Chapter 61: The Arrival of Hanzo’s Envoy

After leaving the conference room, Byakuya felt like he had forgotten something.

Turning back to look at the conference room, he shot a fierce glare and slammed the door behind him.

Upon hearing the clang of the closing door, Byakuya nodded quietly to himself, feeling much relieved. In his role within the Akatsuki, him being opposed to Yahiko while also being too gentle could arouse suspicion.

Upon hearing the sound of Byakuya slamming the door, Yahiko also felt relieved, though still somewhat concerned.

There was an unspoken understanding between Byakuya and Yahiko. If Byakuya didn't publicly refute him, it meant he accepted Yahiko's arrangement, or at least wouldn't sabotage it in secret.

After all, despite their differing ideologies, they were ultimately working for the development of the Akatsuki organization.

However, Yahiko tended to see the good in things, interpreting situations in a positive light, while Byakuya always assumed the worst intentions in others.

After reflecting on this, Yahiko continued to chair the meeting regarding Hanzo's envoy, detailing the reception arrangements in hopes that Hanzo would be satisfied with the Akatsuki.

If this friendly meeting could indeed take place, the Akatsuki wouldn't need to worry about threats from the Amegakure for several years. If not, they would have to prepare early.

After all, even though his childhood idol was Hanzo of Salamander, at that time he was just a homeless orphan and posed no threat.

Now, as the leader of the Akatsuki organization, he commanded over a hundred ninjas, making them a significant force in the ninja world.

Even the hero of the Hidden Rain, Hanzo, would feel wary.

---

Unlike Yahiko, who was concerned about the future of the Akatsuki, Byakuya was as calm as still water.

After all, Byakuya never worried whether or not the Amegakure would be disadvantageous to the Akatsuki. In his mind, a clash between the Akatsuki and the Amegakure was inevitable; it was only a matter of time.

Nevertheless, to appease a few hidden observers, Byakuya still put on a displeased expression.

He walked all the way to the construction site managed by the Anbu.

With a stern face, Byakuya issued orders for overtime work today and personally supervised to prevent any laziness or slack from the Anbu members.

Faced with Byakuya's orders, the Anbu members didn't dare to disobey and worked much more efficiently.

After all, when Byakuya's face darkened like this, even fools knew he was in a bad mood. It would be suicidal to poke fingers to a hungry lion.

However, who exactly had the audacity to provoke Lord Byakuya?

Was it Yahiko, the leader of the Akatsuki? Or was it someone else entirely?

Akane, who was responsible for supervision, also noticed Byakuya's expression and cautiously asked as she approached, "Lord Byakuya, did you have another argument with Lord Yahiko?"

(AN: Remember that Akane is Karin's mother. I changed her name from Karen to Akane because of requests. The original author uses different names sometimes too. Don't know if he is high or what.)

Byakuya looked at Akane and gently shook his head. "It's just some minor disagreements."

Minor disagreements... Akane didn't believe it for a moment. As far as she was concerned, the only people who could anger Byakuya were enemies or their leader, Yahiko.

With no external threats to the Akatsuki currently, the only possibility left was their leader, Yahiko.

The interests of Leader Yahiko and Lord Byakuya were clearly aligned. There was no need for quarrels; couldn't they just sit down and discuss things seriously?

But she didn't intend to meddle in this matter. Lord Byakuya must have already made up his mind.

Byakuya spent the entire afternoon at the construction site. Hidden in the shadows, Black Zetsu observed him for the entire afternoon.

Since deciding to groom Byakuya as the next pawn, he had been secretly observing him.

He would wait for the right moment to appear, then gradually gain Byakuya's trust and influence him, making Byakuya a participant in the Eye of the Moon plan and increasing the chances of freeing his mother.

However, Black Zetsu hadn't figured out how exactly to approach Byakuya yet.

Based on Byakuya's current strength and demeanor, Black Zetsu couldn't guarantee that appearing in front of him wouldn't raise Byakuya's suspicions.

After all, except for the proud and arrogant Uchiha, anyone would be suspicious of his current appearance.

Once suspicion took root, none of his tricks or words would be effective.

Just then, Black Zetsu noticed that Byakuya seemed to have finished writing something. Leaving behind a paper clone in place, he headed towards the depths of the forest.

What Byakuya wrote was naturally a mission report for Danzo.

Given his relationship with Danzo, for such a major event as the arrival of Hanzo's envoy, it was natural to inform Danzo, their benefactor, and urge him to quickly send the next batch of assistance.

And on the other hand, it was also done for the eyes of the hidden Uchiha Madara.

After arriving at a cliff outside the base, Byakuya used Ninjutsu to summon a ninja eagle and placed the letter. After that, he returned to the base of the Akatsuki.

Seeing this scene, Black Zetsu's eyes lit up instantly.

He knew that Byakuya had been secretly colluding with ninja from other factions, but he wasn't sure which faction's ninja Byakuya was colluding with.

If he could figure this out, it would be much easier to approach Byakuya.

Patiently waiting for Byakuya to leave, Black Zetsu dove into the ground and swiftly headed toward the location of the ninja eagle.

Bursting out of the ground, he reached out and grabbed the ninja eagle flying low.

Black Zetsu didn't immediately kill the ninja eagle. Instead, he let Byakuya control the ninja eagle while he slowly opened the letter that Byakuya had sent to Danzo.

After scanning it briefly, Black Zetsu resealed the letter and released the ninja eagle.

The contents of the letter were simple; just Byakuya informing Danzo that the Ambassador would soon arrive at the Akatsuki.

However, within these few sentences, there was a wealth of information.

Firstly, the ninja Byakuya was colluding with belonged to Konoha's Hokage assistant. Secondly, Byakuya had leaked the impending arrival of Ambassador Hanzo, which could be considered a betrayal of the Akatsuki.

More importantly, Black Zetsu had already vaguely guessed the reason why Byakuya was colluding with the Hokage's assistant.

He wanted to overthrow Yahiko and become the true leader of the Akatsuki.

But knowing just this wasn't enough for Black Zetsu. He planned to groom Byakuya as a pawn, not watch him become the leader of the Akatsuki.

Before that, he had to earn Byakuya's trust and do him a big favor.

So, in a sense, this Hokage's assistant was actually his competitor. He had to defeat this competitor to make Byakuya his pawn.

As his thoughts gradually refocused, Black Zetsu looked towards the ninja eagle, now a distant dot, and pursued it.

This time, the harvest from intercepting the ninja eagle was quite good. At least he now knew who his competitor was, and he had also devised a complete plan on how to gain Byakuya's trust.

Just thinking about the increased probability of reviving his mother made Black Zetsu feel much better.

Equally satisfying was Byakuya's use of the Mayfly Technique to secretly infiltrate. Now that he finally knew who had been spying on him recently.

In Byakuya's mind, there was only one person who could audaciously use the Pitcher Plant Monster technique: Black Zetsu.