[After betraying Takigakure, Kakuzu witnessed Ginkaku being transformed into a tailed beast during World War I. He also saw Tobirama holding back Ginkaku and his troops.
[Having survived the first and second Hokage eras with many heroes, Kakuzu, who possessed a secret technique, continued to gain combat experience.
[Years later, he was invited to join the Akatsuki organization and became an official member. After the leadership of Akatsuki changed, Kakuzu was among the first to be selected as a formal member.
[One day, Kakuzu found himself alone, surrounded by a group of mercenaries. Following this incident, two robed men emerged from the grove.
[Kakuzu was violently attacked by one of them and witnessed the strength of the Akatsuki organization for the first time.
[After a brief negotiation, Pain stated, "I have never cared about money and have no interest in it."
[Kakuzu replied that he sensed Akatsuki's ability to absorb wealth and believed that joining such a powerful group would certainly bring him more rewards.
["This shows the difference between a leader and a wage earner."
[From that moment on, Kakuzu naturally took on the role of the Akatsuki organization's financial officer.]
"This is Yahiko?"
On the light screen, while inviting Kakuzu, Deva Path Pain and Black Zetsu, disguised as a pitcher plant, appeared.
Jiraiya, the fifth Hokage was unconcerned about the pitcher plant beside him. His main interest was why Pain looked so much like the grown-up Yahiko.
"But that doesn't make sense. How could Yahiko have the Rinnegan?"
"Jiraiya, you mentioned that the Pain on the light screen was one of the three kids you saved?"
It was Pain who approached Orochimaru on behalf of the Akatsuki organization.
At that time, Orochimaru didn't recognize that Deva Path Pain was Yahiko. His attention was fully focused on the pair of Rinnegan.
When Orochimaru heard the Fifth Hokage, Jiraiya, say that Pain was Yahiko, he became very interested.
"I can only say that Pain resembles Yahiko a lot, but I have no idea if it's really him," Orochimaru replied.
"That's right. From the video about Danzo, we know that Danzo killed Yahiko a long time ago, so Pain shouldn't be him," Jiraiya nodded, but didn't respond further.
He felt nervous at that moment. Even if Pain on the screen wasn't Yahiko, he was closely linked to Jiraiya's other disciple, Nagato.
As he thought about it, Jiraiya wondered why Nagato's Rinnegan was with Pain. He had a nagging feeling that the information he received about Nagato and Konan dying in the Hidden Rain Village might be false.
Not only were Nagato and Konan possibly alive, but they might have also rebuilt the Akatsuki organization. If someone else had done it, it would be a huge coincidence.
He thought about how he would normally go to the Hidden Rain Village to verify this if he weren't so busy as the Hokage of Konoha.
On the screen, Pain was about to attack one moment, and the next moment, Kakuzu was lying on the ground.
Even though the specifics of the fight weren't shown, anyone could tell that Pain was very strong—he wasn't even breathing heavily.
"It looks like Kakuzu isn't that tough. If we want to bring him to Konoha, we can just handle it directly," Hiruzen said.
Both Danzo and Hiruzen noticed that Tobirama-sensei seemed to be thinking about inviting Kakuzu to Konoha.
Danzo felt unhappy because it was Hiruzen who had first suggested it. To not be outdone, he decided to voice his own opinion.
"Don't worry about that," Senju Tobirama reassured Danzo. After all, the video wasn't over yet, and it was hard to say if Kakuzu was an enemy.
Instead, it was Pain's Rinnegan that worried Tobirama the most.
For now, their situation was stable; the only enemy they faced was the dying Uchiha Madara. Tobirama didn't think much of the other four major ninja villages.
What troubled him the most was the Third Hokage's timeline. Obito and Pain, with his Rinnegan, looked like serious threats.
Fortunately, he had successfully cloned Nohara Rin's body and used the Nara clan's medicine to speed up the clone's growth.
In just a few days, he would have the soulless body of thirteen-year-old Nohara Rin.
If nothing unexpected happened, Obito would likely return to the light and rejoin Konoha's side.
[It's true that in its early days, Akatsuki recruited financial officers.]
[During his mission time, Kakuzu had serious psychological issues. After he defeated enemies, he would also kill his teammates.]
[This continued until Akatsuki assigned Kakuzu to recruit Hidan.]
[Kakuzu saw Hidan's immortality and how he could kill enemies by licking their blood.]
[Thus, the murder-for-money group was officially formed.]
[For Kakuzu, Hidan was a pure idiot who only had faith.]
[Hidan's immortal body fit well with Kakuzu's reckless fighting style, and Hidan didn't interfere with Kakuzu's money-making.]
"Immortality?"
Kakuzu's five hearts surprised Jiraiya, the Fifth Hokage, and others; now, an immortal body had emerged.
Along with the infamous Uchiha Itachi, the Rinnegan Pain, and the Mangekyō Obito, plus Orochimaru, who had already defected from the Akatsuki. The members of the Akatsuki were truly monstrous.
"I wonder how this Hidan stays immortal."
Taking a puff from his pipe, the Third Hokage looked at Orochimaru with some displeasure.
If this guy hadn't been so busy with research in the Akatsuki, they might have had more useful intelligence on these threats and wouldn't be in such a difficult position now.
They should have already teamed up with the other four major ninja villages to attack the Hidden Rain Village.
"Orochimaru, do you really have no useful information?" Jiraiya asked.
Orochimaru shook his head and replied, "I really have nothing to say about the Akatsuki organization."
"All right." Jiraiya sighed, having no choice but to keep watching the light curtain.
Meanwhile, Tobirama became very interested in Hidan's immortality. Since the start of this review, he had found the characters in the video quite intriguing. Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear, Pain's Rinnegan, and Hidan's immortality were all top-notch subjects for research.
Just imagine if the unique abilities of these three were combined into one person—how terrifying that would be.
"Teacher, should we try to find this guy named Hidan while we're searching for Kakuzu?"
"We can find Kakuzu in this time period, but Hidan might be harder to locate."
"It all depends on human effort."
"You're right. It's just a little more work, so it doesn't hurt to search for him together."
Even so, Tobirama didn't have much hope of finding Hidan. After all, Hidan looked too young and didn't seem to have experienced the hardships of the Ninja World War.
Tobirama believed he was likely a new ninja who appeared during the time of the Third Hokage, rather than an old ninja who lived from Tobirama's era to the time of the Third Hokage.
Hidan: You guessed it right!
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