'
After finishing his explanation, Sasori noticed Anya fall into deep thought, his brows furrowed and a shadow of sorrow crossing his face.
'Big Brother Kurotsuchi, what's wrong?' Sasori asked, puzzled.
Anya snapped out of it, sighed, and said, 'That kunoichi—I knew her. Never thought so many years have passed already. Technically speaking, she was even someone I trained myself.'
Sasori's voice grew sharp with anger, 'Damn those Mist ninjas! First the Seven Swordsmen, now these Anbu squads… What if we just wiped them all out?'
'Hahaha,' Anya let out a bitter smile. His first wife was over there—she would eventually become the Mizukage. If he went ahead and destroyed her village, there's no way she wouldn't fight him to the death.
Noticing Anya's silence, Sasori curiously asked, 'What exactly did you teach her?'
'Spirit Transformation Technique,' Anya praised. '[Spirit Transformation Technique] If not for my naturally strong soul, her mastery of the Spirit Transformation Technique would surpass mine. What a pity…'
Anya's eyes revealed endless regret, his hatred toward Madara growing even stronger.
'Truly unfortunate indeed for such a soul genius to...' Suddenly stopping himself mid-sentence, Sasori's mind flashed with inspiration.
At the same time, Anya's expression transformed from regret into shock. Their eyes met, both having realized the same possibility simultaneously.
Sasori meaningfully said, 'No wonder we couldn't find any trace of the Three-Tails despite both of our groups' efforts. If our guess is correct, Big Brother Kurotsuchi, perhaps you're the only one capable of locating it throughout the entire ninja world.'
A faint smile involuntarily surfaced on Anya's face as he spoke with restrained excitement, 'Let's hope our guess turns out right.'
Could that girl, once like an angel, really meet us again? Filled with expectation, Anya desperately wanted to set off immediately.
Still, he held himself back. Searching aimlessly like this would only be a waste of time. If their guess proved accurate, he should first ask Organization members to pinpoint several most likely locations where the Three-Tails might appear. Having specific targets would make searching much more efficient.
'My puppets and Deidara will arrive at Sunagakure soon. Big Brother Kurotsuchi, what's your plan?'
Anya shot back with a smirk, 'What do you think?'
After pondering briefly, Sasori said, 'I think Deidara seems quite promising. Why don't we take this opportunity to invite him to join us?'
'Alright. Come to think of it, there's also some history between me and that kid.' Anya recalled that man's father, who had been willing to sacrifice himself for his child.
Now that Anya himself had become a father, he could better understand that man's feelings.
At Anya's nod, Sasori lit up and quickly made his way to the Kazekage's Office ahead of time to wait.
On a moonless, wind-swept night, a purely white large bird circled above Sunagakure. The village's barrier might as well have been nonexistent before it.
After figuring out the positions of the guards, several small birds dropped from the sky and landed on the shoulders of the Suna Ninja.
Before the Suna ninja could even realize what was happening, strange sensations crept over their bodies.
A voice echoed through the air: [Drink].
The white birds instantly exploded, attacking the Suna ninja, who collapsed to the ground unconscious.
"[Infiltration successful.]" A Man with a yellow ponytail descended from the sky, proudly shouting.
Before he could savor his pride for even two seconds, the Suna ninja who had just fallen to the ground suddenly stood up, and a mechanical voice sounded: "So you've finally arrived. You sure took your time. I've never liked waiting for people. Come with me."
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