"Apparently Konoha is panicking. Fourth Raikage A and Bee are both on the field now."
When Amamiya Kenichi finally found Sasori, the redhead was actually smiling. And not his usual creepy puppet-master smirk—he looked genuinely entertained.
Then Sasori's gaze slid past Kenichi and landed on the person behind him.
Arms folded. Snake-like eyes. Calm, cold aura.
Orochimaru.
"Ahem… my teacher said she wanted to personally record the parameters of my new weapon test," Kenichi coughed, noticing the curiosity in Sasori's eyes and offering a quick explanation.
Even as he said it, his own expression turned a bit weird.
He really hadn't expected Orochimaru to insist on tagging along just to "observe" the thermobaric explosion. At first, Kenichi wanted to refuse—having his teacher watching over his shoulder made him feel like he'd been called to defend his thesis.
But then Orochimaru named her price:
Latest research notes on Edo Tensei
A fully designed anti-explosion barrier formula for his future lab
Kenichi folded instantly.
Also, when Orochimaru wanted to do something, stopping her was… theoretical at best.
"I see," Sasori murmured, giving Orochimaru another odd look.
In his mind, Orochimaru had always been filed under dangerous S-class freak, a pure, cold-blooded monster.
Now that he knew "Lord Orochimaru" was actually a woman—and even a girl in his friend's original description—everything he saw felt… off.
Orochimaru noticed that staring.
Her brows creased slightly. She knew of Sasori, of course, but hadn't bothered to learn the details. She definitely didn't understand why the puppet master was looking at her like he'd just discovered some scandal.
"Ku," a calm voice cut in from afar.
The Deva Path dropped down onto the wet stone, standing a short distance away, Rinnegan eyes fixed on Orochimaru.
"You and Kita will move as well. Konoha has issued us a war contract," he said.
Kenichi's face twitched.
Great. He'd just promised to take his teacher on a live viewing of Science's Big Moment, and Nagato had instantly scheduled her for overtime.
"Just the two of us?" Orochimaru's tone cooled.
She hadn't joined Akatsuki to become a full-time errand girl. She was here for the Rinnegan—and whatever secrets Nagato was hiding. Lately it felt like all she did was run jobs to fatten the organization's wallet.
"There will be several subordinate members assisting you," Nagato added.
A few unfamiliar cloaked figures appeared behind him, faces half-hidden by straw hats. The one at the very back, however, was someone Kenichi knew well—
Kakuzu. Expressionless as ever.
Kenichi eyed the newcomers.
He knew Akatsuki had recruited and burned through earlier batches of members. Most of them ended up dead after a few missions. The roster that people recognized from "canon" was basically the final, filtered group of survivors.
These guys…
Yeah. They had "temporary" written all over them.
"I can refuse, can't I?" Orochimaru said flatly. "I already promised my student I'd watch his experiment."
"This is an order," Nagato replied.
Konoha was paying a lot for this one.
After the first strike on Kumogakure, things hadn't gone the way Konoha expected. Instead of being cowed, the Cloud doubled down and escalated—A and Bee had both entered the field personally.
That put Konoha under tremendous pressure.
Meanwhile, the other great villages, sensing an opportunity, had chosen to sit back and watch. None of them wanted to commit early; better to let Konoha and Kumo bleed each other, then swoop in later to harvest advantage.
That meant Konoha couldn't afford to commit their full strength to the Frost front. They still had to keep forces in reserve to deter opportunistic attacks from Iwa, Kiri, and Suna.
So they were stuck:
Cloud going berserk
Other villages circling like vultures
Home front stretched thin
No wonder they were desperately waving money at Akatsuki.
"Of course," Nagato added after a pause, "the organization will compensate you with an appropriate reward."
Akatsuki was not held together by vague "ideals."
Anyone strong enough to stand at this level was nobody's fool. If all Nagato had to offer was hot air about "peace," the group would've imploded long ago.
So Akatsuki actually did have a benefits package.
For example: free nail art.
Konan had once seriously asked Kenichi what color he wanted his nails painted. He'd refused on the spot. Even if going polish-free made him look less "on brand," there were limits to what he was willing to sacrifice.
Nagato's hook for Kenichi personally was different:
Complete missions, earn contribution points, and you could exchange them for rare privileges.
Things like:
Access to unique artifacts only Akatsuki possessed
Research rights on exotic tech (like the chakra receivers)
And, promised vaguely, "even more mysterious items" if he performed well
Kenichi strongly suspected "mysterious item" meant Gedō Mazō.
"I want to study the Rinnegan," Orochimaru said, tongue briefly flicking across her lips, eyes gleaming. "Up close."
"No," Nagato shut that down immediately. "But I will allow you a close examination of that."
He didn't say the name, but he didn't have to.
Orochimaru went quiet for a moment.
"…Deal," she said, answering almost immediately.
Kenichi's eyebrows jumped.
That fast?
If his teacher accepted without haggling, that meant whatever Nagato was offering had to be more tempting than a live thermobaric test.
So what was it, exactly?
Not the Rinnegan. So that left…
Gedō Mazō, obviously.
Nagato's single most dangerous toy besides his own eyes.
Kenichi's curiosity burned, but there was nothing he could do. Orochimaru and Kakuzu took their disposable entourage and left for Konoha's warfront contract.
He watched the temporary members' backs as they disappeared into the rain.
"These guys are so doomed," he muttered.
From what Orochimaru had told him, Kakuzu was… not what you'd call a gentle team player.
Kenichi and Sasori set out as well.
He was starting to feel like he had a karmic tie with Kumogakure. First test and second test of his thermobaric bomb, both aimed at Cloud shinobi.
This time, though, the schedule was brutal. There was no time to refine the design before deployment. Otherwise, he was sure he could've produced even more spectacular results.
"Still," Kenichi said, rubbing his hands together, eyes gleaming, "we should finally be able to get proper combat data for thermobarics in open terrain."
The main battlefield in the Land of Frost was packed with shinobi. With the AB combo there too, he could even—
"—collect live data on its lethality against tailed beasts," he finished, unable to hold back a grin.
Scientific research, war economy, and weapons testing…
All lined up beautifully in one mushroom cloud.
Akatsuki's benefits?
Forget free manicures. This is the real employee package.