South of the Northern Three Islands, a small boat slowly sailed away from the area.
"Sensei, where are we going next?"
"South. Since there's nothing in the north, it's probably in the south."
Gekko Chizan sat on the boat, eating snacks while gazing at the sea horizon shrouded in thick mist.
He felt somewhat speechless. At first, his intuition told him that Akatsuki should be in the south. And what happened?
After making a trip, there wasn't even a shadow of Akatsuki. But he didn't lose out—after all, he had gained a large sum of wealth.
"Chizan, why are you so obsessed with finding this organization called Akatsuki?"
"In my opinion, there's absolutely no need. Wouldn't it be fine to just wait for them to show up on their own?"
Tagitsuhime sat to the side, popping snakeberries into her mouth one after another.
She was quite puzzled about Gekko Chizan coming to Kirigakure this time. In her view, instead of spending time searching for such an organization, wouldn't it be better to stay in Konoha and properly improve his strength?
"Tagitsuhime, you don't understand."
"No, you should understand. You also know about Akatsuki's situation."
"Whether it's that Uchiha Madara or Nagato, their ambitions are terrifying."
"Right now, they lack strength and manpower, so they can endure and bide their time. But once the opportunity ripens and their power is fully accumulated, I will become their target."
Gekko Chizan stopped eating, stood up, and looked out at the sea, a trace of seriousness appearing on his face.
"You? Become their target? Why?"
Tagitsuhime still didn't quite understand.
"Do you know the Sage of Six Paths?"
"I do. Wasn't that the one assisted by that toad sage from Mount Myōboku?"
The situation of the three great holy lands didn't even need explanation. As one of the three snake princesses of Ryūchi Cave, Tagitsuhime naturally knew very well.
Gekko Chizan let out a slight sigh.
"Then do you know? Before the Sage of Six Paths, there was an even more terrifying existence named Ōtsutsuki Kaguya."
"Even the nine Tailed Beasts came into existence because of her."
"As for Akatsuki's goal, there are two. One is to revive the real Uchiha Madara. The other is to revive Ōtsutsuki Kaguya."
"The former doesn't threaten me much. But the latter—that one wants my life."
Tagitsuhime was a little stunned after hearing this. Instead, Chōmei, Gekko Chizan's old partner, fell silent.
He had always known that Gekko Chizan knew many things. Now it seemed that was indeed the case.
He knew about the Ten-Tails and the conditions required to revive it.
"Still don't get it?"
"Reviving the Ten-Tails requires gathering all nine Tailed Beasts together. In other words, they will collect all nine and seal them."
"What am I? The Seven-Tails' Jinchūriki! If they extract the Seven-Tails from my body, I'm done for!"
"Of course, if I'm done for, the Seven-Tails is done for too. So for my safety—and for my partner's safety—"
"This Akatsuki organization must be found as soon as possible and then wiped out!"
These words finally made Tagitsuhime understand Gekko Chizan's current situation.
They also moved Chōmei once again beyond measure.
"Alright, alright. Anything that threatens your life is naturally the most important."
"But their strength… tsk tsk… they won't be easy to deal with."
Of course Gekko Chizan understood. Whether it was Uchiha Madara's distance-ignoring dōjutsu, or Nagato's Rinnegan and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, all were troublesome existences.
But this battle had to be fought. First, he would figure out the opponent's situation.
...
At the same time, in the southern part of the Land of Water, Akatsuki's base.
Zetsu's body slowly rose from the ground. At this moment, everyone in the base was present.
And with his appearance, he brought a very bad piece of news.
"Yo, Zetsu, you're late."
"What is it? Any new information or candidate recommendations?"
Uchiha Makito sat cross-legged on one of the fingers of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Dressed in a red cloud robe and wearing a mask, he truly resembled Masked Obito.
But what Zetsu brought was definitely not good news—it was something that caused everyone present to frown.
"Kumogakure led troops in a surprise attack on the Northern Three Islands of the Land of Water."
"For some reason, the Fourth Mizukage also went there, and he went berserk and transformed into his Tailed Beast form."
"The battle between both sides is very intense. If I'm not mistaken, the Fourth Raikage has also appeared there."
"The Fourth Mizukage is still in the northern sea. He'll probably only settle down after venting all his anger."
Aside from Kakuzu, who had just joined Akatsuki and had always been responsible for financial matters, so he wasn't very familiar with the Fourth Mizukage's situation—
The other three were very clear about it.
The Fourth Mizukage was under Uchiha Makito's control. That was what allowed them to stay in the Land of Water at ease.
And now Kirigakure had actually started fighting Kumogakure—and even pushed their own Mizukage into a berserk state???
What kind of mess was this…
"Tch. What did I say? We should've just handled it ourselves."
"Why insist on using a puppet?"
"That little shorty, honestly…"
Uchiha Makito's only flaw over the years might have been his mouth.
With a single remark, he instantly drew the ire of two people.
Black Zetsu's face was pitch black, making his expression unreadable, but from his aura alone, one could tell he was displeased.
After all, he was the one who had recommended using the Fourth Mizukage as a puppet, and he was also the one who transplanted the Three-Tails into the Mizukage's body.
The other was Kabuto.
Kabuto had already come to regard puppets as everything to him. Even though Uchiha Makito spoke unintentionally, it still struck a nerve.
"What's wrong with puppets…"
"Hmph. I think it's just that your Genjutsu wasn't effective enough. If it were me, if I placed a technique inside his brain—"
"This situation absolutely wouldn't have happened!"
What should have been a proper Akatsuki gathering turned into an accountability meeting because of the Fourth Mizukage.
Kakuzu calmly watched them blame one another.
"Hehehe… Is this really something that can be called an organization?"
"If it doesn't work out, we might as well disband. But the money from this period needs to be given to me."
The moment he spoke, the previously noisy cave fell silent.
The other four turned their gazes toward him. Among them, Nagato and Black Zetsu looked displeased.
Uchiha Makito and Kabuto simply rolled their eyes at him.
From this alone, one could see their mindsets. The first two were quite dissatisfied, while the latter two didn't take him seriously at all.
"Kakuzu, don't say such things again."
"The organization's matters are not something to joke about."
"Besides this, there's another matter. In fact, this one is even more serious."
Black Zetsu continued speaking, and what he said next caused everyone's hearts to tremble in surprise.
"I discovered traces of Gekko Chizan in the Land of Water…"
"He seems to be searching for something. If I'm not mistaken, what he's looking for… is us…"
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