So much has changed in the ninja world lately.
Kumogakure was defeated, Ryuchi Cave collapsed, the Land of Water was in chaos for four months, then Gringotts City fell, and the Sky Ninja Legion suddenly rose and rapidly plummeted.
The whole ninja world was busy like it was New Year's. Some were cheering, some were anxious, and some were wary of the ever-expanding wave of awakened thought. The world was almost forgetting about one group of people—
Akatsuki.
In just a few months, all these rogue ninjas and strong fighters looked like they hadn't slept enough, especially Uchiha Itachi, whose tear troughs were as deep as his nasolabial folds.
Those who knew him recognized him as a handsome 16-year-old. Strangers would think he was an elderly man who looked young.
Tiredness was inevitable.
Taking advantage of the turmoil Linto had stirred up in the ninja world, the Akatsuki organization had everyone working around the clock, twenty-four hours a day.
In the past, people joined Akatsuki for various reasons, like too many rules in their villages, not being allowed to kill, restricted spending, and more.
Now, under Pain's management, there are no rules except not to kill fellow members. They can kill anyone they want, spend money freely. If anything happens, one carrier pigeon flies out, and hundreds or thousands of syndicate personnel come to clean up, handling all the loose ends perfectly.
All they have to do is what they do best—
Clear away all the obstacles in their path and capture the Tailed Beasts.
Deidara let out a long yawn and reached to cover his mouth, but his hands were also yawning. Two tongues touched, making him feel sick, and he coughed a few times.
Sasori handed him a bottle of water.
"Thanks, Boss Sasori."
Deidara said weakly.
"Oh."
Sasori replied just as weakly.
Deidara drank some water and finally felt less tired. Honestly, when he first heard he could freely express his art and fight strong opponents, he was very happy for quite some time.
But when a hobby becomes a job, a repetitive assembly line operation, Deidara became more and more exhausted, both mentally and physically.
It wasn't just Deidara; all Akatsuki members probably felt something similar, and the corresponding benefit might be...
their relationships had become much friendlier than before.
In the past, they were just teammates who teamed up in pairs randomly, each using their own abilities.
Now they were true comrades who had endured overtime together.
Of course, their months of overtime had brought corresponding rewards.
Three-Tails Isobu.
Four-Tails Son Goku.
Five-Tails Kokuo.
Six-Tails Saiken.
These four Tailed Beasts had all been captured.
There were still five Tailed Beasts left: One, Two, Seven, Eight, and Nine. Today, Pain gathered everyone at the base to discuss the follow-up Tailed Beast capture plan.
Pain looked around, and seeing everyone present, he nodded slightly.
"There are two things to announce today."
"The first is to welcome our new member."
Pain's gaze shifted to the side, and a figure, not very tall, emerged from the shadow.
He was a man with delicate features, red eyes, and white hair tied simply, reaching his waist. The Akatsuki's black cloak with red clouds looked a bit large on him. The high collar covered half his face, revealing only his nose bridge and eyes.
"Hiruko."
Pain introduced, "He replaces Kakuzu and holds the 'North' ring."
"Another new guy..."
Deidara scratched his head, recalling Hidan, who died shortly after joining, and Kakuzu, the old member who died with him.
In this situation, for Pain to still recruit new members, it could only be said that this cold-faced boss was very good at hiring.
All eyes fell on Hiruko. They couldn't tell his skill level, nor had they ever heard of Hiruko's name in the ninja world. However, considering Pain's criteria for selecting members:
He doesn't look at character, only strength.
It was likely that this new member would be quite formidable.
Kisame crossed his arms. "Why isn't he replacing Hidan?"
"Because Hidan isn't dead yet," Konan explained.
"Not dead?"
Everyone was slightly surprised.
They had been busy capturing Tailed Beasts recently and paid less attention to news from the ninja world than before.
Through Konan's explanation, they learned that Hidan was still alive and about the disturbance at the Linto Research Institute yesterday. With the syndicate's power, it was easy to plant a few unimportant errand-running informants at the institute.
"The newcomers' welcome ends here," Pain said.
Hiruko's mouth twitched. He hadn't felt any welcome at all.
