Outside the Akatsuki's base, Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki were still deep in their conversation with Emiya Shirou. Both were surprised by how much attention Shirou was paying to Sasuke Uchiha.
"So, what do we do?" Kisame asked, gripping his blade, Samehada.
He sighed, looking helpless. "Itachi, if your little brother ends up leading the Akatsuki, that doesn't sound too good for you, does it?"
"…"
A hint of worry crossed Itachi's face. He never expected his younger brother would one day be valued this highly, especially by a major figure like Emiya Shirou.
Honestly, the role of Akatsuki's leader was nothing but trouble.
Of course, Itachi felt a bit reassured knowing that Shirou saw potential in Sasuke. Even the idea that Sasuke might one day awaken the Rinnegan put him somewhat at ease.
But Itachi would much rather his brother live a peaceful life in Konoha, grow strong enough to protect himself, and just be a normal ninja.
Unfortunately, Emiya Shirou had given them a mission, and they couldn't refuse his orders. Even if they did, plenty of others in the Akatsuki would carry it out, and who knew what those maniacs would do?
At worst, breaking Sasuke's legs and dragging him back would be one of the gentler outcomes.
"We should report this to Obito," Itachi said. "He has the Rinnegan now and is waiting for our intel on the Akatsuki. He seems eager to take over…"
"Looking at it now," Kisame observed, glancing at Itachi, "Emiya Shirou really doesn't seem to want Obito in charge. He'd rather have your brother lead the Akatsuki in the future."
"Or," Kisame added with a dark chuckle, "you could just kill your brother, Itachi. That would save you a lot of trouble and let Obito's plan move forward smoothly."
"…"
Itachi froze for a moment before simply replying that he'd "need to think it over."
This is bad. Sasuke might be in real danger!
If Obito found out that his brother had a chance of awakening the Rinnegan and was Emiya Shirou's chosen successor, he might just try to kill Sasuke. Itachi and Kisame both knew the conflict between Obito and Emiya was all about control of the Akatsuki.
Now that Shirou was backing a twelve-year-old, the unstable Obito certainly wouldn't take it well. Even if there was just a chance… if Itachi couldn't bring Sasuke to the Akatsuki to protect him, Obito might kill him just to derail Shirou's plans.
And in fact, that was exactly the issue.
When Obito received this news, he was seriously stressed. He had hoped Orochimaru's Impure World Reincarnation and the revived Hokage could handle Emiya Shirou, but instead, he watched Shirou wipe the floor with the Hokage in a 4-0 victory.
So, fine. Obito had settled for getting the Rinnegan, hoping it would force Emiya Shirou and Black Zetsu to the negotiating table to discuss the Eye of the Moon plan.
Who knew Shirou would just ignore his threats completely?
How is this possible? Can there really be a spare Rinnegan just lying around? And that brat Sasuke has a shot at awakening it?
"Wait," Orochimaru hissed when he heard Obito's thoughts, almost snapping. "Let me get this straight. We betrayed Emiya Shirou to get the Rinnegan, and now your plan is to try and negotiate with him?"
"…"
Obito gave Orochimaru a strange look. What else was there to do?
The Eye of the Moon plan depended on the Rinnegan.
With it in his possession, shouldn't Emiya Shirou be forced to talk?
"Should we just get rid of that brat Sasuke?" Obito muttered, frowning as he considered Kisame's report. He really didn't want another Rinnegan popping up in the world.
At least, not right now.
The only problem was that Obito needed Sasuke's Mangekyo Sharingan to awaken his own. If he killed Sasuke now, he might have to deal with an angry Itachi later on.
But Orochimaru had another idea. "You seem stuck. If Itachi and Kisame are on your side, we could try luring Sasuke over here—"
Orochimaru was not happy with his results from the Chunin Exams. He'd missed out on key curse mark subjects and failed to achieve his main goal.
The moment he heard Sasuke might awaken the Rinnegan, he saw a new opportunity. If possible, he could steal Sasuke's body and have a shot at getting the Rinnegan for himself one day.
But that plan had its own complications.
