Naruto: The Primal Hyuga Pierces the Shinobi World

Led by Orochimaru, the group arrived at a spacious stone chamber. The stone door opened, and a cool breeze wafted out.

The indoor lights were turned on, and Orochimaru walked in on his own. He then strolled to the bookshelf, picked out a scroll, and casually tossed it toward Shinichi Hyuga.

"Xiao's existence has also hindered my development."

"However, even I was unable to fully understand the strength of this organization."

"This is some intelligence and information I have gathered so far."

"If Konoha is confident that it can wipe out Akatsuki in one operation... I can cooperate with you."

"Furfur..."

As he spoke, Orochimaru suddenly chuckled and gave Jiraiya a meaningful look.

The eye of reincarnation!

Those legendary eyes must be incredibly powerful, right? For Orochimaru, Akatsuki is no longer of any value. He has already taken control of the Land of Grass and used Akatsuki's funds, along with the Land of Grass's own, to establish numerous experimental bases. He has even helped the Land of Grass establish the Sound Ninja.

He already has a solid foundation for development and no longer needs to rely on Akatsuki's power to achieve his goals.

On the contrary, he and Akatsuki are drifting further and further apart, and sooner or later they will turn against each other and become enemies. Rather than passively waiting for Akatsuki to send out strong fighters to hunt him down, it would be better to join forces with Konoha to kill Akatsuki first.

Jiraiya and his group had only found one base of theirs; he had many more similar bases and wasn't afraid of Konoha's tracking and investigation. Although the Flying Thunder God mark that Hyuga Shinichi left on him was troublesome, he could easily avoid it by using the Reanimation Jutsu.

Compared to Konoha, which is not very familiar with the distribution of its bases, Akatsuki poses a much greater threat.

More importantly, Orochimaru believed he knew Hiruzen Sarutobi and his friend Jiraiya very well, and that as long as he focused on developing his power, the two of them wouldn't bother him.

The fact that the third generation allowed him to leave back then says a lot.

Taking everything into consideration, Orochimaru could easily find his place and know which side he should stand on at any given time.

"Orochimaru..."

Jiraiya noticed Orochimaru's gaze and silently lowered his head to avoid it. He actually knew very well why Orochimaru looked at him with that kind of gaze time and time again.

The Rinnegan... There probably aren't many Rinnegan users in this world, right?!

Could the leader of Akatsuki be the child I briefly adopted and cared for in the Land of Rain?

Nagato...

If he had grown up smoothly, he would probably be a powerful and outstanding young ninja by now.

If he were fortunate enough to unlock the power of the Rinnegan, Nagato would have grown to a level that even Jiraiya could not have imagined. If Nagato developed as Jiraiya envisioned, leading an organization of Akatsuki's strength should not be a problem.

only...

Could it be Nagato?

"If it was Nagato, why would he cooperate with the ninja who attacked Konoha during the Nine-Tails' rampage?"

"If not... then where did the Akatsuki leader get his Rinnegan?"

"Will it be taken from Nagato's side?"

Are those three children still alive?!

At this moment, Jiraiya had many thoughts running through his mind. While investigating the identity of the Akatsuki leader, Jiraiya was also worried about the safety of Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan.

When they parted ways, Yahiko and the others were just teenagers who had learned a few of his ninjutsu techniques. According to Konoha's ranking system, those kids were just genin.

Although the situation had stabilized, small countries like the Land of Rain were constantly plagued by war. Even though the five great nations had withdrawn from the Land of Rain's territory, the remnants of war, such as rogue ninjas and thieves, continued to wreak havoc on the land.

It's not easy for a child that age to survive in that kind of environment.

However, on the other hand, while Jiraiya hoped that Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan could live peacefully as they have now, he also did not want to see them take the path of mercenaries and become leaders of criminal groups like Akatsuki.

As a Konoha ninja, if the leader of Akatsuki really was Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan, then even though he had once been Nagato's teacher, he couldn't just stand by and watch a group like Akatsuki continue to grow.

Jiraiya had already sensed the danger level of the Akatsuki organization from Orochimaru's various descriptions.

A powerful organization harboring the idea of ​​seizing the Tailed Beasts... Jiraiya, whether considering the overall situation of Konoha or just as Minato's mentor, would absolutely not allow such an organization to continue to exist.

Officially, as one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha, he had a responsibility to protect the village; personally, as the teacher of Minato and Kushina, he had a responsibility to protect his students and their wives.

Just as Shinichi Hyuga unfolded the scroll and carefully examined its contents, Jiraiya raised his head with a determined expression and asked Shinichi:

"Shinichi, what are your plans for the next step in the investigation?"

Have you decided on a direction?

The scroll Orochimaru gave to Shinichi contained detailed information about Akatsuki, but much of it consisted of personal information about the members; there was no record of Akatsuki's leader.

He didn't record that the leader of Akatsuki might be a ninja from the Land of Rain. Some things can be recorded on scrolls, but some things are safer to keep in one's mind.

