The towering structures of The Hidden Rain Village.
Having just sealed two Tailed Beasts, Nagato looked utterly exhausted, while Uehara Naraku waved his hand and performed a Star Infusion, helping him regain some strength.
Nagato frowned and said softly, "Uehara, you've worked hard today. Don't waste your chakra."
"It's fine."
Uehara Naraku sat on a table and began discussing serious matters: "I will attend Konoha's alliance meeting. Before that, we can perhaps make some special arrangements."
Nagato tapped his fingers on the chair, pondered for a while, and then asked, "Uehara, do you have any ideas?"
"Let me first share the intelligence we've gathered about the Five Great Countries' Ninja Villages."
Uehara Naraku frowned and said in a deep voice, "Firstly, the mastermind behind Akatsuki is Uchiha Obito, who is manipulating Akatsuki's actions."
"In a sense..."
Nagato seemed to recall some unpleasant memories and said quietly, "Uchiha Obito was indeed guiding our actions before."
"And it's still the same now."
Uehara Naraku spread out his palms and said softly, "When I mentioned the leader behind Akatsuki to the outside world, I couldn't avoid talking about Uchiha Obito, drawing the Five Great Countries' attention onto him. Those people probably believe that as long as Uchiha Obito is killed, the entire Akatsuki will fall apart."
Nagato seemed a bit bewildered.
Is this kind of tactic even possible?
Looking at Uehara Naraku, Nagato's face revealed a hint of doubt: "Do those people trust you that much?"
Uehara Naraku shook his head, then nodded, continuing softly: "This story is a bit long; it dates back eight years ago when I was assassinated by Obito...
Back then, I was recruiting Hoshigaki Kisame, and Hatake Kakashi discovered us. Obito's identity was revealed by Kakashi, linking The Hidden Rain Village and Akatsuki inextricably.
This easily aroused the enemy's suspicions. At that time, Hatake Kakashi persistently questioned my information. Left with no choice, I could only discreetly tell him part of the truth.
Over time, the whole truth evolved into the current situation.
The Leader of The Hidden Rain Village, Hanzo of the Salamander, in order to expand The Hidden Rain Village and obtain the title of Amekage, was enticed by the incognito Uchiha Obito. He sent his ninjas everywhere to recruit S-Class traitors from various countries, forming a mercenary organization to build up his power.
Later, Uchiha Obito betrayed Hanzo of the Salamander for his ambitions, drawing in the traitors from the mercenary organization to form a group called Akatsuki. They engaged in wars throughout the Ninja World, and now they've even started capturing Tailed Beasts.
Having been betrayed, Hanzo of the Salamander was furious. His years of efforts turned into nothing overnight. As a result, the Rain Village Ninja led by Hanzo fought against Uchiha Obito's Akatsuki everywhere, and the Hidden Rain Ninja hunted down and killed Akatsuki's members everywhere.
In their eyes, we Hidden Rain Ninja and the so-called Leader of The Hidden Rain, Hanzo of the Salamander, should be the most vengeful against Akatsuki."
After Uehara Naraku finished speaking, he rubbed his forehead and said softly, "I don't know why it turned out like this. Anyway, this is pretty much the situation between The Hidden Rain Village and Akatsuki now. I'm always a bit worried about any lapses that might occur."
There were actually many things Uehara Naraku didn't mention.
Like how many false accusations Hanzo of the Salamander is bearing for the current Hidden Rain Village, and how much blame Uchiha Obito is taking for Akatsuki—it's likely that even Uehara Naraku doesn't know.
If it's uncountable, there's no need to mention it.
Let's not even talk about the things Uehara Naraku left out—just the general outline he shared left Nagato stunned.
Is... this kind of tactic even possible?
It has to be said that this situation is extremely beneficial for both Akatsuki and The Hidden Rain Village. It allows them to act more covertly and also avoids implicating The Hidden Rain Village.
However, intelligence handling must be carried out carefully.
Due to The Hidden Rain Village's isolation from the outside world, they're fortunate not to have exposed the truth. If someone were ever to infiltrate and get even a little information about the village, they'd likely be completely baffled on the spot.
Nagato made an immediate decision, speaking in a serious tone: "Henceforth, Deva Path of Pain will remain within The Hidden Rain Village, using the Rain Tiger at Will Jutsu to cover the entire village for a long time, preventing any infiltration that could disrupt our current advantageous situation."
"..."
Uehara Naraku couldn't help but think of the only ninja who ever infiltrated The Hidden Rain Village, none other than Jiraiya, one of the Konoha Sannin and the teacher of Konan and Nagato.
Uehara Naraku sighed inwardly. If Konan and Nagato unintentionally killed Jiraiya again, wouldn't they end up regretting it once more?
After all, the plans currently executed by Konan and Nagato are all deceptive.
The real Eye of the Moon Plan is known only by Black Zetsu, Uehara Naraku, Hoshigaki Kisame, and Yakushi Kabuto, among a few others.
It seems prudent to prepare a contingency plan.
Under the present circumstances, Jiraiya might not even attempt to infiltrate, since for any information they need about Akatsuki, Uehara Naraku can easily fabricate it for them!
Moreover, if Jiraiya were to be discovered infiltrating, it could spark a dispute between Konoha and The Hidden Rain Village, adversely affecting the Ninja World's effort to combat Akatsuki.
