Hōzuki Gengetsu had actually heard of the Akatsuki a long time ago. Or rather, Obito and Black Zetsu had really been squeezing Kirigakure for everything it was worth. After all, Obito hadn't exactly only started holding grudges yesterday.
Before now, Gengetsu had never fully made up his mind about joining the Akatsuki, mainly because his beloved little brother was still in Kirigakure.
If he, as the older brother, was no longer there to protect him, Gengetsu was afraid his idiot little brother Suigetsu would get chewed up and spit out in Kirigakure without even a scrap left behind.
But now that Kirigakure had entered a new era, Gengetsu no longer had to worry too much about Suigetsu's safety.
Still, the Hōzuki clan was a clan that had once produced a Mizukage.
Watching Kirigakure effectively fall into Uchiha Chizumi's hands, Gengetsu was furious at how spineless it had become. But once he thought about Chizumi's strength, even if he hated it, all he could do was watch.
Now, though, his own body had started failing. He could feel it. If things kept going like this, he probably didn't have much time left.
But even if he didn't have long to live, Gengetsu still wanted to do one last thing for Kirigakure.
Or rather, he wanted to free Kirigakure from Uchiha Chizumi's grip.
He didn't care about justice or not justice. All he knew was that Kirigakure still looked like one of the Five Great Villages on the surface, but in reality, it wasn't much different from one of Uchiha Chizumi's dogs.
He wanted to change that.
And the best way to do it was obviously to kill Uchiha Chizumi.
"If the Akatsuki can smash Iwagakure and even drive Tsuchikage Ōnoki to his death, then they should be capable of killing Uchiha Chizumi and liberating the Land of Water too, right?"
Gengetsu took one last look at Kirigakure behind him, then turned and headed for the Land of Rain without looking back.
As for Uchiha Chizumi, whom Gengetsu was talking about, he was completely ignoring everything else and staying at home, studying the Flying Thunder God Technique with total focus.
Chizumi had never considered himself some kind of genius. And now that Konoha was steadily improving under Tsunade's leadership, he naturally had the leisure to sit down and research Flying Thunder God properly.
"The truth is, space-time talent isn't all that rare, meow. We signed a summoning contract, didn't we?"
"As long as you experience reverse summoning a few more times, even if you didn't have any talent for space-time ninjutsu before, you'll end up with some, meow."
Kitsujiro lay sprawled out on the floor and raised his head. Life had suddenly become peaceful lately, and with Anko Mitarashi and Izumi constantly feeding him, he could already feel his weight starting to balloon again.
Today had originally been a perfect day for dieting.
But…
He was full, and when he was full, he didn't want to move. He really didn't want to move.
After struggling through one entire push-up, Kitsujiro had already collapsed onto the floor again and decided to be a useless cat for the rest of the day.
He had seen Flying Thunder God a few times, sure, but he was still just a cat. Being able to read a little at all was already impressive. As for the combinations of formulas written in the Flying Thunder God scroll, they were total gibberish to him.
"For me, learning Flying Thunder God itself isn't difficult. The difficult part is adapting to spatial transition."
Uchiha Chizumi replied casually.
For him, Flying Thunder God really wasn't all that hard. If he only wanted to use it for travel and not in combat, then his current grasp of it was already enough.
But that obviously wasn't what he wanted.
He was learning Flying Thunder God to eliminate one of the greatest evils in the shinobi world.
"Senpai, are you home?"
Just as Chizumi and Kitsujiro were talking about Flying Thunder God, the bell at Chizumi's front door rang.
"Meow, it's Izumi? Is it already lunchtime again?"
Kitsujiro struggled to get himself off the floor. Lately, Izumi had been bringing food over for both Chizumi and him every day, and Kitsujiro's biggest joy was basically seeing what tasty food she had brought this time.
"No, Kitsujiro. It's a letter from Kirigakure for Chizumi-senpai."
Izumi picked Kitsujiro up, then handed the sealed message in her hand to Uchiha Chizumi.
The moment Chizumi read it, his expression turned a little strange.
Kitsujiro, noticing that expression, couldn't help leaning over to take a look too.
"Kirigakure wants you to represent the Land of Water at Ōnoki's funeral, meow?"
After reading the letter, Kitsujiro looked just as surprised.
It really could only be said that Uchiha Chizumi had killed a little too ruthlessly in the Land of Water. The moment Kirigakure received notice of Ōnoki's funeral, their first thought had actually been to ask Chizumi to represent them?
"So… are you going, Senpai?"
After reading the letter too, Izumi turned to Chizumi curiously, even though she was clearly surprised.
"Yes."
Uchiha Chizumi tossed aside the Flying Thunder God scroll in front of him. Learning and adapting to Flying Thunder God clearly wasn't something he could solve in just a few days, and after burying himself in books for this long, he was starting to want to get out again.
There was barely anyone left in Konoha committing crimes now, so Chizumi figured it was about time the other villages got a proper taste of justice too.
And while Uchiha Chizumi was deciding to head for the Land of Earth, Black Zetsu and Obito were also closing in on Kimimaro, who was traveling with Yakushi Kabuto.
"So that's the last surviving member of the Dead Bone Pulse clan?"
Obito and Black Zetsu watched the trio moving toward the Land of Earth from a distance, and Obito couldn't help muttering the question.
He only half believed what Black Zetsu had told him about the Dead Bone Pulse clan being distant relatives of the Hyūga clan. But he had still come along, because he wanted to see for himself just how strong the so-called Sage Eye would be if Kimimaro could control the Great Tenseigan.
"Yeah."
"And his bloodline seems to have regressed to an incredible degree. He might really be the perfect vessel for the Great Tenseigan."
Black Zetsu looked at Kimimaro with greedy eyes. Now that he was close enough, he could clearly sense that Kimimaro's bloodline regression was extremely advanced—so advanced that his own body couldn't bear it, which was why he suffered from the so-called bloodline disease.
Other people might not understand what the Dead Bone Pulse really was, but Black Zetsu certainly did. At its final stage, Dead Bone Pulse was none other than Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's All-Killing Ash Bones.
The poison inside Kimimaro's Dead Bone Pulse hadn't reached that level, but it was already far beyond what a normal member of the Dead Bone Pulse clan should possess.
In fact, if Kimimaro mastered the Great Tenseigan, his Dead Bone Pulse might really evolve even further.
"What a shame. If the Dead Bone Pulse clan could awaken the Sharingan and the Rinnegan too, then this Kimimaro would probably be an even better vessel for Mother than Madara ever was."
Black Zetsu couldn't help thinking that to himself.