Just as Izanami and the twin sisters captured their beautiful moments, far away in the Hidden Rain Village where heavy rain poured relentlessly, a figure within a steel-walled building was communicating through a colorful thought-form.
"Sasori, is something wrong?" asked a voice.
"Leader, have you ever been to the Land of Rivers? Or do you have any other clones besides the five Pain bodies?"
Tendo Pain's expression remained impassive. "Why do you ask?"
"Answer me."
"No."
"Good. I believe you."
Sasori of the Red Sand, his tone deep and serious, nodded. "Deidara and I encountered someone in the Land of Rivers who could summon meteorites and wield repulsive and attractive forces, just like you."
Pain's face—cold and unreadable—shifted slightly. "Who is he?"
"I don't know," Sasori admitted, shaking his head. "He was garbed in a black robe, long white hair, and wore a pure-white mask with no eye holes. His sensing ability was unbelievably strong."
"He appeared out of nowhere, first summoning meteorites to intimidate us, then threatening me to surrender my Puppet Technique and methods for puppet creation—though he didn't seem intent on killing us."
"So you suspect it's me," Pain remarked flatly.
"I can't rule it out."
Sasori leaned in, his gaze flicking to Pain's Rinnegan. A low chuckle escaped him. "I've only seen that level of dominion in you. If not you, someone else in this Shinobi World must possess eyes equal to yours."
"It seems this world isn't as dull as I thought."
With those words, Sasori's thought-form slowly receded and vanished. Silence blanketed the rain-drenched facility.
A few seconds passed before Pain's hand emerged from his sleeve, bearing a ring with the kanji for "Zero." A faint glow pulsed around it.
Minutes later, a creature resembling a pitcher plant in a black trench coat, its face and body split in black and white, emerged from the ground. "Leader, what are your orders?" asked Black Zetsu in a raspy whisper.
Pain repeated the details Sasori had shared.
"What?!"
White Zetsu raised his voice in alarm. "Someone else besides you can use Shinra Tensei and the All Creation of Attraction?"
"It's possible," Pain stated calmly. "But highly unlikely—unless it's secret ninjutsu indistinguishable from repulsive-and-attractive-force techniques. He wore a pure white mask without eye holes, clearly hiding his eyes. He deliberately sought Sasori, aiming to obtain both the Puppet Technique and puppet creation secrets. If he indeed possesses Rinnegan, he intends to form the Pain Six Paths."
"Then we must find him and eliminate him before he challenges me for control of the Outer Path Demonic Statue."
"Yes."
Black Zetsu nodded, employing the Ephemeral Technique to slip underground and vanish into the rainy night.
—
Half an hour later, Black Zetsu and Uchiha Obito met in the Kamui Dimension.
"A mysterious person who can use Shinra Tensei and All Creation of Attraction?" Obito sounded intrigued.
Black Zetsu, embodying Madara's will, replied, "Nagato's analysis is reasonable."
"In other words," Obito said, "a fortunate individual acquired the Rinnegan and Six Paths techniques—abilities stemming from a previous era, now inherited after their owner's death?"
Obito's expression remained obscured beneath his mask, emotionless and unreadable.
Black Zetsu remained silent but brooding. He refused to accept the possibility that anyone besides Nagato could possess the Rinnegan. Not after Black Zetsu himself had spent over a millennium subtly orchestrating Madara's and Hashirama's reincarnations to foster its reawakening.
He was equally convinced that Hagoromo never passed on the Rinnegan. If he had, its power would likely have surfaced long ago, through some reincarnation or wielder. And yet, here they were, facing a true challenge.
"Those repulsive and attractive forces can't result from just any secret ninjutsu," Black Zetsu continued. "Add meteorite summoning, flying—this person is dangerously powerful."
White hair, missing eye holes in his mask, sensory ability rivaling the Rinnegan… Black Zetsu's mind raced.
This individual must hail from… the Moon.
"Could Hamura's descendants possess such a jutsu?" he wondered.
Black Zetsu had been born too late—Hamura sealed him as he entered the world. In this age of Shinobi peace, Hagoromo had gone about his path of atonement, while Hamura moved to the moon, married, and built new bloodlines.
For some time, both branches communicated. Black Zetsu even learned of a spatial passage between Earth and the Moon—Hamura's doing. But aside from his Byakugan variant, nobody knew what ocular jutsu emerged on the lunar side.
Now, the thought of a Moon Shinobi returning to Earth, wielding unknown ocular powers and gravity-altering ninjutsu, had him furious.
Damn you, Hagoromo and Hamura! After a thousand years, your descendants reveal new tricks!
—
"Sasori's puppets can retain the bloodline limits and ninjutsu of the original body. If this person has Rinnegan and seeks to build his own Pain Six Paths, he'll be hunting jinchūriki and bloodline users."
Cursing silently at his elder brothers, Black Zetsu told Obito, "I've ordered White Zetsu clones to keep tabs on powerful figures worldwide. Once we locate him, we'll alert you and Nagato immediately."
Obito gave a curt nod. "Understood."
Eliminating this cautious, powerful outsider swiftly was their only choice.
A warrior with flight, meteorite summoning, and Shinra Tensei—not of their making—could become a monumental obstacle if left unchecked.
And so, amidst the rain-drenched plains of the Hidden Rain Village and the ethereal corridors of the Kamui Dimension, the wheels of fate turned again. The Akatsuki had sensed a challenger—and the world of shinobi would never be the same.
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