In the underground base of [Shintei], a plan targeting the hidden currents of the shinobi world was being drafted at speed.
Shinju, Kakashi, Itachi, and Shisui stood around a sand table. A clandestine meeting was about to begin—one that would set the balance of power among shinobi in the days ahead, especially deciding whether long-standing, off-the-books organizations could continue to exist.
"These are all the materials recovered from Danzo's Root base—everything related to a mysterious group called 'Akatsuki.'" Kakashi set a stack of heavy scrolls on the table. They were the fruits of Danzo's methods over the past decade: mixed scraps—bounty postings on rogue shinobi, transaction slips from underground exchange houses, and vague notes about Amegakure.
Once, these fragments had seemed useless. No one could string them together.
Shinju didn't flip through the scrolls. He walked to the edge of the sand table and took several red markers from a box, each with a specific meaning.
"Kakashi, split every intel item by time, place, person, and event. Reconstruct the timeline and the chains—finer is better.
"Itachi, immediately use your ANBU authority to pull all transaction records from every underground exchange house within the Land of Fire. Prioritize those with unusually large amounts and unclear sources.
"Shisui." Shinju handed him a piece engraved with a crow. "Your assignment is the keystone. Send your crow clones to keep eyes on all known S-rank rogues. Do not engage. Only log their locations and who they meet. For now, watch just these. If we need to expand, adjust per my orders."
The three accepted without question.
Over the next few days, the[Shintei]intelligence apparatus ran hot. Information from all corners of the shinobi world flowed through separate channels and converged on this underground hub.
Seated at the center, Shinju processed the cascade—cross-checking reports that looked isolated, hunting for links, then rebuilding event lines. It demanded ruthless focus and computation. He treated each report like a data point and built a massive model in his mind.
If only this era had supercomputers—it would have been even smoother.
A week later, the four gathered again around the sand table. Its appearance had changed completely: colored threads crisscrossed the surface, linking lone dots into a dense web.
"Here." Shinju's pointer tapped a mark within the Land of Hot Water. "Itachi's feed shows this exchange house took five bounties exceeding thirty million ryō in the last three months. All five payments came from a group calling itself the 'Jashin Cult.'"
The pointer slid along a thread to another point.
"Three days ago, Shisui's crows tracked a two-man team on the border of the Land of Rivers. One is Kakuzu of Takigakure, an S-rank rogue. The other is a silver-haired youth carrying a red three-section scythe. He repeatedly invoked 'Jashin.'"
He paused to let it sink in.
"Kakuzu—formerly of Takigakure—uses Jiongu (Earth Grudge Fear). He can seize other hearts to extend his life. He's lived since the era of the First Hokage; his combat experience runs deep. He 'claims' to have tried to assassinate the First, though that likely means firing from a thousand ri away and then running. He's no hero—but don't underestimate him.
"The silver-haired youth is Hidan, a rogue from Yugakure. A believer in the so-called Jashin religion. Through a certain curse ritual he gained a form of immortality. Don't let him get your blood—blood is the medium."
Shinju placed a piece representing the Kakuzu-Hidan duo on the border of the Land of Rivers.
Kakashi, Itachi, and Shisui studied the web: the linked chain laid out the pair's funding source, creed, rough activity zone, and operating pattern as a two-man cell.
They felt an indescribable shock. From heaps of chaos, to screening, to correlating, to finally locking onto targets—this exceeded their conception of intel work. It didn't feel like analysis; it felt like seeing the essence at a glance.
Unmoved by their reaction, Shinju kept moving the pointer, dropping red pieces on new targets one by one.
"Deidara, a defector from Iwagakure. He pursues explosive clay. He mainly moves along the borderlands between the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind—soil there is ideal for creating his detonating clay."
"Sasori of the Red Sand, a puppeteer who fled Sunagakure. Since defecting, he's pursued turning living people into human puppets. His last confirmed trace was an abandoned stronghold in the Land of Wind."
Finally, the pointer stopped on a country drenched in a rain glyph.
"Amegakure. Akatsuki's leader, Pain, is hidden here."
Shinju laid out the core members' ability profiles, behavioral patterns, and likely weaknesses in turn. The precision and completeness inspired awe in the other three; they had never viewed this shadowed organization from such a clear vantage.
"Akatsuki prefers the dark," Shinju said, setting down the pointer. "We don't have to wait in the light. We go on the offensive and drag them out, one by one."
Orders followed.
"First target: the 'Immortal Duo'—Kakuzu and Hidan.
"They're responsible for raising operating funds for Akatsuki and are the most active at present. Eliminate them, and we sever a major cash vein. At the same time, we announce to the shinobi world that[Shintei]has begun counter-operations."
A sweep launched by Konoha's top strength thus took aim. Akatsuki didn't yet know it, but a net tailored for them had already been cast, and every key node was pinned.
After the Akatsuki plan was set, Kakashi presented another scroll.
"Shinju-dono, this is the interrogation record of a captured rogue. Please review."
Shinju unrolled it. Under [Shintei] questioning, the rogue spilled everything he knew. Most of it concerned Orochimaru—as expected. But a final note made him stop.
"Orochimaru… maintains a core laboratory in the Land of Fields…"
Shinju's gaze fixed on the exact coordinates marked on the scroll. He set it down. The next "correction" had come into focus.
(End of Chapter)
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