89 Akatsuki’s Next Step!

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Chapter 85: Akatsuki's Next Step!

Jutsu of the day:

<Tape recorder no Jutsu>

Courtesy of Nagato/Pain.

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4th April, Year 78

Location: Unknown Location, Land of Rain.

[General]

.

It was raining as usual in the Land of Rain. A gloomy weather, ever prevailing, never ceasing.

The rain in itself was unnatural. After all, it was infused with a special chakra. The rain itself was created through an elaborate Jutsu.

Which allowed the user to know the existence of anything the rain touched.

Nothing was hidden from the creator of this rain. Making him practically omniscient within his own domain...

And the said creator was a God to the people of the Land of Rain. Adorning the eyes of Rikudo Senin. His power to the masses was Godlike.

His name…

Pain.

…

At the moment, in an unknown location, where the Akatsuki's base was constructed. 11 people were standing in a circle.

Each one of them were strong on their own right. They were all dangerous missing Ninjas that formed the criminal organization Akatsuki.

6 of them wore blank looks with purplish gray rippled eyes. They were known as the 6 paths of pain. The supposed leader of Akatsuki.

Beside them stood a beauty with an expressionless face. She was known as Konan the angel. She managed the organization in their leader's stead.

On their opposite side stood a young pale skinned man with long dark hair, with a shifty smile on his face. It was Orochimaru of the Sanin. A being, no one trusted. No one ever should.

Beside him stood a white haired, red eyed man, wearing a high collared over-sized Akatsuki robe. He was Hiruko the Chimera. One day he might become the harbinger of the 4th Ninja war.

A bit away sat a man with an annoyed face with a triple-bladed scythe. It was Hidan the immortal. The most devout priest of Jashin.

Beside him leaning with his back against the wall stood a masked man, with a menacing aura. He was Uchiha Madara, or so he said.

With him stood a creature half black and half white, known as Zetsu. The informant of the whole group.

The atmosphere was tensed, as the members kept silent, not saying anything waiting for the leaders to speak.

It was Konan who broke the silence.

"We lost two more." She simply stated without any emotions.

"And why are we only learning about it now?" Tendo Pain asked.

"They were only on a simple mission for a rich businessman, it didn't require any babysitting... and they weren't important enough to keep tails on." Zetsu answered.

He was feeling frustrated about all this. He was supposed to be the informant of this rag tag group.

And it took him over 2 weeks to learn of the two members' demise.

It wasn't entirely his fault.

Gato's death was contained within Waves. So the death of his subordinates was also contained. No one claimed the bounty of the two missing ninjas till yesterday.

Which made it seem like everything was normal there, and it didn't arouse much suspicion on his part. Not until Zetsu felt that abominable chakra in the Land of Waves and went to investigate.

Seeing the fire prince... Zetsu was beyond scared.

He made sure to pull away all white Zetsu clones from anywhere near Waves. He couldn't let that abominable child know of his plans so soon… He was afraid the child will make it his mission to disrupt his millennia long work.

He had already made things complicated as it is.

"Who killed them, if I may ask? SSssss~" Orochimaru asked with a smirk.

He already knew about the culprit, as he too had his own spy network.

But he decided to poke at the incompetence of the organization's informant.

Everyone who didn't know looked towards Zetsu for answers.

"It was Kaneko Mitsu…" Zetsu answered reluctantly.

"Huh? Isn't he the brat that killed you before Orochimaru? And his group were the ones who thrashed the previous members, right? Hah! They will make for fine sacrifices to Jashin-sama!" Hidan exclaimed.

Orochimaru didn't like the gibe. But he remained silent. He knew that if he wasn't careful, he might end up being Mitsu's target...

He wanted to get Mitsu's body... It was fascinating after all. But he wasn't dumb enough to try anything without proper resources and planning.

The others didn't answer, and waited for their leader Pain to speak his mind.

"Tell me, what is stopping us from attacking him right now? He has foiled our plans time and time again. He needs to know Pain." Tendo pain spoke without any empathy.

"For one, he has killed 5 Akatsuki members and lived. Meaning his strength is on the upper levels of S-rank at the bare minimum.

Then, there's also his subordinates, who are well within S-rank.

One effortlessly killed Sasori, and the other almost killed Orochimaru. They had also killed Mori and captured Kakuzu.

There is also that old samurai, who protects his family. He isn't beneath S-rank either.

He is the one who thwarted our previous plans of capturing the family members as hostages…

Third of all, he is currently back in Konoha, where Sarutobi Hiruzen, Senju Tsunade and Uchiha Shisui are currently stationed. Another 3 S-ranked Ninjas.

Not to mention they have Jiraya of the Sanin, and the other Clan heads to support. Attacking him right now is suicide." Madara gave them a clear view of the situation.

Pain turned silent at the revelation.

He was angry at the young prince. But he also knew that taking unnecessary risks at the moment would be unwise.

"Since when Konoha became so strong?" Hiruko asked no one in particular...

"They had always been strong... It was Danzo and the previous elders working with Orochimaru that lowered Konoha's strength. He did so to be Hokage." Madara supplied.

"And now look where he is... Drowning in the deepest cesspit I presume." Hiruko sneered.

Pain only listened, not interjecting. But he noticed the conversation was getting derailed.

