'Hunt Orochimaru...?'
Upon hearing the masked man's words, Konan and Pain exchanged glances, both seeing confusion in each other's eyes.
They completely failed to understand why he would suddenly propose such a mission.
However,
the masked man seemed to read their doubts and directly explained flatly:
"After receiving your message,"
"I went to the Land of Wind once and had a conversation with one of Sasori's subordinates there."
"From his intelligence, I learned that the Konoha's Missing-nin Orochimaru seems to be investigating the Akatsuki's situation."
Pausing briefly at this point, the masked man narrowed his eye and said:
"However, the Orochimaru I know is a very suspicious person. He shouldn't be able to grasp such intelligence so easily."
"In other words... he's probably deliberately revealing his whereabouts, with some other motive."
"If that's the case, then let's turn this situation to our advantage."
"Let me also get a good look at this wielder of a mysterious Dojutsu, Kyo, and that sinister Orochimaru. I wonder who will ultimately claim victory..."
As he spoke,
the masked man stood up.
His figure began to spiral away into the air like a vortex, leaving behind only an indifferent sentence.
"Convey the order to him."
"I will meet with him as an Akatsuki trainee, under the name Tobi."
As his voice faded,
his figure had completely entered the vortex before his right eye, vanishing entirely.
...
At that moment,
on the other side of Amegakure.
Inside Kyo's residence, he was sitting by the window, reading a book.
The book's title was very simple — The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi.
However, its author was far from simple.
One of the renowned Legendary Sannin of Konoha, the heroic Shinobi known as the Toad Sage, Jiraiya.
Half a day later,
Kyo finally finished reading it entirely. He closed the book and let out a gentle sigh.
"Haah..."
"Although the content is positive and uplifting, it seems lacking in entertainment value. No wonder it ended up being unsold."
Kyo shook his head with a wry smile.
If it weren't for completing the side mission assigned by the system, he probably wouldn't have been able to finish it.
[Ding, congratulations host, side mission completed!]
[Collect one copy of Jiraiya's novel The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi (1/1), completed. Reward: Spiritual Pressure +500!]
[Completely read Jiraiya's novel The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi (1/1), completed. Reward: Spiritual Pressure +1000!]
[Promote Jiraiya's novel The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi to any five Kage-level or higher Shinobi (0/5), incomplete. Reward unknown.]
Simultaneously with hearing the series of notifications,
Kyo immediately felt the subtle increase in his Spiritual Pressure and revealed a satisfied smile.
'At least it wasn't a wasted read.'
However, this last mission was truly a bit difficult to handle.
Kyo helplessly dismissed the system panel.
'Promote this book to any five Kage-level or higher powerhouses...?'
'They'd probably think I was crazy...'
"Ah, it's just a pity that Amegakure's bookstore completely doesn't stock Icha-Icha Paradise..."
"It seems I'll have to buy it outside."
Kyo let out a light sigh.
Of course.
He was only doing this to complete side missions.
As for the book's content?
He, Kyo, had always been a man of virtue. How could he possibly be interested?
After all, that certain Kakashi of Konoha had read this book every day and ended up completely wasting himself, his kidneys overdrawn every time he used Chakra...
…
"Hey, newcomer."
Just as Kyo was pondering this, a voice suddenly arose from the ground.
Then, a pitcher plant-like creature emerged from the floor, its half-black, half-white head appearing. It spoke in a low voice:
"You have a mission."
"Leader wants you to assemble at the base now."
"?!"
As its words fell, Kyo's gaze sharpened. However, before he could ask any questions, Zetsu directly sank into the ground and slipped away.
"My first mission... came this quickly, huh..."
Kyo stood up, a faint smile appearing on his face.
Going out on a mission wasn't bad either. Maybe he could even buy Jiraiya's other works in the countries outside.
...
A moment later,
Kyo once again arrived at the familiar cave meeting room.
However,
the moment he entered, Kyo's expression froze for a second.
An unexpected situation had arisen.
Inside the cave, besides Pain and Konan, there was also a man not wearing the Akatsuki uniform standing there.
He wore an orange swirl mask, and his right eye was as if shrouded in darkness.
'Hmm?'
'This outfit is...'