Starting as the mastermind behind Naruto

Chapter 276 Damn it, how many more masterminds are there behind the scenes?

This news is a bit scary.

Upon hearing Jiraiya's words, Naruto nearly collapsed: "Perverted Sage, that joke isn't funny at all! If Uehara is a member of Akatsuki, then what have we been doing all this time?!"

Are you kidding me?!

How could Uehara Naraku possibly be a member of Akatsuki!

Not only was Naruto unwilling to believe it, but no one present dared to believe it either. Even Tsunade's face showed some doubt and uncertainty: "Jiraiya, can this be confirmed? Do you know what this means?"

It's best if this is fake!

Uehara Naraku was the member of their alliance who knew the Akatsuki organization best, and he had even been providing them with information about Akatsuki, which helped them a lot... If Uehara Naraku was a member of Akatsuki, then the ninja world would become too absurd!

"I don't want to believe that such a thing could happen in the ninja world."

Jiraiya gave a wry smile and shook his head helplessly, saying, "But the ninja world just has people like Uehara Naraku!"

Jiraiya looked up and observed the expressions on everyone's faces, then said softly, "Uehara Naraku has been hiding his identity all along, and it seems he's been doing it quite well. If I hadn't infiltrated Amegakure, we would never have known this secret under his control."

"If it's true..."

Tsunade's expression gradually calmed down, and she said in a low voice, "Then he knows almost everything about the information of our allied ninja villages."

"That's right."

Jiraiya nodded and continued in a deep voice, "This identity is extremely advantageous to him. He can even use us silently, for example, by arranging for us to fall into a trap so that he can easily capture Naruto. After all, Akatsuki's goal has always been the Tailed Beasts..."

"Really..."

Tsunade rubbed her temples and said in a low voice, "That brat has been hiding for far too long. He didn't arouse our suspicion for so long. Even now, hearing this from you, I still can't believe it."

After all, Uehara Naraku's performance was just too perfect.

He has always been incredibly good at disguising himself.

Kakashi Hatake nodded slowly and said in a low voice, "If I hadn't heard this news from Jiraiya-sama, even if someone else had said it, I would have found it hard to believe. After all, Uehara did help us a lot..."

"Uehara-senpai..."

Sakura Haruno's brows furrowed slightly.

Naruto Uzumaki tugged at his hair, thinking of Naraku Uehara's perpetually squinting, smiling face, and couldn't help but say, "But why did he join Akatsuki?! He's clearly very strong, skilled in many medical ninjutsu, and he even helped save Gaara..."

Jiraiya shook his head and sighed softly, "If their goal is to obtain the Nine-Tails, then his actions are not hard to predict; it's nothing more than trying to gain our trust."

Jiraiya glanced at everyone present and continued, "It seems that he has almost achieved his goal."

After saying that, Jiraiya looked at the still dejected Naruto Uzumaki and said softly, "Don't think that brat Uehara is really a good person... Heh, he was the one who saved the Fifth Kazekage of Sunagakure, but he was also the murderer who destroyed the entire village!"

"..."

Silence fell over the room once again.

They all knew about Akatsuki's actions; whenever they captured a Tailed Beast, they would almost always launch a direct and ruthless invasion of a major ninja village, decimating it to the point of near collapse.

Jiraiya slowly raised his head and said in a low voice, "Uehara Naraku has already overseen the destruction of Sunagakure, Kirigakure, and Iwagakure. Next, Kumogakure and our village—that brat will definitely not show any mercy!"

"..."

After a long while.

Naruto Uzumaki slowly nodded.

After all, he had experienced betrayal on the level of the Third Hokage before, so Uehara Naraku's betrayal of friendship didn't seem to have much of an impact on him.

"alright."

Tsunade slammed her hand on the table, noticing the somewhat unpleasant expressions on everyone's faces, and loudly addressed Jiraiya, "Alright, Jiraiya, have you received any other information? Didn't you just mention Uehara Naraku's teacher?"

