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After the meeting concluded, the members of the Akatsuki organization did not immediately disperse. On one hand, Konan needed to distribute rings to the new members. On the other hand, she also brought an additional task from Pain—if they encountered exceptionally skilled ninjas, they could recruit them into Akatsuki.
"Our plan will inevitably require many highly skilled ninjas. Otherwise, success will be extremely difficult, as we may eventually have to face the Five Great Ninja Villages, not just some weaker ninja organizations," Konan explained, providing the rationale behind the task.
Itachi was visibly irritated, rolling his eyes in frustration.
When he had joined Akatsuki, Itachi had gone to great lengths, performing all sorts of "acts" to catch the organization's attention, a process that took an entire year.
And now?
Not only had "Yoshida Shin" joined Akatsuki with ease, but it seemed likely that more ninjas would join in an even more effortless manner in the future.
Itachi's dissatisfaction was written all over his face. Meanwhile, Midorima, responding to Konan's proposal, offered his own suggestion.
"Why not poach talent from the Hidden Mist Village?"
"Why the Hidden Mist Village?" Konan asked.
"No particular reason. I just feel like the Hidden Mist Village and Akatsuki have some kind of connection. Wasn't there a member from the Hidden Mist Village before? One of the Seven Swordsmen or Eight Swordsmen or something like that."
If one were to carefully analyze it, the number of Mist ninjas who had joined Akatsuki wasn't particularly high. However, the time gap between Biwa Juzo and Hoshigaki Kisame joining was remarkably short.
According to the original manga's storyline, Juzo was supposed to team up with Itachi. However, due to Midorima's interference, the timeline had been accelerated, resulting in Juzo and Itachi never forming a team. Moreover, because of the early onset of the "Blood Mist Village" era, Juzo had been involved in a mission related to the Blood Mist Village ahead of schedule. Despite this, he could not escape his fate of death.
In fact, when Midorima saw Zabuza wielding Kubikiribōchō, he already knew that Juzo had died.
Kisame rolled his eyes. However, after the battle against Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Danzo, he had come to recognize Midorima's strength. Even if he could defeat Midorima, it would likely be a pyrrhic victory, so he refrained from stirring up trouble.
Moreover, since joining Akatsuki, Midorima had made a habit of "causing trouble." From Sasori to Danzo, he had even thrown sarcastic remarks at Pain. Turning his attention to Kisame was simply Midorima's "standard operation."
Just as the Akatsuki members were preparing to leave the Hidden Rain Village and go their separate ways, Konan announced another mission.
"There's a civil war in the Land of Grass, and they want to hire us to end the conflict."
Midorima wasn't particularly interested in missions involving killing. After all, he didn't have a natural inclination for slaughter.
If possible, he'd rather work alone, researching the "First Hokage's cells."
Sasori was similarly unenthusiastic about the mission.
Compared to completing a mission, he was more concerned with how to fleece a wealthy tycoon—creating new puppets required a lot of money, after all.
However, neither of them had the option to refuse, as this was a group mission.
"They've offered a substantial amount of money, so we need to make this job look good," Konan said, her eyes gleaming at the mention of money.
Over the past period, Konan had been nearly driven to despair by financial troubles.
This payment was truly a "timely rescue."
Midorima wrinkled his nose, his mind already racing with thoughts on how to slack off during this mission.
---
"Orochimaru and Danzo are dead!?" Tsunade's eyes widened as she stared at Jiraiya, who stood before her.
"That's what it seems like, though I'm not entirely certain," Jiraiya said, shaking his head.
He hadn't seen their bodies.
"Shizune, go verify this," Tsunade instructed.
Shizune immediately turned and left the Hokage's office.
"You can check something like that?" Jiraiya asked, surprised.
"I'm having her confirm whether anyone has claimed the bounty," Tsunade explained.
"…"
"Alright, what did you find out?"
That was the real reason Jiraiya had come.
Jiraiya furrowed his brows and remained silent for a moment.
"Are you constipated or something?" Tsunade quipped.
"Watch your words, my image will go south if you say something like that," Jiraiya retorted.
"You'd need an image to watch first."
"I'm talking about yo… Ahem, anyway, it's not easy to explain. I did manage to gather some information. For instance, the leader of Akatsuki is Nagato, and Nagato possesses the Rinnegan."
"The Rinnegan!?" Tsunade was stunned, her expression turning grave.
The Rinnegan was something only recorded in books, rarely seen by anyone in reality.
"As for the other members of Akatsuki, all I can say is that they're very strong—roughly on par with Itachi, if not stronger. Additionally, I encountered a puppeteer. Guess who his puppet was?"
"No idea, just tell me," Tsunade said impatiently.
"The Third Kazekage."
"Him!?" Tsunade was shocked.
The disappearance of the Third Kazekage had been the spark that ignited the Third Great Ninja War. No one could have imagined that he had been turned into a puppet.
"Wait, could the Third Kazekage have been killed by a ninja from the Hidden Sand Village?"
"It's possible," Jiraiya nodded.
Puppeteers were not particularly common, but the Hidden Sand Village had been known for them since the time of Chiyo. During the Second Great Ninja War, the Sand Village had also deployed puppeteers.
Given all this, it was highly likely that the person who killed the Third Kazekage was a ninja from the Hidden Sand Village.
"Should we inform the Hidden Sand Village about this?" Jiraiya asked.
"Let's hold off for now…" Tsunade was weighing the pros and cons. "Do you think the other ninja villages will take notice of Akatsuki?"
"It's unlikely. Akatsuki's base is in the Hidden Rain Village, which was the instigator of the Second Great Ninja War. After that war, the Hidden Rain Village was left severely weakened and hasn't recovered even now. Convincing the other ninja villages to treat the Hidden Rain Village as a threat would be difficult—it wouldn't sit well morally. They might even turn their suspicions toward us. Furthermore, up until now, neither Akatsuki nor the Hidden Rain Village has deliberately targeted the other ninja villages. What they've done, other villages—especially the major ones—have done as well, if not more. In this situation, rallying them against Akatsuki or the Hidden Rain Village would be challenging. It would lack justification."
Tsunade nodded.
Jiraiya seemed to have gathered a lot of intelligence, but it hadn't gone deep enough.
"Could Akatsuki really just be an ordinary ninja organization?"
"I don't know, but one thing is certain: Akatsuki was capable of taking down Orochimaru and Danzo. That means even elite Jonin are no match for them. We need to prepare, and perhaps…"
"What?"
"If I get the chance, I'd like to visit the Hidden Rain Village again to see if I can gather more information," Jiraiya said.
"Let's leave it at that for now. There's no need for you to take such risks. Oh, by the way, there's something for you." Tsunade opened a drawer and pulled out a thick envelope.
Jiraiya tore open the envelope and found a book and a letter inside.
"What's this?" Tsunade asked, curious.
"My novel…" Jiraiya placed the book on the desk and carefully read the letter. "It says it passed review and will be published next month. The editor has high praise for my work…"
Tsunade glanced at the book on the desk, its title Intimate Paradise standing out prominently. She picked it up, flipped through a few pages, and immediately felt her eyes burn.
"You wrote this book?"
"Yes."
"Get out!" Tsunade hurled the book, smacking Jiraiya square in the face.