Misfortune
A few days later, the Akatsuki convened for an internal meeting.
Before the Deva Path of Pain could assign missions to the various teams, Tobi—still maintaining his facade as a bumbling subordinate—stepped forward and shared crucial intelligence regarding remnants of the Uchiha Clan.
The revelation that surviving Uchiha had chosen to settle in Uzushiogakure piqued the interest of several members. Greedy glances were exchanged, particularly from Orochimaru, Sasori, and Kakuzu. Each had their own motivations—Orochimaru, obsessed with genetic experimentation, saw Uchiha blood as prime research material. Sasori, a master of human puppetry, entertained the idea of crafting marionettes embedded with Sharingan. Kakuzu, ever the mercenary, calculated the bounty value of Uchiha corpses on the black market.
Bloodline Limit users were walking treasure troves. Without the protection of a major Hidden Village, they became easy prey for opportunists.
Yet, in the presence of an Uchiha within their own ranks, they tempered their ambitions. Their eyes flickered toward Itachi, the bearer of the Suzaku ring.
Though Itachi had personally annihilated most of his clan, he was an enigma, a lone wolf whose motives remained inscrutable. A wrong move could make them his next target, and none wished to court unnecessary risk. Itachi's skill and mission success rate placed him among the most formidable within Akatsuki. While the Sharingan was valuable, the price of acquiring one from an Uchiha of unknown allegiance was too steep.
However, if they encountered an Uchiha in the wild, they had no qualms about seizing a few eyes for their collections.
Under their scrutiny, Itachi's expression remained unreadable. His path had long diverged from that of Shisui Uchiha, and he no longer knew if they were destined to meet as allies or enemies.
Even without his Mangekyō Sharingan, Shisui remained formidable. The fundamental difference between a three-tomoe Sharingan and the Mangekyō lay in exclusive abilities like Susanoo, yet wielding it came at an extreme cost.
The fact that Zetsu had provided this information about the Uchiha survivors made Itachi wary. Zetsu had always appeared loyal to Pain, yet this act suggested alignment with Tobi's hidden faction.
Where there were shinobi, there were factions. Just as Konoha had its internal power struggles, Akatsuki was far from monolithic. Sasori and Kakuzu had been recruited by Pain and Konan, making them loyal to that faction. Meanwhile, rogue nin like Itachi and Jūzō Biwa, who had been personally approached by Tobi, fell under the masked man's influence.
Until now, Itachi had assumed Tobi's faction only included himself and Jūzō, but Zetsu's actions hinted at a more complex hierarchy.
Factions were fluid. If he aligned himself with Pain's group, he could subtly sow discord within Akatsuki. However, antagonizing Tobi might provoke him into targeting Konoha again. His home—and Sasuke—could not endure another tragedy. He had to bide his time.
After Zetsu's report, Pain resumed assigning missions.
Some were black-market contracts, while others came directly from daimyo or Kage, ranging from assassinations and intelligence gathering to destabilizing borders.
Though Akatsuki's ultimate aim was capturing tailed beasts, the power brokers of the Five Great Nations saw value in a mercenary force willing to incite controlled chaos. In a world inching toward peace, few dared risk war openly.
Once the meeting concluded, Itachi severed his connection to the Demonic Illusion: Mirage Body Technique and returned to reality.
He and Jūzō were holed up in a small earthen shelter, concealed by Doton techniques, while heavy summer rain battered the Land of Water. Their current mission was to locate the Six-Tails' jinchūriki.
Between bites of a rice ball, Itachi cast a glance at Jūzō, who remained suspended in the illusionary meeting.
Was he receiving a private directive from Pain? Or had Tobi given him a separate assignment?
Ten minutes later, Jūzō deactivated the technique. Accepting the rice ball from Itachi, he muttered a brief thanks and ate without hesitation, unconcerned about poison.
Wiping his mouth with his sleeve, Jūzō announced, "Pain contacted me directly. We have a new mission—sneaking into Kirigakure to investigate the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi."
As the Three-Tails' jinchūriki, Yagura's connection to the tailed beasts made him a logical target.
Yet something about the request unsettled Itachi.
He studied Jūzō carefully. Had Jūzō himself requested this mission?
His defection from the Bloody Mist Village had never been fully explained. Could he be manipulating Akatsuki for personal revenge?
Then again, deception was Akatsuki's defining trait. If its members ever truly united, their combined strength could surpass the Five Great Nations and become the dominant force in the shinobi world.
For now, Itachi played along. "Infiltrating Kirigakure won't be easy. We need a solid cover."
Jūzō scoffed. "That village is full of spies. No need for subtlety—we'll just walk right in."
---
Elsewhere, in the Land of Rivers…
Orochimaru and Sasori severed their links to the Mirage Body Technique simultaneously, their gazes meeting with veiled hostility.
One, a master of puppetry. The other, a scientist obsessed with eternal life. Theoretically, they should have been kindred spirits, yet their differing ideologies had made them adversaries within Akatsuki. Each sought to prove their own path superior.
Orochimaru's golden eyes gleamed with amusement as he murmured, "Sasori, interested in a little trip to Uzushiogakure? The surviving Uchiha would make excellent research subjects. Surely you'd love a Sharingan-infused puppet."
Sasori's lip curled in disdain. "If you want to go, go alone. I have more important projects than chasing after some stray Uchiha."
His rejection didn't surprise Orochimaru, though he lamented losing a potential scout.
While the Uchiha bloodline and Sharingan were undeniably valuable, they paled in comparison to the potential of his Cursed Seal experiments. With his methods, he could artificially elevate subjects to near-Jonin levels—a process far more efficient than harvesting Uchiha DNA.
Creating his own kekkei genkai, forging his own immortals—this was what truly captivated him.
Ordinary Sharingan held little appeal. However, the Mangekyō Sharingan was another matter entirely.
Itachi remained beyond his reach, a target too dangerous to approach directly. Any failed attempt would earn him the wrath of the entire Akatsuki organization.
But he didn't need to go himself—Kakuzu could do the dirty work.
A sufficiently high bounty on the black market would be all the motivation Kakuzu needed to act. And to Orochimaru, money was an insignificant price to pay for progress.
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