A deathly silence enveloped the base. The atmosphere was extremely oppressive.
Pain's gaze was so gloomy it seemed like water would drip from it.
Because,
Just after Kyo finished speaking,
The sharp him,
Immediately sensed something was wrong.
Thinking back,
The masked man's first appearance was when he met the original leader of the Akatsuki, Yahiko.
What they talked about back then was no longer known.
However,
All that was known was that Yahiko ultimately rejected the masked man's suggestion.
Then,
The masked man disappeared.
And when he appeared for the second time before Nagato and Konan,
It was already at the moment when the Akatsuki was on the verge of collapse.
At that time, Akatsuki, due to its growing strength, was ambushed in a conspiracy by Danzo and Hanzo, resulting in the death of all members, including Yahiko.
And it was also at that time,
The masked man appeared for the second time.
He first revealed his Mangekyo Sharingan,
Then, claiming to be the Uchiha Madara, he said he was here to guide this person possessing the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths to create world peace.
Then, he proposed the Tailed Beast Weapon Plan that would shake the Shinobi World.
At that time, Nagato,
Due to the hatred in his heart, and having grown too disheartened by the cruelty of the Shinobi World, did not refuse.
In the end, he decided to follow the plan he had laid out.
Subsequently,
Came the series of plans like killing Hanzo, seizing power in Amegakure, and creating the new Akatsuki...
These things,
On the surface, they seemed to have no problem.
After all,
The masked man appeared to always stand on their side.
But now,
After learning the masked man's identity as 'Uchiha Obito',
Upon closer reflection,
It was unavoidably... a bit too strange.
The former leader of the Akatsuki, Yahiko had rejected the masked man's violent peace plan.
As a result,
Not long after,
Danzo from Konoha immediately came to ally with Amegakure and secretly encircle and suppress the Akatsuki...
Leading to Akatsuki being on the verge of annihilation.
In the end,
It was only thanks to Nagato's burst of power that he barely saved Konan.
And right after that incident, this disappeared Konoha's hero, Uchiha Obito, ran out again to guide the new Akatsuki...
How could there be such a coincidence in the world...
As he pondered,
Pain's expression grew increasingly dark.
His heart also grew increasingly cold.
Even,
He could begin to infer a plan.
After a moment,
He suddenly raised his eyes and gazed heavily at Kyo, saying in a deep voice:
"This Uchiha Obito..."
"What connection does he have... with that Shimura Danzo from Konoha?"
"..."
"?"
At these words,
Itachi beside him was momentarily stunned.
Shimura Danzo?!
The leader of Konoha's Root?
Itachi was suddenly taken aback.
He completely didn't expect that the topic had just been about Obito, and suddenly it came to Danzo...?
Was Pain's train of thought too jumpy...?
Or,
Was there really some unspeakable secret between them...?
Itachi's gaze narrowed slightly, his mind sinking.
However,
Hearing this,
Even Kyo over here couldn't help but be taken aback.
Eh?
Wait,
What's going on?
What the hell...
I haven't even led the topic there yet,
And you asked it yourself?
Kyo's heart immediately lit up with joy, and even the corner of his mouth twitched slightly, almost unable to help but laugh out loud.
Shimura Danzo, truly worthy of the name 'King of Blames'...
Since Pain had already thought of this level,
It made things a lot easier.
After all,
As long as the seed of suspicion was sown,
Kyo simply didn't need to continue making things up; he could say whatever.
Because no matter what he said,
Nagato would start to fill in the gaps in that direction.
Thinking this,
Kyo, while holding back his laughter, pretended to be serious and pondered:
"For now, no obvious connection has been found."
"However,"
"A few years ago in Kikyo Castle, he did mention something about Shimura Danzo to me..."
"He seemed to know him quite well..."
Kyo deliberately put on an unsure expression, speaking slowly.
And as his words fell,
It was obvious that Pain's expression became even more tense, and his gaze grew even darker.
