Cap 153: 'Mind Herb'

"So the Kyubi disappeared along with Jiraiya of the Sannin..." - said Pain as he watched the plant man.

"That's right, leader," Zetsu nodded in a chilly voice.

"We're 80% sure it went to Mount Myoboku, home of the Toads" - said Zetsu again, only this time with his normal voice.

"I see..." - Akatsuki's leader muttered as he looked at the other members of his criminal group, or rather their holograms - "Never mind, this does not change our plans in any way... for now we will concentrate on the Gobi and Yonbi, I expect good news, Itachi, Kisame"

"Hai..." - the two mentioned above nodded.

"What about us, leader?" - asked a Kakuzu with neutrality - "Any work to do or can I just go back to my job as a bounty hunter?"

"Yes! We want some action!" - exclaimed Hidan madly - "Jashin-sama needs more sacrifices! Much more sacrifice!"

" You don't have anything, so you can do whatever you want" - answered Pain with neutrality while he saw Tobi jumping in with joy - "I see you're still having fun with your toy"

"Tobi couldn't be happier!" - said Tobi with his childish tone - "Although I don't think it will last much longer... Tobi feels like he's about to break.."

"Finally! You don't know how annoying it is to hear the screams of pain from whoever the bastard is that you have locked up in your room!" - exclaimed Hidan - "By Jashin-sama, it's unbearable to hear him ask you to kill him for 3 hours straight when you play with him"

"What can I say? Tobi enjoys his toys, Hidan senpai" - said Tobi with a happy tone - "But I think it's time I let him go... Tobi can't watch him suffer any longer..."

"In any case... who is the lucky one?" - Kakuzu asked curiously.

"He's Namikaze Minato~!" - exclaimed Tobi with excitement - "Isn't my toy great?"

"Would you mind if you gave it to me?" - asked Kakuzu with excitement. "His head has a good reward in Kumo"

"No... if you're going to kill him, you'd better give him to me" - said Hidan seriously - "A person with so much history will be a good sacrifice for Jashin-sama... I might even make him suffer until his last breath"

"Can I see his last moments?" - Tobi asked with a slight interest.

"Of course, I could even give you the special service in which I invoke two blood clones so that I can torture him even more," answered the mad priest.

"You have a deal," Tobi nodded. "You can have his head when we're done with him. But I want half the money"

"Hmm... OK, I accept" - answered Kakuzu after some thought - "Half of a good amount is better than nothing"

". . ." - Pain, for his part, just kept silent while he looked at everything that had happened with neutrality.

"Pain-sama..." - said Konan as he appeared before their leader - "We have found clues to the whereabouts of the Rokubi"

"Interesting..." - said Pain as he raised his eyebrows a little in appreciation - "Hidan... Kakuzu... you have a job. You will go and gather information from the Jinchuriki of the Rokubi so that Itachi and Kisame can confront him... the pay will be the same as always"

"Okay" - the two criminals nodded.

"By the way... keep a low profile... we still have to get Kumo to drop their guard so we can capture their Jinchurikis" - added Pain as he disappeared from the scene.

"Hmm... that makes things a little difficult" - said Hidan while shaking his head - "Low profile means no sacrifices"

"You don't have to tell me, for me it means no money" - Kakuzu muttered - "Even though we'll earn a lot with that masked man's toy"

"Right... Minato is a good sacrifice," Hidan nodded as the two disappeared from the scene.

"I suppose we are too late," Sasori said as he frowned.

"You do not have to worry, Sasori... We didn't assign many orders," replied Konan who was still at the site, "but let's leave that for another time... how did the new Spy fare?"

"Much more efficient than Kabuto" - answered the Suna Rogue Ninja - "Not only did he give us important information about Orochimaru's experiments, but also information about our old friend's new bases"

"I told you, Tobi knows how to choose his allies," said Tobi happily. "After all, Tobi's a good boy"

"Any important information about Orochimaru we need to know?" - Konan asked.

"He is still weak from the Shiki Fuin he is already accelerating the learning process of his two recruits, Namikaze Menma and Uchiha Sasuke" - replied Sasori - "Menma training to be able to help him perform jutsus as Kabuto did, and Sasuke..."

"To take over his body... okay, you can leave" - nodded the beautiful blue-haired woman.

