While Hatake Satoru was idly doing nothing, Sasuke on the other side was quite busy.
He was carrying out tasks assigned by the Akatsuki organization while secretly finding some leftover subordinates of Orochimaru.
Karin and Jugo were both recruited by him under these circumstances. Since Orochimaru was already dead, it was natural to gather capable fighters.
The Akatsuki organization showed a state of extreme lack of talent. Relying on him and Uchiha Itachi's Sharingan, they seemed to use people to death if they weren't too bad, which was not a good sign.
He should secretly prepare some people. Although it would definitely be related to the Akatsuki organization, having a few more people to share the burden might not be a bad thing.
A team of three is a common setup, mainly because Karin is a healer. In general configurations, this is enough.
Although a bit annoying, it's better to use people who can be used.
"But honestly, is it okay for you to recruit us?"
"Aren't you part of the Akatsuki organization...?"
Karin said with some hesitation.
She didn't know why Sasuke suddenly became interested in them, especially since he had killed Orochimaru some time ago.
Moreover, it felt strange for someone from the Akatsuki organization to come and ask them to team up.
"It's fine, they won't bother with this kind of thing."
Sasuke replied indifferently, his expression unchanged.
It was more likely that the Akatsuki members would hope he could bring some combat power, rather than not bothering with it.
After all, there were only a few usable pawns right now.
"There's nothing going on lately, you can stay here as usual. Of course, if you don't want to, you can come with me."
It was just recruiting pawns. Those with strength and belonging to villages were naturally not good choices.
Sasuke also didn't want to get too involved with various villages, but these people from Orochimaru's side had no place to belong.
After losing Orochimaru, they had no leader, and they still needed a strong person to control the situation.
Sasuke was the best substitute in this situation.
In fact, Sasuke originally planned to take these two back to the Akatsuki organization.
However, after finding Karin, some changes occurred, causing him to change his plan temporarily.
It wasn't a task from the Akatsuki organization, but another person sent him a letter.
Sasuke stood on the coastal rocks, the surging waves crashing against them with a roaring sound.
The morning sun emitted a slight chill. The Akatsuki robe he wore was caught by the sea breeze, fluttering along with his hair.
He came here to find someone in the interval between missions. The Akatsuki organization's method of high-intensity work, using one person as two, was a bit too inhumane.
So he hadn't reported the situation of the last mission yet. But it was also possible that that old weed, Zetsu, was watching him somewhere and had already reported the results.
They no longer held meetings through the Demonic Statue of a Thousand Arms. There were almost no people left, so there was no reason to force a meeting.
If there were arrangements, people could be summoned directly.
Sasuke felt like he was watching the Akatsuki organization reach this point. He couldn't quite describe his feelings, but it was like being gradually left behind by the dead and becoming one of the survivors.
However, this time, his mission was not assigned by Taka, but by a crow that looked like it would be blown away by the sea breeze.
Among the nearby white seagulls, this entirely black crow had an indescribable sense of disharmony.
The crow's crimson eyes flickered, and then it directly swooped down and landed on his shoulder.
Its two black claws wobbled as if it couldn't stand steadily.
"?"
Sasuke took the paper tied to the crow's ankle. This time, it wasn't official paper.
The paper was small, with some words written casually.
After Sasuke untied the paper, the entirely black crow disappeared with a "poof," accompanied by a shower of falling black feathers, which also kept disappearing.
The sender's identity was clear at a glance.
Uchiha Itachi suggested a spar with him and had a gift for him.
Sasuke frowned subtly as he looked at the short note. He didn't know what Uchiha Itachi was up to at this time.
After all, every time he mentioned a gift, it never felt like a good thing.
The writing was a bit crooked, although it could vaguely be seen that it was written by Uchiha Itachi himself.
"Was it written outside...?"
Sasuke muttered to himself with some curiosity. He turned the paper over in his hand, but there were no signs of damage on the paper, and it didn't look like it was written during a mission.
Uchiha Itachi was quite particular. Whether it was the paper or the writing, he would either use a scroll or letter paper.
Even for encrypted details, he would cut the paper neatly and write the words neatly before sending them.
Even in urgent or hasty situations, his writing was never illegible.
Compared to Hatake Satoru, who would casually tear a sheet of paper—so carelessly that even the jagged rip marks were clearly visible—
his handwriting had no pattern at all. Long horizontal strokes, short vertical ones. Even when the paper had guide lines, he still wrote in a complete mess, enough to give anyone a headache just trying to read it.
It looked just like him—flashy and unruly. The sloppy, note-like scrawls formed a sharp contrast.
At this point, Karin and Jūgo had no reason to keep guarding these places anymore.
So the two of them decided to leave together with Sasuke. However, Sasuke told them he had something he needed to handle alone and asked them to wait nearby.
No one knew whether Uchiha Itachi wanted to reminisce about the past, or if he had some other plan in mind.
The agreed battlefield was the old storage site where the Uchiha clan used to keep their weapons. Sasuke wasn't very familiar with the place—after all, at his age back then, there was no way he would have known about it.
It took him two days to reach it. After crossing the sea, the journey still required some time.
He deliberately chose not to seek Itachi out immediately. Itachi had left him plenty of time.
Deep down, Sasuke felt a faint sense of excitement. Though every time Itachi claimed he had a "gift" for him, it never meant anything good… Still, the current Sasuke doubted Itachi had any "gift" left to give.
After all, I'm no longer the person who would collapse under a single glare and fall into genjutsu.
Full of confidence, Sasuke rested in the forest for the night. It was rare for Itachi to propose a duel with him—he needed to make the most of this opportunity.
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