"..."
Orochimaru realized the trouble.
Could the Red Sand Sasori really be so eloquent?
A baseless accusation was thrown at him out of nowhere?
"Alright."
Konan saw Orochimaru wanting to argue with the Red Sand Sasori about the issue and intervened to stop them, continuing: "For now, you two stay at the base and do your experiments. Once the organization gathers enough manpower, you'll go out for missions."
"Fine."
Orochimaru nodded with a smile.
If information were to leak in the future, it might arouse suspicions from Konan and Pain. He needed some time to focus on experiments anyway.
"I don't mind either."
The Red Sand Sasori didn't care much about this.
During this trip, the Red Sand Sasori gained a lot and needed time to digest his gains, repair his puppets, and attempt to modify his body.
"About the information leak..."
Konan was a bit displeased but couldn't blame anyone, so she said coldly: "As long as no information about Akatsuki is found outside, naturally they'll give up."
Normally, that's indeed the case.
Even if Jiraiya saw Orochimaru and the Red Sand Sasori wearing cloud black robes, knowing about a new organization in the Ninja World, there was still no channel to gather information, not even the organization's name.
Fortunately.
Jiraiya had a good student.
Just when Jiraiya was frustrated over not finding any information about the cloud black robe, while lingering in a tavern, someone mentioned something.
"I heard a noble spent five million ryo to get rid of his rival. Many people were killed by two people wearing cloud black robes, and only the porter lying in the puddle managed to escape!"
"..."
Jiraiya's ears perked up immediately. He lavishly spent 100,000 ryo to have that woman sit by him and tell the story in detail.
"Do customers like such scary stories?"
"Hahahaha..."
Jiraiya laughed, drinking a cup of sake, indicating for her to pour more: "I'm just curious about what kind of expert one would hire with so much money..."
Five million ryo!
That price was too high!
Even in Konoha, it would be an S-rank mission, involving tasks between nations, with a slight oversight possibly sparking a war!
"I heard it was due to a land property dispute and an ongoing feud between two nobles, so one hired someone to eliminate his rival..."
The woman pouring sake for Jiraiya recounted it all as hearsay, seeming like a rumor she overheard occasionally: "I heard those two wearing cloud black robes didn't notice everything while killing, allowing that porter to escape..."
"But that poor guy was already scared silly, calling them cloud black-robed devils, and later the porter was killed too, with the body dumped in a puddle, and as for the supposed five million ryo, it's all hearsay, not sure if it's true..."
"Oh? That story is interesting..."
Jiraiya caressed his cup, pondering for a while, then looked at the pretty waitress before him, suddenly asked with a blush: "By the way, beautiful lady, do you have a husband?"
"Yes..."
The waitress nodded.
"..."
Jiraiya immediately lost interest, waved, leaving a tip, and walked away, the drunkenness in his eyes vanished without a trace as he stepped out the door.
"The young man's teacher... is really generous..."
The waitress collected her tip, turning into the appearance of White Zetsu Ah Wei, sinking into the ground.
After a moment.
In a hotel room.
White Zetsu Ah Wei emerged quietly, watching Akihara Kagura still refining Chakra and reported: "Boy, I've done everything you said. This is the money your teacher gave me. He seems to have quite a bit of money..."
"..."
Akihara Kagura looked at the stack of money, slightly shocked: "Everyone usually pinches pennies for a glass of pear juice, but at a tavern, they're quite generous..."
"Since he has so much money, why not hire the Akatsuki Organization!"