In the early morning.
Uehara Naraku finished listening to Hoshigaki Kisame's report.
As a competent superior, Uehara Naraku never hesitated to show appreciation when his subordinates completed their missions satisfactorily.
Upon hearing Kisame mention that he intentionally revealed his interest in the Rinnegan in front of Black Zetsu, Uehara Naraku softly praised, "Well said, after all, not everyone can resist the temptation to control a world with the Eye of the Moon."
At this moment, Uehara Naraku truly sounded like a competent superior.
Hoshigaki Kisame grinned, revealing his full set of shark teeth, "Just learning from you, Lord Uehara."
The next second, Uehara Naraku's voice suddenly turned a bit sinister, "In your words, have I become a madman who've lost his senses?"
"Uh..."
Hoshigaki Kisame burst into a muted chuckle and explained in a low voice, "It's just to make Black Zetsu believe it, Lord Uehara wouldn't mind, right!"
"It seems like nothing suspicious was given away..."
Uehara Naraku rubbed his forehead and said softly, "As long as everything stays on track with my plan, I won't quibble with you."
"Yes."
Hoshigaki Kisame responded and chuckled, "Well then, the upcoming matters will rely entirely on you, Lord Uehara."
"Hehe... rest assured."
Uehara Naraku let out a light chuckle, glanced at the destiny display panel showing Black Zetsu's movements, and continued, "It seems our dear Black Zetsu is getting quite anxious, eager to meet me after getting my message from you."
"That is quite interesting indeed!"
Hoshigaki Kisame couldn't help but chuckle lightly, "It would be even more interesting if it realized that you are the one controlling everything from behind the scenes."
"That day will come."
Uehara Naraku shook his head and said in a low voice, "But I shall deliberately make it wait a bit longer before meeting me!"
"Huh?"
Hoshigaki Kisame was a bit surprised.
Uehara Naraku shook his head, turned to gaze into the room from the balcony, and said in a low voice, "It's nothing, just that Teacher Konan is waking up soon."
After speaking, Uehara Naraku continued, "In the future, remember to exchange code words with me beforehand, I still don't want my teacher to find out."
"..."
Hoshigaki Kisame paused, then grinned and said, "Understood, but if Lady Konan finds out one day that her student is actually the mastermind controlling the world behind the scenes, that would be quite a scene!"
"No fun in that."
Uehara Naraku furrowed his brow and put away his radio snail.
Last night, after discussing Akatsuki's future with that group of jokers in Akatsuki, and comforting the anxious young girl Ajisai, Uehara Naraku stayed by Konan's side.
Morning.
A drizzle continued pattering down.
The air in the Hidden Rain Village was fresh thanks to the rain's moisture.
Konan sat up in bed, dazing around the empty room as if searching for an expected figure. She looked a bit startled.
When Konan's gaze finally found Uehara Naraku on the balcony, the light slowly returned to her eyes, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
Konan stepped out of her room one step at a time, slowly walked to Uehara Naraku's side, and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her cheek closely against his back.
"Naraku..."
"Awake? I'm here."
Uehara Naraku patted Konan's hand.
After a long time, Uehara Naraku slowly disentangled her soft hands from his waist, turned to look down at Konan, and gradually averted his gaze.
Facing Konan's puzzled eyes, Uehara Naraku sighed, "Let's go, have some breakfast first, there are some things I want to tell you, teacher."
Drizzle was falling from the sky.
The streets of the Hidden Rain Village remained tranquil.
Uehara Naraku held an umbrella for Konan and spoke softly, "Those guys in Akatsuki found out about Nagato's death, so they came to see me last night..."
"What?"
A trace of surprise flashed across Konan's face, her expression turning slightly unpleasant, "Those unruly guys, did they trouble you?"
Last night, Konan had assumed Uehara Naraku was by her side, and combined with the soothing white noise of rain, she slept peacefully, unaware of the happenings in the Hidden Rain Village.
"No."
Uehara Naraku's expression remained calm as he continued, "Senior Sasori and Senior Kakuzu... might not want to leave Akatsuki. To them, Akatsuki is like a home where a group of misunderstood outcasts can keep each other warm..."
"What do they want to do?"
"They probably don't want to do anything..."
Uehara Naraku adjusted the umbrella in his hand and thoughtfully replied, "In any case, aside from Uchiha Sasuke and Yakushi Kabuto who have defected, the rest will probably remain in Akatsuki for the time being."
"I see..."
After Konan furrowed her brows, she quietly remarked, "Those rebels from Konoha really are the ones in the Ninja World most prone to betrayal..."
This time, that might not be far from the truth.
The traitor ninjas from Konoha mostly have no principles.
Whether it's Orochimaru, Uchiha Obito, Yakushi Kabuto, Uchiha Sasuke, or Uchiha Madara, these guys have pretty low professional ethics.
These guys have directly lowered the moral standards of the Ninja World.
Uehara Naraku opened his fate display panel, which clearly showed an active avatar of Black Zetsu nearby.
