"Hey, why did Sakura give Dazuna a surfboard?" Naruto asked through their shared mental space, clearly confused.
"He's the one who loves adventure so much that he lied about the Mission Rank to get help from Konoha, right? Since he enjoys riding the waves so much, I figured I'd make his day!" Sakura thought with lingering irritation. Dazuna always flirted with danger anyway—might as well give him exactly what he asked for.
As Sakura and her group left Konoha, far away in the Land of Rain, the Akatsuki organization had gathered for a meeting.
"The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki has just graduated from the Ninja Academy and is currently undertaking a Class-C mission. However, according to intelligence reports, their opponent this time is Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist Village," whispered Zetsu, half-black and half-white, with an amused chuckle. "The team leader of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is Kakashi Hatake, known as the Copy Ninja. Besides Itachi Uchiha's younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha, the only other teammate is just an ordinary girl."
As he spoke, Zetsu shot a glance at Itachi Uchiha. "Moreover, Zabuza's ally is a descendant of the wiped-out Naminaka clan from the Hidden Mist—a user of the Ice Release technique. This mission might leave Itachi's little brother and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki seriously injured, or even dead!"
When Zetsu called Sakura an "ordinary girl," Itachi Uchiha almost punched him in the face. Ordinary girl? Who else could flatten the Nine-Tails? Which "ordinary" girl casually chats with [the Sage of Six Paths]?
"There are Anbu guarding the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki—he won't die," Itachi replied coldly, showing no expression, though a hint of concern flickered perfectly in his eyes. After all, to Zetsu and Obito, Itachi was someone capable of killing his parents for his brother. If he showed no emotional reaction at all, it would seem suspicious.
"Kakashi Hatake versus Zabuza Momochi, huh? Both are big-name bounties—definitely worth the trouble!"
Kakuzu skimmed through a book, smirking now and then.
"Everyone should prepare accordingly—three years later, our plan officially begins," Pain looked at Itachi and others, stating. "At that time, we will begin capturing the tailed beasts starting from the One-Tail. Additionally, Zetsu, you must quickly confirm the whereabouts of the Three-Tails!"
"Understood!" Zetsu immediately agreed. Investigating intelligence was already his role within Akatsuki anyway.
"When the time comes, capturing the One-Tail Jinchuriki will be entrusted to Sasori and Deidara," Pain turned to Sasori and Deidara, then shifted his gaze toward the Immortal Duo. "Once the One-Tail is sealed, Kakuzu and Hidan, you two should move quickly to capture the Two-Tails Jinchuriki. Understood?"
"No problem, Leader, but Kakuzu here might be a bit unreliable lately!" Hidan leaned lazily on his scythe, pointing at Kakuzu. "Boss, Kakuzu has been obsessed with some weird novel recently—hardly cares about making money anymore! At this rate, our whole organization will go broke!"
"Is that true, Kakuzu?"
Pain looked at Kakuzu coldly and asked. Kakuzu was the accountant of the Akatsuki Organization; if anything went wrong and he decided to quit, it would cause problems for their plans.
"Not at all," Kakuzu replied, waving the book in his hand. "My interest in earning money remains as strong as ever. I've just developed a few other interests recently. This book is really fascinating!"
Kakuzu waved the book around, its cover displaying two figures holding hands. The image left the entire Akatsuki Organization stunned with widened eyes.
"The people on this cover... why do they look so much like the legendary Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha?" Kisame Hoshigaki murmured softly. The picture looked exactly like the historical records he had seen before about Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.
"It's not just similar; these really are Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha!" Kakuzu suddenly let out an eerie chuckle, his eyes glowing with a ghostly green light. "I stumbled upon this book by accident. It's one of the widely popular 'Wrong Love' series novels sweeping across the shinobi world in recent years. *Wrong Love: Past Lives and Endless Skies*, Part Two. This story tells the romantic tale between Konoha's First Hokage, the Ninja God Hashirama Senju, and Madara Uchiha!"
Internally, Kakuzu couldn't contain his excitement. Years ago, he'd been ordered to assassinate Hashirama Senju but instead ended up severely injured after being crushed to the ground by one of the latter's Wood Clones—an incident that remained a profound humiliation in Kakuzu's mind. Now, discovering this literary work unintentionally brought him great joy. Knowing that the legendary Ninja God had such a past felt like a breath of cold air on a scorching day—each time he read it, Kakuzu felt a deep sense of satisfaction.
"What? A love story between Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha?!"
The entire Akatsuki Organization broke into an uproar, their eyes burning with gossip-hungry fire.
"That doesn't make sense! From what I've heard, weren't Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha originally close friends? Then they eventually fought each other to the death at the Valley of the End. How could there be any romantic story between them?" Kisame shook his head, refusing to believe Kakuzu's words from the bottom of his heart.
"You yourself said those were just rumors—how could they possibly be true?" Kakuzu snorted disapprovingly.
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-One: Gossip Flames of the Akatsuki Organization [Mid]
"All the events recorded in this book match perfectly with what I know, even far more detailed than what I knew before. In my opinion, this must be a truthful account!" Kakuzu exclaimed while flipping through the pages. "That's why I always got a weird vibe from Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha whenever I saw their portraits in the past. Turns out, despite appearing to be brothers-in-arms on the surface, they secretly were lovers behind closed doors!"
"Unbelievable!" Deidara stretched his neck forward to peek at the illustrations inside Kakuzu's book. When he saw the pictures, his interest intensified. "Even actual images are included—it must mean the story is definitely real! Itachi Uchiha, never would've guessed your ancestor Madara had such a legendary past."
Deidara burst out laughing toward Itachi Uchiha. He'd never liked the red-eyed Uchiha anyway—it still annoyed him how easily Itachi had defeated him back then. Yet, finding this book gave him pleasure knowing the Uchiha household had hidden stories no one else knew about.
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