However, he didn't join the Akatsuki organization to make friends.
Hiruko scanned his surroundings, a flicker of greed in his eyes.
He was originally a ninja from Konoha Village, a close friend of Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru. Unfortunately, Hiruko's talent was not even a little bit comparable to theirs.
To compensate for his natural deficiencies, Hiruko developed the fusion Ninjutsu "Ghoul Orchid Technique"—an evil Ninjutsu that could fuse ninjas or summoned beasts with his own body, and even bloodline limits.
Of course, as soon as Hiruko successfully developed it, the Third Hokage discovered him and sent people to hunt him down, making him a rogue ninja who had been wandering ever since.
With the Ghoul Orchid Technique, as long as he fused five bloodline limits, Hiruko could become an absolutely powerful being who was immortal.
Hiruko had already fused four bloodline limits and was just one step away. His original plan was to target Kakashi, who possessed the Sharingan.
But...
Linto was too enticing.
Compared to the abilities Linto possessed, Kakashi's Sharingan wasn't even qualified for comparison.
So, when Pain found Hiruko through some unknown means, he hesitated for only a moment before choosing to join.
That being said, as Hiruko saw the Akatsuki members, his heart couldn't help but breed greed.
Rinnegan, Mangekyo Sharingan, explosive clay...
"I want to devour them all!"
All the seasoned ninjas present were highly sensitive to killing intent. Hiruko clearly looked at them as "food."
Regarding this... no one cared.
They could think it, it didn't matter.
Orochimaru wanted to use his teammates for human experiments.
Sasori wanted to turn his teammates into puppets.
Deidara wanted to blow up the base.
Uchiha Itachi, that madman, might be thinking of killing all the Akatsuki members at any moment.
As long as they didn't make a move, they were still a loving family.
Pain continued, "Two-Tails Matatabi is about to revive. This capture plan is to simultaneously capture One-Tail, Two-Tails, and Seven-Tails, so we will split into three small teams to carry out the action."
Hearing this, the Akatsuki members' expressions changed.
Capturing Two-Tails and Seven-Tails was fine; they could follow their familiar workflow.
The key was One-Tail Shukaku.
The entire ninja world knew that Linto's team was slowly heading towards Gringotts City in the Land of Wind.
Every day, gossip magazines wrote about what Linto ate and drank, and what ambiguous stories he had with local women, and how they ended up in bed together. The latter often required payment, and it sounded like fake advertising, but some people still happily paid.
In the black market, there were already bookmakers taking bets on whether Linto would lop off the head of the Land of Wind daimyo once he reached Gringotts City.
The Jinchuriki of One-Tail Shukaku, Gaara, was in the caravan.
"I don't understand."
Sasori's voice was hoarse. "Why choose now to make a move?"
Think about who is in the caravan?
Linto.
Kazekage Rasa.
Kazekage Advisor Grandma Chiyo.
Copy Ninja Kakashi.
Lion of Death Amber.
And One-Tail Jinchuriki Gaara.
There seemed to be one more person... they couldn't remember his name, likely an unimportant rat.
The aforementioned individuals alone were enough to be terrifying.
If they were afraid of Linto, it wasn't necessarily so. Those who could join the Akatsuki were all arrogant. Let alone Linto, even if the King of Heaven himself came, they would dare to confront him.
The key was "efficiency."
Why choose now to make a move?
"I'll explain,"
Uchiha Itachi said, "Ever since I learned Akatsuki and Linto were going to Gringotts City, my crows have been following them, eavesdropping... or rather, Linto didn't intend to hide it.
After visiting the Land of Wind daimyo in Gringotts City, Linto will bring Gaara back to Kirigakure for protection."
Their confusion was not dispelled.
What would happen if they returned to Kirigakure?
Could Linto live in the village forever and never leave?
There would be times when he wasn't at home.
When he's not there, raid the village and snatch Gaara.
Uchiha Itachi didn't play coy and directly gave the answer:
"Upon returning to Kirigakure, Linto will discuss with the Research Institute to completely separate Gaara's chakra from One-Tail's chakra and attempt to make One-Tail Shukaku..."
"into a disc."