Arriving at the Hidden Rain Village, Uchiha Itachi Was Warned!
The departure of the instigator did not eliminate the influence spreading within Konoha, and the aftershocks of the incident were still quietly fermenting.
Of course, none of that had anything to do with Uchiha Yi!
On the map of the ninja world, the Land of Rain is located to the northwest of the Land of Fire. It lies between three great nations the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Earth acting as a buffer zone that has suffered endlessly throughout history.
Whenever the great nations go to war, the first to be trampled and destroyed is inevitably the small country caught in the middle.
Such a country, without strong military power or political backing, can only be reduced to a battlefield and a victim of fate.
Using the [Fire Release Technique] to traverse space, Uchiha Yi flickered continuously. A few minutes later, within an inconspicuous corner of the Hidden Rain Village, a small flame that was about to be extinguished suddenly flared up unnaturally.
Immediately afterward, a figure slowly emerged from the flames.
It was Uchiha Yi.
At this moment, the sky above the Hidden Rain Village was completely shrouded in thick, dark clouds. A cold and relentless drizzle fell continuously, as if it would never stop.
"Damn it… I actually forgot about the Rain Country's infamous weather."
He had arrived in a hurry and hadn't prepared anything to deal with the rain.
Almost the moment he appeared, Uchiha Yi received such a "warm welcome" from the Hidden Rain Village.
After only a short while, his clothes were already soaked through, causing him to frown slightly in displeasure.
"Forget it. I'll find the Akatsuki organization first."
Although he knew that the Hidden Rain Village served as the base of operations for the Akatsuki organization, Uchiha Yi had no idea where their headquarters or gathering points were actually hidden.
He wasn't interested in searching every corner of the village one by one.
If he wanted to achieve his objective as quickly as possible, then the simplest and most efficient method was to let them come looking for him instead.
After putting on his mask, Uchiha Yi began walking openly along the streets of the Hidden Rain Village. From time to time, he stopped and looked up curiously at the towering steel buildings around him, structures filled with cold industrial aesthetics reminiscent of a decaying mechanical age.
Under the endless rain, the local residents all hurried along the streets wearing raincoats, their heads lowered and expressions numb.
Only Uchiha Yi walked calmly and leisurely, completely out of place.
Before long, his abnormal behavior attracted the attention of nearby civilians and low-level sentries. Some of them secretly reported to the Hidden Rain Village's ninja forces and to the "Angel" that a suspicious outsider had infiltrated the village.
Uchiha Yi did not care about this at all.
At the same time, inside a hidden cave not far from the Hidden Rain Village
After several days of travel, Uchiha Itachi, the S-rank missing-nin of Konoha, arrived at this location according to the instructions left by the masked man.
After confirming that this was indeed the destination, Uchiha Itachi slowly walked inside. The sound of his footsteps echoed softly within the empty and silent cave.
"Pain, someone's coming."
"It's a strange ninja."
A blue-haired woman standing nearby frowned slightly as she spoke to the orange-haired man beside her. At the same time, sheets of paper unfolded between her fingers, hardening into sharp paper blades infused with chakra as she quietly prepared for combat.
"There's no need to be nervous."
"He is a member of Akatsuki that I personally recruited."
"Uchiha Itachi, the Konoha missing-nin."
At that moment, the space in front of the two of them distorted.
A man wearing a spiral vortex mask slowly emerged and calmly explained the situation.
Immediately afterward, another strange figure rose from the ground half black and half white.
It was Zetsu, the Akatsuki organization's intelligence gatherer and surveillance unit.
Hearing this explanation, Pain nodded expressionlessly and shifted his gaze toward the entrance of the cave. Konan, however, remained silently alert, her chakra ready to be released at any moment.
After a short while, Uchiha Itachi walked forward and quickly noticed the familiar masked man Uchiha Obito at a glance.
However, he had no intention of exchanging words with him.
Instead, Itachi directly shifted his gaze to the man seated at the highest position.
"Rinnegan…!?"
"The legendary eye of the Sage of Six Paths…!?"
Those ripple-patterned eyes were reflected clearly in Uchiha Itachi's vision.
For the first time in a long while, his pupils contracted slightly in shock. This revelation was completely beyond his expectations.
However, Itachi quickly regained his composure.
Uchiha Madara's name, the Rinnegan, and the existence of powerful missing-nin from various countries…
An organization capable of gathering so many dangerous individuals could easily overthrow a small nation if it chose to act. Even the great villages would inevitably feel threatened.
Uchiha Itachi had never believed that Akatsuki was merely a mercenary group.
They clearly harbored ambitions far greater than simple profit.
He had agreed to Obito's invitation with the intent of infiltrating Akatsuki as an undercover agent.
And now, having only glimpsed the surface of Akatsuki's true strength, his resolve only deepened.
Pain spoke coldly at this moment.
"Uchiha Itachi, I don't care what you did in Konoha to become a missing-nin."
"But once you join Akatsuki, betrayal is absolutely forbidden."
"Otherwise…"
Uchiha Itachi's reputation had already spread throughout the ninja world in recent days.
But Pain did not concern himself with moral judgments.
What he needed was strength, obedience, and the ability to carry out missions.
Still, a warning was necessary.
However, before Pain could finish speaking, his expression changed slightly.
The Rain Tiger at Will Technique, the sensory ninjutsu that enveloped the entire Hidden Rain Village, detected an unfamiliar chakra signature.
Pain paused mid-sentence.
"What is it, Pain?"
Konan, who had stayed by his side for many years, immediately sensed the abnormality and asked.
"It's nothing."
"Just a small insect that slipped into the village."
"I'll have the Shura Path deal with it."
After saying that, Pain shifted his attention toward one of the tall steel towers within the Hidden Rain Village.
The remaining Paths of Pain were stored there.
Through the chakra receivers the black rods connected to the Rinnegan Pain directly controlled the Shura Path, commanding it to move at full speed toward the location where Uchiha Yi was currently wandering.
A disturbance had entered the Rain.
And the god of the Rain Village had already noticed.