"Huh? Still not done? Those two seniors are taking way too long!"
Inside the Akatsuki's secret base, Tobi sat on the finger of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, muttering his complaints.
An hour had passed since Kakuzu and Hidan had suddenly departed.
Pain looked up and said calmly, "It seems they failed. I wonder if they're dead or captured."
They were at a critical moment in sealing the Two-Tails.
Hidan was unreliable, but Kakuzu was steady and methodical. He would certainly have gone all out to eliminate the pursuing Konoha ninja before returning to finish the sealing process.
He wouldn't have wasted time playing around with the Konoha ninja. Since an hour had gone by without a sign of them, it was highly likely they had lost to the Konoha forces.
If they were dead, so be it; but if they had been captured alive, that would be troublesome.
Hidan had joined the organization relatively recently and knew virtually none of its secrets, so his capture wouldn't matter much.
Kakuzu, however, was one of the founding members of the Akatsuki and knew many of the organization's deepest secrets; if Konoha managed to extract that information through interrogation, it would be a major problem.
Standard interrogation techniques wouldn't work on Kakuzu, but Konoha's Intelligence Division possessed various jutsu capable of reading minds.
"To think that Kakuzu and Hidan—with their level of strength—could be defeated by that bunch of incompetents from Konoha."
A look of surprise crossed Kisame's face.
"Could it be that Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin, stepped in?"
He and Itachi had previously infiltrated Konoha, where the renowned "Copy Ninja" Kakashi had been defeated by Itachi in a single move. That experience had led him to believe that Konoha's ninja were nothing special.
It wasn't until they encountered Jiraiya that he had felt any real pressure.
In his view, as long as Hidan and Kakuzu didn't run into Jiraiya, they should be fine—especially Kakuzu, against whom even a one-on-one victory wasn't guaranteed.
"Hmph, I warned them to be careful, but Hidan just laughed at me. Serves him right," Deidara scoffed with a smirk.
"Alright. Zetsu, gather intelligence from Konoha. Find out if Hidan and Kakuzu are dead and clarify exactly what happened."
Pain cut off the idle chatter and issued his orders:
"We are suspending the sealing of the Two-Tails Jinchūriki. This hideout must be relocated. Continue with the plan to capture the other Jinchūriki and Tailed Beasts."
The Phantom Dragons Nine-Consuming Seals technique required ten people to execute; with two members missing, it was no longer possible to perform.
Furthermore, if Hidan and Kakuzu had been captured, this secret hideout—where the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path was stored—would likely be discovered by Konoha.
Therefore, the priority was to relocate the Demonic Statue and the Two-Tails Jinchūriki, ascertain the situation regarding Hidan and Kakuzu, and then proceed with the next phase of the plan.
If Hidan and Kakuzu had indeed been captured alive by Konoha, he would have to consider destroying the village early and capturing the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
That way, he could extract the chakra from both the Nine-Tails and Two-Tails Jinchūriki at the same time.
"Understood!"
The group dispelled their jutsu, and their phantom projections vanished.
Meanwhile, Asuma and his team used the sealing tags they carried to complete the sealing of Kakuzu and Hidan.
Kakuzu's body was completely wrapped in white cloth, leaving only his head exposed; special sealing tags were affixed to the fabric.
As Aoba Yamashiro skillfully performed the hand signs, the power of the tags spread across the cloth, sealing off the chakra within Kakuzu's body.
On the other side, Hidan's body had been sealed directly into a scroll, leaving only his head—with his mouth sealed shut—exposed. It was necessary to silence him; the guy was spewing a constant stream of profanity that he simply couldn't stop.
Their primary objective in hunting down Kakuzu and Hidan was to capture them alive; only by taking them alive could they extract further intelligence on the Akatsuki organization.
However, given that the pair had wiped out the entire Fire Temple— including Chiriku of the Guardian Shinobi Twelve— it was clear they possessed formidable power.
