In the Land of Rain—inside a gloomy, eerie cavern—stood more than a dozen stone platforms.
And on many of those platforms…
were shadowy figures wearing black cloaks embroidered with red clouds.
At the very center platform stood the leader of the Akatsuki—
Deva Path—Pain.
Yes. The Akatsuki were currently using the Hologram Technique (Phantom Projection) to hold their meetings remotely.
"…Alright. Everyone's here."
After a long silence, Pain finally spoke—cold and indifferent.
"Recently, your mission completion speed has improved."
"But remember—maintain secrecy."
"Yeah, yeah…"
The newest member, Hidan, clicked his tongue and complained openly.
"If it wasn't for recruiting more believers for my god, I wouldn't even bother joining you people."
Pain's expression didn't change.
Buzz—!
In the next instant, the Rinnegan erupted with terrifying pressure—
and slammed down on Hidan like an invisible mountain.
"Tch—?!"
Even though Hidan was only attending as a projection—
his real body, far away, still felt a suffocating terror… like he was about to be crushed alive.
Pain's voice remained calm.
"I don't want to hear that again."
"From now on, you'll be paired with Kakuzu."
The pressure vanished as if it had never existed.
"O-Okay…"
Hidan nodded awkwardly, instantly behaving.
"Those eyes are terrifying…"
On another platform, Orochimaru's eyes gleamed. He extended his tongue and licked his lips as he "helpfully" added:
"You should be careful. Kakuzu has a habit of killing teammates for bounty money."
"…Killing teammates?"
Hidan blinked, totally lost.
"I only kill weak trash."
Kakuzu glanced at him, face unreadable.
"If you're strong and don't get in my way, I won't kill you."
"Who the hell are you calling 'in the way'?!"
Hidan instantly flared up again.
That stone-faced bastard was asking for it.
Pain cut across the brewing argument with a flat tone.
"In a few days, another new member will join."
"We may hold another meeting soon."
Then he added, almost casually—
"This recruit is from Konoha's Uchiha clan."
Silence.
Dead silence.
a Uchiha joining the Akatsuki?
That alone was insane.
And if Pain personally approved them… their strength would be terrifying.
Uchiha Fugaku? Uchiha Shisui? Uchiha Itachi?
Or even… Ren?
For a moment, everyone sank into thought.
But Ren was quickly dismissed by most of them.
After becoming an Elite taijutsu jōnin, he'd seemingly faded into the background—
his name didn't carry even a fraction of Itachi's reputation.
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed slightly.
"So Danzō is finally moving…"
He didn't say it out loud.
But he could only offer silent condolences to the Uchiha.
After all—
even though he'd defected from Konoha, he still maintained secret contact with Danzō.
A month ago, Danzō had sent a private message mentioning "transplanting Sharingan."
Back then, Orochimaru had been puzzled.
Now? It made perfect sense.
Pain's voice fell like a guillotine.
"Meeting adjourned."
Whoosh… whoosh…
One projection after another vanished.
The cavern returned to silence.
Konoha — Uchiha District
Inside a large conference hall at the heart of the Uchiha clan compound—
voices exploded like gunpowder.
"Clan Head—are we seriously not going to fight back?!"
"Konoha's leadership keeps testing our limits—shrinking our living space little by little!"
"Are we supposed to just sit here and wait to be strangled?!"
"This is too much—way too much! Ever since the Nine-Tails incident, our lives have gotten worse by the day!"
"Revolt! Only revolt can take back what we lost!"
"Damn it… if Konoha won't accept us, then we don't need Konoha!"
The Elite Uchiha in the room were burning with rage, humiliation, and desperation—
like they might flip the table and march out tonight.
At the head of the hall, Uchiha Fugaku looked exhausted.
Truthfully—
he was angry.
But unless it was absolutely unavoidable… he didn't want civil war.
So he was waiting for Uchiha Shisui.
Before this meeting had even begun, Fugaku had already sent Shisui to meet Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi.
If Konoha's leadership refused to give the Uchiha a real explanation…
Then Fugaku would be forced into extreme measures.
"Father… let's wait."
Uchiha Itachi scanned the room, his expression tight.
"Shisui will come back."
But there was something Itachi didn't say out loud:
Even if Shisui met the Third Hokage…
he probably wouldn't get a "reasonable explanation" at all.
And if Konoha was truly heading toward internal war—
Shisui would absolutely choose an extreme solution to stop it.
Itachi sighed inwardly.
When the village and the clan couldn't coexist—
he would choose the village.
Not because he hated the Uchiha…
but because he wanted to prevent Konoha from collapsing—
and because he wanted to protect his little brother, Sasuke.
However—
neither Fugaku nor Itachi knew the truth:
On the way to the Hokage Tower…
Shisui had already been intercepted by Ren.
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