'If I could beat you, I would definitely punch you.'
Kakuzu couldn't help but think, looking at the smiling Lexon.
Afterward, the two walked a bit deeper into the dense forest and found a place to sit down.
Then, their consciousnesses merged into the rings in their hands.
The "Akatsuki" member rings were no ordinary rings.
They were special tools that allowed members to communicate by transferring their consciousness into a specific space, forming holographic projections.
The surrounding scenery suddenly changed.
When he came to, Lexon found himself standing on a giant finger.
His body was illusory and indistinct, with no physical form.
'I've become a holographic projection...'
Lexon cast his gaze over his surroundings.
There were nine other illusory, indistinct figures, each standing on a finger.
He shifted his attention to what was below his feet.
Below him were clasped hands, like an open lotus flower.
And the owner of these hands was a gigantic humanoid statue, wearing handcuffs and legcuffs. Its nine eyes were closed, its face serene, and several columnar protrusions extended from its back.
Lexon recognized this statue's identity.
It was the husk of the Ten-Tails, its chakra extracted, known in the Naruto world as the Gedo Mazo.
In this world, there were nine Tailed Beasts.
And the source of these nine Tailed Beasts was the legendary Sage of Six Paths, who had split the Ten-Tails' chakra into nine parts, which then manifested into the individual beasts.
The "Akatsuki" organization's ultimate goal was to gather all the Tailed Beasts' chakra, converge it into the Gedo Mazo, revive the Ten-Tails, and then use the Ten-Tails' power to inflict devastating destruction upon the ninja world. This would, through the deterrence of absolute military force, stop war and restore peace.
This was the hope of "Akatsuki's" leader, Pain—no, it should be the true leader, Nagato Uzumaki—and the purpose for which "Akatsuki" was founded.
Lexon scanned the figures on the fingers.
'Seems there are quite a few familiar faces...'
Although the figures were illusory and indistinct, for Lexon, who possessed [Manga Knowledge Mastery], the general shapes of the highly popular super-group "Akatsuki" from Naruto were still easy to distinguish.
Pain, Konan, Kakuzu, Uchiha Itachi, Orochimaru, Zetsu, Sasori...
'And two unfamiliar people...'
Lexon looked closely at one of the illusory figures for a moment before remembering who it was.
'That's Itachi's first partner after joining Akatsuki, Juzo Biwa.'
'A minor character who blocked an attack for Itachi and cut a Tailed Beast Bomb.'
'The last one, I have no idea who that is...'
'Probably some minor character among minor characters who will die soon.'
Deidara and Hidan hadn't joined Akatsuki yet, so they weren't here.
And Obito was currently playing "Uchiha Madara," the man behind the scenes of "Akatsuki," and wouldn't appear at this time.
"Is everyone here," Tendo Pain, in the "Zero" position on the right thumb, spoke.
"Everyone's here," the black half of Zetsu's black-and-white body replied.
"Good." Pain nodded and continued, "Before we assign missions, let me introduce two new members who have joined the organization."
He looked at Lexon's position on the right index finger, the "Blue" (青) seat. "'Blue' seat, Uchiha Lexon. His partner is Kakuzu."
He then looked at Uchiha Itachi's position on the right ring finger, "'Vermilion' (朱) seat, Uchiha Itachi. His partner is Juzo Biwa."
Each of the Gedo Mazo's ten fingers corresponded to a code name on a member's ring. When all positions were full, they would wait for a member in a certain position to die, and a member without a position would succeed them. Tobi, who joined later, was like this; he had no ring and no code name until Sasori died, at which point he took his ring and code name.
"Both from the Uchiha clan..." Orochimaru spoke in a sinister tone.
"Correct. The Uchiha clan was annihilated by the two of them. They joined 'Akatsuki' after becoming rogue ninja," Pain explained.
The news of the Uchiha clan's destruction had not yet spread, so most "Akatsuki" members were unaware.
Now, hearing the news, varying degrees of shock appeared on their faces.
'The Uchiha clan, destroyed? That was a powerful and influential clan in Konoha, the number one village in the ninja world... A strong clan that, along with the Senju clan, built up Konoha during the First Great Ninja War...'
'And it was just destroyed by two of its own clansmen?'
'What kind of joke is this...'
Their gazes shifted back and forth between Lexon and Itachi.
'We've heard of Uchiha Itachi... an Uchiha genius who was famous even during the Third Great Ninja War... I can't believe he betrayed his own clan and Konoha...'
'But who is this other Uchiha Lexon? Never heard of him...'
'Why would these two Uchiha clansmen suddenly destroy their own clan?'
They couldn't understand it.
Only Orochimaru's face showed a trace of understanding. As one of the former Sannin of Konoha, he was well aware of the conflict between the Uchiha clan and the village. 'For them to be wiped out so easily... the village was probably pulling the strings from behind...'
'My dear Teacher Sarutobi...'
'But these two are definitely strong... They must have awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan...'
Orochimaru's long tongue snaked out, licking his lips. His gaze on Lexon and Itachi held a deep "interest."
'I want them... I want their eyes...'
Lexon, who hadn't spoken, suddenly felt a chilling gaze on him. He turned toward its source and saw Orochimaru staring at him.
'So it's you, you pervert... You want to dig out my eyes, don't you... In your dreams.'
Lexon naturally knew that the research-maniac Orochimaru had coveted the Mangekyo Sharingan for a long time. This guy would later leave "Akatsuki" precisely because he failed in his attack on Itachi to steal his eyes.
"That's all for the personnel changes." Pain ignored the members' reactions and said, "Next, the organization's missions."
Everyone withdrew their gazes from Lexon and Itachi and focused on Pain.
"It has now been seven years since the end of the Third Great Ninja War. All preparations are complete. We will begin the Tailed Beast capture plan."
'Tailed Beast capture plan?'
Hearing Pain's words, Lexon was stunned.
'Did "Akatsuki" start capturing the Tailed Beasts this early in the original story?'
'That's not right...'
In Lexon's memory, "Akatsuki's" plan had three steps.
'One: Amass a large amount of money for future preparations.'
'Two: Establish a mercenary organization unaffiliated with any country. Provoke small wars, first monopolizing the war commissions of small countries at low prices. Then, escalate the scale of war, break the great nations' ninja system, and monopolize all wars.'
'Three: Capture all the Tailed Beasts, inject their chakra into the Gedo Mazo to create a powerful Tailed Beast Weapon, and then use that weapon to conquer the world.'
'And at this point, they should only be at the second step at most...'
'Capturing the Tailed Beasts shouldn't happen until after the Konoha Crush plan, at least.'
'In other words, before Lexon's main mission is complete, the Tailed Beast capture shouldn't happen.'
'Has the plot changed?'
Lexon's mind raced.
'Is it the butterfly effect caused by the arrival of us Reincarnators...'
'But there's no use thinking so much right now... I'll just listen to what Pain has to say.'
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