At this moment, all the core members of the Akatsuki who were still active had gathered inside the cave.
Pain's Rinnegan focused on Kakuzu, and the first thing he said was: "Where's Hidan? Did your partner die again?"
As soon as he said that, several members in the cave glanced at Kakuzu with strange expressions.
To be fair, Kakuzu was strong—without a doubt. He was definitely Kage-level, and combined with his Earth Grudge Fear technique, it was easy for him to catch people off guard.
But as skilled as he was, Kakuzu had one major flaw that everyone criticized—he went through partners too quickly.
He'd had many partners over the years, and most of them seemed to end up dead, their hearts taken by Kakuzu for his own use.
Originally, people thought that pairing him with Hidan, who had an immortal body, would make for a long-lasting team.
But here Kakuzu was again, returning alone after a mission. Did something happen to Hidan too?
"This time, it wasn't me!" Kakuzu immediately defended himself.
His response only made the members of the Akatsuki give him even stranger looks.
So, this time it wasn't him? Did that mean he was admitting that the previous times were his fault?
Pain's face remained expressionless, but the person behind him, Nagato, sighed inwardly.
If it weren't for Kakuzu's impeccable money-making skills, Nagato would've already gotten rid of him for his habit of turning on his partners.
Look at Orochimaru. He tried to attack Itachi, failed, and instantly realized he couldn't stay in the Akatsuki any longer. So, he defected and disappeared.
After years of searching, they finally heard rumors that Orochimaru had returned to Konoha.
Not only that, but he was in charge of Konoha's research division, and the village's technology had advanced rapidly under his leadership.
"So, what happened this time?"
After getting distracted by thoughts of Orochimaru, Nagato returned his attention to the situation at hand, controlling Pain to ask Kakuzu.
The rest of the Akatsuki members also turned their focus on Kakuzu, waiting for his explanation.
"We were unlucky. On the way back, inside the Land of Fire, we ran into Uchiha Akira."
Uchiha Akira's reappearance after seven years wasn't a secret anymore. By now, Konoha was well aware of it, and it wouldn't be long before the news spread across the entire ninja world.
So Kakuzu didn't bother hiding the information and revealed it to everyone.
Next to him, Itachi's eyelids twitched slightly upon hearing this.
Seven years had passed, and Akira had finally resurfaced?
"Uchiha Akira? He finally showed up after disappearing for seven years?" Sasori said, with a hint of resentment in his voice.
After all, it was Akira who had destroyed his beloved puppet, Hiruko, all those years ago.
"Heh, Uchiha Akira, huh? I've heard it was him who severed the old man's leg," Deidara chimed in with a smirk. "Seven years ago, they said he was just a seven-year-old kid, already famous across the ninja world. Seems like he'd be a good opponent to fight."
"He's worth chopping up," Kisame added with a grin.
The name Uchiha Akira alone was enough to cast a heavy mood over the entire Akatsuki.
After all, seven years ago, most of them had already had some sort of encounter with Akira.
Back then, both Orochimaru and Itachi had warned them about the terrifying power of Kotoamatsukami, one of Akira's most dangerous techniques, making him someone the Akatsuki would never forget.
"I remember Uchiha Akira was in possession of Kotoamatsukami, right? Kakuzu, are you sure you weren't manipulated by that technique?" At that moment, Konan spoke up, eyeing Kakuzu with suspicion.
"Kotoamatsukami? What's that?" Deidara asked, curious.
Deidara had joined the Akatsuki after Akira's disappearance, so he had no idea what Kotoamatsukami was.
Sasori, being his teammate, glanced at him before explaining the details of Kotoamatsukami to Deidara.
"I see… so the power of the Sharingan really is terrifying," Deidara muttered to himself after learning about the technique. His gaze unconsciously flicked toward Itachi.
After all, the reason he joined the Akatsuki in the first place was because of Itachi's Sharingan.
And now there was another Uchiha out there with an even more frightening ability like Kotoamatsukami?
"Hey, Kakuzu, are you sure you're not being controlled by Kotoamatsukami?" Deidara asked, turning back to Kakuzu.