So he turned to Orochimaru and asked, "I heard you wanted to attack Konoha to retrieve some… samples?"

Orochimaru scowled.

"Yesssss~, I wanted to… Get some samples of Mitsu-kun's DNA… If possible, his body…

But I didn't take all the new developments in calculations back then.

Konoha is way too strong at the moment. So attacking them right now is suicide... With Danzo's help it could've been plausible... Sssss. But no point thinking about dead people now...

Also Konoha has allied with practically all the important nations around them.

So even if I could infiltrate one of them and use them to instigate a war, it will be easily quelled due to the current strength of Konoha and their allies.

So I have decided to stop that plan… For now… Sssss~" he said with a frown.

Konan interjected at the moment, "It would be unwise to attack Konoha or Kaneko Mitsu at the moment. But is there anyone else around him that we can use?"

Zetsu thought for a bit before answering, "There are a few people he is fond of. But they are kept under watch by another of his servants… One of my own species… Who calls himself Tobi."

Konan raised a brow at that. But didn't say anything. She didn't know about Guruguru or Zetsu and Madara's intentions.

"It doesn't matter how strong or protected they are… In front of God, they will only know pain." Tendo Pain stated.

But the others weren't that convinced, this time Orochimaru spoke again.

"Well. Ssss~

There is something else we can do…

In 2 months, Konoha will hold the Chunin exams, and my spies have told me that all 5 major villages will be participating to forge a new alliance...

Meaning the other 4 villages will be quite… Defenselesssss~." Orochimaru drawled as he licked his lips.

"It would be a perfect opportunity to get the tailed beasts, as you have planned. The resistance they can put without their main fighting force will be minuscule.

We can quickly take their Jinchurikis… and maybe some Kekkei Genkai wielders." Hiruko proposed.

This got everyone's attention.

"Indeed, it will be the perfect opportunity to get the two tails, four tails, five tails, six tails and seven tails. Three tails haven't spawned yet. But we can get him soon enough." Madara stated.

"That will leave us with only the one tail, eight tails and nine tails' Jinchuriki to capture… Yes, this is indeed a good opportunity. But this will cause the 5 nations to ally faster..." Konan stated.

"I don't care! As long as I can sacrifice some people to Jashin-sama!" Hidan said annoyed.

"Indeed, it is a sound plan… And the 5 nations allying together won't matter. They will still feel pain.

Very well, we shall go with this plan… This shall cause some chaos in the Ninja world as well, giving us more opportunities to work with." Tendo pain expressed.

"Am I the only one who thinks that doing so will only increase the difficulty of acquiring the eight and nine tails Jinchurikis?" Zetsu asked.

"It won't matter… They can try as they want… But they shall know pain." Tendo pain declared.

The other's turned silent. They were getting a bit annoyed with the same dialogue, but knowing their leaders' prowess, they decided to let him be.

"Any objections?" Konan asked.

No one protested. No one had a reason to. Most simply wanted to get their own things. Hidan wanted sacrifices, Orochimaru more samples and Hiruko more Kekkei Genkai users.

"Good, then we shall attack the Jinchurikis when the Kages are out of the village." Konan stated.

But this time Orochimaru raised a question, "And how will you get the seven tails' Jinchuriki? Only Taki Ninjas know the location of their village."

"You leave that to me." Zetsu took the responsibility.

Everyone nodded at that.

"Very well, it is decided. We shall discuss who will attack where on a later date.

Now, is there any information on the Phantom Blade and her group?" Konan asked.

This time everyone turned silent.

The Phantom blade was a mysterious existence.

Not even Zetsu or Madara were able to find much about her or her group called Nightingales.

They simply couldn't be tracked.

Akatsuki wanted to recruit them. After witnessing the power of the Phantom, it was evident that they would thrive working with the Akatsuki.

When Konan saw that no one said anything, she dismissed everyone.

Once everyone left, she climbed to the top of the tower where Nagato stayed.

"Can we really not attack Kaneko Mitsu?" Nagato asked.

"We can… But the losses will be irreparable. It's best we leave him alone as we planned before." Konan answered, finally showing a bit of emotion.

"I see… What about those close to him? The ones not protected…"

Konan shook her head, "That will only do him a favor. He isn't particularly fond of his eldest brother. And his father is protected somewhat.

Also, we can't attack the fire Daimyo, it will cause a full blown war against Ame.

Konoha already has information that Akatsuki is based on Ame from Kakuzu. We can't take the risk of starting a war focused on us."

"Taking 6 Jinchurikis won't start said war?" Nagato asked mockingly.

"No, it will only make them be more vigilant. They won't start the war, because they will know that we will come for them. They won't give up the home ground advantage." Konan stated.

Nagato turned silent for a moment.

Before a new determination was shown on his eyes as he declared, "Very well he can enjoy his peace for now… But soon, he will know true pain."

Konan said nothing, and silence ensued between them as Nagato fell asleep on his throne.

Only the pitter patter of the rain remained.

.

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[A/N: Hey there, beautiful people! Sorry, writing about the villains was important but they are boring characters. Booo.

Well at least now you know all the Akatsuki members! Also next chapter will be directly the Chunin exam prelude. There will be no filler training arc. Who wants to see Mitsu tor- Ahem train genins?

If you want to join the discord! The link is on the synopsis!]