The chamber was still humming faintly with the tension from Alex's last revelation about the Ōtsutsuki when he shifted gears.
He took one step forward, the sound of his heel tapping against the stone echoing far louder than it should have.
"I'm not here just to frighten you with bedtime stories about aliens," He said, his voice low but clear. "I want your help."
The statement, so direct, so casually delivered, snapped a few heads up.
Kisame's eyes narrowed, Kakuzu tilted his head like a merchant trying to measure the worth of a coin, and Sasori frowned slightly.
Alex continued without missing a beat. "Because each of you… every one of you… has a drive. A hunger to achieve something with your lives."
His words caught them. Even if none of them moved, he could feel a subtle tightening in the room, the way a predator notices the stillness before prey decides whether to run.
He let his gaze drift over them. "You didn't end up here by accident. You're in Akatsuki because you want something. And because you've been willing to burn the world to get it."
There was no judgment in his tone, if anything, it sounded like approval.
The members exchanged glances, small nods passing between them.
Alex began to walk, slow and unhurried, letting the sound of his footsteps mark the beats between his words.
"Many of you," He said, "are victims... Victims of the politics of this ninja world… and of the endless chain of hatred that keeps the blood flowing."
He stopped by Pain first, or rather, Yahiko's body.
Alex's eyes shifted briefly to Konan before returning to the man in front of him.
"You," He said, voice dropping, "lost everything because of war. And then… you had to watch the man you admired most sacrifice his life for you."
Konan's breath caught in her throat, just barely, but Alex caught it.
"I know that pain," Alex said, his tone softening but losing none of its weight. "The three of you: you, Konan, Yahiko were children caught in a war you didn't start, forced to become weapons in a game you didn't design."
Nagato's voice rumbled through Yahiko's mouth, low and almost dangerous. "You speak as if you were there."
Alex didn't blink. "In my own way… I was. And I know the kind of rage that grows from it."
Then, almost too casually, he added, "Nagato may have killed Hanzo, but he was just a pawn in someone else's schemes. And I am the one who dealt with the man truly responsible behind your pain."
"The real master mind behind Hanzo's action was Danzo Shimura and I killed him not too long ago alongside with his two pet advisers... Koharu and Homura."
The words landed like a kunai in the dark.
Konan blinked twice, her usually cool eyes widening a fraction. "You… killed them?"
Alex nodded once, without hesitation. "And dozens of other old cowards hiding in their homes while they ordered the young ones to march to their deaths on the battlefield. They ruled from the shadows, but bled no blood of their own."
His tone was so calm it was unsettling, as though he were recounting errands he had run earlier in the week.
Across the room, Kisame's grin sharpened slightly as he appreciated his efficiency.
Alex's eyes shifted, landing squarely on the shark-like man. "And you, Kisame… you've bled enough for other people's games. Your so-called mission are just another piece in Obito's revenge puzzle. You've been a pawn in someone else's politics from the start."
Kisame just shrugged one massive shoulder, his grin unchanging. "Pawns bite too, y'know."
Alex smirked faintly and moved on, stopping before Kakuzu. "And you. Your village gave you an impossible task, knowing it was almost close to impossble to complete it. And when you failed, they blamed you, even going so far to cast you out. Whatever you've become, and it's impressive, I'll give you that, your village made you this way."
Kakuzu's stitched brow twitched in irritation, an old scar of humiliation pulled back open. He didn't answer, but his jaw worked slowly under the shadows.
Alex let the silence hang just long enough before turning to Sasori.
The puppet master's expression was as flat as ever, but Alex could see the faint flicker in his eyes, the shift that came when someone knew their turn had come.
"War took your heart, didn't it, Sasori?" Alex said quietly. "It took your parents... The war left a boy staring at empty doorways, always waiting for his loved ones to return to him... And the boy became a craftsman of death. The kind who could turn his own Kazekage into a puppet."
Sasori's lips pressed tighter together. He didn't want to think about his parents. He didn't want anyone to bring that hollow ache back into the light.
But Alex's words stirred it all the same.
And then, unexpectedly, Alex reached out and patted his head with a kind of deliberate gentleness that felt completely foreign in this room.
Before Sasori could respond, Alex's gaze had already shifted.
Orochimaru was waiting for him, a serpent's patience in human form. His tongue darted briefly across his lips, and Alex almost laughed at how predictable it was.
"You," Alex said, his tone turning almost conversational, "are a unique talent. But losing your dear student… it hit you harder than you let on and even changed your ideals... maybe even warped them into something more twisted and darker."
"You were trained by Hiruzen to take over his Hokage position. And yet… when the time came, he chose Minato instead of you. Why? Because Minato was simple and easy to manipulate."
"And you…" He let the pause cut deep. "…were too sharp and uncontrollable for him."
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, but the faintest curl of his lips betrayed that he enjoyed hearing someone say it aloud.
"And then," Alex continued, "they used you for experiments to get their hands on the Wood Style. But when the truth came out, they abandoned you, leaving you to take the fall alone."
Orochimaru's voice was a silken hiss. "You've done your homework on me. Every word you've said is a knife placed perfectly."
Alex held his gaze for a long moment before moving again.
Obito was next.
Alex sighed as if the weight of this one was different. "You've done monstrous things, Obito. And I won't pretend otherwise. But… you're also a victim. A victim of the hatred in this world. It shaped you into what you are now. And if that hatred hadn't claimed you when it did… perhaps we wouldn't be standing here like this."
Obito's single eye lowered, shadows cutting across the mask. He didn't answer, perhaps because he couldn't find the words, or perhaps because anything he said now would feel hollow.
Alex took a step back, letting his eyes sweep over the entire room. "You've all been twisted by this world's games. You've been burned by its politics, used by others before being discarded aside. You are left to build new selves out of the ashes of the old."
He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in.
"I have a way to bring peace," He said finally. "And I am not talking empty... I have a path for peace and unity... But it's not a dream I can make real alone."
He let his gaze drift back to Konan for just a moment longer than necessary, enough for her to feel the weight of it.
"If you're willing… I want you to help me achieve it."
---- ✦ ✦ ✦ ----
Spoilers for the next five chapters!
Chapter 236: The Council of Shadows
Chapter 237: A New Amegakure
Chapter 238: His True Goal
Chapter 239: The Hard Decision
Chapter 240: Chakra Natures
--- ✦ ✦ ✦ ---
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