It seems this Black Zetsu, who he left hanging, is really anxious.
After pausing for a while, Uehara Naraku looked at Konan and continued softly: "I discussed with them last night and decided to temporarily take revenge on Uchiha Obito, Yakushi Kabuto, and Orochimaru, and take back Lord Nagato's body and the Rinnegan."
Speaking of this, Uehara Naraku's eyes narrowed slightly, then he continued: "However, it's very difficult to find the whereabouts of Uchiha Obito and Orochimaru now. I thought last night, and plan to try to track Black Zetsu's trail first…"
Uehara Naraku's fingers tightened around the umbrella as he continued softly: "Black Zetsu is Uchiha Obito's spy. Today I want to discuss with them about capturing Black Zetsu…"
"But…"
After hesitating for a while, Konan said softly: "Although Teacher Jiraiya said so, I feel it's kind of like Uchiha Obito intentionally leaked it… After all, we all know Black Zetsu fell out with Uchiha Obito long ago."
"There might be such a possibility."
Uehara stopped here, paused his footsteps, looked at Konan beside him, and said seriously: "However, I will absolutely not miss any possible method to obtain clues about Lord Nagato's body."
"…Alright."
Konan looked at Uehara Naraku's determined expression and finally nodded: "No matter what you do in the future, you must be careful…"
"Mm."
Uehara Naraku slowly extended his palm and landed it on Konan's hair: "I will, because I promised Lord Nagato that I would definitely protect Teacher Konan."
At this warm moment.
Suddenly, a Venus Flytrap slowly emerged from the ground.
Black Zetsu believed this was the best timing, just as Konan perhaps still thought it was one of her own, at least when it met Uehara Naraku, it wouldn't scream to fight and kill…
Black Zetsu and White Zetsu appeared from the Venus Flytrap.
Black Zetsu raised his head, his voice somewhat hoarse: "Uehara, your teacher was right, don't believe the words of those traitors…"
"You dare to appear in front of me!"
Uehara Naraku's palm suddenly tightened, and the next moment he stomped fiercely on the ground, manipulating the rainwater to instantly form a spherical water prison that directly enveloped Zetsu's figure!
At that moment, the fury on Uehara's face was almost unconcealed!
Like a man seeing a mortal enemy, full of rage!
Uehara Naraku slowly extended his palm, placing the umbrella in Konan's hands and stepping towards Black Zetsu.
After reaching Black Zetsu's side, Uehara slightly turned his head, suppressing his anger and flattening his tone as much as possible, whispering: "Teacher, please go back first, I still have many questions for it, and I don't want you to see what happens next!"
"..."
Konan hesitated, standing still.
After a while, Konan gently nodded, softly advising: "Uehara, calm down, don't let your anger cloud your judgement…"
"Yes, Teacher."
After hearing Konan's footsteps leave, Uehara kept his eyes on Black Zetsu, speaking coldly and gloomily: "Senior Zetsu, your guts are bigger than I imagined, daring to appear in front of me under these circumstances…"
"Heh heh heh heh…"
Black Zetsu chuckled a few times, then spoke: "If I didn't appear in front of you to explain, wouldn't you never know the truth?"
"If it weren't for you!"
Uehara Naraku's hand abruptly tightened into a fist, his face cold: "If it weren't for you leaking the information… If it weren't for you recruiting Yakushi Kabuto into Akatsuki, he wouldn't have had the opportunity to ambush Lord Nagato with Uchiha Obito!"
"And regardless of the truth…"
Uehara Naraku slightly squinted his eyes, his gaze revealing a dangerous look, like a beast that could explode at any moment: "Senior Zetsu, tell me the location of Uchiha Obito and Yakushi Kabuto, it shouldn't be difficult for you!"
"..."
Black Zetsu's words immediately halted.
Finding the location of Yakushi Kabuto and Uchiha Obito is actually not easy for it, since it doesn't have ten thousand White Zetsu anymore.
Originally wanting to cultivate White Zetsu using Spore Jutsu, but the chakra of ordinary people isn't enough for Spore Jutsu to absorb, only powerful ninjas have enough chakra.
Which ninja would willingly let someone absorb their chakra with Spore Jutsu!
Adding to the fact that recently dispatched White Zetsu keep disappearing…
Honestly, working as a spy is really difficult.
Uehara Naraku frowned, watching Black Zetsu, his finger slowly raised, speaking coldly: "Senior Zetsu, it seems we have to change the way we talk…"
In the next moment, the water prison gradually solidified!
Black Zetsu suddenly felt the pressure within the water prison, though this pressure wouldn't pose much threat to it, but this is not a conversational approach!
Black Zetsu spoke in a deep voice to stop Uehara's actions: "Wait, Uehara, don't you want to revive Nagato? He's the one who always protected and cared for you as you grew up…"
"..."
Uehara Naraku's expression changed subtly, showing some wavering.
After a while, Uehara quietly lowered his finger, his voice somewhat despondent: "Senior Zetsu, you now have one last chance to try to convince me…"