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***
"Impossible! I felt it when I broke the control of the wooden man's eye power. It was him, absolutely!"
Itachi Uchiha said firmly.
Although he had never fought the masked man, Madara, during the Akatsuki period, he could discern his eye power.
The man who controlled the wooden man to attack Konoha was the same man he would later meet.
"As expected, it was you who did it. Your slumber is the price of forcibly using the Mangekyō."
Minato Namikaze lowered his eyes and said, "Itachi, do you remember what you said to me when we first met?"
"Reality is not what you believe," he said, gazing at Itachi.
"Have you fought him?"
"No," Itachi shook his head, adding, "You should have defeated him. That was because of the battle at the Valley of the End."
In his opinion, the masked man had gone into hiding because he had been severely injured in the battle with the First Hokage, resulting in a significant decline in his strength.
"I'm not talking about strength," Minato analyzed.
"A person's appearance, voice, strength, and even habits can change, but some things are absolutely immutable."
"No matter how Madara's strength has declined, the man I fought two years ago had far less combat experience. Therefore, he couldn't be the real Madara."
Just like Itachi, though reborn with a five-year-old body and much less powerful than before, his mindset and past experience haven't significantly diminished.
"Perhaps from the very beginning, from the Nine-Tails incident you know about, the person who controlled the Nine-Tails and attacked Konoha wasn't Madara."
Itachi's reaction now resembled Minato's, his understanding shattered and his mind struggling to accept it.
"Please tell me the details of your encounter with the masked man," Itachi said.
However, precisely because he knew this best, he needed to immediately learn the details of that night from Minato before making his own judgment.
Minato hid nothing from him, revealing every detail, from Kushina Uzumaki's encounter to the masked man's rescue by a mysterious entity.
Itachi was initially shocked but soon calmed down.
Minato admired the boy before him, hoping to draw his own conclusions from the information he'd gathered.
He was truly a rational ninja.
Given Itachi's personality, he must have come to him out of sheer urgency, a decision he'd made out of sheer desperation.
Minato couldn't help but wonder what had happened in the village since his death that had complicated Itachi's future.
Itachi was undoubtedly a ninja willing to sacrifice himself to protect the village, but his understanding of the masked man suggested they must have had many interactions.
But the village and the masked man were clearly two diametrically opposed factions.
After digesting Minato's information, Itachi pondered for a moment, then whispered, "Hokage-sama, you're correct. It seems that man is definitely not Madara."
The masked man described by Minato differed dramatically from the Madara Itachi knew, both in style and experience.
Eight years had passed between the Nine-Tails incident and Itachi's first encounter with the masked man outside Nanga Shrine.
Furthermore, although Itachi had been deceived by him and his perception of the masked man's identity was incorrect, one thing was certain.
"Even if he's not Madara, he must be closely connected to him."
Itachi looked at Minato calmly.
"Well, it seems that the battle at the Valley of the End wasn't what the world believed. In the end, it was entirely the First Hokage's victory."
This was also Minato's conclusion.
He had been constantly gathering information on the matter for the past two years.
Finally, he came to a shocking conclusion.
"Perhaps, even the First Hokage at the time didn't know the true outcome."
In reality, to them, the masked man's true identity was not that important.
His existence already posed a threat to Konoha and even the entire ninja world.
"The ability to penetrate others' attacks and then materialize to attack."
Itachi lowered his eyes.
Given the masked man's eye technique, the power he had injected into Sasuke Uchiha before his death was completely useless.
"I think I can answer some of your questions now," he said to Minato.
"The white object attached to the masked man at that time should be Zetsu."
"And in the end, it should be Zetsu who helped him escape."
"Zetsu? So it wasn't some special object, but a special life form?"
Minato was surprised.
Judging from the physical signs revealed by the white object on the masked man at that time, it should not be an ordinary human.
Itachi nodded and said, "Zetsu is responsible for intelligence gathering in the organization 'Akatsuki' controlled by the masked man."
