Some accounts should not be cross-referenced. For example, Black Zetsu never dared to compare notes with the Sage of Six Paths. Because if he did, some things just wouldn't add up, one of the liars would be exposed, and the consequences would be... unpleasant.
Orochimaru never imagined that on his very first day, he would face the risk of two cosmic-level masterminds comparing their stories.
"First, tell me," Shirou's voice was edged with dissatisfaction, "what exactly is going on? I seem to remember the Rinnegan was supposed to appear on Madara."
"Uh..." Black Zetsu fell silent. It had to say something, but it had to be the right something. It carefully selected pieces of the truth, weaving a narrative that painted it as a humble guide for world peace.
"It has been... a very long time. Madara's lifespan came to an end. Before that, he entrusted his Rinnegan to a boy named Nagato and asked me to guide him in the preliminary stages of the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan."
It continued, "But... this boy, Nagato, he met a companion named Yahiko. Yahiko wanted to carry on the will of peace you once left behind. He and Nagato founded the first generation of the Akatsuki, hoping to mediate wars between the great nations, just like you did."
"This isn't surprising; many who have suffered want to end war through mediation. But they all failed. Yahiko was no exception. The first-generation Akatsuki was ambushed by Danzo and Hanzo. Yahiko died. The organization began to change."
"Madara was also secretly guiding it, because he believed that such methods were ultimately only temporary. Nagato needed to... change."
Black Zetsu pressed on. "In order to lead Nagato onto the path of true, eternal peace, the dying Madara found another pawn named Obito Uchiha. In his and your name, he instructed Obito to impersonate him and guide Nagato to begin the first step of the plan: capturing the Tailed Beasts."
The Akatsuki's internal politics were a tangled mess. Obito was pretending to be Madara, who was supposedly acting on Shirou's will, all to gain Nagato's trust.
And... it worked.
The only two remaining founders, Nagato and Konan, were naturally converted. The only difference was that Obito had only told them the first step of the plan.
"Wei Yuan," Black Zetsu said, desperately needing Shirou to get with the program, "in the truest sense, you are the root of the Akatsuki's birth. Yahiko wanted to carry out the will of peace you once brought to this world. The current leader, Pain, is the Deva Path puppet Nagato created from Yahiko's corpse. Under our guidance, he believes he has been carrying out the second path you left for this world."
This, at least, was not a lie. Nagato and Konan genuinely believed it.
They had revered Shirou since Yahiko told them the stories. So when Obito showed up, using the names of Madara and Shirou, claiming they had despaired of this era and left another path, Yahiko was suspicious.
But after Yahiko's death, what choice did Nagato have but to believe?
"In other words," Shirou said, a dawning understanding on his face, "the Akatsuki are our companions."
Black Zetsu fought the urge to scream.
They're pawns! Tools!
But it couldn't say that. Not to Shirou, who would never treat people as pawns. "Yes," it conceded, then quickly added, "But their progress is a bit slow. To avoid the other villages from noticing their plan, the operation has yielded no results so far."
"And now we know those great nations have already noticed," White Zetsu piped up from the side. "Didn't Konoha's ninja, Orochimaru, already infiltrate?"
Thinking of this, Black Zetsu felt a throbbing headache.
What a bunch of useless wastes! What the hell is the Akatsuki even doing?
Randomly recruiting rogue ninjas without a single background check? And now a Konoha spy is in their ranks?
Maybe Konoha really did know their plan.
Fortunately, Shirou was back. With his power, even if it wasn't at its peak, Konoha's meddling wouldn't be a problem.
"We must get rid of this spy, Orochimaru, as soon as possible," White Zetsu suggested.
It's probably Danzo's doing, White Zetsu thought. He discovered the Akatsuki was revived and sent his pet snake to spy on us.
"Wei Yuan, you should retake control of our plan as soon as possible," Black Zetsu said, the headache worsening. It was starting to seriously doubt Obito's and Nagato's intelligence.
How could one spy make the entire organization look so incompetent?
It might as well go back to the old ways: hand everything over to Shirou and just wait for success.
Shirou had no objections. He needed to control the plan anyway, to insert his own real chance of resurrection and complete two mission requests that had been gathering dust for a thousand years.
-----
In a dark, underground cave, the Akatsuki's hidden base, a skinny, red-haired man sat in a wheelchair. The Rinnegan in his eyes slowly opened. It was Nagato. He had only created one Deva Path puppet so far, still familiarizing himself with his power.
"Do you really believe what that masked man and Zetsu said?" Konan asked, a hint of pain in her eyes as she looked at the increasingly frail Nagato. "Your body can't withstand its power."
"Compared to the pain of losing Yahiko," Nagato slammed a hand on his wheelchair, "this is nothing!" The black rods in his back were a constant burden, but nothing compared to the pain of that day. "It doesn't matter if what they said is true or false. The power in this Rinnegan is not fake. I will use it to help Yahiko achieve the peace he wanted!"
He closed his eyes, and the Deva Path Pain standing beside him opened its own. This was the Akatsuki's second leader, a puppet made from Yahiko's corpse, a way to help his deceased friend realize his ideal.
"Konan," Pain's voice was Yahiko's, but colder, more arrogant, "how is the recruitment going?"
"There are very few powerful S-rank rogue ninjas," Konan frowned. "And last time, Kakuzu killed his teammate again. We let him join on the condition of providing him with high-value missions. I didn't expect him to be so much trouble."
This was truly frustrating. Kakuzu was efficient, but he had a nasty habit of killing his partners for their bounties. And because the Akatsuki recruited from the ranks of S-rank rogues, they all had bounties.
Kakuzu was like a fox in their henhouse. Konan knew he used the money for good deeds—he'd even donated to the first-generation Akatsuki, citing their inheritance of Shirou's will—but that didn't change the fact that he kept killing his teammates.
Nagato felt a headache coming on, too. Even as the cold and ruthless Pain, he didn't want to deal with this old, bizarrely good-hearted man. "Find him a teammate with a low bounty," he suggested helplessly.
"A low bounty means they're not strong enough," Konan pointed out. "And he doesn't care. As long as they have a bounty, even if it's only 100,000 ryo, he'll kill them."
This was quite the pickle. It seemed no one could solve this problem, unless they found a teammate strong enough for Kakuzu to respect. But the man had lived for ages, even sheltering members of the Uzumaki clan, and was still kicking.
"Let Zetsu look again," Pain finally said. He couldn't kick Kakuzu out; he was too efficient. Plus, he was their angel investor.
In a way, he was more trustworthy than Obito and Zetsu.
"Zetsu is probably having a hard time too," Konan said, her expression subtle.
Just then, Zetsu's figure slowly emerged from the ground, a strange smile on its black-and-white face. "What am I having a hard time with?"
"Why are you here, Zetsu?" Konan instinctively moved to stand in front of Nagato.
"Of course, it's for business," White Zetsu said, emerging fully and smiling politely. "Konan, Nagato, get ready. A great figure wants to meet you."
"A great figure?" Konan frowned. That usually meant trouble.
"Perhaps," Black Zetsu's voice was still sinister, "no, I should say definitely, this is a great figure whom anyone in the ninja world would respect."
It glanced at Nagato. "Your luck is not bad. If you can gain his favor, then Nagato's body might have a hope of recovering."