Land of Rain.
The 22nd floor of the central steel tower of Amegakure.
Kakuzu is standing in front of Deva Path and Konan, and beside him were the thought waves of Orochimaru, Sasori, Zetsu, and Hyōketsu.
After Kakuzu ran away smoothly, he rushed back to Amegakure without stopping to report to Deva Path, and then Deva Path summoned the rest of the members and announced Juzo's dead.
"So, Biwa Juzo died in the hands of Konoha's Anbu?"
Orochimaru asked with a hoarse and gloomy voice, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised, "Is Akatsuki's existence exposed now?"
Deva Path looked towards Zetsu.
Zetsu nodded slightly, then White Zetsu's voice came out: "My clones have eavesdropped on the Konoha's Anbu's conversation, and they inferred the existence of a Missing-nin organization through Orochimaru, Sasori, Kakuzu, and Biwa Juzo's clothes and rings, and suspected that the great countries' village extermination incidents and the Land of Grass's destruction were our efforts to provoke the relationship between the great countries and small countries. Konoha's Anbu is unexpectedly smart, hehehe."
Konan coldly said: "Has the information been sent back to Konoha? If not, we need to immediately intercept and kill those Anbu."
"If Pain can make a move, there may be a chance."
Orochimaru said with a dark smile, "After all, there is only one person who knows my and Sasori's clothes and ring."
"Gekko Kanpū?" Sasori quickly realized.
"Didn't he stay in Ryuchi Cave for the past few years?" Deva Path asked expressionlessly.
"Gekko Kanpū…"
Greed and longing flashed in Orochimaru's eyes, but his tone was still cold, "The purpose of his stay in Ryuchi Cave was for Senjutsu. Just last month, Gekko Kanpū successfully mastered Senjutsu and signed a blood contract with the three divine maiden of Ryuchi Cave, and then left Ryuchi Cave."
While speaking, Orochimaru looked towards Deva Path, with a bit of gloating in his eyes, as if he was saying: 'Look, I suggested to you to capture Gekko Kanpū alive. Since you don't listen, look what happens now. As someone who has mastered Senjutsu, he will be a serious trouble!
"Senjutsu?" Konan looked towards Orochimaru puzzledly, "What is that?"
Orochimaru narrowed his golden vertical pupils and explained ambiguously: "Senjutsu is an attack method that uses Natural Energy to use Ninjutsu. The Ninjutsu's power is far beyond the ordinary Ninjutsu's, so Kakuzu can't stop Gekko Kanpū's Ninjutsu! Hehehehe… Juzo didn't die unjustly."
"It sounds like Gekko Kanpū is getting more and more difficult to deal with." Deva Path's tone didn't fluctuate at all. After all, he is just a puppet and has no emotions.
"Pain, will you make a move?" Hyōketsu asked indifferently.
Deva Path stays silent.
'Gekko Kanpū is a Flying Thunder God Technique's user, which is already difficult to catch. Now that he has mastered Senjutsu and signed a blood contract with Ryuchi Cave's higher-ups, he has become much stronger. If I make a move, there will definitely be a shocking battle between the two sides. At that time, no matter what the result is, my existence will definitely attract the attention of the great countries, and Akatsuki will become the target of the whole Shinobi World by then!'
'And if Gekko Kanpū and his team are allowed to return to Konoha, Akatsuki will only attract the attention of the Land of Fire at most. The rest of the great countries has a delicate relationship with the Land of Fire because of the third Shinobi World War. From this, I believe they will not work together with the Land of Fire!'
"For the future operations, try to avoid Konoha's Shinobi."
Deva Path then added, "But continue the provocation plan."
"Konoha will not just watch us do this." Orochimaru didn't give up. He deliberately said those things before, just to motivate Pain to deal with Kanpū directly, but he didn't expect this guy to be so stubborn!
"Even if Konoha grasped the truth, who will believe them if they announced the truth?"
Deva Path said, "The Five Great Shinobi Countries have long been rotten, and even dared to start several wars that spread to the whole Shinobi World for their own interests. How can they make peace with each other because of the so-called truth?"
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and wanted to say more, but Hyōketsu interrupted him directly, and asked: "Since Biwa Juzo is dead, what about Kakuzu?"
"I can act alone."
Kakuzu said solemnly, "Apart from dragging me down, the existence of that idiot Biwa Juzo didn't help me at all."
Especially every time he makes money, as this guy just chatters non-stop next to him. Kakuzu is already very annoyed by him!
Unfortunately, he is not the one in charge of Akatsuki.
Konan criticized Kakuzu for a few words, then said: "Zetsu, continue to search for the powerful Missing-nin."
"I understand." Zetsu replied.
"Then, that's it for today."
Deva Path Pain lowered his eyes, and the thought waves of Orochimaru, Zetsu, and Sasori disappeared instantly.
"Kakuzu, you can go too." Konan said.
Kakuzu glanced at Hyōketsu's thought wave, and turned away expressionlessly.
"It seems that Boss Pain has something to say to me alone." Hyōketsu said with a smile.
Deva Path nodded: "Akatsuki is short of people, and there are too few powerful Missing-nin in the Shinobi World, so I want to find them directly in the Abyss."
"Pain!" Konan frowned slightly, and reminded with some concern.
With the tacit understanding between the two, they could convey what they wanted to say without saying much.
Konan is worried that the Abyss will affect Akatsuki's plan, and even backlash the Akatsuki.
But Deva Path doesn't think so. He has Rinnegan, which is enough to suppress any dissidents, so he doesn't worry about the backlash from the Abyss!
"The members of the Abyss all have Kekkei Genkai, and there must be ambitious people among them. Would Akatsuki welcome such people?"
Deva Path Pain looked towards Hyōketsu and continued, "As long as Akatsuki's information is not leaked, try to get one or two people to join Akatsuki, got it?"
"I'll try my best, but I can't guarantee the success." Hyōketsu replied ambiguously, but in his heart, he is thinking, 'Should I make Explosion Release Shadow Clone, Tenkū, or Byakugan Shadow Clone?'
Deva Path nodded, and in the next moment, Hyōketsu's thought wave dissipated quickly.
When Hyōketsu opened his eyes, he saw Zetsu.
Standing in front of him, the Yin-Yang's face was half gloomy and cold, and half grinning.
White Zetsu laughed and said: "Pain deliberately kept you there, what did he tell you?"
Hyōketsu sneered coldly and said: "F**k you, Yin-Yang face."
White Zetsu's smile froze.
Black Zetsu threatened: "Don't forget that Akatsuki still needs White Zetsu's clones to pass information. If you want to receive information immediately, be polite to us."
"You guys are just that useful."
Hyōketsu sneered, then turned around and left.
He didn't disband directly, as his main body is still on the way back to Konoha, and there's also White Zetsu's clone monitoring the main body, so it is unwise to disband at this time!
As for Zetsu who still stayed where he was, his Yin-Yang's face is full of unhappiness and anger. Unfortunately, White Zetsu can't beat Hyōketsu, and Black Zetsu can't make a move, 'So angry!!!'
...
A few days later.
Kakashi and his team returned to Konoha smoothly, but five people were missing from the team. These five people were placed in Kusagakure by Kakashi, in the name helping Kusagakure rebuild their Shinobi Village. It doesn't matter whether the others believe it or not, at any rate, Kakashi and the others believed it.
After dismissing his subordinates, Kakashi went to Hokage Tower to report to his work.
Kanpū, Shisui and the others went back to the third changing room of the bathhouse to change clothes, and then went back to each house.
That night, Kanpū, who is in his sleep, suddenly received the memory from Hyōketsu, his mind sank, and he immediately had nightmares again and again.