Chapter 372: Strolling Into the Rain
Dim, sickly yellow light flickered across the cold stone walls of the high tower's top floor. The air inside felt heavy, thick with the damp chill native to Amegakure. As Kakuzu and the others stepped into the cavernous hall, they found a lone figure already waiting in the gloom.
Hiruko. Once a peer and comrade to the legendary Sannin of Konoha, he had long since abandoned his humanity, twisted into something wretched by his obsessive pursuit of power.
"Is this the new blood?" Hidan did not bother masking his disgust. He kicked a chair back and slouched into it, carelessly propping his boots up. "He looks pathetic. Will a frail twig like this even survive the sacrificial ritual for Lord Jashin?"
Hiruko slowly lifted his chin. A feverish, sickly gleam danced in his sunken eyes. "Ignorance truly is a blessing. Once my Chimera Technique is perfected... once I devour enough Bloodline Limits..." A wet, raspy chuckle escaped his throat. "Even that Uchiha Akira will become nothing more than nourishment for my ascension."
The hall plunged into a dead, suffocating silence.
Then—
"Hahahaha!"
Kakuzu threw his head back, barking out a harsh, grating laugh that echoed off the damp walls. He laughed until his heavy shoulders shook, wiping a mock tear from his masked face. "Devour Uchiha Akira? Are all the rookies these days this suicidal? Do you have the slightest clue what you just said?"
Biwa Juzo leaned against the wall, staring at the newcomer like he was looking at a corpse. Ignorance bred a special kind of fearlessness. If a fool wanted to rush headfirst into the abyss, there was no stopping him.
Just then, the air in the center of the room warped.
A spiraling vortex of distorted space tore open, and a figure draped in a black cloak stepped out from the void. An orange, swirl-patterned mask obscured his face.
"Is everyone assembled?" Uchiha Obito asked, his voice flat. He drifted into the shadows flanking the main seat, his single visible eye sweeping over the gathering of S-rank criminals.
"Madara..." Hoshigaki Kisame shifted the heavy, bandage-wrapped bulk of Samehada onto his shoulder. A jagged, mocking grin split his shark-like features as he looked the masked man up and down. "Or perhaps now, I should just call you Uchiha Obito."
The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly. The name hung in the air, stripping away the terrifying mystique of the ghost of the Uchiha. To a room full of apex predators, the death of a legend meant the death of fear.
Obito's visible eye remained dead, devoid of a single ripple of emotion. "A name is merely a designation. It does not matter who wears the mask. The Eye of the Moon Plan remains absolute. Madara or Obito. It makes no difference. This world is a rotting illusion, and I will be the one to deliver the truth."
Kisame let out a low, cold snort, his grin fading. He offered no further argument, but the lingering trace of reverence he once held for the masked man had completely dissolved.
Step. Step. Step.
The heavy, measured tread of boots echoed from the dark corridor. Every voice in the hall died.
Two figures emerged from the suffocating shadows. The Deva Path of Pain, his face pierced with black receivers, walked with the detached grace of a god. Beside him drifted Konan, her expression as cold and unreadable as folded paper.
"Leader," Kisame murmured, dipping his head in a shallow bow. Obito's identity might have been compromised, but the rippling purple rings of the Rinnegan still commanded absolute, terrifying authority over this den of monsters.
"I have summoned you all for a single purpose," Pain declared, his voice echoing with a hollow, metallic resonance. "The operation against Konoha begins immediately. Phase one: we will incite an all-out war between Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Konoha. Phase two: while the Five Great Nations tear each other apart, we will officially commence the extraction and collection of the Tailed Beasts."
The words dropped like anvils. Even Hidan blinked, his manic grin faltering for a fraction of a second.
Incite a global war? Hunt the Tailed Beasts? Now?
Konoha was no longer the passive, soft-bellied village that compromised for the sake of fleeting peace. The Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Yao, was a man who answered provocation with slaughter.
"This is sheer lunacy," Biwa Juzo growled, his grip tightening on the hilt of his massive blade. "Konoha just swallowed Sunagakure and Kirigakure whole. You want to poke the beast now?"
The image of a green-clad demon engulfed in boiling red steam—Might Duy—flashed behind Juzo's eyes. The former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist still carried deep, psychological scars from his encounter with Konoha's true monsters. "Are you just trying to march us to our graves?"
Pain did not answer. His rippled eyes shifted toward the shadows.
Obito took a slow step forward. "It is precisely because Konoha sits at the absolute pinnacle of its power. If we sit back and wait for Uchiha Akira to fully digest the military assets of Suna and Kiri, there will not be a single corner of this world left for us to hide. Kumogakure and Iwagakure are paralyzed by that exact same fear."
He paused, letting the reality of the situation sink in. "Fear is the ultimate catalyst. All we have to do is strike the match, and let them burn Konoha's forces down to ash. In the chaos, we take the Tailed Beasts. Only by resurrecting the Ten-Tails will we possess the capital to stand against a monster like Uchiha Akira."
It was a brutal, flawless logic. Bleed out slowly in the shadows, or risk everything on one apocalyptic gamble.
"Ha! Hahaha! Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!" Hidan vaulted out of his chair, swinging his scythe in a wide, vicious arc. His face flushed a deep, feverish red. "War! Slaughter! Mountains of corpses! These are the offerings Lord Jashin craves! As long as the blood flows, as long as I get to sacrifice them all, I have no objections! Hahaha!"
In the corner, Hiruko dragged a pale tongue across his lips. "A world drowning in chaos..." he whispered, his murky eyes burning with greed. "When the war machine starts, the battlefields will be flooded with rare Bloodline Limits. It will be the ultimate hunting ground. My Chimera Technique will be flawless."
Hiruko looked up at Pain, a sinister, rattling laugh escaping his chest. "I am in full agreement."
Pain gave a slow, microscopic nod. His gaze drifted to the towering treasurer. "Kakuzu. Your thoughts?"
Kakuzu kept his face entirely blank. "I have no objections."
'A room full of dead men walking,'he sneered internally.'Challenge Uchiha Akira? That demon makes the First Hokage look like a merciful saint. Go ahead and try to light your little fire. Before the first spark even catches, Akira will have already butchered every last one of you.'
"Excellent," Pain murmured, the faintest trace of satisfaction in his cold voice. "Since we are in agreement. We will now proceed with the assignment of missions—"
He never finished the sentence.
Far below the high tower, Amegakure was already playing host to two uninvited guests.
Down on the metallic streets, heavy rain hammered against the steel pipes and grated walkways, filling the air with a relentless, clanging rhythm. Water pooled and rushed over the cold stone.
Beneath the torrential downpour, two men walked down the center of the main thoroughfare, completely unhurried. They held traditional oil-paper umbrellas, strolling with the casual, arrogant swagger of tourists taking in the local sights.
Jiraiya walked half a step behind, tugging uncomfortably at the high collar of his coat. His eyes darted sharply from the towering, pipe-covered skyscrapers to the dark, empty alleyways.
"Hey, Akira," Jiraiya muttered, keeping his voice low to cut through the sound of the rain. "Are we seriously just walking through the front door like this?"
He reached out past the edge of his umbrella, letting a cold drop of water shatter against his palm. "This rain isn't natural. The second we stepped foot inside the village, we were already made."
Uchiha Akira held his umbrella effortlessly with one hand. His posture was relaxed, his stride measured and utterly devoid of tension. He cast a sideways glance at the Toad Sage's rigid shoulders.
"So what if they know we are here?" Akira's voice was smooth, carrying an absolute, crushing weight of confidence. "We are not the ones who need to be afraid."
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