"Ok, remember to inform me when you have a new mission for us" - said Sasori calmly - "Now if you will excuse me, I will continue to make modifications to my masterpieces"

"What about you?" - Konan asked when he saw that only Tobi was present.

"Nothing... I'm not going to make any moves for now" - answered Tobi normally.

"Don't you get bored using that character, Madara?" - asked the woman as she looked at the masked man with neutrality.

"No... one gets used as time goes by" - answered the black-haired man - "Anyway, I'm going to enjoy one last round of relaxation (torture), before giving my old friend his well-deserved end... if you need me, just call me three times"

"You never thought Namikaze Minato could be useful to us as an ally?" - Konan asked.

"Yes... but I'd rather see him dead," replied the Uchiha as he entered the portal in front of him. "Nothing compares to that, not even a good ally"

". . ." - Konan shook his head when he heard this as he decided to put all this aside. Whether they had Minato in their ranks or not, did not change the current situation of the group.

* * * * *

"So this is Mount Myoboku..." - said Kurama as he looked around.

"Is he the boy you said, Jiraiya-chan?" - said a little purple toad with white that you could tell by its voice was female.

"Hmm... I haven't felt that chakra in years..." - said a green toad with large bushy eyebrows and a small goatee - "Although it's much quieter than that time... how the years go by"

"It's good to see you again, Pa, Ma" - said Jiraiya as he bowed to the two toads.

"Kyubi, it's been a while" - said Gamabunta while looking at young Uzumaki - "It's good that you came to visit us"

"It is a pity that my visit is not a tourist one, Gamabunta-dono," sighed the redhead.

"I know, but that does not change the fact that it is a pleasure to have you in our home," replied Chief Toad. "Now... let me welcome you to Mount Myoboku, home of the Toads"

"Not bad, huh?" - said Gamakichi as he jumped on the boy's shoulder - "This place has a wide variety of foods that are not only nutritious but delicious"

"Kichi... It is time for you to go and train with your brothers," said Gamabunta seriously.

"Oh, come on, old man," Gamakichi sighed ruefully when he heard this, but still nodded, "Fine... I am going right away"

"That boy..." - mumbled Gamabunta as he shook his head as he watched his son retire - "I wonder where he got that attitude"

"Who else but you?" replied the green toad - "Oh, I'm sorry, how rude of me not to introduce myself. My name is Fukasaku, one of the two great Sage Toads of Mount Myoboku but you can call me Pa, and this beautiful woman is my wife, Shima"

"Nice to meet you, my name as my husband said, is Shima and I am the other one of the Two Great Sage Toads" - smiled Shima while looking at the boy - "But you can call me Ma, everybody does"

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Ma, Pa" - nodded Kurama as he felt the energy of nature inside these two little beings.

"Right... I forgot," said Gamabunta as she threw a small box at the redhead. "'There you go, that's the gift I told you about"

Kurama opened the box and noticed that inside was an antique long pipe - "Thank you, Gamabunta-dono"

"You don't have to give it, it's a promise I made and will keep" - nodded the big toad - "Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do..."

"If Bunta-chan gave you a pipe, that means she has enough confidence in you to tell you secretly about our training" - said Shima seriously while her husband nodded.

"Oh, come on! It took me 10 long years to earn his trust and the Gaki only needed one meeting!" - said Jiraiya with sorrow.

"I can't do anything about it, Jiraiya-chan, it's Bunta-chan who decides when to hand over the pipe to someone" - replied Shima while Fukasaku laughed out loud.

"Training?" - asked Kurama curiously.

"You see, here on Mount Myoboku, there is a special medicinal herb that makes our level of concentration increase, as well as our control," Fukasaku said casually. "This herb is called the 'Mind Herb' and the method of 'consumption' is by smoking it"

". . ." - Kurama gave them a blank look because it sounded extremely shady.

"That is the same expression the other Two Sage Lands give us," Fukasaku smiled. "They think we use drugs, not knowing about the great advantage we have over them... though you had better not ask how we discovered the effects of such a miraculous plant...

"Ok..." - answered Kurama with neutrality because he could more or less say how it happened.

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Disclaimer: Don't use drugs because you can end up badly (In my case I ended up writing Fanfics but you can end up worse)