Let's go back to five days ago.
Uchiha Six-Tails was also contemplating how to lure out Uchiha Madara and then capture him in one fell swoop. Ultimately, he decided that the most straightforward and reliable method was to commit as many evil deeds as possible.
Along the way, his motto was: Never miss a chance to do evil, no matter how small.
Things like snatching lollipops and ice pops from children, those were beneath him. Then there were the more absurd acts, like knocking on a widow's door late at night, breaking into a woman's boudoir, or midnight clubbing in someone's funeral hall.
But most importantly, he would steal from wealthy households, set fires, often intentionally getting discovered, and then openly declare himself as "Uchiha Madara." Petty theft was one thing, but incurring the wrath of influential people by burning down a feudal lord's mansion quickly made Six-Tails infamous.
Thus, an "Uchiha Madara" — bearing a Sharingan, wearing a tiger-striped mask, and donned in a black cloak with red clouds — quickly became well-known.
The Akatsuki organization naturally caught wind of this news.
In a dim room, three figures were discussing.
"Uchiha Madara, that's not you, is it?" Pain glanced at the story's protagonist, who sat steadily in a lounge chair, asking suspiciously.
"Hmph! Some lowly scoundrel, trying to ruin my reputation." The shadows obscuring Uchiha Obito only allowed his silhouette to be seen, but his tone revealed his unpleasant mood. "I'll go grind him to dust myself."
"I've already sent Kakuzu and Hidan, who are closest, to handle it."
"I'll do it myself." "Uchiha Madara" distorted space and vanished.
"If someone is impersonating Uchiha Madara, then the Uchiha Madara we've been seeing, is he also fake?" Konan asked, concerned. Deep down, she had never fully agreed with the Tailed Beast collection plan, nor did she trust this Uchiha Madara, who always wore a mask and dared not show his true face. However, she would unconditionally support Nagato's plan.
Pain's cold voice replied, "Whether he is Uchiha Madara or not, the Tailed Beast collection plan must proceed. Only through a cycle of pain can peace be conceived and born in this world. This is the plan we endorse."
"Yes."
"However, we cannot be deceived again."
"I will keep an eye on him."
Meanwhile, almost simultaneously.
From a distance, Uchiha Six-Tails detected two individuals with abnormal chakra. He set off to investigate. Upon arriving at the location, Six-Tails found it to be a beautiful place, with green water and lush mountains, a truly auspicious site.
However, a toilet stood incongruously by the roadside, marring the scenic beauty. Six-Tails took a look, realizing it was a luxurious toilet, even ostentatiously adorned in gold, yet a foul odor still emanated from within.
Just then, two verbose individuals emerged from the toilet; they were precisely the ones he was looking for.
"Hey, I'm telling you, don't be so quick to kill people, at least let me preach my doctrine first and recruit a believer for Lord Jashin, Kakuzu." A handsome young man in a black cloak with red clouds complained as he walked out.
The other, a man with strange, money-colored eyes, counted money while muttering, "Idiot."
Upon closer inspection, Six-Tails noticed that both men wore black cloaks with red clouds, likely members of the 'Akatsuki' organization.
"Sigh."
Six-Tails couldn't help but sigh. That night, 'Boss' (Naruto's clone) was too busy scolding Uchiha Madara to gather much intelligence about Akatsuki in the Duel Arena, leaving him to do the legwork. These past few days, he had been constantly tied up and had no time to visit the Duel Arena for intel.
Thankfully, he already knew of the Akatsuki's existence, and his target, 'Uchiha Madara,' was a member of this organization. Now, he had finally found his targets.
He leaped into the air, and his gaze was immediately drawn.
"Oh~ you have so much money!"
Kakuzu, who was counting money, suddenly heard a voice beside his ear. He turned his head to see a person wearing a tiger-striped mask, who had appeared beside him at some unknown moment.
"So fast!" Kakuzu was shocked internally and immediately jumped away.
Hidan, next to him, was puzzled. Seeing the newcomer's outfit—Sharingan + red cloud black robe + mask—he thought he had encountered an acquaintance.
"Isn't that Tobi? Why are you acting alone?"
"Shut up, idiot, look closely at the mask, that's not Tobi!" Kakuzu, wearing his mask, reminded him. Even now, a trace of cold sweat ran down his back. The speed of this guy and the quality of chakra contained within those Sharingan eyes made him feel a deep threat, even after living for 90 years. Although the newcomer's tone was relaxed, and the visible Sharingan even seemed to contain a clear foolishness, the intuition gained from years of battle experience told him that this person was very, very strong! This was definitely not the kind of fear Tobi could inspire.
Was this the 'Uchiha Madara' that the leader mentioned they had to deal with? It couldn't be the real Uchiha Madara, could it?
"It's not?"
Hidan was first confused, then a bloodthirsty, insane grin appeared on his face. "Isn't that even better? With Sharingan, you're from the Uchiha clan, right? I've long wanted to taste your Uchiha blood and see how it's different."
Saying that, he swung his strange scythe and attacked Uchiha Six-Tails.
Six-Tails dodged the scythe with a leap, almost laughing out loud with delight: "You attacked me first, so it's only natural for me to retaliate!"
"However, you know me?" Six-Tails narrowed his eyes, not expecting to gain such important intelligence in such a short time. "Tobi? Is that the name?"
"Wahoo~ Here it comes, the fresh blood of the Uchiha clan!" Hidan ignored him, delivering another slash. Six-Tails still easily dodged.
Kakuzu, still shaken, warned, "Hidan, be careful, this Uchiha is very strong."
It was just a warning. Kakuzu knew Hidan's immortality well, having failed to kill him many times, which was why they were still partners. It was a good chance to let Hidan test this Uchiha, and at worst, it would buy him time to escape.
"Of course I know!"
Hidan shouted, excited, "Itachi and Tobi, those two aren't easy to deal with. But precisely because of that, I want to taste the Uchiha clan's fresh blood even more!"
Seeing Six-Tails jump onto a tree, Hidan swung his scythe.
Swish~ Crunch.
A large tree, wide enough for two people to embrace, was cleanly severed at the base.
"Such a sharp scythe."
Dodging the attack again, Six-Tails decided to launch an offense to gather more information.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh~~~
Six shurikens, enhanced by Wind Release, broke the sound barrier, directly piercing Hidan's chest and leaving six large wounds.
"That hurts, damn it!"
Hidan merely cried out in pain but showed no other reaction, instead swinging his Death God's scythe even more furiously.
Seeing this, Six-Tails' interest was piqued. His eyes glowed: "Oh? Immortality? No wonder you didn't dodge my attacks. I didn't expect such a thing to exist in this world. This is top-grade material; even Boss would be drooling when he sees you."
Six-Tails stood up straight, his tiger-striped mask obscuring his expression from the duo, but his voice alone conveyed his delight.
"Finding such a rare material, Boss will probably praise me again."
He directly ignored the continuously swinging Death God's scythe, saying casually, "Since that's the case, let's end this here."
Crack~
Countless mirror shards shattered and reformed.
"Genjutsu?"
Kakuzu was shocked. He had five hearts in his body, not only a vast amount of chakra but also an unpredictable chakra flow. How could he fall for a genjutsu?