"It has the ability to possess others and imitate any chakra fluctuations."
"Akatsuki?"
Although Zetsu's information was incredulous to Minato, the name of the organization Itachi mentioned caught his attention even more.
"Isn't that the name of the organization founded by three of Jiraiya's disciples in the Land of Rain a few years ago?"
As far as Minato knew, Akatsuki had been destroyed by Hanzo, the leader of the Land of Rain, near the end of the Third Shinobi World War.
Jiraiya's three disciples had also been completely lost in that incident, presumably killed.
"The Akatsuki you're talking about is the same organization I'm talking about," Itachi said.
Minato's face showed shock.
"Then what kind of organization is this Akatsuki controlled by the masked man?"
The Akatsuki founded by Jiraiya's disciples aimed to achieve peace.
"Akatsuki, a terrorist organization that brought together S-rank defectors from various countries during that period, acted to achieve a specific goal."
"How could such a thing be possible!"
Minato exclaimed in shock, because in the ninja world, every defector ninja who could be designated an S-rank defector possessed immense strength.
Just like Orochimaru, who had just been labeled an S-rank traitor by Konoha, he was considered one of the Sannin, a legendary ninja.
Orochimaru had once competed with Minato for the position of the Fourth Hokage.
It could be said that a traitor of this caliber was practically equivalent to one of the Five Kage of the Five Great Ninja Nations.
While there wouldn't be many S-rank traitors, the gathering of such powerful ninjas, commanded by the masked man, was a force that could threaten the Five Great Ninja Nations at any moment.
"Although the masked man controlled this organization, he wasn't the leader. Someone else was."
"As the leader, the man who ostensibly led the entire Akatsuki organization, his name was Pain. He possessed the power of the Rinnegan," Itachi continued.
To prevent a repeat of Orochimaru's defection, he planned to share all the information he could with Minato.
...
"The Rinnegan?!"
The usually calm Minato Namikaze was once again shocked by Itachi Uchiha's information.
After the incident two years ago, the authenticity of Itachi's information was no longer in doubt.
In fact, he had learned from Jiraiya-sensei that one of his disciples in the Land of Rain possessed the Rinnegan, the supreme eye technique possessed by the legendary Sage of the Six Paths, the founder of the ninja clan.
But the name of that disciple wasn't Pain.
"Pain. Which village is he from?"
Minato demanded.
"I don't know much about Pain."
Itachi shook his head.
While he knew from the beginning that the masked man was the mastermind behind the Akatsuki organization, he knew little about the leader, Pain.
"The masked man knew I had entered Akatsuki as an undercover agent from Konoha, so he was wary of me."
"The only thing we can confirm is that the member who partnered with Pain, codenamed Angel, is the only woman in Akatsuki."
"The core members of Akatsuki all operate in teams of two."
For the village now, the most formidable enemy is the masked man and the future Akatsuki.
Itachi didn't intend to tell Minato about future historical developments, especially those involving the Uchiha clan's extermination and his joining Akatsuki.
This was because Itachi understood that his actions transcended ordinary human nature and ethics.
Human nature is the most difficult to control.
If Itachi had once killed his own parents to protect the village and avoid war in his previous life, then if he were to face a similar situation again after his rebirth, Itachi's decision would be difficult to control.
Even Itachi himself couldn't say what he would do if faced with the same choice.
From the Hokage's perspective, no matter who Minato was, he had to consider this.
Therefore, this information would be kept secret until Itachi had gained sufficient power.
"The other members of the Akatsuki organization are Sasori, the renegade ninja from the Sand Village, and Kakuzu, the S-rank renegade ninja from Takigakure."
"Kakuzu, is he still alive?"
This name is now unknown in the ninja world.
Even Minato only learned about it from a village scroll after becoming Hokage.
Decades ago, when the five major ninja nations were first established, some smaller ninja villages were dissatisfied with the policies implemented by the First Hokage.
