After all, when Uehara Naraku carried out strategic deception, his portrayal of being a devoted subordinate of Hanzo of the Salamander was simply too convincing...
If he's around right now, Tsunade is really worried she might impulsively ask if Hanzo of the Salamander's body is still doing fine...
Damn it, how ridiculous!
Luckily, Konan is an honest person.
When Tsunade inquired about Uchiha Obito, Konan didn't deliberately hide anything, but frowned as she slowly revealed the events that transpired over the years.
"When Uchiha Obito first appeared before us, he claimed to be Uchiha Madara. After Yahiko died in battle, Uchiha Obito began guiding us, trying to create an ultimate weapon to achieve peace in the Ninja World.
Back then, whether recruiting members or other matters, Uchiha Obito would secretly advise Nagato until later when we encountered Naraku."
Konan turned to look at Naraku, her eyes gradually softening, she continued softly, "Naraku is the son of Uehara Yochi, the first generation member of the Akatsuki. His father, Uehara Yochi, died protecting me from Shimura Danzo and Hanzo of the Salamander's men.
We met Naraku after he grew up and decided to keep him close, but unfortunately, Nagato hoped Naraku would quickly become stronger. Perhaps because of this, Naraku worked harder than anyone and began taking on missions as an intern for the Akatsuki.
It was just when Naraku went off on his own to recruit Hoshigaki Kisame that he happened to run into Uchiha Obito, who was planning to kill him;
Because of a leak about his identity, Uchiha Obito tried to assassinate Naraku, and from then on, the Akatsuki severed ties with Uchiha Obito."
"I see..."
Tsunade sighed softly, recalling the years when she met Uehara Naraku in the Hidden Hot Water Village, she whispered with emotion, "When I encountered this little guy in the Hidden Hot Water Village, he must have just completed his task of recruiting Hoshigaki Kisame!"
No wonder Uehara Naraku listens to Konan so well.
Because little Uehara Naraku has always been under Konan's care as he grew up.
Konan's words seem accurate; when Tsunade first saw Uehara Naraku, he was surrounded by three S-Class Traitors from the Hidden Mist Village, as well as two little brats, Kaguya Kimimaro and Haku.
Konan raised her eyebrows, glanced at Tsunade, then at Uehara Naraku and said, "If he lost several million ryo to the Hokage, it must have been around that time."
If Konan remembers correctly, Hoshigaki Kisame mentioned it once when receiving his uniform. Since then, Uehara Naraku's pocket money was directly controlled.
Tsunade rested her chin on her palm, softly lamenting, "It's not entirely that he lost to me, this little guy even left me several million ryo, claiming that his teacher had once been grateful to me in a war and that money was a return gift..."
Tsunade looked at Uehara Naraku, then at Konan, and curiously asked, "But I don't think I've done anything, right? It was Jiraiya who stopped Orochimaru from harming you, and it was Jiraiya who raised and took care of you..."
"Teacher Konan once mentioned it."
Uehara Naraku suddenly interrupted Tsunade, speaking softly, "When Teacher Konan and the rest first met you, you offered them some dry bread."
"..."
Tsunade fell silent instantly.
Those events were so long ago, she barely remembers them.
Jiraiya, sitting next to Tsunade, tapped his forehead, looked at Konan, and sighed softly, "Konan, I take back what I said earlier, you really did teach an excellent disciple!"
"Yes, Teacher Jiraiya."
Konan nodded calmly, then shook her head saying, "Sadly, we still led Uehara down the wrong path..."
"Not at all."
Uehara Naraku shook his head, interrupting Konan, and spoke softly, "To me, the only right path was to protect you all."
"..."
Konan slowly lowered her head.
After a brief pause in the conversation with everyone remaining silent.
Tsunade was the first to break the silence and asked, "Let's get back to discussing Orochimaru; he's currently allied with Uchiha Obito and controls many Reanimation Ninja, which is quite dangerous.
Our last reliable intelligence on Orochimaru showed his discarded body within the Uzumaki Mask Hall in the village. Later, rumors of Orochimaru's death in a laboratory began circulating throughout the Ninja World."
"Let me handle this!"
Uehara Naraku rubbed his forehead and spoke softly, "I've been in charge of pursuing the traitor Orochimaru within the organization, several times driving him to desperation, yet ultimately thwarted..."
"Not entirely thwarted."
Konan extended her palm, comforting her disciple's emotions, "Nagato mentioned, you've destroyed many of Orochimaru's bases and hiding places..."
"Unfortunately, I couldn't end him."
After saying this, Uehara Naraku continued seriously, "Now, it seems Orochimaru's fake death is probably to covet Lord Nagato's Rinnegan, purposely feigning death to let Yakushi Kabuto join the Akatsuki and probe our intelligence."
After Uehara Naraku spoke, his expression turned grim again, "When I went to invite Yakushi Kabuto to join the Akatsuki, I carefully examined everything, and like you, I discovered Orochimaru's body... that bastard!"
"..."
Everyone's expressions turned grim.
Regarding Orochimaru and Uchiha Obito, they've already reached a consensus.
It's a shame though that the intelligence exchange between them hasn't made any substantial progress.
After all, this intelligence is from several years ago, and Tsunade and Jiraiya only managed to ascertain Uehara Naraku's origins without any further gains.
Until Jiraiya pondered for a while and brought up a member of the Akatsuki, "Perhaps we can try to capture someone, I remember Uchiha Obito once mentioned, there was someone named Black Zetsu that he planted within the Akatsuki as a spy."
"Zetsu shouldn't be a spy, right?"
There was some hesitation on Konan's face, she whispered, "Although Zetsu and Uchiha Obito had a close relationship previously, Zetsu has been eager to kill Uchiha Obito..."
"That may not be the case..."
After saying this, Jiraiya glanced at Uehara Naraku.
Isn't Uehara Naraku an excellent performing artist and super spy?
This guy used to act utterly loyal to Hanzo of the Salamander, but turned out to be the one who killed Hanzo; he also seemed to hate the Akatsuki, yet became its next-generation leader.
Jiraiya's gaze didn't escape anyone's notice.
Everyone's faces showed a trace of awkward expression.
Jiraiya looked at Konan and continued seriously, "At the very least, we should probe first! Once we catch Black Zetsu, maybe we can obtain information about Uchiha Obito and Orochimaru through him..."
"..."
Uehara Naraku discreetly twitched his fingers.
It's certainly not a waste that he secretly orchestrated Uchiha Obito to leak the information, they've finally recalled Black Zetsu.
Now, it's time to drive Black Zetsu out of the Akatsuki.