After Pain declared that wherever he was, that place would be the headquarters of Akatsuki, the vast underground space fell into silence again. Everyone was silently calculating their own thoughts until Orochimaru's mental projection appeared.
"Oh, as expected of Orochimaru, you take care of Jiraiya so quickly?" Taki said with a smile, breaking the silence.
Orochimaru squinted at Taki coldly, and did not bother to explain that Jiraiya was just a shadow clone. Instead, he directly confronted Deva Path Pain: "Pain, I need an explanation."
He believes that Taki has told Deva Path Pain about their encounter with Jiraiya at the headquarters.
"I won't say the same explanation for the second time." Deva Path Pain responded emotionlessly.
Orochimaru frowned, turned his head and looked towards Taki next to him.
Taki shrugged at this: 'If you don't care about me, why should I explain to you?'
Fortunately, Konan stepped in and roughly recounted their previous conversation.
'Just because his clone was killed, Zetsu gets me to go back to Amegakure to take a risk?'
Orochimaru looked at Zetsu coldly, then looked towards Pain, and said: "By abandoning Amegakure, are we becoming a rootless tree?"
As a member of Akatsuki with his own motives, Orochimaru had benefited greatly from Akatsuki having a fixed headquarters!
"Don't worry, everyone, my clones will forever be a bond connecting everyone." White Zetsu suddenly said with a laugh.
'If you don't tell me, I would have forgotten…' Deva Path Pain glanced at Zetsu, and said coldly: "Zetsu, take back all your clones."
"Huh?" White Zetsu was surprised and a bit flustered.
Black Zetsu furrowed his brows, and asked: "What's the meaning of this, Pain?"
"In the future, I will personally convey missions to each group through the rings. We don't need your clones anymore." Deva Path Pain explained emotionlessly.
Konan seemed to be worried that Zetsu would flip the table, so after Deva Path Pain explained, she said, "Zetsu, Shisui of the Body Flicker took away your clone during his betrayal and leaked a lot of our information. Pain did this to avoid this from happening again."
'Do you think I'm a fool?'
Black Zetsu was furious, knowing that it is just an excuse!
"So that's how it is, I understand." White Zetsu next to him suddenly realized, as if he understood what the world is.
"…" Black Zetsu's heart is tired when he heard this.
Black Zetsu tried to isolate his mind from White Zetsu, and then stared at Pain and Konan, 'These two guys first avoided the White Zetsu's clone and went to the Land of Fire to act alone, and now, he's asking me to take back all the clones…'
'They are obviously no longer trusting me!'
Black Zetsu instantly felt a wave of malice approaching.
'Why?'
'What happened?'
'Do they suspect that I have some connection with Obito?'
'Even if they did, was it necessary to go to this extent?'
Black Zetsu was very puzzled.
"Pain, what if White Zetsu's clone continues to follow us?" Taki asked.
"Then consider them a traitor and eliminate them directly."
Deva Path Pain then glanced at Zetsu and indifferently asked, "Zetsu, there's no problem, right?"
'I can just promise you first, and then I'll just let the clones continue to follow them. As long as they don't show up, they won't be able to find out, hehe…'
White Zetsu nodded earnestly: "Of course, no problem."
Taki seemed to see through his little trick and teased: "Zetsu, you old fox. Don't go against your promises, otherwise, it would be embarrassing if I discover it with my eyes."
White Zetsu trembled with anger, not expecting his little scheme to be exposed. It's really embarrassing!
"Zetsu, how is the information gathering about the Biju going?" Pain asked about the main matter.
Although Black Zetsu was in a bad mood, he still answered patiently: "Ichibi's Jinchuriki is the son of Yondaime Kazekage, Rasa, Gaara, Nibi's Jinchuriki is Kumogakure's Shinobi, Yugito Nii, and Sanbi is missing. Yonbi's Jinchuriki left Iwagakure and disappeared after betraying Iwagakure. Gobi's Jinchuriki is Iwagakure's Han, Rokubi's Jinchuriki is missing after betraying Kirigakure, Hachibi's Jinchuriki is Takigakure's Shinobi, Hachibi's Jinchuriki Kumogakure's Shinobi, Killer B, and Kyubi's Jinchuriki is Kushina."
"The information of Sanbi, Yonbi, and Rokubi should be collected as soon as possible." Pain showed deep understanding of the essence of being in a superior position.
Black Zetsu responded with a serious expression.
"Is there anything else? If not, I'll leave first."
Sasori, who is hiding in Hiruko, spoke impatiently, "I need to collect more and more materials."
Given that his Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets had been wiped out multiple times, Sasori decided to create more and more Red Secret Technique's puppets to avoid being taken out in one wave again!
"I have a question."
Kakuzu, who had been holding it in for a long time, finally couldn't help but ask, "Then what about the money I make in the future?"
"I will personally come to collect it."
Konan indifferently said, then remembered something and added, "Kakuzu, the organization needs a large sum of money recently."
Taki and Hyoketsū's eyes lit up at the same time: 'One hundred billion, ah one hundred billion.'
Kakuzu smiled: "Don't worry, my hobby is making money. Leave it to me."
Taki and Hyoketsū also smiled: 'We can rest assured with you here!'
"Then, today's meeting will end here."
Pain slightly closed his eyes, and everyone's mental projections disappeared instantly.
Konan then said: "Pain, when the information on the Sanbi, Yonbi and Rokubi are collected…"
"We'll be ready to hunt down Uchiha Obito!" Pain added coldly.
"But our plan has yet to be perfected." Konan frowned slightly.
"Haven't you noticed?"
Deva Path Pain said, "Yuki Hyoketsū and Hyuga Taki, those two people have been vaguely targeting Zetsu ever since they first joined Akatsuki."
"You want to use them?" Konan's eyes lit up.
"It's not them, it's the Abyss behind them!"
Deva Path Pain said with slightly clenched teeth, "That Gekko Kanpū is also the person of Abyss!"
'Although 100 billion Explosive Tags was extorted by Gekko Kanpū, if we can work with him…' Konan's mouth shows a curve, and she said with a smile: "I will contact him when the time comes."
Deva Path Pain snorted and said: "Remember to bring plenty of Explosive Tags."
"Understood." Konan nodded.
...
Amegakure.
As soon as Taki exited the mental projection state, he immediately found Orochimaru. After a brief discussion, the two set off for Konoha, preparing to continue waiting for opportunity to hunt down Mei.
As for White Zetsu's clone, under Taki's Byakugan vision, it is confirmed that he has really left.
...
Land of Hot Water.
Hyōketsu and Hidan exited the mental projection state and saw Deidara squatting on the ground, staring at them with bright eyes: "Hey, what were you two doing just now, hmm."
"We were having a meeting, you little brat. Stop being so nosy!" Hidan picked up his bloody March sickle lying on the ground, stood up, and stretched lazily.
"Deidara, I've reported your situation to the leader, Pain, but he suspects that you are an undercover agent, a double agent, or a spy, so he needs to observe you for a while before officially allowing you to join Akatsuki."
"How troublesome."
Deidara complained, "Is there any organization that you can join without investigating, hmm?"
'Yes, the Abyss…' Hyōketsu's eyes flashed with playful light: "No."
'Hehe.'
Deidara turned his head, somehow, he felt that his 'undercover mission' seemed to have been discovered.
'This kind of feeling is really annoying, hmm!'