Honestly, Orochimaru's file contained a lot of information, but Hyuga Shinichi glanced at it and found very little of it helpful to him. Hyuga Shinichi knew far more information about Akatsuki than Orochimaru did, and in much greater detail.

However, this information is not entirely useless. At least, Shinichi can openly reveal some information about Akatsuki without worrying about being suspected of having the source of the information.

As Shinichi was considering which information to reveal, he heard Jiraiya ask this question. After a moment of surprise and thought, Shinichi smiled and said:

"Didn't Lord Orochimaru provide a very important clue?"

"Although we don't know who the leader of Akatsuki is, and they're acting so mysteriously, the direction of our investigation is now clear."

"Isn't this guy a rogue ninja from Takigakure?"

"They should be interested in pursuing rogue ninja, right? Not just Takigakure, Kirigakure should be interested too."

Shinichi Hyuga didn't want to rashly reveal the location of Akatsuki's headquarters. Not only that, he was even thinking of recruiting some helpers for himself, even if they were just cannon fodder. Working together might increase the success rate. Therefore, he set his sights on Takigakure and Kirigakure.

Deidara is not yet a member of Akatsuki, and Shinichi doesn't have many allies he can recruit. However, if both sides are willing to contribute, they can provide some assistance.

Upon hearing Shinichi's direction of investigation, Jiraiya remained noncommittal. After a moment's thought, he finally made up his mind and said:

"Shinichi, I have a clue about the Rinnegan."

"The leader of Akatsuki... is very likely a ninja from the Land of Rain!"

Now that things have come to this, Jiraiya has no intention of covering up for those disciples from back then. At the same time, as he said these words, Jiraiya had already made up his mind to enter the Land of Rain to investigate the truth.

Regardless of whether Nagato was the leader of Akatsuki, he wanted to find him and confirm whether he was alive or dead.

Jiraiya's words startled Shinichi for a moment, but he quickly composed himself and asked with some surprise:

"Ninjas from the Land of Rain? How did you know that?"

When Shinichi asked this question, Orochimaru, who was not far away, also looked at Jiraiya with a strange expression. Shisui, Kakashi, and the others also turned their gazes to Jiraiya, not expecting that Jiraiya would have information about the Akatsuki leader.

"This is a long story..."

"To put it simply, when I was young, I met a ninja with the Rinnegan. That child... was from the Land of Rain."

"I'm not sure if Akatsuki's leader is the same child I met back then, but I think we can start by investigating the Land of Rain."

Jiraiya's words were concise and to the point, but the information he provided disrupted Shinichi's original plan.

Following Jiraiya's line of thought would inevitably lead them to the Land of Rain, but given their squad's strength, entering the Land of Rain would serve no purpose other than alerting the enemy.

Unless Matt Kay opens the door to his death in a desperate attempt, but...

Even Shinichi didn't know if Might Guy could open the Gate of Death. Even if Guy could open the Gate of Death, Shinichi was reluctant to use that power on Nagato. Why risk his life now when he could accumulate power and have a chance to defeat Akatsuki "without injury" in the future?

but...

Noticing Jiraiya's expression at this moment, Shinichi felt that even if he disagreed with Jiraiya going to the Land of Rain to investigate, Jiraiya would still go and find out the truth himself.

He couldn't stop Jiraiya from doing whatever he wanted.

Letting Jiraiya go to the Land of Rain to investigate would also alert the enemy. Without Jiraiya's help, he might lose his life there if he goes to investigate alone.

Since Yahiko's death, Nagato's hatred for this world far exceeds what ordinary people can imagine. Even when facing Jiraiya, his former mentor, he would show absolutely no mercy.

Before being persuaded by Naruto's talk-no-jutsu, Nagato was already so obsessive that he would stop at nothing to achieve his goals. Shinichi absolutely could not let Jiraiya take the risk alone.

After a moment's thought, Shinichi Hyuga's gaze fell on Orochimaru, and he asked in a low voice:

"Orochimaru..."

"You just said... if the village is determined to deal with Akatsuki, you can provide assistance?"

"What kind of assistance are you referring to?"

Akatsuki is very strong, so strong that even Shinichi Hyuga is considering seeking external support. Since we have no choice but to alert them, let's strengthen our own team as much as possible.

Regarding the matter concerning Akatsuki, their interests align with Orochimaru's, which creates room for negotiation and maneuvering.

"Oh..."

"Do you want me to go with you to explore the Land of Rain?"

Orochimaru was an extremely intelligent man; upon hearing Shinichi Hyuga's question, he immediately understood what the other person meant.

To be honest, Orochimaru was actually quite interested in investigating it. The Rinnegan was also a great temptation for him.

"Hmm, I think you must be very interested in the Rinnegan, right?"

Shinichi Hyuga understood Orochimaru, so he naturally knew what to use to attract him.

"Hmph hmph hmph..."

"interesting."

Orochimaru let out bursts of laughter, then decisively agreed:

When are you planning to leave?