"As for Akatsuki, things are more troublesome..."
Nagato frowned, recalling those unruly individuals: "Well, to coordinate the members of the organization with your plans, either use the Illusionary Body Jutsu to command them directly, or inform me so I can issue orders."
"Alright."
Uehara Naraku tapped his fingers and said softly, "I'll first change into a standard ninja uniform and prepare for the alliance meeting. If there's a need for coordination, I can directly inform Kakuzu; our relationship is quite good."
"Okay."
Nagato smiled and nodded.
Uehara Naraku continued, "By the way, one last thing, let's wait until I come back to capture the Five-Tails Jinchuriki! We don't want to expose any weaknesses!"
After all, capturing the Five-Tails Jinchuriki required attacking the Hidden Rock Village, Uehara Naraku needed to use the pretext of capturing the Five-Tails Jinchuriki to break through the Hidden Rock Village and obtain Earth Power!
"Alright."
Nagato continued to nod.
After finishing completely, Uehara Naraku finally left the tower.
Nagato watched Uehara Naraku's back thoughtfully, then summoned the Deva Path of Pain, speaking to his puppet as if he were talking to himself, "Actually, we can hand over both the Hidden Rain Village and Akatsuki to him, right?"
Even the treatment by Uehara Naraku was just a drop in the bucket, after all, the one extracting his power from behind was the colossal Gedo Statue.
Nagato was very aware that his lifespan couldn't possibly sustain for too long, no matter how much Chakra Uehara Naraku infused into him, it was merely a delay.
How many more years can be delayed?
Based on Nagato's judgment, being able to delay until Uehara Naraku reaches the age of thirty would already be considered quite a fortune.
"Are these eyes of a Sage or a Sage's curse?"
Nagato subconsciously stroked his eye sockets with his palm, slowly lowering his head, "At least let Uehara enjoy the peaceful world these eyes create!"
"..."
Uehara Naraku stood outside the door, his hand hesitating to push it open. He actually had another thing he wanted to say, but now he didn't want to go in.
Never mind, he had already made arrangements for Nagato anyway.
Currently, Nagato was still lost in his own sentimental thoughts.
After gathering his things, Uehara Naraku leisurely left the Hidden Rain Village. This meeting might be his last time going to Konoha; if there's another chance, it would mean he might have infiltrated the Ninja Alliance.
Tch, will there be a chance?
As Uehara Naraku entered the Land of Fire,
a major incident occurred that alarmed Konoha.
The entire Temple of Fire had turned into ruins, its head monk, Chiriku, was killed by two members of Akatsuki, and his body was also taken away by them.
Yes, Kakuzu and Hidan had made their move.
After sealing the Three-Tails and Four-Tails, Kakuzu couldn't suppress his desire for money any longer and, relying on his Undying Body, dragged Hidan along to the Temple of Fire to kill Chiriku.
Even though Chiriku considered himself powerful, he couldn't defeat Hidan who had activated the Evil God Ceremony, and was killed on the spot.
In Konoha Village.
Upon receiving the news, Tsunade immediately announced the capture of those two Akatsuki members and dispatched as many as twenty ninja squads!
If they could capture those two members of Akatsuki, they could gain more political leverage in the upcoming Akatsuki talks.
This was the consideration of the Fifth Hokage.
Unfortunately, Tsunade didn't realize that Akatsuki members active in the Land of Fire were not just Kakuzu and Hidan.
Near the Temple of Fire, at a money exchange office.
This money exchange office was located inside a restroom, where Kakuzu was diligently counting money, as matters concerning money were not trivial and definitely needed to be carefully accounted for.
Hidan couldn't stand the stench inside, swearing and cursing as he escaped outside, and Kakuzu believed Hidan had no affinity with money.
But this time Kakuzu had guessed wrong.
Hidan did have quite an affinity with money.
As Hidan waited outside the money exchange office for Kakuzu, a Konoha Jonin named Sarutobi Asuma appeared before him with his team.
Sarutobi Asuma happened to be a ninja on Kakuzu's must-kill list, and was worth a bounty five million higher than Chiriku's corpse, making him a large monetary unit in the Ninja World.
Sarutobi Asuma, unaware of his crisis, appeared in front of Hidan, holding two Chakra Blades, and said coldly, "Shikamaru, Izumo, Kotetsu, seems like our luck is good, we've found the culprits who killed Chiriku..."
"No, Asuma-sensei."
Nara Shikamaru shook his head, turning to look at another figure emerging from the shadows, his expression grim as he spoke, "Our luck doesn't seem too good."
In the direction where Nara Shikamaru was looking, four figures clad in Cloud Black Robes emerged.
According to Konoha's intelligence, aside from attacking the great countries' ninja villages, Akatsuki members usually operated in pairs.
The information they received was consistent, as the monk from the Temple of Fire who reported the incident had only seen Kakuzu and Hidan.
Nara Shikamaru originally thought that the four Konoha ninjas were surrounding one member of Akatsuki, planning to take out one and then ambush the other, but the appearance of four Akatsuki members left them surrounded.
Leading them, Hoshigaki Kisame grinned slightly, speaking with a light chuckle: "Itachi-san, it seems our luck is good, we've managed to help Kakuzu-senpai catch the big fish he wanted!"