Pain crushed the surge of hatred and the ache that never truly dulled, forcing it down until it became something colder - something usable. Revenge was an emotion. Strategy was a weapon. And right now, he needed weapons.
He looked at Shimura Danzō as if weighing a tool in his palm.
"Since that's the case," Pain said evenly, "Shimura Danzō - you'll partner with Kakuzu."
Danzō didn't hesitate, though something tight flickered behind his gaze, like a trapped nerve reacting on instinct. "Understood. What do I need to do?"
"Our objective," Pain replied, "is to capture every bijuus and every jinchūriki."
His voice carried no pride, no excitement - only inevitability.
"The Shukaku has already been successfully captured by Deidara and Sasori of the Red Sand."
"The Son-goku' jinchūriki, Rōshi, was captured by Konan and me - and sealed."
He let those facts hang in the air, not as boasts, but as proof. Progress. Momentum. A machine already turning.
"Next," Pain continued, "we assign the new capture operations."
A quiet shift rippled through the space. Pain's Rinnegan sharpened, and the world seemed to dim around those concentric ripples - like reality itself was being pulled into alignment.
A secret art activated.
Gen'tōshin no Jutsu ("Phantom Dragon Body Technique").
In an instant, figures bloomed into being - shimmering, prismatic bodies that looked unreal and yet present, as if each projection carried the weight of its owner's will. They stood together in the same shared space, able to speak as though face-to-face, as though distance had been erased by sheer force of technique.
Danzō watched, and despite himself, a trace of reverence coiled in his chest. Not admiration - never that - but the grim recognition of power so refined it felt like a law of nature. He used the moment to study the Akatsuki carefully, the way a man studies a battlefield before stepping onto it.
Including him, there were ten.
Pairs - two-by-two - assigned as partners to complete Pain's directives.
Pain and Konan.
Deidara and Sasori.
Kakuzu and Danzō.
And then Danzō's eyes narrowed as he spotted two men he knew all too well.
One wore a strange mask, revealing only a single eye - an unsettling vacancy that still felt like it was watching. Beside him stood a man whose gaze was lit with that unmistakable blood-red intensity.
Sharingan.
That silhouette was unmistakable.
Uchiha Itachi.
Yes - this pair was the masked man who had entered the Akatsuki under the name "A-Fēi," secretly observing Pain's movements from within, and the surviving Uchiha of the night his clan was erased: Uchiha Itachi.
Danzō's voice cut through the air like a blade. "Uchiha Itachi… you're still alive?"
Itachi did not answer immediately. His silence wasn't defiance - it was the absence of anything worth saying. When he finally spoke, his tone was low, controlled, and strangely hollow.
"I didn't expect even you to join the Akatsuki, Lord Danzō."
He paused, and for a breath, the faintest fracture appeared in his composure - as if a memory pressed too hard against bone.
"Even I believe I shouldn't be alive."
"And yet… I am."
Danzō snorted, unimpressed, but his eyes moved on - toward the final pair.
One of them was Zetsu: a strange figure with a massive, plant-like head, his body split into black and white as if two creatures had been stitched together into one.
The other -
Danzō froze.
His pupils tightened.
"You… you are…"
The man's smile arrived first - thin and amused, as if he'd been waiting for this recognition.
"Yakushi Kabuto?!!"
The last of the ten was, indeed, Yakushi Kabuto.
The same man - no, the same shadow - that Chiba had discovered as the only slip-through in the aftermath of Orochimaru's reorganization of Otogakure. Back then, Orochimaru had claimed Kabuto was embedded inside the Akatsuki as a spy, operating under Sasori's chain of command.
But looking at him now, Danzō understood immediately: Kabuto was no subordinate anymore.
He was standing here on his own terms.
Danzō knew Kabuto well - too well.
From childhood, Danzō had shaped him into a spy, sending him through the great nations like a blade slipped between ribs. And it was also Danzō who, from the shadows, engineered the cruelest collision of all: forcing Kabuto into a situation where he and his adoptive mother - Yakushi Nono, the head of Konoha's orphanage - were driven to kill one another.
That single act hadn't merely broken Kabuto.
It had hollowed him out.
Afterward, Orochimaru had found what was left and made use of it - turning Kabuto into a tool again and again, a snake trained to wear human skin. Even when Kabuto had infiltrated Konoha, even when alliances shifted and Orochimaru cooperated with the village, Kabuto remained what he had always been: a man living inside lies.
Until the day Orochimaru was killed by the Mizukage of Kirigakure - Chiba.
