Starting as the mastermind behind Naruto

Chapter 234 Mr. Itachi, we're in luck! (Sixth update! Thanks to the esteemed Doggy Alliance Leader!)

The tall tower of Amegakure Village.

Having just sealed away two tailed beasts, Nagato was exhausted. Uehara Naraku used Star Infusion on him, which helped him recover somewhat.

Nagato frowned and said softly, "Uehara, you've had a tough day too, don't waste your chakra."

"It's okay."

Uehara Naraku sat down at the table and got down to business: "I'll be attending the Konoha alliance talks, and before that, we might be able to make some special arrangements."

Nagato tapped his fingers on the chair, pondered for a moment, and then asked softly, "Uehara, do you have any thoughts?"

"Let me first tell you about the intelligence we've gathered from the five great ninja villages."

Uehara Naraku frowned and said in a deep voice, "First of all, the mastermind behind the Akatsuki organization is Uchiha Obito, who is directing Akatsuki's actions."

"In a sense..."

Nagato seemed to recall something unpleasant and said in a low voice, "It was indeed Obito Uchiha who was guiding our actions before."

"It's the same now."

Uehara Naraku spread out his palms and said in a low voice, "When I mention the leader behind Akatsuki to the outside world, I always inevitably mention Uchiha Obito, which makes the eyes of the five great nations focus on him. Those people probably think that as long as Uchiha Obito is killed, the entire Akatsuki organization will collapse."

Nagato seemed a little lost.

Is this even possible?

Nagato looked at Uehara Naraku, a hint of doubt on his face: "Did those people really believe you that much?"

Uehara Naraku shook his head, then nodded, and continued softly, "This is a long story, dating back to eight years ago, when I was assassinated by Obito..."

At that time, I was recruiting Kisame Hoshigaki when Kakashi Hatake discovered it, and Obito's identity was exposed by Kakashi Hatake, which made it impossible for our Amegakure and Akatsuki to sever ties.

This could easily arouse the enemy's suspicion. At that time, Kakashi Hatake kept pressing me for information, and I had no choice but to vaguely tell him part of the truth.

Later on, the whole truth became what it is today.

In order to strengthen Amegakure and obtain the title of Amegakure's Rain Shadow, Hanzo, the leader of Amegakure, was lured by Obito Uchiha, who was living in seclusion. He sent his ninjas to recruit S-rank rogue ninjas from various countries to form a mercenary organization and accumulate his own power.

Later, Obito Uchiha betrayed Hanzo of the Salamander for his own ambitions, and gathered rogue ninjas from the mercenary organization to form an organization called Akatsuki. They participated in wars all over the ninja world, and now they have even begun to capture tailed beasts.

Hanzo of the Salamander was furious at being betrayed. All his years of hard work had vanished in an instant. As a result, Hanzo's Amegakure ninja and Obito Uchiha's Akatsuki organization fought each other everywhere, and the Amegakure ninja also searched for and killed Akatsuki members.

In their view, we Rain Village ninjas and the so-called Rain Village leader, Hanzo of the Salamander, should be the people who hate the Akatsuki the most.

After finishing speaking, Uehara Naraku rubbed his forehead and said softly, "I don't know why things have turned out this way. Anyway, this is pretty much the situation between Amegakure and Akatsuki. I'm constantly worried that we might reveal a weakness."

Actually, there were many hidden things in Uehara Naraku's words.

For example, how much blame has Hanzo of the Salamander taken for Amegakure, and how much blame has Obito Uchiha taken for Akatsuki? Even Uehara Naraku himself probably can't count it all.

Since there are too many to count, there's no need to mention them.

Not to mention what Uehara Naraku didn't mention, just the fact that he gave a general account of what happened left Nagato completely stunned.

Unbelievable... such a thing is possible?

It must be said that this matter is very beneficial to both the Akatsuki and Amegakure, allowing them to operate more covertly and preventing Amegakure from being implicated.

However, this kind of thing requires proper intelligence processing.

It's fortunate that Amegakure is closed off from the outside world, so that no one can discover the truth. If someone were to sneak in one day and get even a little bit of information about the inside of Amegakure, they would probably be dumbfounded on the spot.

Nagato made a decision on the spot, saying in a deep voice, "From now on, Pain will be placed in Amegakure and covered by the Rain Tiger Free Technique for a long time to prevent anyone from sneaking in and ruining our current extremely favorable situation."

"..."

Uehara Naraku couldn't help but think of the only ninja who had infiltrated Amegakure, Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha and also the teacher of Konan and Nagato.

Uehara Naraku sighed inwardly. What if Konan and Nagato killed Jiraiya again? Wouldn't they regret it then?

After all, the plans that Konan and Nagato are currently implementing are all fake.

The true Eye of the Moon Plan was known only to Black Zetsu, Naraku Uehara, Kisame Hoshigaki, and Kabuto Yakushi.

It seems we need to think of a backup plan.

However, given the current situation, Jiraiya might not actually infiltrate, since Uehara Naraku could easily fabricate a report for them regarding the Akatsuki they wanted!

Furthermore, if Jiraiya were to infiltrate and be discovered, it could cause a conflict between Konoha and Amegakure, which would be detrimental to the overall strategy of the ninja world working together to combat Akatsuki.

"As for Akatsuki, that's a bit more complicated..."

Nagato frowned, thinking of those unruly fellows: "Hmm, how about this, if you want the members of the organization to cooperate with you, just use the Illusion Body Technique to command them, or relay the message to me and I will give the order."

