Starting as the mastermind behind Naruto

Chapter 18 Find Him a Friend

The richest woman in the ninja world, so rich she's unreasonable.

With one hundred million explosive tags and a chakra sensor to summon Pain in his arms, Uehara Naraku left Akatsuki's base as Konan waved goodbye.

Besides him, the other ninjas also had to carry out their own missions.

The woman with light blue hair stood at the entrance of the base, watching Uehara's figure gradually disappear, the worry still lingering on her face.

Kakuzu and Itachi Uchiha, standing nearby, had somewhat subtle expressions.

Kakuzu, the oldest member of Akatsuki, had the most experience. Looking at Konan's appearance, he couldn't help but say, "Hmph, do you think a ninja can go through life without ever encountering danger?"

Konan glanced at him, then frowned and said, "Naraku is different from us. He's only twelve years old; he's still a child..."

"I was already carrying out missions on my own when I was twelve years old!"

Kakuzu's face showed even more displeasure, and he glanced at Itachi Uchiha again: "Hey, you brat from the Uchiha clan, isn't the graduation age for Konoha ninjas twelve?"

"Um."

Uchiha Itachi nodded. He graduated from the Ninja Academy at the age of seven, became an ANBU captain at the age of eleven, and became an S-rank rogue ninja of Konoha at the age of thirteen due to the clan massacre.

Seeing Konan's appearance, Itachi Uchiha decided to say a few words: "Konan, she is only one year younger than me, but she is very strong... If it weren't for her carelessness when we first met, I might have been defeated as well."

"Hmm..."

Konan's brow immediately relaxed, and she nodded, saying, "Alright, let's go to Yunin Village now!"

"..."

Itachi Uchiha closed his eyes and sighed.

Sure enough, no matter what age or personality a woman is, as long as you go along with her wishes, you can achieve your desired goal.

Konan, along with Kakuzu and Itachi Uchiha, left the base and headed to Yugakure to search for Hidan's whereabouts. A spatial vortex appeared where they had been standing.

The mysterious masked man emerged from the spatial vortex and spoke to the empty air, "Black Zetsu, I'm going to check on that intern in the organization, to see how he plans to recruit Kisame..."

His voice was no longer the comical chuckle he had at the Akatsuki meeting; instead, it was heavy, carrying the somber and authoritative air of someone in a superior position.

A pitcher plant emerged from the ground, and a half-white, half-black monster appeared, speaking in a hoarse voice: "Obito, don't pay so much attention to a brat, okay? His existence won't hinder our plans, and he'll become a henchman for collecting tailed beasts in the future."

"That brat named Uehara doesn't have a dark past!"

The masked man chuckled coldly, looking down at Zetsu lying on the ground, and continued, "Will he ever agree with our ideals? Ever since Payne and Konan found him, they've been protecting him. If we don't act this time, we might not have the chance again!"

"Hmm? What do you want to do to him? If we kill him, Konan and Pain will definitely suspect us, Obito, which doesn't fit our plan."

Jue shook its head. Everything was proceeding according to plan, and it didn't want the mysterious masked man in front of it to cause any trouble.

"Don't worry, I won't kill him!"

The masked man reached up and grabbed the patterned mask on his face, whispering, "I will manipulate Uehara Naraku into darkness, just as I manipulated Uchiha Itachi in the past..."

As you saw before, he was only twelve years old when he easily defeated a mixed squad of Jonin. Now he already has at least Jonin-level strength, and he might become even stronger in the future. We absolutely cannot let him remain loyal to Nagato!

While Konan and Uehara Naraku were attacking the Rain Ninja stronghold, Black Zetsu and the masked man were secretly observing Uehara's situation.

When they saw Uehara Naraku easily defeat the small team of more than twenty people using lightning release ninjutsu, Black Zetsu was in a good mood; it had seen many big scenes.

Black Zetsu's hoarse voice held a hint of doubt as it looked up at the masked man with surprise: "Possessing Jonin-level chakra and strength at the age of twelve doesn't seem particularly noteworthy, like Kakashi Hatake from Konoha..."

"He's not like that good-for-nothing Kakashi."

The masked man coldly interrupted Black Zetsu, casually cursing the genius ninja from Konoha who had become a Jonin at the age of twelve.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Uehara Naraku will definitely reach Kage-level strength in the future. Unlike Kakuzu, Itachi, and Sasori of Akatsuki, who belong to the neutral faction of Akatsuki, he is an assistant to Nagato and Konan.

The existence of Uehara Naraku might cause the masked man to have a deviation in his future control of the Akatsuki organization, which is a minor but significant hidden danger.

but…

The masked man suddenly realized that if he turned Uehara Naraku to the other side, he could actually make that brat serve a wider purpose.

The masked man could even use Uehara Naraku in reverse, turning him into a spy infiltrating between Konan and Nagato to steal their information; he could also use Uehara Naraku to influence Konan and Nagato's actions.

For example, when the time is right, we could induce Nagato to directly attack the major ninja villages, causing him and the five major ninja villages to suffer heavy losses!

"Changing that brat won't be easy..."

Black Zetsu spoke in a low voice about the information he had gathered: "Uehara Naraku's father died in battle twelve years ago while protecting Konan; his mother also died of illness a few months ago... Apart from Nagato and Konan, he has no other ties with anyone."

Breaking a ninja's bonds and causing him to fall into darkness is the quickest way, and they also have some practical experience with it.

The problem is, Uehara Naraku is an orphan!

Currently, Uehara Naraku and Konan have the deepest bond, but if something happens to Konan, Nagato might give up collecting the tailed beasts and directly transform into a world-destroying demon king.

If something were to go wrong with Nagato's Rinnegan, describing it as a loss outweighing the gain would be an oversimplification...

Not to mention Black Zetsu, the mysterious masked man wouldn't allow such a thing to happen, so he planned to guide Uehara in another way: "Bonds, such a useless thing, can be cultivated."

Black Zetsu looked at the masked man, feeling like he'd overheard something incredible: "Obito, are you trying to arrange a friend for that brat? It's easy to destroy a bond, but it's much harder to cultivate one..."

"Hmph, there's always a way."

The masked man clenched his fist and whispered, "Prepare a White Zetsu for me. I'll find it a suitable identity!"

Black Zetsu nodded helplessly: "Fine, whatever makes you happy."

Anyway, it's not a very important thing. Success would benefit them, and failure wouldn't matter.

Uehara Naraku was unaware that someone wanted to arrange a friend for him, and he found himself in another predicament. Since he had never left the Land of Rain before, he was not very familiar with the geography of the ninja world.

His mission is to go to the Land of Water to recruit Kisame Hoshigaki.

Not only do they need to go abroad, but they also need to go to sea.

(End of this chapter)