The next morning, dawn.
Everything was almost as usual.
The sudden intrusion incident last night brought no waves to this small Shinobi Village.
All the civilians and Shinobi seemed already accustomed to sudden battles erupting in the village.
Those twenty-one Sunagakure's Anbu, under Pain's orders, were eventually imprisoned in the dungeon by the Amegakure's Shinobi.
Afterwards,
Just as Kyo had anticipated—
Shortly after dawn,
Pain immediately used the ring to transmit a message to Kyo.
"There's a mission, Kyo."
"Meet at the base in three minutes, I'll explain in detail."
Kyo naturally expected this transmission and directly got up and headed towards the base.
...
Upon entering the base,
Kyo immediately saw Pain and Konan waiting ahead.
Kyo, hands in his pockets, walked over casually and asked very informally:
"Looks like you got results from the interrogation last night?"
This leisurely attitude made it seem as if he were the leader of Akatsuki.
However, Pain just calmly ignored these trivial details.
He nodded flatly and spoke:
"Yes."
"That Suna's Shinobi confessed truthfully."
"Five days ago, the Fourth Kazekage suddenly received a mysterious piece of intelligence, stating that Hanzo of the Salamander was dead and that Konoha's Uchiha Clan had been annihilated."
"Thus, Rasa, eager to expand his territory, ordered them to infiltrate here and verify the intelligence."
"..."
Kyo's gaze shifted slightly after listening.
'Huh?'
'Intelligence suddenly received five days ago?'
'Tsk tsk,'
'The source of this intelligence is way too obvious...'
Kyo couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head.
Six nights ago,
Orochimaru attacked Itachi, failed, and then defected from Amegakure.
And just one day after his defection, Sunagakure in the Land of Wind suddenly received these two pieces of intelligence about Amegakure and the Uchiha.
The trickery here, as long as one isn't stupid, is easy to understand with a little thought.
It has to be said,
Orochimaru's move was really damaging...
To divert attention from Akatsuki's pursuit, he deliberately went out of his way to harm Rasa.
This behavior isn't just immoral, it's downright despicable.
…
Just as Kyo was pondering,
Pain suddenly spoke again, interrupting his thoughts.
His gaze was indifferent, his Rinnegan eyes fixed on Kyo as he spoke flatly:
"Kyo."
"You must have noticed too, right?"
"This intelligence leak this time was most likely... the work of the traitor, Orochimaru."
"It seems what we feared most has ultimately happened."
"Since he can sell out Amegakure's intelligence, the next step is very likely to directly sell out Akatsuki's intelligence."
"If that happens, our future actions in the Shinobi World will become extremely difficult."
"This is absolutely unacceptable!"
As he spoke, Pain's gaze suddenly darkened, and he said decisively:
"We can no longer sit back and wait."
"We must act immediately."
"So Kyo, your mission objective this time... is to go to Sunagakure in the Land of Wind!"
"Based on last night's interrogation results,"
"Sunagakure's probing of Amegakure won't stop at just once. Therefore, we must exert some military deterrence against them!"
"At the same time, you must also take the opportunity to find the whereabouts of that traitor Orochimaru, who provided the intelligence, within Suna, and... eliminate him!"
Pain unhurriedly finished explaining the entire mission, his expression still indifferent.
After hearing this series of words, Kyo slightly raised an eyebrow, then chuckled lightly, sincerely praising:
"Truly worthy of the leader."
"In such a short time, you've already analyzed the situation this thoroughly?"
"..."
Pain didn't respond, but continued speaking flatly:
"Due to the special nature of this mission, involving direct confrontation with a Shinobi Village."
"Akatsuki cannot be directly exposed yet."
"Therefore, in this mission, you must temporarily disguise yourself as a Shinobi of Amegakure."
"Deter Suna in the name of Amegakure, not Akatsuki."
"Understand?"
"..."
Kyo's gaze was calm as he nodded.
He naturally knew that Akatsuki couldn't act too high-profile right now.
After all, on one hand, their strength wasn't fully formed yet,
On the other hand, the Tailed Beast Capture Plan hadn't officially begun, so attracting the attention of the Five Great Nations would ultimately be unwise.
Just then, Pain suddenly continued speaking flatly:
"To ensure the smooth completion of your mission."
"This time, I will dispatch a team to assist you covertly."
"Come out—"
"Biwa Juzo, Uchiha Itachi."
"...Huh?"
Kyo was momentarily stunned.