Curly-Haired Boy: "Hey, are you kidding?"
Book Artist: "Getting close to Aizen? That's crazy!"
Angel of the Hidden Rain Village: "I want to know the reason. Why should I choose to approach him?"
This is an Actor: "For your and Nagato's safety, of course."
Book Artist: "?"
Angel of the Hidden Rain Village: "Can you please explain that more clearly?"
This is an Actor: "Why did Aizen join the Akatsuki? Is there someone here who interests him, or is there something he needs to obtain? What person or object could possibly catch his attention?"
Curly-Haired Boy: "The Rinnegan?!"
This is an Actor: "It is a possibility, and one we cannot afford to ignore, can we?"
In reality, Aizen's reason for joining the Akatsuki was not to pursue the Rinnegan. Having already become familiar with those eyes through the original Naruto manga, he had no interest in them. He had chosen to join the organization simply to plan the roles the Akatsuki members would play in his future scripts. However, now that Konan—an unexpected variable—had appeared, the original script might be discarded, making things much more interesting.
Book Artist: "Why doesn't Konan-san talk to Nagato about giving the Rinnegan to Aizen? That way, perhaps a conflict could be provoked between Aizen, Black Zetsu, and Obito."
Angel of the Hidden Rain Village: "Impossible. I can't even explain the situation to Nagato, so how can I get him to give up the Rinnegan? And what if Aizen's goal isn't the eyes at all?"
Curly-Haired Boy: "Argh, this is so annoying!"
Scarlet Snake Fairy: "Why did An Ran-san say that getting close to Aizen would keep Konan safe?"
This is an Actor: "Aizen's personality is complex, but he has certain interests he cannot hide. For example, he enjoys 'interesting' things and possesses an excessive thirst for knowledge. If you approach him, he will become curious about you. Driven by that curiosity, he will try to decipher your plans and ideas. Therefore, during this period, you should be completely safe."
Fairy Chi Lian: "An Ran-san, this is probably just your guess, right?"
This is an Actor: "Not speculation, but analysis."
Curly-Haired Boy: "Wait, we can actually analyze the psychology of anime characters?"
This is an Actor: "Whether it is an animation, a novel, or a film, the characters created by authors always follow a certain trajectory. Of course, we must exclude those characters written purely for gags."
Book Artist: "'Should' be safe? Does that mean there are risks?"
This is an Actor: "Yes. After all, the Aizen we know lives in a world of death. However, if this opportunity is missed, Konan's situation may become even more dangerous."
Book Artist: "What do you mean by that?"
This is an Actor: "Look carefully at the photo Konan-san took. Look very carefully."
Book Artist: "The photo... what's wrong with it?"
Eriri looked at the photo Konan had sent earlier with growing confusion. It showed a youth with slightly curly brown hair, a soft but youthful face, black-framed glasses resting on his nose, and a sunny smile directed at the camera. She had to admit that although Aizen was a villain with a cold heart, his appearance was striking—especially that gentle yet slightly aggressive gaze that seemed capable of peering into one's soul.
Wait, his eyes?!
Eriri suddenly sensed something was amiss. Logically, this photo must have been taken secretly by Konan. Why did a candid shot seem to accurately capture the other person's direct gaze?
At that moment, a chill ran down Eriri's spine. Apparently, she wasn't the only one in the group feeling it.
Curly-Haired Boy: "Hey! Why do I feel like this person is looking at me? He's definitely looking at me! Is this photo cursed?!"
Scarlet Snake Fairy: "It seems this person knew someone was taking his picture."
Book Artist: "No, that's impossible. Even Aizen couldn't possibly locate the chat group."
This is an Actor: "What he discovered may not be the chat group, but Konan's abnormality."
Book Artist: "This is too sharp! This Aizen feels even scarier than the one in the Bleach anime!"
This was inevitable. Now, Aizen was not only a transmigrator but also a member of a dimensional chat group. He was proficient in psychological suggestion and analysis. If he could not surpass the original, he might as well have given up entirely.
This is an Actor: "Don't panic; it's just a photo. However, we can see from this that Aizen has become curious about Konan's unusual behavior. Now there are only two choices: be active or be passive."
Book Artist: "This is all my fault! If Gintoki and I hadn't asked Konan-san for the photo..."
Angel of the Hidden Rain Village: "No, it has nothing to do with you. Since he chose to join the Akatsuki, there was no escaping him. I will tell Pain that I will be on the same team as Aizen from now on."
Book Artist: "Alas."
Curly-Haired Boy: "Konan, this is like 'cutting one's own flesh to feed the eagle,' right?"
Fairy Chi Lian: "That's called 'feeding the tiger with your own body.' Read more books, Gintoki. An Ran-san, is Konan-san really safe?"
This is an Actor: "This is the best option at the moment."
After sending the message, Aizen looked up at Konan, who was currently speaking with Pain. Pain appeared stunned for a moment, then nodded slightly.
Book Artist: "Ultimately, our current strength is too limited. We don't even have the chance to fight back desperately."
Curly-Haired Boy: "Damn it! It would be great if we could travel between worlds now, but we have to upgrade to a Level 1 group first!"
A Level 1 group required 10,000 points to upgrade, and currently, points could only be earned by sending messages. Each message was worth 0.1 points, and the total points accumulated by the entire group was currently less than 1,000. There were many uses for points, but for now, they were primarily used to purchase abilities uploaded by group members.
Aizen opened the ability list and took a quick look. The pricing was quite interesting; the system seemed to value them based on power and practicality. For example, Konan's Paper Ninjutsu was priced at 200 points, but her Kage-level chakra was priced at 500 points.
Logically, a Kekkei Genkai should be more valuable than raw chakra. However, the price of chakra was significantly higher—sometimes double—likely because a specialized technique is useless to an ordinary person without the energy to fuel it.
Just as Aizen was considering this, the Akatsuki gathering ended. Konan forced herself to suppress her inner panic and walked over to Aizen with a cold, professional expression. "Let's go."
Aizen didn't mind her icy demeanor. He suggested in a soft, pleasant voice, "Now that we're a team, perhaps we can address each other more casually instead of using code names? For example, Konan-senpai?"
"Do as you wish," Konan replied indifferently after a moment of silence.
"Is that so?" Aizen pondered for a moment, then looked directly into her eyes. "Then, Konan-senpai, it is acceptable for you to address me as Captain Aizen, correct?"