In addition to the five major nations, several smaller nations with their own ninja villages existed, including Takigakure, which still exists today.
At that time, the Takigakure high command sent a ninja to assassinate the First Hokage, and that assassin was Kakuzu.
Minato found this history somewhat amusing when he first read it.
The First Hokage was hailed as the God of Shinobi by his time.
With the exception of Uchiha Madara, no one could compare to him.
However, according to the scroll, Kakuzu survived his failed assassination attempt on the First Hokage.
Yet, he has survived to this day, and even into the distant future, becoming a member of Akatsuki.
As for Sasori, he is considered the most vicious criminal in the history of the Sand Village.
Legend has it that he murdered the Third Kazekage of the Sand Village, who was only thirteen at the time.
The Third Kazekage's disappearance served as the catalyst for the Third Shinobi World War.
Both of these individuals are among the most troublesome figures in ninja history.
"Orochimaru once joined Akatsuki as a core member," Itachi said gravely.
Minato's eyes gradually lowered, a chilling murderous intent thickening in them.
"As for the other members of Akatsuki, they are still in their respective villages at this time, so we must do our utmost to prevent them from joining. This will make the masked man's goal even more difficult."
Deidara of Iwagakure is younger than Itachi, yet he was the most valued disciple of the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki.
Had he not rebelled, he might have inherited the throne of the Fourth Tsuchikage.
Hidan of Yugakure probably doesn't yet possess the power he would later achieve.
As for Kisame, he should be the only one in Akatsuki who knows the true status of the masked man besides Pain, Angel, and Itachi.
As Itachi's partner, Kisame is actually monitoring his every move.
However, although they have different philosophies and cannot work together, this does not prevent Itachi from admiring him very much.
"I will keep an eye on these people."
After learning this information, Minato will naturally pay close attention to these members who may become Akatsuki's recruitment targets.
However, after the end of the Third Shinobi World War, the Hidden Mist Village has been in a closed state for a long time.
"Also, regarding the Hidden Mist Village, the masked man may be hiding there now."
Itachi calculated the time, because the Fourth Mizukage of the Hidden Mist should be taking over soon.
"Do you know Yagura?" Itachi asked.
Minato paused for a moment, then said, "He's said to be the current Jinchūriki of the Three-Tails from the Hidden Mist Village."
While information about the Jinchūriki was top secret among each village, information involving the Tailed Beasts was naturally a key focus for the five major ninja villages.
"He will likely succeed the Fourth Mizukage soon, under the control of the masked man."
"Control?"
Minato's eyes widened.
"In the near future, something shocking will happen in the Hidden Mist Village."
"The Fourth Mizukage will be manipulated, and the Hidden Mist Village will be ruled with bloody tactics for over a decade."
"And the only one who controls the Fourth Mizukage, a perfect Jinchūriki, is him," Itachi said.
Even with his peak Mangekyō pupil power, he couldn't control a perfect Jinchūriki for such a long time.
This was why he had once believed that the masked man controlling the Fourth Mizukage was Madara.
"This is far more complex than I imagined," Minato said gravely.
The Hidden Mist Village was one of the five great ninja villages.
If the masked man controlled its power, combined with Akatsuki, it would pose an immeasurable threat.
As for the Konoha ninja, even though they now knew the Hidden Mist Village's Fourth Mizukage was being manipulated, uncovering this conspiracy would be difficult.
This was also a thorn in Itachi's side, as the Hidden Mist Village ninjas only discovered the Fourth Mizukage's manipulation much later.
Given the Hidden Mist Village's style, communication with them was nearly impossible.
"Do you know what the masked man's ultimate goal, orchestrating the Nine-Tails to attack Konoha, controlling the Hidden Mist Village, and forming Akatsuki, has been planning for over a decade?"
Minato was still most concerned about the masked man's ultimate goal, as Itachi had previously stated.
Itachi immediately replied, "All of this preparation is to gain the power of the nine Tailed Beasts."
....
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