Gaara is truly young.
After seeing Hatake Kakashi and Uehara Naraku express their intentions to report the matter to the high levels of their respective villages, Gaara was even somewhat eager.
Hatake Kakashi thought Gaara's proposal might have some feasibility, so he decided to return to Konoha immediately to report the matter to Tsunade.
Uehara Naraku thought Gaara's proposal was impossible to achieve; it was simply nonsense. However, he also had to return to the village under the pretense of reporting to Hanzo of the Salamander.
They had to part ways at this point.
Uzumaki Naruto smiled warmly as he waved goodbye to Uehara Naraku, hoping they would meet again: "Next time we meet, it might be when I bring back Sasuke. Then, we friends who once took the Chunin Examination together can reunite!"
"Indeed!"
Uehara Naraku also returned the friendly smile.
Uehara's smile was genuinely carefree, but what he was truly thinking, the Konoha Ninja across from him couldn't have guessed at all.
No matter how far their imagination stretched, they couldn't fathom Uehara's thoughts.
Hmm…
What Uehara was thinking was that once their Akatsuki gathered the seven Tailed Beasts, they'd send Sasuke to capture the Nine-tail. The Eight-tailed wouldn't be captured by Sasuke to avoid him being deceived and beaten, which wasn't worth it.
Before that, they also had to resolve the issue between Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke. Their brotherly battle might be imminent.
Uchiha Sasuke had recently grown considerably. He now likely felt his chances of winning were very low, so he wanted to bide his time... But people like Uehara Naraku and Hoshigaki Kisame knew Sasuke's chances of winning were a hundred percent.
Moreover, Uchiha Itachi's health wasn't great either.
If Uchiha Sasuke wanted to wait, he might wear his brother to death.
This was also because Uchiha Itachi didn't want anyone to treat him, supposedly to prevent anyone from discovering his secrets, but in reality, he was probably afraid of becoming too vigorous and accidentally killing his brother Sasuke.
Uchiha Itachi had long wanted to die.
Perhaps on the night of the clan's annihilation, Uchiha Itachi had already wanted to die, but his brother hadn't grown up yet, so he suppressed his will.
Uehara Naraku had already calculated that once Uchiha Itachi died in battle, he would threaten Sasuke with Uchiha Itachi's eyes to capture the Nine-tail. Otherwise, he'd sit and watch as Sasuke's eyes turned blind...
However, before that, he needed to deal with a hidden menace: a crow that Uchiha Itachi had transplanted with the Kotoamatsukami Mangekyo Sharingan.
That crow was a huge problem.
Uehara Naraku must find a way to deal with that crow, ideally tricking Uchiha Itachi into revealing it.
According to what Uehara Naraku knew, Uchiha Itachi had hidden the crow in Uzumaki Naruto's belly, moved by Naruto's determination to retrieve Sasuke, as a backup plan in case Naruto couldn't persuade Sasuke to return.
Of course, later that crow wasn't used on Sasuke but rather helped Uchiha Itachi break free after being resurrected through Reanimation.
The crow didn't have a great end either...
To prevent Kotoamatsukami from falling into others' hands, Uchiha Itachi burned the crow into nothingness with Amaterasu.
"Before this brotherly duel, I must think of a way to destroy that Kotoamatsukami Mangekyo Sharingan hidden by Uchiha Itachi..."
Uehara Naraku rubbed his chin, deep in thought about how to make Uchiha Itachi hand over the Kotoamatsukami Mangekyo Sharingan.
Could he transform into Naruto?
That didn't seem too reliable.
The Transformation Jutsu, although powerful, is difficult for ordinary ninjas to see through, but once attacked, one's true body is revealed. Should he find a way to involve Uzumaki Naruto in luring out Uchiha Itachi's Kotoamatsukami Sharingan?
"Sounds doable."
Uehara Naraku raised an eyebrow, tapping his fingers on his arm as he considered his plan: "Might as well reveal everything. First, threaten Uchiha Itachi with Uchiha Sasuke's life, or deceive him once, ensuring he doesn't leak any information about me.
Leak Uchiha Itachi and Sasuke's information to Konoha on behalf of The Hidden Rain Village, prompting Konoha to send Uzumaki Naruto to pursue Sasuke and Itachi, letting Naruto know about Uchiha Itachi's whereabouts, allowing them to meet.
If Uchiha Itachi entrusts that Kotoamatsukami Sharingan crow to Uzumaki Naruto, then allow Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke to duel; otherwise, he can only threaten Uchiha Itachi with Sasuke's life for a gamble!
The eye of Kotoamatsukami is too dangerous."
Uehara Naraku quickly finalized his plan.
He must act first to resolve the hidden Kotoamatsukami Sharingan of Uchiha Itachi. Otherwise, if Uchiha Itachi never decides to use it, who knows what Genjutsu that Kotoamatsukami Sharingan might cast on someone?
If that Kotoamatsukami were used against Uehara, wouldn't that be fatal?
Though it's unlikely Uchiha Itachi would concern himself with a small figure like Uehara Naraku, better safe than sorry!
Once Uehara Naraku easily resolved Uchiha Itachi's hidden Kotoamatsukami Sharingan, he could manipulate the Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke siblings at will, using the pair however he wished.