"The first person who encountered Uchiha Akira was Sasori!" Kakuzu didn't bother defending himself. Instead, he shifted the attention toward Sasori.
That's right, Sasori had come back safely after facing Akira. Who's to say he hadn't been controlled by Kotoamatsukami?
"Also, Itachi is from Konoha too!" Kakuzu added, now pointing the suspicion toward Itachi.
"Enough…" Before things could escalate, Pain finally spoke up.
As the de facto leader of the Akatsuki, Pain's authority was still high, and his words made Kakuzu fall silent.
Pain's gaze swept over the group before he spoke again, "If that's the case, are we to suspect that everyone who encounters Uchiha Akira has been controlled by Kotoamatsukami?"
"Are we saying that the Akatsuki should avoid Uchiha Akira from now on?"
"So, there's no need to keep speculating that just seeing Uchiha Akira means someone has been manipulated by Kotoamatsukami. That ends here."
After a brief pause, Pain continued, "Besides, Uchiha Akira has most likely already used Kotoamatsukami."
"Oh? On who?" Sasori asked, with the others turning their attention back to Pain, curious for his answer.
"Orochimaru," Pain replied.
"Him? Yeah, that actually makes sense," Sasori said after thinking it over.
"Back then, Uchiha Akira had already intended to use Kotoamatsukami on Orochimaru, meaning Orochimaru was important to him."
"Secondly, Orochimaru has been hiding in Konoha's research division for years now, and under his influence, Konoha's technological advancements have been remarkable."
"Finally, even though Uchiha Akira has been missing for seven years, Orochimaru has remained loyal to Konoha, which is very unlike him."
Pain's breakdown of the situation pointed to the high likelihood that Orochimaru had fallen under the influence of Kotoamatsukami.
As he finished speaking, the rest of the Akatsuki members nodded in agreement.
Most of them had known Orochimaru personally when he was a member of the Akatsuki, so they were well aware of his personality.
If Orochimaru hadn't been under the effects of Kotoamatsukami, there was no way he would've stayed loyal to Konoha for so long.
"Well, that does make me feel a bit more at ease," Sasori admitted after considering the logic.
"Could it be? Did Akira really use Kotoamatsukami on Orochimaru seven years ago?" Itachi wondered, nodding to himself as Pain's analysis seemed to make perfect sense.
Even Itachi was starting to believe that Orochimaru might have been under Akira's control all this time.
When Konan and Deidara had questioned him about whether he was being controlled by Kotoamatsukami, Kakuzu had briefly panicked. Could they have discovered the truth?
But with Pain stepping in to clear his name, Kakuzu quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
What could he say?
It seemed like Orochimaru's fall to Akira had unintentionally provided him with a convenient alibi to wash away all suspicion.
Now that his innocence had been established, Kakuzu turned his thoughts back to how he could gather more money to send to Akira.
Akira's growth required funds, and the more money Kakuzu could provide, the faster Akira would rise.
And if Akira grew strong enough to dominate the entire ninja world, then the Akatsuki would be of no concern.
But enough about the Akatsuki for now.
After battling with the First Hokage, Akira had managed to copy a few more Wood Release techniques with his Sharingan.
More importantly, he now had a deeper understanding of how to use Wood Release techniques in battle.
As for the rumor that a Senju survivor capable of using Wood Release might still be alive, Konoha's shinobi spent the entire night searching and found nothing.
So, the matter was classified as a secret and sealed away in Konoha's archives.
As for Akira, after a long night, he finally returned home just as the sun was about to rise.
But instead of going straight to sleep, Akira decided to run another life simulation before resting.
Having earned 5 million ryō from Kakuzu, Akira had already spent 3 million of it in his quest to master Wood Release and Deep Forest Emergence. He still had 2 million left.
After thinking it over, Akira decided that this time he would use the life simulation to try advancing his Mangekyō Sharingan.
After all, he had already awakened his Sharingan and evolved to the second tomoe stage through the life simulator.
Now that Kakuzu had become a stable source of income, Akira felt he could afford to splurge a bit and push his Sharingan's evolution further.
With a single thought, 1 million ryō vanished in an instant.
And with that, a new round of life simulation began…
*********
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