The masked man spoke heavily.
At this moment, he was not in a good mood.
One had to know that back when he was planning the Akatsuki's member selection, he had put a great deal of thought into it.
Moreover, he had specifically emphasized to Pain and the others that the Missing-nin from Sunagakure, Sasori, possessed undisputed Kage-level strength.
With his puppet abilities, he might even become a powerful talent capable of destroying a small nation in the future.
And what was the result?
He had only been gone for a few days when he suddenly received a message from Konan.
And the content inside said that Sasori had been killed in an instant by a young man carrying a blade...?
In an instant?!
Was there some mistake???
Even more absurdly, this young man who had killed Sasori was now directly a full member of the Akatsuki!
Without seeking the opinion of him, the Akatsuki's behind-the-scenes boss, Pain and Konan had arbitrarily given him the uniform and ring.
Regarding these matters, the masked man was naturally somewhat displeased in his heart.
However, the public-facing leader of the Akatsuki was still Pain, and he did indeed have the authority to decide on members.
The masked man certainly wouldn't quibble with him over this kind of thing.
It was just that,
the masked man couldn't trust someone he had absolutely no understanding of.
Within the Akatsuki, whether it was Nagato, Konan, Kakuzu, Sasori, or even those he planned to recruit later like Uchiha Itachi,
the masked man had confidence in his ability to manipulate them.
Only this suddenly appearing newcomer, Kyo, was an unexpected variable.
And moreover, he seemed to be at a level beyond Kage!
This was very troublesome.
That was why he had specifically rushed back to discuss the matter in person.
For the sake of the future Eye of the Moon Plan, he could not allow any situation within the Akatsuki that he couldn't control.
Hearing the masked man's words, Pain and Konan exchanged a glance before Pain spoke flatly:
"We haven't obtained any useful intelligence from his own words."
"We only know that, like us, he is a victim of the past Shinobi World Wars, a wanderer without a home."
"And currently, we have formed a preliminary judgment about the abilities he commands—"
"Oh?" The masked man's gaze narrowed slightly.
After a brief pause, Pain continued:
"The short blade at his waist might be some kind of mysterious ninja tool, possessing the characteristics of both 'extension' and 'retraction'. Its length can be freely adjusted, and it is extremely fast with very strong destructive power."
"According to what Konan witnessed, he used this ninja tool at the time to kill Sasori of the Red Sand in the Land of Wind."
"..."
Hearing this, the masked man silently nodded slightly.
It wasn't strange for such a peculiar ninja tool to exist. However, he wasn't particularly concerned about it.
After all, with his Mangekyo Sharingan's Dojutsu, Kamui, he had no fear of any physical weapon whatsoever.
Immediately after, Pain continued speaking flatly:
"His second ability is the ability to freely release various strange techniques without hand seals: blue-colored Fire Release, golden Lightning Release, the technique to stand in mid-air as if on solid ground, and so on..."
"And according to our observations, every time he uses these techniques, some unusual light seems to flicker in his pupils."
"Therefore, we believe..."
"He very likely possesses some kind of mysterious Dojutsu unknown to us — that is, his golden-colored pupils, which are different from ordinary people."
"Of course, these are still just our inferences and have not been confirmed."
Pain finished speaking methodically.
These points were summaries they had concluded after carefully discussing with Konan.
At that moment,
after listening to these words, a deep, unusual glint suddenly flashed in the masked man's eye. He muttered in a low voice to himself:
"I see..."
"A mysterious Dojutsu with golden pupils?"
"It seems the situation is much more complicated than I imagined..."
At this moment, beneath the orange mask, Obito's expression became serious for the first time, even somewhat grim.
He had never anticipated that there might be a Dojutsu he was unaware of...
After being silent for a long while,
he finally raised his head again. His gaze swept across Pain and Konan's faces before he slowly spoke in a low voice:
"Regarding this guy,"
"there are too many strange points. We need to observe him slowly."
"Coincidentally, I happen to have a mission here. How about... we let him handle it."
"For this mission, I will observe him personally — by going along with him, as an Akatsuki trainee."
"..."
As his words fell, Konan's gaze flickered slightly. She asked:
"What mission?"
The masked man slowly stood up from his chair. In the darkness, his blood-red Sharingan gleamed with an enchanting light.
After a moment, he finally spoke slowly:
"Hunt that man, once known as one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha..."
"Orochimaru."