Deva Path Pain spoke with solemn authority. "Investigate the situation there. If possible, recruit that person as a new member of the Akatsuki."
Following the tragedy four years ago, the vast majority of Akatsuki's original members had been slaughtered, leaving only Konan and Nagato as survivors.
Hanzo of the Salamander, deeply wary of Nagato's 'Eyes of God,' no longer dared to step out in the open. Instead, he remained huddled behind layers of Rain Shinobi protection, constantly dispatching squads to hunt down Nagato and Konan, desperate to pull the weeds out by the roots.
Due to the heavy toll of summoning the Gedo Mazo four years prior, and the massive chakra expenditure required to create the 'Six Paths of Pain,' Nagato had yet to fully recover. He remained in dormancy, biding his time.
Nagato waited for the completion of his Six Paths; Obito waited for the opportune moment to weaken Konoha; Black Zetsu moved the pieces of his grand design in the shadows.
They would remain submerged for another nine years—until the Six Paths of Pain were perfected and the Akatsuki had recruited enough powerful rogue ninja. Only then would Nagato launch his formal vengeance against Hanzo and seize total control of Amegakure.
"Hmph. Let me see this little rat for myself."
Obito was intrigued by this mysterious shinobi. He intended to gather intelligence and assess how much of a threat—or asset—the man posed to the 'Eye of the Moon' plan. If he could be manipulated, he would make an excellent tool.
"I'll go as well," Black Zetsu chimed in. "I'll place a few White Zetsu clones nearby to keep a permanent eye on the area."
Deva Path Pain gave a slight nod. His Rinnegan watched as 'Madara' vanished into a swirl of space and Zetsu sank into the earth.
Once they were gone, Konan waited a moment before speaking. "Madara will likely try to turn that person into one of his personal confidants."
Currently, the Akatsuki consisted only of Nagato, Konan, 'Madara,' and Zetsu. Since the latter two had joined together, they were clearly an allied faction. If they were in charge of recruitment, any newcomer would likely be funneled into their camp.
This posed a threat to Nagato's absolute control over the organization.
"I have a feeling..." Deva Path Pain's cold voice echoed. "That the one they call 'Shura' will not be so easily managed."
With that, Pain closed his eyes, and Nagato's consciousness retreated to his true body. Konan said nothing more, turning to gaze out at the endless, weeping rain of their village.
Hoshigakure.
At the village square, Uchiha Hikari was busy placing 'Seals' on every squad of Hoshigakure ninja tasked with escorting the villagers away.
As pale red chakra flowed from her fingertips, a Sharingan pattern appeared on the back of each ninja's hand before sinking beneath the skin and vanishing. The ninja felt nothing out of the ordinary; the seal was virtually undetectable once applied.
"Are you tired?"
Menma, wearing his white three-eyed fox mask, stood beside Hikari. He only spoke once the last ninja had been marked.
Dusk was falling. Most of the villagers and shinobi had completed their evacuation, leaving the village hollow and silent, save for a few sentries.
Hikari shook her head slightly. While she had marked over two hundred people, the chakra consumption was negligible for someone of her caliber.
"If we were to link these seals into a single Chakra Network, how much energy would it require?"
Menma was deep in thought. The combination of the 'Yachigahoko' and her 'Enchanted Tsukuyomi' was terrifyingly potent. He was already brainstorming how to use Hikari as a central server to build a global network.
In this vision, any ninja with the seal could activate it to exchange information instantaneously regardless of distance, or even receive chakra transfers for emergency healing. Properly developed, linking all ninja together... wouldn't that be a modern evolution of Ninshu?
"A Chakra Network?" Hikari's brow furrowed. "With only these two hundred, I can maintain it alone. But if the numbers double or triple... it's hard to estimate."
She had never truly tested the upper limit of Yachigahoko's transmission capacity.
Menma pondered. In the history he recalled, Hikari had managed to control a vast number of ninja using scientific ninja tools to amplify her power. One person alone wasn't enough to act as a global processor.
Chakra... Menma thought of the Tailed Beasts.
What if he used a Tailed Beast's chakra as the 'power supply' and 'information processing hub' for this network?
The nine Great Tailed Beasts all had Jinchuriki, but there was still the 'Zero-Tails' to consider. The floating fortress of the Land of Sky used the Zero-Tails as a power source, even featuring a super-cannon powered by its chakra. This meant the Sky Ninja had already pioneered unique research into chakra energy conversion.
I just need to find the exact location of that fortress. He remembered it was hidden beneath the ruins of the Sky Village, but the details from that specific era were a bit fuzzy. He'd need to consult his records later.
"Menma! One o'clock! White Zetsu!"
Suddenly, the Dark Nine-Tails' warning exploded in his mind.
Without a second's hesitation, Menma whipped his arm forward, launching three kunai wrapped in explosive tags.
Shuu—!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The kunai bit deep into a massive tree. The fuses hit the ends.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The forest shook with three violent blasts, shredding the surrounding foliage into splinters and smoke.
Through the rising haze, two figures stepped forward.
The leader wore deep blue robes, his spiky long hair framing a tiger-striped mask. A long blade hung at his hip. Beside him stood a grotesque creature encased in a venus-flytrap shell—his body a jarring split of black and white.
"Enemies?" Hikari immediately dropped into a combat stance.
Her Sharingan had flared to life the moment Menma moved. Through her crimson vision, she spotted it: behind the single eye-hole of that tiger-mask, a matching blood-red Sharingan was staring back at them.
Obito's silhouette flickered against the dying light of the fires. His lone eye drifted from the fox-masked 'Shura' to the girl beside him. When he saw her three-tomoe Sharingan, he let out a long, meaningful click of his tongue.
"An Uchiha survivor wandering the wild...?"
Obito didn't recall any lost branches of the clan remaining. But in the end, it didn't matter.
"Allow me to introduce myself," Obito said, his voice dropping into a cold, practiced arrogance as he donned the mantle of a legend.
"I am Uchiha Madara."