Kabuto, hearing that news, didn't mourn. He moved like instinct given human form: seizing every research record Orochimaru had stored in Otogakure, gathering forbidden work like a dowry of blood and knowledge, and using it as his entry fee into Akatsuki as a formal member.
Kabuto's smile widened, mild and mocking. "Lord Danzō… what a pleasure."
Danzō's mouth curled into a cold grin. "Masked man. Uchiha Itachi. Yakushi Kabuto… one familiar face after another."
Ten members.
Pain, Konan.
Deidara, Sasori of the Red Sand.
Kakuzu, Shimura Danzō.
"A-Fēi," Uchiha Itachi.
Zetsu, Yakushi Kabuto.
Compared to the original course of events, this lineup was warped - twisted by one recurring factor.
Kirigakure.
Chiba.
Because of Chiba's existence, Momochi Zabuza's old generation and even monsters like Hoshigaki Kisame had no path into Akatsuki.
Because of Chiba's existence, Hidan had perished together with Sarutobi Hiruzen.
And because of Chiba's existence, Danzō, driven into a corner by despair, had crawled into the Akatsuki's shadow… while Kabuto found the same opening and stepped through it like a man who'd been waiting his entire life for the world to finally collapse into opportunity.
Pain's voice snapped the moment back into order.
"That's enough. Save your greetings for later."
His projections stood perfectly still, yet the pressure of his will filled every pause.
"Now that we've begun moving, we finish the plan in one push."
"The Shukaku and Son-goku are secured."
"Next, we capture the remaining bijuuss."
He lifted his chin slightly - barely a motion, yet it carried the weight of command.
"But we will proceed in sequence."
"The targets we have the best chance of capturing right now are…"
"Kumogakure's Nibi jinchūriki - Nii Yugito."
"Iwagakure's Gobi jinchūriki - Han."
"Takigakure's Choumei jinchūriki - Fū."
"And…"
His tone sharpened, as if the name itself carried a particular gravity.
"Konoha's Kyuubi jinchūriki - Uzumaki Naruto!!!"
Pain didn't stop there.
"The remaining Sanbi and Rokubi jinchūriki are both in Kirigakure. Their power is formidable now - and that man, Chiba, is there."
His eyes seemed to narrow, though the Rinnegan never changed.
"So I will handle them personally - later."
"As for the Hachibi jinchūriki, Killer B… he isn't just in a strong village. He is a perfect jinchūriki."
"A monster in full control of a monster."
"That, too, can wait until I strike myself."
Pain's gaze swept across the Akatsuki.
"Nibi, Gobi, Choumei - who will take them?"
Deidara laughed softly, confident like a man who believed explosions were a language the world would always understand. "Sasori and I just caught the Shukaku, but more is always better. Let us take the Nibi too - un!!!"
Sasori's voice was flat, indifferent, as though speaking about a chore. "I don't care."
Pain nodded once. "Good."
Danzō understood the unspoken rule immediately: joining Akatsuki meant proving value. Not loyalty - value. He stepped forward with his voice, firm.
"Then Kakuzu and I will take the Gobi."
Kakuzu's reply rumbled like stone grinding. "Fine."
"A-Fēi" chuckled, the sound oddly light against the atmosphere of looming war. "Then Takigakure's Choumei goes to me and Uchiha Itachi."
Itachi said nothing. The silence wasn't agreement, but it wasn't refusal either - just the quiet of someone who had long since stopped pretending his choices mattered.
Pain nodded again. "Good. Then Konoha's Kyuubi goes to Yakushi Kabuto and Zetsu."
He paused, and his next words were colder - more precise.
"However, Konoha is effectively under Chiba's influence now. Act within your limits."
"Do not force a direct confrontation with that man."
Kabuto's expression didn't change, but the gleam in his eyes suggested calculation behind the polite curve of his mouth. "Understood."
Zetsu nodded, black and white halves moving as one.
With assignments complete, Pain released the technique.
Gen'tōshin no Jutsu ("Phantom Dragon Body Technique") unraveled like mist, and one by one, the Akatsuki projections faded - colors draining, silhouettes thinning, until only emptiness remained.
Danzō and Kakuzu left the hidden base soon after.
Their destination: Iwagakure.
Their target: Han, the Gobi' jinchūriki.
When the others were gone, the quiet that remained felt heavier than any conversation.
Konan's voice broke it softly. "Pain… Shimura Danzō isn't someone we can trust."
Pain didn't look at her. His answer came without hesitation.
"I know."
"The Akatsuki was built from missing-nin. Trust was never the foundation."
"They're here because their desires align with ours - nothing more."
