At the top chamber of a tall tower, several chakra projections stood upon the fingers of the colossal Gedo Mazo (Demonic Statue of the Outer Path).
Akatsuki's routine assembly was underway via Gentoshin no Jutsu (Magic Lantern Body Technique).
The room was quiet—only the sound of rain.
At the highest point stood Pain, leader of Akatsuki. Orange, spiral-like hair; black chakra receivers across his face; and violet Rinnegan eyes that gazed down coldly.
"Kakuzu and Hidan are out of contact."
Pain's voice was flat, but every projected figure heard it.
One projection in a straw hat—Sasori—spoke through a rasp twisted by modification. "Out of contact? Those two are strong. Hidan has his rite, and Kakuzu has five hearts. Not many in the shinobi world can kill them."
Another, blond—Deidara—snorted with a flippant tone. "Maybe Hidan's busy with another sacrifice, un. And Kakuzu-senpai's counting bounties again and lost track of time, un."
Pain ignored the chatter. He lifted his hand. Two rings shimmered faintly above his palm, one etched with "北" and one with "三."
The chakra glow that normally pulsed from them had winked out—they looked like ordinary stone.
"Just now, the chakra response of their rings vanished entirely."
His tone remained calm, but the content shocked everyone present.
For a ring's chakra response to disappear, only two explanations existed: the ring was destroyed, or its owner had died—or had been sealed by a top-tier fūinjutsu.
Either way, for Kakuzu and Hidan, it meant the worst.
Deidara's flippancy faded into a grim look. Sasori fell silent.
A half-black, half-white figure rose from the floor—Zetsu. Two voices spoke through one body.
White Zetsu began: "Intelligence places their last appearance at a small town on the Fire Country border."
"Their opponent…" Black Zetsu's tone sank, "…is most likely Konoha."
Konoha.
The name alone made the air heavier.
"Konoha?" Deidara frowned. "They could deal with the Immortal Duo that quickly? Don't joke with me, un."
Sasori was skeptical as well. "We have dossiers on Konoha's jōnin. Aside from Jiraiya, there shouldn't be anyone capable of killing them. And Jiraiya isn't in the village."
Every member present was an S-rank missing-nin, standing near the summit of the shinobi world. They had absolute confidence in their own strength—and their comrades'.
Kakuzu and Hidan, for all their internal friction, were among Akatsuki's most troublesome pairs: one an immortal curse-monger, the other a perpetual engine with five hearts.
Killing them was harder than razing a small nation.
Yet they had disappeared without a sound.
Pain's Rinnegan narrowed with true gravity for the first time. He didn't doubt Zetsu's intel; he simply couldn't grasp what power Konoha had brought to bear.
Was it the resurrected Namikaze Minato? Or the likewise-returned Uchiha Shisui?
No—even they shouldn't be able to end the Immortal Duo so cleanly. As long as Hidan drew a single drop of blood, he could drag the fight into his most advantageous curse rite. Kakuzu's Jiongu (Earth Grudge Fear) countered most ninjutsu assaults.
So what was it?
What terrifying force was Konoha hiding from their knowledge?
Pain turned his gaze to Zetsu.
"Zetsu."
"Here."
"I want all the latest intelligence on Konoha.
"Especially on Namikaze Shinju."
That name had only recently surfaced across Zetsu's web.
A boy who almost never appeared in public—rumored to be the Fourth Hokage's eldest son, the key to the resurrection of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina.
Every recent change in Konoha carried his shadow.
Of his strength, however, the pages were blank.
"Understood." Zetsu's body slipped back into the earth.
As Pain issued his orders—
A faint electrical hiss rippled through the chamber.
Every chakra projection flickered.
The image bucked for less than a tenth of a second, then stabilized.
These were the shinobi world's apex predators; nothing subtle escaped them.
Deidara's face tightened. "What was that, un?"
From within the puppet, Sasori's wary voice sounded. "Was Gentoshin no Jutsu interfered with?"
Pain's Rinnegan constricted.
He knew this technique well: projections relayed through the Gedo Mazo in Amegakure, rings acting as long-range relays. Its core was the Rinnegan's chakra and the statue itself.
In principle, it couldn't be disturbed—unless the intruder possessed an equal-level dōjutsu, or attacked the statue directly.
And yet that flicker had touched all of them at once.
This wasn't chance.
It was a demonstration.
The enemy had used a method they couldn't understand to listen in—or even attempt to intrude upon—the assembly.
It was a message: I know you're meeting. I know what you're discussing. I can sever your link whenever I please.
Pressure tightened every Akatsuki member's chest.
They had faced many foes and countless battles, but never this sensation.
No foe revealed themself, spoke, or flared chakra; with an unknown technique alone, they applied psychological weight.
Pain was silent for a long time.
When he spoke again, his voice was colder than before.
"Konoha resurrected Namikaze Minato, and Uchiha Shisui has reappeared. Now there is also a force that could eliminate Kakuzu and Hidan. That village is no longer the Konoha we knew."
He paused; doubt flickered in the Rinnegan.
"Meeting adjourned."
One by one, the projections vanished.
Only Pain and Konan remained.
"Nagato… that Namikaze Shinju…" Konan began.
"He's dangerous," Pain cut her off. "Possibly above all of us. Until we have confirmed intelligence on him, all operations targeting Konoha are suspended."
He finished—and dissolved into nothing.
Konan stood alone in the room, her curiosity and wariness toward Konoha—and toward the boy she had only heard named, Namikaze Shinju—deepening.
At the same time, in Konoha.
In the underground base of Shintei, Shinju set down a device connected by coiling leads. In its housing lay Kakuzu's ring etched with "北."
On the monitor, a captured frame from the Akatsuki assembly froze on Pain's face.
"Pain. Nagato, is it? Looks like they received the 'gift.'"
Shinju powered down the screen and rose, rolling his shoulders.
With the outside nuisance handled, it was time to turn his eyes back to the village.
The third stage prelims of the Chūnin Exams were about to begin.
And a storm centered on the Hyuga clan was brewing.
(End of Chapter)
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