South of the Northern Three Islands, a small boat slowly drifted away from the area.
"Sensei, where are we headed next?"
"South. Since it wasn't up north, it's probably down south."
Kazuyama Gekkō sat on the boat, casually snacking as he gazed at the distant sea, shrouded in thick mist.
He couldn't help feeling a little helpless. His instincts had told him that Akatsuki's base should be in the south—but after all that searching, he hadn't found a single trace of them. Still, he didn't consider it a loss. After all, he'd made quite a fortune in the process.
"Kazuyama, why are you so obsessed with finding this group called Akatsuki?"
"In my opinion, there's no need to. Why not just wait until they show themselves?"
Tagitsuhime sat beside him, popping snakeberries into her mouth one after another.
She couldn't understand why Kazuyama was so determined to track down Akatsuki. From her perspective, the time he spent chasing after some mysterious organization would be far better spent staying in Konoha and improving his strength.
"Tagitsuhime, you don't understand."
"No—actually, you should understand. You know about Akatsuki too."
"Whether it's Uchiha Madara or Nagato, their ambitions are terrifying."
"Right now, they don't have enough strength or manpower, so they're lying low. But once the time is right and their power is fully built up, I'll become their target."
Kazuyama set his snacks aside and stood up, his gaze turning solemn as he looked out over the sea.
"You? Their target? Why?"
Tagitsuhime still couldn't grasp his reasoning.
"Do you know about the Sage of Six Paths?"
"Of course. Wasn't he the one assisted by that toad sage from Mount Myōboku?"
As one of Ryūchi Cave's three Snake Princesses, Tagitsuhime naturally knew about the Three Great Sage Regions and their histories.
Kazuyama let out a quiet sigh.
"Then you should also know—before the Sage of Six Paths, there was another terrifying existence: Kaguya Ōtsutsuki."
"Even the Nine Tailed Beasts exist because of her."
"As for Akatsuki's goals, there are two. First, to resurrect the real Madara Uchiha. Second, to resurrect Kaguya Ōtsutsuki."
"The first one doesn't really concern me. But the second one—that's a death sentence."
Tagitsuhime stared blankly for a moment, while Chōmei fell completely silent inside Kazuyama.
He'd always known Kazuyama possessed knowledge far beyond normal comprehension, but this only confirmed it further.
He even knew about the Ten-Tails—and the conditions required to bring it back.
"Still not getting it?"
"To revive the Ten-Tails, they need to gather all nine Tailed Beasts together. In other words, they'll have to capture and seal every one of them."
"And who am I? The Seven-Tails Jinchūriki! If they extract Chōmei from me, I'm done for!"
"Of course, if I die, Chōmei dies too. So for my safety—and for my brother's safety—"
"This Akatsuki organization must be found and eliminated."
Tagitsuhime finally understood the urgency of Kazuyama's situation, while Chōmei felt deeply moved once again.
"Got it, got it. Anything that threatens your life comes first."
"But their strength... tsk, they won't be easy to deal with."
Kazuyama was well aware. Whether it was Madara's long-range ocular abilities or Nagato's Rinnegan and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, both were incredibly dangerous.
Still, it was a confrontation that couldn't be avoided. The first step was to gather intel.
...
At the same time, in the southern region of the Land of Water—inside Akatsuki's base.
Zetsu's body slowly emerged from the ground. Everyone in the base was present, and his appearance brought bad news.
"Oh, Zetsu, you're late."
"What is it? Got new intel or a new recruit to recommend?"
Muren Uchiha sat cross-legged atop one of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path's fingers. Clad in the red cloud robe and a mask, he bore a striking resemblance to the masked Obito.
But the news Zetsu brought was anything but pleasant. What he said next made everyone's brows furrow.
"Kumo launched a surprise attack on the Northern Three Islands of the Land of Water."
"For some reason, the Fourth Mizukage joined the fight—and went berserk, entering Tailed Beast Transformation."
"The battle's at a stalemate. And if I'm not mistaken, the Fourth Raikage showed up there too."
"The Fourth Mizukage is still in the northern seas. He probably won't calm down until he burns off all his rage."
Kakuzu, who had only recently joined Akatsuki and handled their finances, wasn't too familiar with the Mizukage's situation.
But the other three knew exactly what this meant.
The Fourth Mizukage was under Muren Uchiha's control—that's what allowed them to operate safely within the Land of Water.
Now, Kirigakure and Kumogakure were fighting each other—and their own Mizukage had gone berserk?!
What kind of mess was this…
"Tch. What did I say? We should've handled it ourselves."
"Why did we even need a puppet?"
"That little midget, seriously..."
If Muren Uchiha had one flaw after all these years, it was his mouth.
With just one sentence, he'd managed to earn the ire of two people.
Though Black Zetsu's face showed no expression, his aura radiated displeasure.
After all, he was the one who had recommended using the Fourth Mizukage as a puppet—and the one who had implanted the Three-Tails into his body.
The other person glaring at him was Kabuto.
For Kabuto, the puppet had become everything to him. Even if Muren hadn't meant anything by it, his words still struck a nerve.
"What's wrong with a puppet?"
"Hmph. Sounds to me like your genjutsu control wasn't strong enough. If it were me, I'd have placed a technique directly into his brain."
"Then this would never have happened."
What should've been a routine Akatsuki meeting had turned into a blame session over the Fourth Mizukage.
Kakuzu, as usual, watched the squabbling with his usual calm.
"Heh heh... You call this an organization?"
"If it's this bad, we might as well disband. Just make sure I get the money I've earned before we do."
The noisy cave instantly fell silent.
The other four turned their eyes on him—Nagato and Black Zetsu visibly annoyed, while Muren and Kabuto merely rolled their eyes.
Their attitudes said it all: the first two were displeased, while the latter two clearly didn't take him seriously.
"Kakuzu, don't say things like that."
"The organization isn't something to joke about."
"Besides this matter, there's something else—something even more serious."
Black Zetsu continued, and what he said next made everyone's expressions shift.
"I've discovered traces of Kazuyama Gekkō in the Land of Water."
"He seems to be searching for something. And if I'm not mistaken, what he's looking for... is us."