[Inside a Dim Cave]
Several projections stood atop stone pillars, these were the members of Akatsuki, conducting a meeting through the Phantom Body Technique of the Rinnegan.
The man standing at the forefront, leader Pain, slowly opened his pair of Rinnegan eyes.
A massive pressure crushed down, and everyone who had been discussing fell silent.
Pain slowly spoke, "This time, the conflict between Konoha and the Uchiha, what does everyone think?"
"Leader, that's five hundred million! You have to let me take it!"
This was Kakuzu, the one who loved money the most in the shinobi world, clearly unable to resist the temptation of five hundred million.
"Mm…", Pain let out a nasal sound.
Kakuzu's reaction was within expectations, but what Pain wanted to hear wasn't just that.
Biwa Juzo and Hoshigaki Kisame both had their own thoughts and didn't speak.
Biwa Juzo was approached by people from Kirigakure, who explained that Yagura had been under control previously, which caused the chaos in Kirigakure.
Now that Yagura had recovered, he wanted to rebuild Kirigakure and the Land of Water. The village had forgiven Juzo's betrayal and hoped he would return.
He was currently still hesitating.
Unlike Juzo's love for the Land of Water, Kisame had developed serious psychological issues after years of assassinating his comrades.
He began to question his own existence, unsure of where to go, or where peace could be found.
It was only after being manipulated by Tobi, who wore the mask of Uchiha Madara, that he joined the organization.
To be precise, Kisame currently trusted "Madara" (Tobi) more than Pain.
However, Tobi had not yet shown himself publicly. His cooperation with Nagato was still in the honeymoon phase.
Kisame was unaware of the hidden intricacies, so he remained quite loyal to the organization.
He wasn't one who cared for money. He was simply searching for his true self, and as such, he never participated in any scheming discussions like this.
He always waited for missions and just carried them out.
He had noticed Juzo acting strange lately and wanted to investigate what was really going on.
"Hehehe… Plenty of people want to snatch that five hundred million. Your competitors are probably already in Konoha," Zetsu, the organization's intelligence officer. His true identity was the fusion of Black Zetsu and White Zetsu, but only Tobi knew that.
Kakuzu snorted, "If Konoha's assistant to the Hokage could be assassinated that easily, he wouldn't be worth five hundred million."
"Compared to Danzo's assassination bounty of five hundred million, the conflict between Konoha and Uchiha is a bigger matter."
"Perhaps… this is the prelude to the Fourth Great Ninja War," Hiding inside Hiruko, Sasori let out a raspy voice.
Clearly, having defected long ago and destroyed several small nations, Sasori had seen this type of post-war chaos lead to invasions more than once, and he immediately saw through the problem.
Kakuzu let out a dull laugh, "Wouldn't that be even better? If Konoha were attacked, the ninja world would fall into chaos. Wouldn't that make it easier for us to move?"
Upon hearing those two lines, a flicker of emotion passed through Juzo's eyes, but he quickly concealed it.
Konan spoke up, "Whether Konoha and the Uchiha will actually clash is still uncertain, but we should send people over first."
"I'm good at assassinations," Juzo said.
"I'll go check it out too," Kisame seemed to show interest.
"There's no way I'd miss out on this," The most enthusiastic of all was Kakuzu.
"I want to collect a few Uchiha corpses as human puppets," Sasori also expressed his willingness.
Seeing that everyone wanted to go, Pain fell silent for a moment, "In that case, let Konan lead the team."
"You all act according to the situation."
Everyone responded and disconnected one by one, leaving only Konan and Pain.
Only when he was alone with Konan, Pain's emotions would show just a little more.
"Konan, see if you can take Danzo's life this time."
Back then, Danzo and Hanzo schemed to capture Konan, forcing Yahiko to commit suicide in Nagato's arms.
That became a lifelong source of pain for both Nagato and Konan.
No matter how Nagato's ideology changed now, the hatred for Danzo would never lessen even a bit.
It was just that Danzo used to hide in Root every day.
Even ordinary Konoha citizens barely knew of Danzo.
Let alone outsiders knowing his whereabouts.
Danzo, who hadn't seen daylight for years, rarely even left Konoha.
Naturally, Nagato and Konan had no way to get revenge.
But now, things were different. Because of Danzo's oppression, the Uchiha were confronting Konoha head-on.
On the seventh day of the conflict, Itachi defected from Konoha and put up a bounty on the black market for Danzo's life.
Clearly, he knew Konoha would definitely protect Danzo.
Under this development, even the tiniest spark could lead to an all-out battle between Konoha and the Uchiha.
This kind of chaos was when opportunities were most abundant.
Konan naturally understood Pain's meaning, "I understand. If there's a chance, I won't let Danzo go."
Pain thought briefly, "You could try contacting the Uchiha clan."
Konan asked in confusion: "You mean…?"
Pain calmly said, "'Uchiha Madara' must have had a conflict with the Uchiha, which is why he no longer had enough pupul power to keep controlling Yagura Karatachi."
"He's always acted mysterious. I suspect the deaths of Kyusuke and Daibutsu back then were related to him."
"If he really is Uchiha Madara, then the Uchiha would surely recognize him."
"Or, we could also work together with the Uchiha to kill Danzo."
"If Konoha and the Uchiha start fighting, perhaps we can seize the most critical thing first and advance the plan."
Konan of course knew what the most critical thing was.
The Nine-Tails.
The strongest among the nine tailed beasts, and also the hardest to capture.
If Konoha fell into chaos, seizing the opportunity amid the flames might not be impossible.
Konan said calmly, "If there's a chance, I will."
Pain instructed, "You all go ahead. I've gained greater control over the Rinnegan now, and I'm practicing a new technique."
Konan could tell that Pain wanted to come in person, and said with concern, "There are too many people and too much chaos around Konoha right now. It's too dangerous for you to come."
"Your body can't endure a long battle."
Pain fell silent. His real body, Nagato, had previously been drained to a husk by the spikes of the Gedo Statue.
Even now, he had only slightly recovered. He truly couldn't handle long battles.
"If there's no opportunity to capture the Nine-Tails, then don't expose too much of the organization's information."
Konan, hearing Pain's words, felt a little relieved.
She didn't care about the others, she only cared about Nagato.
"I'll see if any suitable people show up that we can recruit."
Currently, Akatsuki lacked both money and manpower. Many bounty hunters with some strength were heading to Konoha now.
Naturally, this was also a good time for recruitment.
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