Deep within the mountains, in the vast, shadowy cavern that served as Akatsuki's hidden meeting ground—
One by one, ghostly phantoms began to materialize.
Each figure wore the unmistakable black cloak adorned with red clouds—ominous symbols of war and destruction.
These were no ordinary ninja.
They were S-rank missing-nin from across the Great Nations.
Dangerous. Infamous. Each one capable of leveling an entire force on their own.
Individually, they were terrifying.
Together—
They were the Akatsuki.
Present today were the key members of the organization:
Pain. Konan. Zetsu. Uchiha Itachi. Hoshigaki Kisame. Sasori. Deidara. Kakuzu. Hidan.
And they had all gathered at the urgent summons of Itachi and Kisame.
The flickering projections stabilized, and within moments, the meeting commenced.
Standing in the center of the circle, Uchiha Itachi calmly began his report, his voice cold and precise. Hoshigaki Kisame stood beside him, arms crossed, his usual smirk gone.
They relayed everything they had witnessed in Konoha.
The sweeping reforms.
The rise of Uzumaki Naruto as the Fifth Hokage.
The shocking reality that Konoha had already subjugated Kirigakure, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure.
And then—
The most staggering revelation of all.
That Naruto, the new Hokage, had single-handedly defeated the Mizukage, the Tsuchikage, and the Raikage.
Each of them—the strongest shinobi in their respective villages—along with their elite bodyguards...
All overwhelmed by Naruto alone.
And not only that—
Naruto had declared, publicly and without hesitation, before the entire village of Konoha—
That he would unify all five Great Nations.
That he would unite the entire Shinobi World.
The cavern was silent.
Even among such powerful individuals—each possessing strength at or above Kage-level—the information shook them to the core.
Even Pain, their leader, narrowed his eyes.
Even Deidara, always brash and impulsive, fell quiet.
Even Kakuzu, who had fought countless battles in his long life, said nothing.
Because this wasn't mere propaganda.
Itachi and Kisame were known for being composed and rational. If they had said it—
It was true.
That someone—anyone—could defeat three Kage and their guards at once…
Was unthinkable.
Even the most arrogant among them wouldn't dare claim they could take on three Kage at once—let alone win.
After all, they were all Kage-level, yes.
But among equals, outcomes were uncertain. The idea of defeating not one, not two, but three of the Five Kage—
Was absurd.
Especially when considering that each was accompanied by elite guards trained to fight alongside them.
The sheer scale of that battle...
Should've been suicide.
And yet—
Uzumaki Naruto had done it.
The same boy once mocked as a dropout, a nobody.
Now stood above the strongest shinobi of the Great Nations.
The Akatsuki sat in silence, each member digesting the implications.
The balance of the world had shifted.
And they had a new enemy.
One that could not be ignored.
The atmosphere in the cave was heavy with disbelief.
The gathered members of Akatsuki—Konan, Kakuzu, Sasori, and the others—could hardly process what they had just heard.
"Is this real? Is the current Hokage of Konoha really stronger than the First Hokage?"
"It sounds impossible… One man, conquering three major hidden villages?"
"What on earth happened in Konoha?"
The whispers grew louder.
These were shinobi feared across nations—rogues who carried the blood of nations on their hands. Cold, calculating, and composed.
Yet now, even they couldn't maintain their usual stoicism.
Because the one they were discussing—Uzumaki Naruto, the Fifth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf—
Was no longer a name they could ignore.
His strength wasn't rumor or hype. It was fact.
If what Itachi and Kisame reported was true—if Naruto had defeated three Kage and their bodyguards on his own—
Then he had already surpassed the limits of what even the most elite ninja believed possible.
To the members of Akatsuki, this meant one terrifying thing:
A single person had appeared who could overwhelm all of them.
If Naruto could crush the leaders of Kirigakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure—
Then he could undoubtedly take on any one of them individually.
But more concerning than his strength…
Was his vision.
Naruto didn't just want to unify the Five Great Nations.
He intended to unify the entire Shinobi World.
And if that were true—
If Konoha truly aimed to bring all ninja under its banner—
Then they, the Akatsuki, would inevitably become targets.
There was no future where Konoha would tolerate an organization like Akatsuki running free.
When the Leaf moved to bring unity—
They would come for Akatsuki, too.
And when that day came…
None of them would escape.
But amidst the rising concern, there was one man who remained completely unfazed.
Pain.
Or more precisely—
Nagato, the true mind behind the godlike puppet leader.
In Nagato's eyes, even the might of the Fifth Hokage meant little.
So what if Naruto had defeated three Kage?
That just meant he had never faced the true power of the Rinnegan.
To Nagato, the Rinnegan wasn't just a dōjutsu—it was divine power.
It was the eye of the Sage of Six Paths.
Its capabilities were beyond mortal understanding.
And if Naruto intended to bring order to the world—
Nagato would answer with his own vision of peace.
A vision built not through diplomacy…
But through overwhelming destruction.
Konoha's rise meant only one thing:
The world had changed.
And so, Akatsuki would change with it.
Nagato made his decision in that moment—silently, in the depths of his hidden chamber.
And then, through the body of Pain, he made his decree:
"I will move personally. From this moment, I will go to Konoha—"
"—and capture the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki."
The others looked up, shocked.
But Pain's voice continued—calm, resolute, absolute.
"While I engage Konoha directly, the rest of you will begin your own missions."
"Go to the other villages that still possess tailed beasts…"
"And retrieve them before Konoha does."
A new phase of the Akatsuki's plan had begun.
One that would bring them face to face with the strongest Hokage in history—
And perhaps, with destiny itself.
...
TN:
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