On the trade route of the Land of Fire, three buses traveled quietly.
In the front seat, Uchiha Kagami gripped the steering wheel with both hands, looking troubled and sighing heavily.
"This whole thing was handled so badly - absolutely terrible!"
In the seat beside him, Fugaku wore a forced smile.
"Uncle, this is my fault. I didn't raise my kids right."
"Bullshit!" Kagami snapped.
"How can this be your fault?! It's because Hidden Rain isn't strong enough yet. Otherwise, your kid wouldn't have to worry about the consequences of Hidden Rain facing off against Konoha! The village's strength urgently needs strengthening! Our generation didn't do well enough..."
Seeing Kagami's face full of self-blame, Fugaku's mouth twisted into a bitter smile as he recalled what had just happened.
Itachi, his eldest son, had always been strong-willed from childhood - he chose to stay.
And his second son also made a fuss and chose to stay.
This put Kagami in quite a bind.
If all the Uchiha clansmen chose to leave, he could take a hard stance against Sarutobi Hiruzen.
But if someone didn't want to leave, then Kagami, who never forced individual will, was screwed...
However, the final choice was ultimately left to Fugaku.
After all, these two children were his sons.
And Fugaku's choice was to let the young eagles fly free.
Itachi was already eleven years old. In the ninja world, eleven was old enough for the battlefield.
Since this kid had his own ideas, what was there to worry about?
When he was eleven or twelve, he was already killing people in the Land of Grass with his teacher.
Thinking of this, Fugaku turned to look at Uncle Kagami and slowly said:
"Uncle, where's my teacher?"
Hearing this, Kagami sighed, his gaze looking toward the distant window as he said leisurely:
"Who knows? That guy never has a moment when he's not stirring up trouble!"
...
In the Land of Waterfalls, at the mysterious Akatsuki organization base.
Rinjin and Sakumo stood shirtless in front of a full-length mirror.
Both held black robes with red clouds in their hands - upon closer inspection, they were actually Akatsuki uniforms.
Outside the door, a cool adult female voice rang out.
"Kakuzu, Hidan, are you done changing clothes?"
"Ready, ready!" Rinjin hurriedly replied.
With that, he threw the black robe with red clouds over himself, then smugly adjusted his collar in front of the mirror.
"As expected of me - the older I get, the more handsome I become!"
Beside him, Sakumo rolled his eyes speechlessly, put on his black tight combat suit, then donned the black robe with red clouds.
Creak~
The door opened.
Outside, a beautiful woman with a lip piercing below her lower lip, light blue-purple hair in a bun, and wearing a light blue paper flower looked coldly at the two men.
"Too slow. Do men really need this long to change clothes?"
Hearing this, Rinjin immediately put on a flattering smile and sidled up to Konan.
"Konan, facing the most beautiful you, of course I have to be in my most handsome state!"
Shameless! No dignity at his age! Absolutely shameless!
Sakumo rolled his eyes hard. If not for the mask covering his face, he would have spat right at Rinjin.
This bastard was old enough to be Konan's father, yet he called her "Konan" so intimately!
Disgusting!
Muttering internally, Sakumo casually moved closer to Rinjin and spoke to Konan:
"Miss Nan, don't mind this pervert! Um... about that book you wrote before, 'Me and My Three Idiotic Men,' I have some questions I'd like to discuss with you privately! By the way, my pen name is 'Pale Memories'!"
As soon as the words fell, Konan's mouth twitched violently, momentarily forgetting to retort.
Holy shit! The number two patron came to demand updates?!
What the hell! This is a terrorist organization! How did you even find me here?!
What Konan didn't know was that as the diamond supreme VIP member of Shueisha, the ninja world's number one book publisher, and childhood friend of the boss, Sakumo still had the right to know certain authors' basic information.
Just then, Rinjin suddenly interjected:
"By the way, my pen name is 'doge'!"
Hearing this, Konan's cool expression instantly crumbled.
The number one patron came too??? How does Nagato stuff every kind of weirdo into the organization! Does he want me to die of embarrassment?!
Thinking of this, Konan instantly turned around with her back to the two men, vigorously rubbing her slightly reddened cheeks.
"You... you wait here for now, I have something to do!" Her cool voice carried an imperceptible tremor.
Hearing this, Rinjin frowned in confusion:
"Huh? Weren't you supposed to take us to the leader to get our mission? Why do we have to wait again?"
"Enough! Just follow orders and wait here!"
After Konan finished speaking, she quickly walked toward the end of the corridor.
...
On the rooftop terrace of the base, Konan found the Deva Path Yahiko controlled by Nagato.
"Nagato, what arrangements do you have for these two new recruits?"
Facing Yahiko's face, Konan suppressed her slight disgust and asked.
"Take on some war mercenary work in small countries." Nagato controlled Yahiko, speaking flatly.
"War mercenary work?!"
Konan's pupils contracted slightly, then she asked back:
"Specifically doing war mercenary missions?"
The Deva Path Yahiko nodded, his eyes showing no trace of life.
"They're very strong, each with their own unique traits. They're missing-nin from the Land of Hot Water. Their backgrounds seem simple on the surface, but there are traces of forgery. Like Orochimaru before, they're people with ulterior motives - perfect for consuming resources while accumulating wealth."
"Consuming..." Konan murmured.
After a long while, Konan finally nodded expressionlessly, agreeing with Nagato's idea.
"Then I'll assign them missions directly!"
"Mm." Nagato nodded.
Hearing this, Konan turned and walked toward the base.
In the dim corridor, the crisp sound of high heels on the floor echoed far.
Konan stared blankly at the candlelight on the walls, lost in thought for the first time in a while.
Such a strange feeling!
She had clearly stopped writing long ago, yet readers had found her - this feeling was very wonderful.
In the Akatsuki organization, Nagato didn't know about her writing.
No! It should be said that hardly anyone in the entire Akatsuki organization knew she wrote books. Even the editor at Shueisha who handled contact didn't know her true identity.
This was also why she could speak freely in her books.
However, her two top readers had found her - this feeling was truly wonderful.
Embarrassment mixed with being moved~
Meeting face to face and dying of embarrassment was inevitable, but people who read her books and still gave her money clearly recognized her very much.
Honestly, it would be fake to say she wasn't a little moved.
Thinking of this, Konan's delicate fist gently clenched.
In that case, she'd live well!
_______________________________
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