Deidara pointed at Uchiha Itachi, and the two mouths on his face and hand spoke in unison, "Uchiha Itachi is a traitor. He colluded with Ryosuke, betrayed us, and caused Konan to be captured by Ryosuke!"
"Konan is so beautiful, and falling into Ryosuke's hands… what could happen… I don't even dare to imagine!"
Sasori let out a cold laugh.
'Coward.'
He dared to imagine.
Sasori had no personal feud with Uchiha Itachi, but if Pain chose to kill Uchiha Itachi, he would reluctantly accept Itachi's corpse and make it into a puppet, to remember the man by looking at his puppet.
"I'm not a traitor," Uchiha Itachi said.
Deidara stepped forward, "Then why are you blushing?"
"Full of spirit."
Uchiha Itachi didn't respond and just silently locked eyes with Pain and said, "If I were a traitor, I wouldn't have come here."
Pain's gaze grew colder, "I told you to explain, what does 'double agent' mean?"
Kisame Hoshigaki, who had a closer relationship with Itachi, sensed the tension and stepped forward, "A spy is just a spy. No need for interpretation. Mr. Itachi definitely isn't one. There must be some kind of misunderstanding."
Pain gently shook his head. "Wrong."
"I'll tell you what a 'spy' is."
His Rinnegan released endless killing intent.
"A spy… is someone who deserves to die."
The day Uchiha Itachi joined the Akatsuki, Pain felt his intentions weren't pure.
Of course, the few present weren't exactly pure-hearted either.
The problem was, others had evil intentions toward outsiders.
But Uchiha Itachi seemed more like he had intentions toward the Akatsuki's own people.
Others might be tolerated. But Konan was Nagato's last family.
Whoever dared to touch her, must die.
Pain didn't hide his killing intent in the slightest.
Deidara, Sasori, Zetsu, Kakuzu, one by one, they grew excited, backing up a few steps to leave space for the two.
Especially Deidara, who had recently joined the Akatsuki and hadn't seen Pain make a move before. He widened his eyes, eager to witness the fight.
Kisame raised his hand, wanting to say a few more words. But in the end, he sighed and stepped aside.
On one side stood Uchiha Itachi, a powerhouse who had pushed the Sharingan to its limits in the ninja world.
On the other side was Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki, wielder of the mysterious Rinnegan.
Just as the two were about to fight inside the narrow underground base, suddenly, a strange voice came from the darkness,
"Itachi is not a traitor."
A figure walked out of the darkness, wearing an Akatsuki fire cloud cloak and an orange spiral-patterned mask. His aura was mysterious and cold, it was Tobi.
In Tobi's original plan, he didn't intend to reveal himself so early. At the moment, only Pain, Konan, Itachi, and Zetsu knew about his existence. Tobi wanted to keep it that way.
But no one expected Itachi, Konan, and Deidara, plus Orochimaru, would all fail to gain any advantage against Ryosuke.
Orochimaru, defeated.
Konan, captured.
If Tobi didn't show up now, either Pain or Itachi, two crucial pawns, would die. If luck was bad, maybe both would die.
Deidara nudged Sasori with his shoulder, "Who's this guy?"
Sasori shook his head and looked at Kakuzu.
Kakuzu also shook his head.
But judging by Pain's reaction and the man's outfit, they figured he must be known to Pain. So they settled down and continued to watch quietly.
Tobi stepped forward and stood next to Uchiha Itachi, "I vouch for him. He's not a traitor. As for Konan…"
He looked straight at Pain.
"I will personally make a trip to Kirigakure."
Lately, undercurrents had been stirring in Kirigakure. Combined with Ryosuke's movements, it wasn't a secret to those with keen eyes.
Anyone with a brain could see, something big was about to happen.
The reason why the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, went insane and plunged the village into chaos was because he was under Tobi's genjutsu control.
Using Yagura, Tobi amassed wealth and, under the "Blood Mist" policy, purged dissenters, gradually turning Kirigakure into a place where he had the final say.
It wouldn't be long before, once Tobi's plan began in earnest, Kirigakure's ninja would become his private armed forces.
Just as Nagato cared about Konan… Tobi also cared about Kirigakure, that juicy piece of meat.
If anyone dared reach for it, he'd cut off their hand.
Tobi folded his arms and spoke in a calm yet resolute tone, "I will go kill Ryosuke and bring Konan back. Then this matter is settled. Is that okay?"
Having said this much, Tobi thought Pain would nod.
But Pain said, "No."
"This time, I'm going with you."
Upon hearing this, the Akatsuki members were slightly shaken.
Ever since the Akatsuki's framework had been established, Pain hadn't personally gone out on missions for a long time. Was Konan really that important to him?
Or… was Ryosuke so powerful that Pain had to take action himself?
Tobi chuckled softly.
"Then let's go together."
Back then, it had been Tobi, Pain, and Konan who went to subjugate Yagura of Kirigakure.
"It's kind of like revisiting an old place."
———
Ryosuke disembarked from the ship.
The Land of Water was still the same as before he left.
Humid air, dense fog, officials with blades yelling and shouting, and civilians bowing their heads and working silently.
Over thirty people, did not all disembark.
This time, only Sasuke, Rei, and Mayuri went with Ryosuke.
Kamihara Hayato and Takeshi remained at sea with the rest, waiting for news from Kirigakure before landing, to avoid attracting attention from other organizations.
The reason these three were brought was because if Ryosuke really wanted to do something big, he couldn't rely solely on himself forever. He needed teammates he could truly rely on.
Forever hiding behind Ryosuke wouldn't make them strong.
This time served as their training.
As a captive, Konan followed behind Ryosuke as a "decorative accessory."
But stepping onto the Land of Water again, her expression was a little complicated.
"What are you thinking?" Ryosuke asked.
Konan said coldly, "I have no obligation to answer you."
"Even if you don't say, and I can still guess. You feel that the Land of Water and Kirigakure turning out like this is partly your responsibility, and your conscience feels guilty.
But for the sake of your plan, you also think it was a necessary sacrifice… a conflict between left brain and right brain."
Konan suddenly turned her head, her Takeshi eyes staring fiercely at Ryosuke.
"How much do you actually know about me?!"
Ryosuke ignored her gaze, walked past her, and softly said, "Relax, I only care about important intel. As for you liking to sing in the bath or hugging a doll while sleeping, that kind of trivia, I'm not interested in at all."
Konan's face flushed red.
If not for the "command" restriction, she would've leapt up and shut this man's mouth.
Ryosuke smiled and moved on, heading toward the north of the Land of Water.
According to the letter's intel, there were still a few days before Terumi Mei would stir up unrest. Ryosuke decided to take a detour to Snowy Village.
Before leaving, Ryosuke had handed the Executioner's Blade and the broken Thunder Blade, Fang to Sword Grandpa, asking him to forge suitable swords for Sasuke and Rei.
Enough time had passed, it should be ready.
A group of five moved quickly. By the afternoon of the third day, they arrived at Snowy Village and once again saw Sword Grandpa.
As soon as he saw Ryosuke, Sword Grandpa grinned.
A blade smith and a swordsman always bring out the best in each other.
What blade smith wouldn't want his creation to follow a swordsman and become famous across the world?
Every strong opponent slain by the Ruinous Blade would become a part of its legacy, passed down through the years as a "legend."
"I heard about what you did in the Land of Fire. Now you're back, who are you planning to kill this time?"
"A big name."
As Ryosuke spoke, he pointed to Sasuke and Rei.
"So, I'm here to pick up their swords."
"They've long been ready."
Sword Grandpa opened a cabinet and took out two wooden boxes, placing them on the table.
"Open and take a look."
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