Walking out of the dark, damp cave, Uchiha Itachi now had a basic understanding of Akatsuki.
It was a loose organization.
The only real rules were:
Complete missions regularly.
Do not betray the organization.
Do not kill fellow members.
Everything else? Flexible.
On the surface, everyone claimed they were working toward "world peace."
In reality, everyone had their own agenda—and probably a backup betrayal plan.
After witnessing how Kakuzu's case was handled, even the "no killing members" rule looked… negotiable.
Judging from the evidence, Kakuzu had very likely killed his teammate intentionally. But since the victim was dead—and Kakuzu was stronger—the organization simply gave him a verbal warning.
No punishment. No consequences.
Just jungle law, dressed up in the name of peace.
Itachi sighed inwardly.
Akatsuki had perfected survival-of-the-fittest philosophy—while advertising itself as the savior of the ninja world.
As they left the cave, Itachi glanced at Obito beside him.
"How much do you know about Loquat Jūzō?" Itachi asked calmly. "What kind of person is he? Why did he defect?"
Obito slowed his steps.
"Jūzō?" he said lazily. "Probably a good man born in the Blood Mist."
Itachi's eyes flickered.
"A good man… in the Blood Mist?"
The "Blood Mist" referred to Kirigakure's brutal graduation exam. Students had to kill their own classmates to pass.
A village like that producing a "good person" sounded like a bad joke.
If Jūzō was truly good, then why defect? Why join Akatsuki?
Obito turned his head slightly.
"Good people can't change a system like that," he said quietly. "So sometimes… they change themselves instead."
A pause.
"You should understand that."
With that, Obito stepped into the rainy night and vanished.
Meanwhile, in Amegakure.
Pain stood atop a towering structure, rain soaking his black cloak.
Below him stretched the steel forest of the Hidden Rain Village—dim lights flickering beneath endless gray skies.
The rain drummed against metal rooftops like the land itself was crying.
Konan stood behind him.
Pain spoke without turning.
"Is the village facing financial problems again? The organization's bounty funds won't arrive until next month."
Konan shook her head gently.
"After years of development, the village is now self-sufficient. It no longer depends on Akatsuki's funding."
Pain allowed himself a faint, satisfied expression.
Both he and Konan had been orphans in the Land of Rain. They had survived by stealing scraps, yet the villagers had shown them small kindnesses.
Now that they ruled Amegakure, it was only right to give something back.
After a moment, Pain seemed to recall something.
Konan continued:
"According to our intelligence, the Uchiha clan was not completely exterminated by Uchiha Itachi. A portion escaped Konoha and remains active within the Land of Fire."
She hesitated slightly.
"It's possible Konoha staged the massacre and sent Itachi to infiltrate Akatsuki."
Pain's expression hardened.
After a brief silence, he shook his head.
"Unlikely."
"The conflict between the Uchiha and Konoha was well known. It would be absurd for them to orchestrate such a massacre merely to plant a spy."
He paused.
"Recently, Ōnoki of Iwagakure contacted us. He wants Akatsuki to launch operations near Konoha's borders."
"At present, Akatsuki is merely a mercenary organization. We have not begun collecting Tailed Beasts. We are not worth Konoha mobilizing such an elaborate deception."
His gaze sharpened.
"If there is manipulation involved… it is more likely Madara."
"Madara once attacked Konoha. Grooming an Uchiha like Itachi as a pawn would not be surprising."
Konan frowned.
"Should we tell Itachi the truth? Turn him against Madara? Make him our double agent?"
Pain shook his head calmly.
"There is no need."
"Whether it is Madara or the Five Great Nations… they are insignificant before the power of the Rinnegan."
"We only need to wait for the plan to begin."
Konan watched him in silence.
Since Yahiko's death, Nagato had changed.
He had become "Yahiko," the symbol of peace.
But he was no longer the Nagato she once knew.
He was now a machine moving toward the Ten-Tails plan.
And machines did not hesitate.
Late at night.
Naruto once again took out the Book of Seals and began cracking its protective formula.
Breaking seals was slow and exhausting—but Naruto had long since turned patience into a weapon.
To him, deciphering complex sealing techniques was almost therapeutic.
After several hours, part of the seal finally gave way.
One forbidden technique revealed itself.
Naruto read the description.
His expression darkened.
"…Of course."
The technique was called Living Corpse Reincarnation.
Originally recorded in the Book of Seals and later perfected by Orochimaru.
The concept was brutally simple: divide the soul and transfer it into prepared vessels, achieving a form of pseudo-immortality.
Orochimaru relied on this technique to survive again and again.
Persistent as a cockroach.
Hard to kill.
The drawbacks, however, were severe.
Dividing the soul drastically weakened resistance to genjutsu. Even ordinary Sharingan illusions could threaten the user.
Naruto also suspected that Orochimaru's failure to properly master Sage Mode might be related to this fragmented soul.
To Naruto, this technique was…
Underwhelming.
High cost. Questionable stability. Morally disgusting.
And frankly, he had no intention of turning himself into a body-hopping creep.
"Immortality is nice," Naruto muttered, "but not that kind."
He closed the Book of Seals and restored its protection.
Then he entered the sealed space.
"Fourth-sama," Naruto asked casually, "you should know how to decipher the formulas in the Book of Seals, right?"
Minato coughed awkwardly.
"When I was Hokage, yes. But after so many years… the Third Hokage likely modified the sealing formulas."
He hesitated, clearly eager to be helpful.
"I also mastered several techniques from the Book of Seals. If you're interested, I can teach you."
Naruto raised an eyebrow.
"Oh? What do you have?"
Minato scratched his head.
"Well… the Flying Thunder God Technique."
"And the Reaper Death Seal."
Naruto's face changed instantly.
Both techniques were extremely powerful.
Both were extremely lethal.
Flying Thunder God—high-speed space-time movement, but with enormous mental strain and complexity.
Reaper Death Seal—guaranteed mutual death.
Fantastic abilities.
Terrible user experience.
Naruto stared at Minato.
"…Do you have anything that doesn't require dying to use?"
After all—
He only had one life.
And he had no intention of throwing it away for dramatic effect.
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