"It seems that the Akatsuki is indeed an extremely dangerous organization. If not for the appearance of the light screen, we wouldn't even know about such an organization in the ninja world right now," the Third Hokage said honestly.
Even though Itachi Uchiha is a member of the Akatsuki, everyone understands that Itachi would never put in his full effort to gather intelligence.
If it weren't for Sasuke's situation, so he wouldn't be hassled by the higher-ups in the village, you wouldn't even get a single scrap of useful information from him.
The intel he sends back is heavily censored and watered down, just enough to save face.
Before the light screen appeared, the two reports Itachi sent back were practically useless.
One was about the number of core members in the Akatsuki.
The other was a list of names of the core members, though not even the full list.
This led to the Third Hokage having no real concept of the Akatsuki's danger.
In the original story, the Third Hokage probably knew less about the Akatsuki than Jiraiya, who had gathered information outside the village.
"Among the known members—Hidan, Kakuzu, Itachi Uchiha, and the currently observed Kisame—except for Hidan, whose combat abilities are somewhat lacking, the other three would be considered top-tier fighters in any major ninja village.
Even Hidan, before his immortality and curse-jutsu were exposed, could have been considered among the top with his immortal body and cursed techniques.
The Akatsuki also has Sasori of the Red Sand, Deidara, and possibly Konan, the woman who seems to be working with the leader, Nagato.
With such strength, just imagining it is enough to send chills down your spine."
The Fifth Hokage, Jiraiya, became more and more convinced that the Akatsuki was extremely dangerous.
If not for the light screen's appearance, giving them the information about the Akatsuki, they would have been in serious trouble if they ran into them in the future.
Didn't you see how Asuma paid the price for not knowing the right intel, dying at the hands of that unlucky Hidan?
"Thankfully, we still have time. The revival of the Three-Tails is at least two years away. We can use this time to strengthen our forces," Jiraiya said.
"I think the same," the Third Hokage replied.
Konoha has now revived the Fourth Hokage and his wife, as well as Sakumo Hatake. After some time, they plan to revive the Fugaku couple and Neji's father, Hizashi, as well as Might Guy's father, Might Duy, and others.
By that time, even if the entire Akatsuki organization were to attack, they would not be a match for Konoha.
The kind of situation where Pain, like in the light screen, destroys the entire Konoha, must never happen.
Konoha will not allow such a thing to occur.
[Itachi and Kisame, although having their own purposes, were the most harmonious duo. It was clear that they respected each other.]
[Later, when Itachi was brought back as a reanimated corpse, he felt sorrow for Kisame's death after seeing the sword Samehada in Killer Bee's hands.]
[Kisame's final story was about accepting a mission from Obito. On the surface, he was tasked with cleaning up Sasuke's mess after failing to capture Killer Bee. But in reality, he was to approach Killer Bee and use Samehada to infiltrate the Hidden Cloud Village, working with Obito during the Fourth Ninja World War to eliminate the Jinchuriki.]
"Wait, Sasuke was trying to capture Killer Bee? What does that mean?"
Upon reading this, Naruto suddenly shouted, confused by the statement above.
"What do you think it means?"
Sasuke sneered, a little self-deprecating, and said, "It means I joined the Akatsuki."
"Huh? How could this happen? Sasuke, there's no way you'd join the Akatsuki."
"Why not?"
This time, Sasuke didn't call Naruto an idiot. Instead, he patiently continued, "Before I knew the truth about the Uchiha massacre, Itachi unexpectedly died in front of me. That had a huge impact on me. At that time, I was desperate to know the truth, and that's when Obito appeared and told me the so-called 'truth.' So, in order to get revenge on Konoha, didn't joining the Akatsuki seem like a reasonable choice?"
For Sasuke who already knew the truth, revenge on Konoha was natural. So, you can imagine how much more intense the desire for revenge was for Sasuke who had no idea about the truth.
To take revenge on Konoha, not only does one need great power, but also influence.
Joining other ninja villages? That was never an option.
He wanted to join, but others might not dare to accept him.
Even if other ninja villages agreed to let him join, it would mostly be for the Sharingan, not because of who he was.
So, if joining a ninja village wasn't an option, the only choice left was to join an organization made up of ninjas.
Among all the major organizations in the ninja world, which one could be stronger than Akatsuki?
Moreover, with someone like Obito—second only to Danzo—he had no choice but to join the Akatsuki.
"Don't worry, Naruto, I'm not like the version of me in the light screen. The current me would never join Akatsuki."
"Really?"
"Of course, I don't need to lie to you."
Jiraiya, the Fifth Hokage, had already agreed to let Orochimaru resurrect his parents. He only defected to Akatsuki after he was fed up with the village.
"I don't believe you. Unless we make a pinky promise."
"...Pinky promise my ass, believe it or don't."
Sasuke slapped away Naruto's hand, trying to make a pinky promise, and returned to his usual cold expression.
Naruto wasn't bothered by Sasuke rejecting the promise. He just looked at Minato and Kushina with a confused expression and asked, "Dad, Mom, Sasuke just said 'pinky promise'. Does that mean I'm getting a sister?"
"...Cough cough cough..."
Naruto's words nearly caused Sasuke to choke on his own spit.
He widened his eyes and glared at Naruto, shouting, "Are you crazy?"
Naruto tilted his head and asked, "Didn't you say 'pinky promise me'? I thought I was going to have a sister."
"You bastard..."
Seeing that the two were about to argue, Minato quickly stepped in to mediate, trying to calm them down.
At that moment, Kushina spoke softly, "Minato, Naruto said he wants a sister."
Upon hearing this, cold sweat appeared on Minato's forehead.
His voice trembled slightly as he replied, "I don't think so. Naruto didn't mean that."
"Heh." Kushina sneered. "That could be the case."
Minato instinctively touched his side, giving a bitter smile and said, "Really, there's nothing like that."
"Don't worry, I've already prepared it for you."
After saying that, Kushina somehow pulled out a large cup of water, filled with a lot of goji berries.
Looking at the overwhelming amount of goji berries, Minato quickly realized what Kushina was planning.
Everything about Naruto wanting a little sister was just a cover; what she really wanted was a daughter.
"For this family, I've sacrificed too much."
A tear rolled down from the corner of his eye, and holding the cup, Minato steeled himself, shut his eyes, and began drinking... no, eating the goji berries rapidly.
Seeing this, Kushina smiled slightly, revealing a look of happiness.
Nearby, Asuma carefully glanced at Kurenai, wiped the nonexistent sweat off his forehead, and silently thought: "Luckily, Kurenai won't do this to me."
Just as he finished thinking, Asuma saw Kurenai take out a cup, the same kind Minato was "eating" from.
"Kurenai, you—"
Kurenai grinned and, while saying this, handed the cup to Asuma. "This is something Lady Kushina specially prepared for us."
Asuma: "..."
o(╥﹏╥)o
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