Fortunately, Orochimaru was also a person with a resilient personality, so he didn't mind the environment here. Instead, he sat on the ground in the shadow of a rock, and spoke with a sinister smile about what happened that day: "Scorpion, you must have seen it that day, Pain is a puppet controlled from behind the scenes..."
"Hmm?"
Red Sand Sasori glanced at Orochimaru in surprise.
Pain being a puppet controlled from behind the scenes, so what?
As far as Red Sand Sasori was concerned, who wasn't a puppet controlled by someone? What's so surprising about this?
Red Sand Sasori's own body was also a Six Paths Puppet, only that his body structure was special, allowing him to live in the identity of the living, and even borrow the abilities of Yin-Yang Release and Asura Path.
"Have you considered it?"
Orochimaru looked at Red Sand Sasori and smiled lightly, enticing him: "You're a Puppet Master, aren't you interested in a puppet that's identical to a living person?"
"..."
Red Sand Sasori really couldn't speak up.
Because he was actually not interested at all.
Compared to Deva Path Pain controlled by Nagato from behind the scenes, the Asura Path power granted by Akihara Kagura was obviously more suitable for him.
"Even if I'm interested, it's not something we can meddle with."
Red Sand Sasori shook his head, seemingly afraid of the power of the Rinnegan: "Don't forget, you weren't even able to withstand a single jutsu from Pain..."
At this point, Red Sand Sasori sensed a movement from the ring on his hand, which was the identity ring issued to members of the Akatsuki Organization. It could utilize the ring to convert Chakra into unique thought waves, thereby transmitting messages to Pain.
"Pain wants to communicate with us."
"..."
Orochimaru also naturally sensed the movement from the ring.
Orochimaru had long thought about researching this ring, but had never figured out why, after Chakra converts into thought waves, he couldn't capture those thought waves?
If this problem could be resolved, it would potentially lead to the development of a tool capable of infinite remote communication, possibly becoming a tool to change the Ninja World.
Unfortunately.
Orochimaru had never been able to figure it out.
This issue might have to wait until there's the Rinnegan to be realized. By experimenting and comparing, one could determine whether this remote communication was indeed a unique function of the Rinnegan.
Of course.
This matter could be shelved for now.
The most urgent task was to see if Pain had any new ideas.
"Illusionary Body Jutsu!"
Orochimaru and Red Sand Sasori sat on the ground and simultaneously performed the Illusionary Body Jutsu.
Their consciousness seemed as if it returned to the Akatsuki Organization's base, only transforming into illusory shadows resembling their bodies.
Besides the two of them, the shadows of Konan and Pain were also present.
"Pain!"
Upon contacting Deva Path Pain, the first thing Red Sand Sasori did was report: "This guy Orochimaru was just thinking about enticing me to jointly seize your Rinnegan. I hate this guy, can we take the opportunity to get rid of him in the desert?"
"..."
Orochimaru's eyes changed as he immediately laughed insidiously: "Hehehehehe, that's the eye of the Six Paths Sage, wouldn't it be strange if I had no thoughts about it?"
Isn't Red Sand Sasori's brain malfunctioning?
Is this something you can report on? Who would want to cooperate with you in the future? A S-Class Traitorous Ninja who once had a chance to succeed the Kazekage of the Hidden Sand Village comes to the Akatsuki Organization, appearing loyal. Who are they putting on this show for?
"It's okay."
Pain seemed quite broad-minded, not caring at all about Orochimaru coveting the Rinnegan, and merely ordered: "Orochimaru, Jiraiya has been keeping an eye on Akatsuki. To avoid him causing us trouble, you'll act as bait to attract his attention..."
"What?"
Orochimaru's eyes suddenly darkened.
This group of people, they wanted to use him as bait again?
The last time they did this, they didn't even send a retreat signal; this time it was even more blatant, openly saying they wanted to use him as bait?
This guy...
Has he ever been a leader?
Even if you let your subordinates act as bait, you shouldn't say it out loud like that!
He had only just had a meeting with Akihara Kagura with great difficulty; finally managed to get that little guy to take Jiraiya to track the Akatsuki Organization, and the Akatsuki Organization throws the problem back at me?
"This is a mess you caused in the first place."
Pain didn't care about Orochimaru's attitude, directly putting the blame on him: "If you hadn't gone to the laboratory to provoke Jiraiya, he wouldn't have found traces of the Akatsuki Organization. Since you caused the trouble, you should resolve it yourself!"
"..."
Orochimaru's hands slowly clenched.
This wasn't about whether he could solve the problem; his original intention was to keep Jiraiya causing trouble for the Akatsuki Organization. How did it turn into him having to resolve this issue!
Orochimaru suddenly chuckled and provocatively asked, "Couldn't you possibly handle Jiraiya and that little fellow Akihara Kagura?"
"..."
The others remained silent, not saying a word.
In truth, everyone present had some sort of collusion with Akihara Kagura, just to varying degrees, and differing in how much they knew about Akihara Kagura's identity.
Orochimaru...
Clearly the one who knew the least.
Pain really didn't know how to put it into words. Was he supposed to say that they couldn't handle that little guy, who was the one proposing in the first place to use him as bait? All this was to ensure someone could support that kid to become Hokage in the future?
"Fine."
Ultimately, Pain shook his head, sternly instructing: "Some things you'll never understand even if they're explained to you, just obediently execute the orders."
"I'll make an exception and allow you to temporarily operate under the guise of leaving the Akatsuki Organization. Once you've resolved the issue with Jiraiya, you can reclaim the Akatsuki name, and your ring can be retained temporarily. You can even still contact me to report your mission progress."
"..."
Orochimaru's eyes gleamed with a hint of coldness.
Did Pain just say something a person would say? He's sending a member of the organization out to do work without an official designation. Perhaps even the future experimental funding will be stopped, yet he still wants the progress reported!
This kind of organization, this kind of leader...
How hasn't it collapsed yet?