"Poof—"
As the Wood Clone's clone vanished, a massive surge of memories instantly flooded into Aoki Yoru's mind.
Even with his powerful mental strength, his face turned slightly pale, and his eyes narrowed for an imperceptible moment.
"I didn't expect the Wood Clone to actually join the Akatsuki Organization; that's truly surprising."
Aoki Yoru never imagined that his Wood Clone would catch the Akatsuki Organization's attention and even join in place of Hidan.
The reason the Wood Clone contacted him this time was that Pain wanted the clone to meet him in the Land of Rain, even though he always covered his body with Natural Energy when with Akatsuki members.
But who knew if a flaw would be exposed during a fight with Pain, allowing Black Zetsu to sense the dead White Zetsu cells on him, or even the fact that he was a Wood Clone.
After all, Black Zetsu had studied Wood Release for thousands of years, and since it was composed of Yin-Yang Release itself, who knew if it would discover that Yagami Light was a Wood Clone?
Yagami Light was very wary of Black Zetsu, so he planned to let the original body take his place to meet Pain.
After Aoki Yoru finished receiving the memories, he pondered for a moment and decided to go meet this tragic figure.
It wasn't that he had lost his cautious style, but rather that he was already at the half-step Super Kage Level, likely at the same level of combat power as Pain.
Even if he were besieged by Akatsuki members in the Land of Rain, he was confident he could escape.
At worst, he could have a clone use the Summoning Jutsu to pull him away.
He didn't plan to ask Tsunade for leave this time; anyway, he rarely showed his face in the lab, and everyone knew the one in the Mission Department was just a Shadow Clone.
On the other side, after emerging from the 'Magic Lantern Body Technique', Yagami Light set off toward the Land of Rain with Konan and the others.
"By the way, Zabuza, why are you guys going to the Land of Rain too? Do you want to trade a few blows with the Leader as well?"
Zabuza's footsteps paused, his figure stiffening for a moment; if he didn't know he was no match, he would have definitely slaughtered this sarcastic guy.
At this, Konan explained coldly: "Zabuza and Haku are temporarily forming a team with me. However, their strength is too poor. They must undergo special training for the next two years; otherwise, they won't be able to carry out missions. They can't even handle a single Tailed Beast on their own."
Originally, after Yagami Light requested to act alone, she had intended to pair Zabuza with Kakuzu. But considering Kakuzu's track record and the bounty on Zabuza's head, the two of them certainly wouldn't survive long as a team.
The organization was set to act in two years, and finding another strong individual wouldn't be easy. Additionally, although Haku's strength wasn't enough yet, having such power at this age meant he would surely be a Jonin or Elite Jonin in two years. Together, they would at least be serviceable.
After all, the organization was too short-handed. Even she was taking disciples and teaching in the Land of Rain, but their strength was mediocre. The most talented among them, Ajisai, was only a Genin now, and her potential was at most that of an Elite Jonin.
At this moment, Yagami Light turned his head, looking at Haku with a lecherous expression, and asked the question he'd held for decades: "This Haku... are you a boy or a girl?"
Haku's face stiffened upon hearing this, but he eventually forced a smile: "Mr. Yagami, I am a male."
"Is that so!" Yagami Light turned his head away in disappointment; such a waste for someone so pretty.
Even Konan gave him a surprised glance; she had always thought he was a girl too!
She had originally intended for him to train with her disciple, Ajisai.
That night, at Yagami Light's request, the group stayed at an inn in a small town.
The night was dark and the wind high; all was silent.
Yagami Light opened his eyes, sensing whether there were any White Zetsu monitoring the area.
Afterward, he used a Stealth Technique to reach the outskirts and set up a barrier around the area to block all prying eyes.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
A puff of white smoke rose, and Aoki Yoru's figure instantly appeared within the barrier.
Seeing the Wood Clone, he immediately complained, "You've certainly had an exciting time lately!"
The Wood Clone spread his hands helplessly. "I didn't want this either. Didn't you tell me to go trade with Orochimaru? Who knew it would draw out the Akatsuki Organization."
"How is your death note? Is it usable?" Aoki Yoru asked curiously.
When he first learned of the clone's plan, he was amazed; he hadn't expected the clone to recreate the death note in such a way.
The Wood Clone gave a weird smile, took out a black leather notebook, and handed it to him.
The cover was a matte pure black without any extra patterns, except for a line of silver-grey English embossed on the top right: death note. It felt eerily cold to the touch, exactly like the death note from the original work.
"You can try it yourself."
Aoki Yoru took the notebook and flipped through it. "You certainly made this meticulous."
He could sense that Hidan was sealed within the entire notebook, rather than on a single page.
Aoki Yoru's eyes flickered slightly as he reached out and dragged a black mountain goat from nearby.
Then he dripped blood onto the death note. Immediately, he sensed the sealed Hidan inside mechanically beginning the ritual under the control of the Sealing Technique.
His consciousness was being constantly torn apart and reconstructed by the Evil God's energy. The repeated torture caused him to completely break down, even his sense of Pain ground down into a numb instinct, eventually turning him into a soulless walking corpse.
As the short spear was plunged into the heart, a hole instantly appeared in the heart of the black mountain goat outside. The goat screamed once and fell completely silent.
Aoki Yoru stepped forward curiously to check, clicking his tongue in amazement. This curse was too bizarre; even he had no confidence he could avoid it if cursed.
He even doubted whether a Super Kage Level like Senju Hashirama could avoid it; this was already considered a rule-based ability.
At this point, the Wood Clone said, "By the way, the deity of the Fire Temple—do you want to go observe it? You might gain something."
Aoki Yoru shook his head. "I'm still too weak now. Through your memories, I've found that going there in the past wouldn't yield much."
"Wait until you have some insight into the Evil God and faith, and I reach the limit of the Super Kage Level, then go try. There should be gains then."
"Going now, the returns and risks are disproportionate."
The Wood Clone nodded. "Decide for yourself. I'll use this time to see if I can turn those few into experts so we can take action."
Aoki Yoru rubbed his chin, pondering. "Your people only know some crude martial arts. Even if you seal the Eight-Tails' horn into their bodies, they'll at most be at the level of an ordinary Jonin, and Tailed Beast Chakra is non-renewable."
"You are an Akatsuki member now and have to complete basic missions; it's impossible to look after them all the time. Can you find a way to recruit an expert?"
The Wood Clone shrugged. "All the famous strong experts are in the Akatsuki Organization. I can't exactly hire Kakuzu; selling the Land of Birds wouldn't even fill that guy's greedy heart."
"In the Naruto games from my previous life, wasn't there an Uchiha Hikari? Although I don't know if she exists, you could go look for her."
Yagami Light looked at his original body speechlessly. "The probability of her existing is too small."
"Treat a dead horse as if it were alive; what if she does exist? You'd immediately gain a Kage-level combatant."
Yagami thought for a moment. True, a trip wouldn't be a waste of time.
Afterward, he bid farewell to the original body and headed toward the place where Hikari was sealed according to his memories.
Watching the clone's departing back, Aoki Yoru used Wood Release to transform into Yagami Light's appearance and walked toward the inn.