Until after a moment, he slowly exhaled and said coldly:
"Ah..."
"Just as I expected,"
"How could Uchiha Obito, a Shinobi who was once willing to sacrifice himself for Konoha, suddenly completely betray Konoha..."
"Behind this, there absolutely is some unspeakable secret."
"Perhaps"
"It also has something to do with Shimura Danzo!!
Pain's gaze flickered slightly, speaking in a resolute tone.
Almost instantly,
He had concluded the matter.
And hearing this,
Itachi, Kisame, and the others over there also had complicated expressions.
Obito disguising himself as Uchiha Madara,
Could it really be... directed by Danzo...?
That guy,
Had such great control power?
Of course, they didn't know about this.
However, it was clear that,
Now, the masked man's identity was almost concluded.
After a moment of silence,
Pain's expression returned to indifference, and then, his gaze swept down over everyone below, finally saying in a deep, indifferent voice:
"I announce..."
"From today onwards, Akatsuki will completely cut ties with Uchiha Obito!
"From today onwards, he will be treated as Akatsuki's number one enemy!
"...!"
As Pain's heavy words fell, everyone's hearts stirred.
And at this moment,
Zetsu beside him was somewhat dumbfounded.
He completely didn't expect,
Things would develop like this...
Uchiha Obito, who was still Akatsuki's behind-the-scenes leader not long ago, was now... directly kicked out???
And he was going to be treated as the number one enemy???
...
Just as Zetsu was dumbfounded,
Pain's tone suddenly shifted, looking towards Kyo, and after a moment of silence, he said in a low voice:
"This time, it's thanks to you... Kyo."
His praise,
Was not just a formality.
But from the bottom of his heart thanks.
However, due to his own identity issues, he couldn't act too strangely.
Therefore,
The moment he spoke, it became a very indifferent tone again.
It sounded very strange.
However,
Kyo naturally understood what he meant, and just smiled and said:
"You're welcome."
And then,
Pain on the Outer Path Statue,
Suddenly swept his gaze over the expressions of the other members, and finally landed on the side of Itachi and the others.
Coincidentally,
At this moment,
Standing beside Itachi happened to be Kisame, who was also recruited by the masked man, and Black Zetsu, who came with him back then.
The three were highly suspicious.
Pain's gaze was indifferent, sweeping over their faces one by one.
To be honest,
After experiencing the shock just now,
Now,
He looked at everyone and thought they seemed like spies.
Pain was silent,
At this moment, he actually didn't know whether to continue interrogating.
If these people weren't spies, fine, but if they really were, wouldn't that mean losing important combat power again...?
Akatsuki had finally gathered nine people, enough to start the tailed beast plan. If something went wrong at this time, it would be really painful...
And,
Speaking of the Tailed Beast Weapon Plan,
Since Uchiha Madara's identity was fake, then... was this Tailed Beast Weapon Plan also forged?
Thinking this,
Nagato's heart became complicated and conflicted.
In this world,
There were few people he could trust.
The former Uchiha Madara barely counted as one.
But now,
After Kyo exposed his identity as Konoha's hero, Uchiha Obito,
It really left Nagato at a loss...
After a long silence,
He slightly lowered his eyes and said indifferently:
"Today's meeting will temporarily... end here."
"Let me think carefully about how Akatsuki's future plans... should proceed."
"Meeting adjourned."
With that,
Pain turned around indifferently and walked into the darkness.
His silent back was shrouded in shadow.
Night time.
In a village in the distant Land of Demons,
The masked man Uchiha Obito, who was searching for intelligence, suddenly noticed a figure approaching.
"Huh? Zetsu?"
"You... why are you here?"
Looking at Zetsu who suddenly appeared before him, Obito was immediately puzzled.
And at this moment,
Black Zetsu opposite him spoke deeply:
"Obito."
"Bad news."
"You've been kicked out of Akatsuki by Nagato."
"???"