His tone tightened slightly - not with anger, but with something colder: a memory kept alive on purpose.
"And what Danzō did back then… I haven't forgotten."
"One day, I will settle that account."
Konan nodded, her paper wings unmoving, as if even her breath was careful. "Mm."
"Everything else has been assigned. That leaves Kumogakure's Hachibi… and Kirigakure's Sanbi and Rokubi."
"You'll act personally?"
Pain's gaze drifted, distant - toward a future that felt inevitable, as though he could already hear the first crack of it.
"I will act. But not yet."
His voice dropped, and for the first time, something close to emotion threaded through it - not warmth, not fear, but a grim certainty.
"I will fight that man, Chiba, sooner or later."
Konan exhaled - quiet, weary. "...I feel it too."
And in the silence that followed, it almost seemed as if the world itself was holding its breath - waiting for the moment when plans stopped being words, and became blood.
At this moment -
Shibuki, the young leader of Takigakure who had personally rushed to Konoha to beg for help, was seated across from Chiba, speaking with the tense restraint of a man trying not to show how close he was to the edge.
Chiba looked at him calmly, his expression unreadable, as if the panic in the world around them couldn't quite find purchase on him.
"So," Chiba said, voice mild, almost lazy, "I've already dispatched Konoha's Team Seven, and Jiraiya - one of the Sannin - will go with them to Takigakure. And you're telling me that still isn't enough?"
Shibuki's throat bobbed. He was the kind of man whose courage didn't come naturally - a timid soul pushed into a position where fear was constant. Yet when it came to the village's survival, he still forced himself forward, even if every step looked like it hurt.
"Mizukage-sama… it's not that I'm trying to take advantage of your generosity," he said quickly, hands tightening in his lap. "It's just - Takigakure is too weak."
His eyes flickered, shame and dread twisting together.
"The Akatsuki walked in and out of Sunagakure freely. They took the Shukaku jinchūriki right in front of an entire hidden village. If they could do that to one of the Five Great Nations… then Takigakure - "
He swallowed hard.
"We'd be no different. Even if Sunagakure was vulnerable at the time, it's still one of the great villages. Compared to them, we're… we're nowhere near that strong."
Chiba's lips curved faintly, not mocking - more like acknowledging a truth that didn't need decoration.
"True."
Then, with the ease of someone casually turning a knife in a conversation, he added, "But if I remember correctly, Takigakure has its own treasure, doesn't it?"
Shibuki stiffened.
Chiba's gaze didn't waver.
"The Hero Water."
The color drained from Shibuki's face so fast it was almost frightening. His voice cracked before he could stop it.
"Mizukage-sama… how - how do you know about that?!"
Chiba let out a soft laugh, the kind that sounded warm until you realized it never quite reached his eyes.
"Why does everyone ask me that?" he replied. "I've said it plenty of times already."
His tone remained effortless, bordering on playful.
"I'm omniscient."
Hero Water - so the stories went - was a mysterious liquid secreted by a sacred tree within Takigakure. A single swallow could send a shinobi's chakra surging several times over… even tens of times over, in rare cases. In the middle of battle, that kind of boost could turn a losing fight into a brutal, one-sided slaughter.
But power like that never came without teeth.
The price was life itself.
Some couldn't control the sudden flood of chakra; their bodies would tear, their organs failing under the strain, and they would die from the very strength they'd begged for.
Shibuki knew that price more intimately than most.
His father - the previous leader of Takigakure - had died that way.
Realizing there was no point in hiding it, Shibuki nodded stiffly.
"Yes… the Hero Water is in Takigakure."
His voice dropped, rough with memory.
"But it's too dangerous. Once it's used, even if you manage to drive the enemy back, you're still gambling with your life. My father… my father died because of it."
He clenched his jaw as if that might keep the rest of his fear from spilling out.
"And… my own strength isn't enough. Even if I drank the Hero Water, I still wouldn't be able to withstand Akatsuki."
Chiba's smile remained, but his words were precise - almost instructive.
"You're right. Chakra reserves alone don't decide victory."
It was common sense, really. Uzumaki Naruto had possessed enormous chakra from childhood - four times Kakashi's, and if the Kyuubi' chakra wasn't suppressed, it could become a hundred times over.
And yet it meant nothing by itself.
Back then, Naruto could exhaust every ounce of himself and still never defeat Hatake Kakashi. Quantity was one thing. Refinement, control, creation, application - those were something else entirely.
Chiba leaned back slightly, voice still calm.
"So you want me to intervene personally."