"Um."

Uehara Naraku tapped his fingers and said in a low voice, "I'll go change into a regular ninja uniform first to prepare for the alliance meeting. As for what kind of cooperation is needed, I can just tell Kakuzu-senpai. We have a pretty good relationship."

"it is good."

Nagato smiled and nodded.

Uehara Naraku added, "Oh, one last thing, let's wait until I get back to capture the Five-Tails Jinchuriki! That way you won't give yourself away!"

After all, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki needs to attack Iwagakure, and Uehara Naraku also needs to use the pretext of capturing the Five-Tails Jinchuriki to break through Iwagakure and obtain the Earth Power!

"it is good."

Nagato continued to nod.

After finishing his explanation, Uehara Naraku left the tower.

Nagato gazed thoughtfully at Uehara Naraku's retreating figure. After a moment, he summoned Pain, the Deva Path, and spoke to his puppet, saying, "Actually, we can already hand over Amegakure and Akatsuki to him, right?"

Even Uehara Naraku's treatment was only a drop in the ocean, since the thing draining his power from behind was a behemoth like the Gedo Mazo.

Nagato knew very well that his lifespan was not going to last much longer, and even if Uehara Naraku poured a huge amount of chakra into him, it would only be a delaying tactic.

Even if we can delay, how many more years can we delay?

According to Nagato's assessment, it was probably quite fortunate that he was able to delay until Uehara Naraku was thirty years old.

"Are these eyes the eyes of a sage, or a curse from a sage?"

Nagato unconsciously touched his eye sockets, slowly lowering his head: "At least Uehara should be able to enjoy the peaceful world created by these eyes!"

"..."

Uehara Naraku stood outside the door, his hand, which was about to push the door open, stopped. He actually had something else he wanted to say, but now he didn't want to go in.

Oh well, he already made arrangements for Nagato anyway.

Nagato is still indulging in wishful thinking and self-pity.

After packing his things, Uehara Naraku slowly left Amegakure. This meeting might be his last trip to Konoha; if there were another chance, it would mean he might have infiltrated the Allied Shinobi Forces.

Hmm, is there even a chance?

When Uehara Naraku entered the Land of Fire.

A major event has occurred in the Land of Fire that has alarmed Konoha.

The entire Fire Temple was reduced to ruins. The abbot of the Fire Temple, Monk Dilu, was killed by two members of the Akatsuki organization, and their bodies were taken away.

Yes, Kakuzu and Hidan made their move.

After sealing the Three-Tails and Four-Tails, Kakuzu couldn't suppress his desire for money. Relying on his immortality, he dragged Hidan along to the Fire Temple and killed Jiraiya.

Even though Jiraiya thought himself powerful, he was unable to defeat Hidan, who had initiated the evil god ritual, and was killed on the spot.

Konoha Village.

After receiving the news, Tsunade immediately announced that she would capture the two Akatsuki members and dispatch a total of twenty ninja squads!

If we can capture these two Akatsuki members, we will have a greater political advantage in the upcoming alliance talks against Akatsuki.

This was the Fifth Hokage's consideration.

Unfortunately, Tsunade did not expect that the Akatsuki's active forces in the Land of Fire were not limited to Kakuzu and Hidan.

The gold exchange near the Fire Temple in the Land of Fire.

This money exchange was located inside a toilet, and Kakuzu was still inside, carefully counting his money. After all, money is no small matter, and he definitely had to count it carefully.

Hidan couldn't stand the stench and ran away cursing. Kakuzu thought Hidan was just not cut out for money.

This time, however, Kakuzu guessed wrong.

Hidan and money seem to have a strong connection.

Just as Hidan was waiting for Kakuzu outside the exchange shop, a Konoha Jonin named Sarutobi Asuma appeared before him with his squad.

Sarutobi Asuma was also on Kakuzu's kill list, and his body was worth five million more than Jiraiya's, making it a unit of measurement for large sums of money in the ninja world.

Completely unaware of the danger he was in, Sarutobi Asuma appeared before Hidan, wielding two chakra blades, and said coldly, "Shikamaru, Izumo, Kotetsu, it seems we're in luck; we've found the murderer of Jiraiya directly..."

"No, Asuma-sensei."

Nara Shikamaru shook his head, turned to look at another figure emerging from the crowd, and said with a grim expression, "Our luck doesn't seem to be very good."

In the direction Nara Shikamaru was looking, four figures draped in black robes with auspicious cloud patterns emerged.

According to Konoha's intelligence, except when attacking major ninja villages, the Akatsuki usually operates in pairs.

The information they received was the same, since the monk from the Fire Temple who delivered the message only saw Kakuzu and Hidan.

Nara Shikamaru initially thought that the four Konoha ninjas had surrounded an Akatsuki member, intending to take one down first and then ambush the other. However, the four Akatsuki members appeared and surrounded them.

Kisame, the leader, grinned and chuckled, saying, "Itachi-san, it seems we're in luck; we've caught the big fish that Kakuzu-senpai wanted!"

One chapter left!

Thanks again to the guild leader, "A Lonely Dog," whose name is a bit long and I can't type the title!

The bonus chapter for the generous donation to the top-tier guild leader is now complete!

The remaining chapter is an extra chapter thanks to the 10,000 points raised by other readers and the patron!

Thank you to all the readers for the donations, and thank you to all the readers of the official version for your support. Time to get back to writing!

(End of this chapter)