If capturing them alive proved impossible, the plan was to execute them on the spot, thereby weakening the Akatsuki and avenging the Fire Temple.
As an elite operative of Konoha's Intelligence Division, Aoba Yamashiro specialized in sealing techniques and mind-reading.
"Let me see what intelligence is inside your head."
Placing a hand on Hidan's forehead, he began weaving the hand signs to cast a mind-reading jutsu.
Soon, the information within Hidan's mind was rapidly extracted.
Hidan was a ninja from the Village Hidden in the Hot Springs.
A devotee of the Evil God, he had gained immortality and the ability to perform curse rituals through the cult's forbidden experiments.
He was later recruited into the Akatsuki organization by Konan—the organization's second-in-command—alongside Kakuzu.
He knew virtually nothing about the Akatsuki's actual operations; he had joined simply because the organization allowed him to indulge in unrestrained killing.
Removing his hand from Hidan's forehead, Aoba Yamashiro placed it on Kakuzu's forehead to begin reading his memories.
Kakuzu was an elite ninja from the Village Hidden in the Waterfall during a turbulent era.
Ordered by village leadership to assassinate the First Hokage, he failed the mission and was subsequently imprisoned by the village elders.
Consumed by resentment, he broke out of prison, slaughtered the village's leadership, and stole the village's secret technique: Jiongu (Earth Grudge Fear).
This granted him five lives and the ability to use chakra of all five elemental natures; furthermore, he could extend his longevity indefinitely by stealing fresh hearts.
He was defeated and personally recruited into the Akatsuki by its leader, Pain, serving primarily to generate funds for the organization.
The Akatsuki's objectives were divided into three stages.
Stage One: Amass a vast fortune.
Stage Two: Use these funds to establish the world's first mercenary organization dedicated to ninja warfare.
Stage Three: Begin accepting contracts for war from small nations and minor ninja villages, monopolize the war market by leveraging the power of Tailed Beasts, and ultimately control and manipulate all warfare.
Finally, conquer the entire world.
This was the narrative Pain presented to all members who joined the Akatsuki.
The promise was that once the Akatsuki conquered the world, any dream or goal held by its members could be easily realized.
"This is insane. We need to get back to the village as fast as possible and report this to the Hokage!"
As he stopped using the mind-reading technique, Aoba Yamashiro's face was drenched in cold sweat.
On one hand, it was because he had witnessed—through Kakuzu's memories—the terrifying power of Pain and the Akatsuki organization.
On the other, it was due to the Akatsuki's mad ambition to conquer the world.
If the Akatsuki succeeded, countless ninja and civilians across the globe would be caught in the crossfire, and the death toll would be staggering.
The hard-won peace maintained over these past years would be completely shattered.
What terrified him even more was that, according to Kakuzu's memories, Pain was likely planning a direct assault on Konoha next.
"Let's go!"
Seeing Aoba's expression, Asuma knew he must have obtained crucial intelligence from Kakuzu.
Without wasting a moment, he signaled Goku, and—with the sealed Kakuzu and Hidan in tow—they began their return journey at top speed.
Having witnessed the entire process of Aoba sealing and reading the minds of Kakuzu and Hidan, Goku found himself even more intrigued by Konoha Village.
He knew how to read minds, too, but the only sealing technique he knew was the Mafūba (Evil Containment Wave) taught by Grandpa Master Roshi.
The Mafūba was effective, but it didn't allow for communication with the sealed target.
The sealing techniques displayed by the ninja of this world, however, were clearly very different.
"By the way, Goku, what was it you said you came to Konoha to do?"
Asuma asked casually while they raced back toward the village.
Goku replied naturally:
"I want to challenge strong fighters and improve my skills. The grandpa who grilled the fish told me that the Hokage of Konoha is the strongest ninja in this world.
So, I'm going to Konoha to challenge the Hokage."
"What?!"
Asuma and the others, who were leaping rapidly across the tree trunks, nearly slipped and fell upon hearing Goku's answer.
The Fifth Hokage was in serious trouble!
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