"Are we really saying that everything we've done so far was for a more fair and harmonious world?"
Hidan felt like his whole worldview had collapsed. He was a cultist, someone who had never done a single good deed in his life.
And now these people were telling him that they were actually soldiers for a revolutionary army?
"This intel is real. I verified a lot of it myself. The early members of Akatsuki all confirmed the same thing."
"Our organization was originally founded by Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan. Yahiko was the first leader of Akatsuki."
"Even though there were leadership roles in the organization, it wasn't like a village where the leader had absolute authority. Akatsuki believed in fairness."
"The first leader was killed in battle against Hanzo the Salamander. After that, Nagato and Konan took over as the leaders."
"But despite all the changes in personnel, the core principles of Akatsuki never changed."
Kakuzu explained. The organization had seen its fair share of shifts, but they were mostly in members, not in its core mission.
"Even so, we still have that mission to capture the Tailed Beasts, don't we?"
Kisame wasn't convinced. No matter how you looked at it, an organization that went around capturing Tailed Beasts didn't seem like a force for justice.
But at the mention of this, Kakuzu got irritated.
Capture the Tailed Beasts? Like they were the first ones to try?
"That's the key point. Do you remember the last time all the Tailed Beasts were gathered in one place?"
Kakuzu asked. Other than Hidan, everyone here knew the answer.
"The Warring States period. The First Hokage of Konoha, Senju Hashirama, captured all the Tailed Beasts to end the war and then redistributed them to different villages, so their power would keep each other in check."
Itachi knew this history by heart. He was, after all, a top student of Konoha.
But the moment Itachi said that, it pretty much confirmed everything.
A so-called "righteous" organization had tricked a bunch of terrorists into joining and made them capture the Tailed Beasts.
Everyone knew how dangerous Tailed Beasts were, especially after witnessing the power of the Eight-Tails just now.
Sure, they could probably take it down, but not without risking their own lives.
"So we were just tricked into risking our lives for them? They're making us do all the dangerous work."
For once, Hidan's brain was actually working.
"Doesn't matter to me."
"What the organization wants to do is none of my business."
Kisame and Itachi spoke at the same time. Even after learning Akatsuki's true purpose, they didn't care.
Kisame had always been on the side of chaos, and Itachi wasn't much different. But Hidan, a pure evil character, was the only one who had a problem with this.
He wasn't afraid to die, but there was no way he was going to fight for some "righteous" cause. He was a proud follower of the evil god, and now he had somehow ended up on the side of "good."
"Don't even think about running. If you try to leave, you'll die."
Itachi warned Hidan. They had plenty of ways to deal with him.
Hidan clenched his teeth. He had no choice but to endure, but he was beyond frustrated.
A perfectly good terrorist organization had suddenly turned into a revolutionary army. How was he supposed to accept that?
"Looks like the leader wants to use the wave of this new era to spread the revolution's influence."
"Who knows? We'll just report back with the intel when we return."
"I'm only here to make money."
Kakuzu replied.
Everyone here, except for that brainless Hidan, had been around the ninja world for years.
Some things, even if you understand them, it's better to pretend you don't.
Just because you're being used, does that mean you have to expose it?
Think about how the Akatsuki treats them. They can do whatever they want most of the time, completely free to act.
Only for certain important missions are they given orders.
The organization barely controls them, the only rule is not to betray it.
They're basically just enforcers. Sure, they have freedom, but that same freedom means they'll never reach the core of the organization.
They'll never become true core members of the Akatsuki.
And honestly, that's how it should be.
Look at the people in this group—are any of them decent?
Every single one of them has a bounty on their head from their former villages, and their crimes are enough to get them executed multiple times over.
If an organization that claims to be "righteous" actually made them core members, that would only prove its leader is a fool.
"Speaking of which, it was because of Shanks that I even found out… apparently, the Akatsuki is the ninja world's revolutionary army."
"Could it be that the leader has been waiting for this moment all along?"
They muttered as they walked away, their voices gradually drowned out by the sound of the waves.
Sometimes, history really can't withstand close scrutiny.
The more they looked into it, the more confused Kakuzu and the others became.
And the biggest surprise? Some of the things the Akatsuki was doing now were eerily similar to what Hashirama did in the past.
Kakuzu knew this kind of plot well. He didn't even need to investigate—it was obvious what kind of organization the Akatsuki really was.
Besides, Nagato and Konan had always let Kakuzu and the others do as they pleased.
They'd only step in to assign missions. Other than that, they left them alone.
Wasn't that just a way of keeping them away from the center of power?
It was obvious to everyone else, except for Konan and Nagato.
After all, they had no political sense and had never experienced the internal struggles and power plays of a village.
But after everything they had seen, there was no doubt anymore.
Meanwhile, on Zabuza's ship—
Zabuza, with a bruised and swollen face, and Shanks, sporting a black eye, stood at the bow.
Shanks curiously looked at the mast of Zabuza's pirate ship.
"Why do you have someone hanging from your mast?"
"Oh, that's Gato."
Zabuza didn't bother explaining further.
The others on the ship didn't explain either.
As soon as they left the Land of Fire, they had captured Gato as fast as possible.
And as usual, they hung him up.
"Oh, Gato? That's fine then. Just leave him hanging for a few more days."
Shanks waved his hand dismissively.
Since he wasn't a good person, might as well let him hang a bit longer.
"Oh yeah, Shanks, your ship is ready."
"The materials were sent by the revolutionary army. I didn't know you had connections with them."
"...Huh? Revolutionary army?"
Shanks was stunned.
Crap, why is the revolutionary army involved now?
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