After Itachi got word from Obito that Orochimaru was planning to abduct Sasuke, he realized his little brother now had another path available to him. Compared to Emiya Shirou, the ridiculously powerful medical ninja,
Orochimaru seemed more… human. His power wasn't as terrifying, and Itachi was confident he could probably handle him if needed.
As for Emiya Shirou… the man's morals were solid, but his power was just terrifyingly overpowered.
While Itachi weighed these options, he never once considered what his little brother actually wanted. As usual, the older brother assumed he could arrange the safest path for Sasuke, just like when he thought slaughtering his parents and clan was the best way to protect him.
But Sasuke Uchiha was his own person.
And right now, all Sasuke wanted was more power so he could kill Itachi, not walk a path someone else laid out for him.
Unfortunately, Sasuke couldn't see a way to get stronger.
His teammate, Naruto Uzumaki, was growing more powerful by the day and now had Jiraiya as a teacher—a mentor far more capable than their squad leader, Kakashi.
"Sorry, Sasuke, Sakura," Naruto said, apologizing as he prepared to leave. "I'm going to be leaving Team 7 for a while to train with Master Jiraiya."
"Oh, that's actually—" Sakura began, a look of excitement on her face.
With Naruto gone, Team 7 would be just her and her beloved Sasuke, right?
"I get it," Sasuke said with a frown.
He wasn't sad to see Naruto go, but he was tense about his own future. Naruto had found his path to strength. But what about him?
What was he supposed to do?
If he just kept going like this, when would he ever be strong enough to beat Itachi?
As he and Sakura watched Naruto leave with Jiraiya, Sasuke was left feeling completely lost. He had no idea what his future held. Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin, had never shown any interest in taking him as a student.
Kakashi could see Sasuke's confusion, but he was busy with Tsunade's transition to Hokage and didn't have time for either Sasuke or Sakura.
And in that moment of vulnerability, someone saw their chance.
Orochimaru, hood pulled low, and Obito, hiding beside him, were watching Sasuke from the shadows. Since Orochimaru hadn't lost much during the exams (just three of his major curse-marked followers), he had to come personally to lure Sasuke away.
Watching Sasuke's every move, Orochimaru understood the feeling of being lost better than anyone. At a time like this, all someone needs is a guide.
This was the perfect opportunity to abduct the kid.
At the same time, Itachi and Kisame arrived outside Konoha. Even though they had already passed intel to Obito, they still had to show up and maintain their cover for Emiya Shirou's assignment. Even if it was all just for show, they had to give their master a report.
"Obito and Orochimaru are here too," Kisame mentioned, referring to the orders Obito had given them. "We're just going to sneak into Konoha and make a scene. Let Obito and Orochimaru grab your brother, and we'll report back to the big boss."
"That will be hard to pull off without anyone noticing, won't it?" Itachi asked, his eyes lowered.
"Not much we can do about it," Kisame chuckled, laying out their plan. "As long as we don't bring your brother back, Obito will be able to force Shirou back to the table to renegotiate the Eye of the Moon plan."
"…"
Itachi fell silent.
So… Emiya Shirou had nothing to say about this?
Shirou always knew he and Kisame were Obito's plants. He was a double agent, feeding information to Obito while also reporting to Shirou about Obito and Orochimaru's plot.
But Emiya Shirou seemed to be doing nothing. Was he really just going to let Orochimaru take Sasuke?
Of course not. Impossible.
Even if Shirou seemed kind and open-minded, he wouldn't just shrug off Obito and Orochimaru betraying him—especially not when they were trying to abduct someone he had personally invested in.
But Emiya Shirou needed time. He needed Black Zetsu and White Zetsu to find his other associate.
In the Land of Rain, Black Zetsu finally brought Emiya Shirou an important message. Ever since the Chunin Exams ended, the Zetsus had been hunting relentlessly for the other Rinnegan.
Now, they had finally found the person who secretly took it from Danzo Shimura. They had even uncovered the man's hidden secrets.
"Wei Yuan, you'll never guess," Black Zetsu reported. "Orochimaru's underling, Kabuto Yakushi, is the one who secretly took the Rinnegan that Danzo snatched!"
"That guy has kept it hidden. He's also learned Orochimaru's Impure World Reincarnation and has been secretly collecting the bodies of powerful ninja. I've even let him discover Madara's corpse…"