Shibuki went quiet for a long moment, as if admitting it out loud would make it real.
"…Yes," he finally said. "That is my shameless request."
Chiba nodded once. "Fine. But I have conditions."
Shibuki hadn't truly believed Chiba would agree. For a second, pure relief washed across his face so strongly it bordered on dizziness - like a drowning man suddenly finding air.
"Mizukage-sama, please - name them!" he said, too fast. "I'll accept! Whatever you want!"
Chiba's answer came without hesitation.
"The Hero Water."
Shibuki's expression stiffened again, the relief collapsing into conflict. His fingers trembled slightly, not from weakness, but from the weight of responsibility pressing down on him.
"Th-that…" he began, then forced himself to continue. "The Hero Water is Takigakure's treasure. Even as the village leader, I can't just hand it to someone else. Not on my own authority."
Chiba's gaze remained steady.
"If you want something," he said, "you pay for it."
There was no cruelty in the words - only the cold logic of the shinobi world, spoken plainly.
"Surely you didn't think you could ask Konoha and Kirigakure to shelter Takigakure without any cost."
Shibuki flinched as if struck.
Because the worst part was -
Chiba was right.
He'd been naïve. Or perhaps he'd been desperate enough to pretend the world might briefly stop being what it was.
There was no free protection. No free mercy. No free miracles.
Shibuki lowered his head, thoughts churning. The Choumei jinchūriki - Fū - was Takigakure's most vital strategic asset. The Hero Water, on the other hand… was unstable, dangerous, and paid for in blood.
A weapon that might save you.
Or kill you even faster.
He raised his head again, eyes hardening with forced resolve, and nodded.
"If Mizukage-sama will save us… then I will offer the Hero Water with both hands!"
Chiba's smile returned, faint and satisfied.
"Good."
At the same time -
Takigakure was about to become the place where two jinchūriki - and two bijuuss - would be gathered in one fragile point on the map.
Choumei jinchūriki: Fū.
Kyuubi jinchūriki: Uzumaki Naruto.
Of course, Naruto hadn't come as bait. He had come as a member of Team Seven, tasked with protecting Fū. And even then, he wasn't unguarded - Hatake Kakashi and Jiraiya, two of Konoha's strongest, were with him.
Still…
Chiba wasn't completely at ease.
It wasn't only that he refused to let Akatsuki obtain the power of the bijuuss. It was something sharper than principle: an understanding of what would happen if they succeeded. How the world would warp under that weight.
So when he agreed to Shibuki's request, it wasn't solely for the Hero Water.
He truly intended to ensure the safety of both jinchūriki.
And thus -
Chiba left Konoha with Shibuki, handing the village's ongoing affairs to Tsunade and Orochimaru.
Takigakure's location was naturally treacherous - a buffer zone wedged between four great nations. By all logic, it should have been a battlefield constantly trampled by war, like Amegakure or Kusagakure.
And yet Takigakure had remained peaceful and stable for years.
There were two reasons.
First: while Takigakure sat between multiple powers, it only directly bordered the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth. The Land of Wind and the Land of Lightning were still some distance away.
Second: Takigakure maintained a friendly relationship with Konoha - bluntly put, it clung to Konoha's protection, much like Sunagakure did. Konoha had no reason to crush it, and Iwagakure wouldn't dare strike recklessly while Konoha's shadow loomed over it.
But there was another reason, too - one far more practical.
Takigakure was hidden.
Not behind walls, not behind armies, but behind nature itself: a colossal waterfall. The true entrance was concealed, and the method of reaching it was known to almost no one outside of Takigakure's shinobi.
Konoha's forces, as allies - almost as "saviors" - were led inside.
Chiba was, too.
He followed Shibuki through the curtain of roaring water, then through a subterranean cavern where a spring pulsed quietly in the dark. They moved through that hidden path - through water and stone - until the village finally opened before them.
Even Chiba felt a flicker of appreciation.
Such a secret entrance… if you didn't know it existed, you could search for a lifetime and still never find it.
But Akatsuki would.
Because Kakuzu had been born in Takigakure.
Which meant every secret Takigakure relied on as protection… was already written in Akatsuki's hands.
Once inside, Chiba didn't waste time. He went with Shibuki immediately to retrieve the Hero Water.
It wasn't only greed or curiosity - though he didn't deny either. He wanted to see the sacred tree itself, the enormous "divine" trunk from which the liquid was said to come.
And as the thought formed, it sharpened into suspicion, then into something uncomfortably close to certainty.
Chiba even began to wonder -
That giant tree… might have a connection to the legendary God Tree itself.
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