"Yes."

Jiraiya slowly clenched his fist and said in a low voice, "The three orphans we rescued in Amegakure were also my three disciples. One of them is dead, and the other two are high-ranking members of Akatsuki. Konan was Uehara's teacher, and Nagato was the leader of Akatsuki who was manipulating things behind the scenes."

"Where's Obito?"

Kakashi Hatake suddenly raised his head, stared at Jiraiya, and asked, "If I remember correctly, the rumors in the ninja world have always been that Obito was the leader of Akatsuki..."

After saying this, Kakashi Hatake slowly lowered his head again and said with a wry smile, "Ha, that's right, the fact that Obito is the leader of Akatsuki was originally told to us by Naraku Uehara."

Really...

That's a brilliant idea.

Uehara Naraku shifted all the blame for the Akatsuki's actions onto the Akatsuki's so-called leader, Uchiha Obito. How could Konoha possibly suspect someone who was already likely to provoke Konoha's hostility?

"That statement isn't entirely wrong."

Jiraiya glanced at Kakashi Hatake and said in a deep voice, "Obito Uchiha is indeed manipulating Akatsuki from behind the scenes. The establishment of Akatsuki and all its actions are under his control. His goal is to secretly obtain the power of the tailed beasts that Nagato and the others have collected."

After saying that, Jiraiya continued, "Originally, Obito Uchiha and Nagato were both high-ranking members of Akatsuki. However, Obito Uchiha was expelled because he attempted to kill Naraku Uehara. But Obito Uchiha is still secretly controlling Akatsuki through undercover agents."

"..."

Everyone present looked somewhat distraught.

Is it even possible to play like this?

What kind of operation is this?

There are spies within the spy network?

Jiraiya sighed softly and said in a low voice, "After Obito Uchiha was expelled from Akatsuki, he always tried to regain control of the Tailed Beasts. So he wanted to use us to get rid of Nagato, Konan, and Uehara Naraku."

"Using someone else to do the dirty work?"

Tsunade frowned.

"That's right."

Jiraiya nodded and looked at Tsunade, saying, "Obito Uchiha doesn't have enough power to deal with them, so he wants us to take care of Nagato... Only if we defeat Nagato will he regain control of Akatsuki."

"That means..."

Kakashi Hatake tugged at his headband and whispered, "So, after we take care of the current Akatsuki leader, we still need to find a way to take care of Obito Uchiha before this war can be considered over, right?"

"No."

Jiraiya shook his head, his expression growing increasingly grave: "After dealing with Obito Uchiha, we still need to deal with Madara Uchiha, who's manipulating him from behind the scenes..."

"..."

Everyone present fell silent again, each feeling a bit overwhelmed. Was this Akatsuki organization never going to stop?

Are these behind-the-scenes manipulators playing a nested doll game here?

One layer upon another, one ring upon another, how can they be so good at playing games?

Aren't these people playing a level-based game? After finally defeating one opponent, the next one immediately takes their place...

Who can stand this?

Tsunade's expression suddenly changed, and she looked sharply at Jiraiya, saying, "Wait... Uchiha Madara, wasn't he killed by Great-Grandpa at the Valley of the End?"

Therefore, this news is questionable.

Jiraiya nodded, but the seriousness in his expression did not ease: "But based on my feeling, Obito Uchiha was probably not lying... For a legendary figure like Madara Uchiha, it's never too much to be careful."

"Um…"

Tsunade slowly nodded as well.

Naruto's eyes twitched slightly, and he said with a strange expression, "After we defeat Nagato, Obito, and Madara, there shouldn't be any new enemies appearing, right?"

"Probably not, right?"

Jiraiya's face showed a slight hint of doubt, but he still spoke in a deep voice: "Uchiha Madara was one of the two people who stood at the very top of the ninja world. There should be no enemy stronger than him."

After Jiraiya finished speaking, his expression returned to its solemn state: "However, it will be difficult for us to defeat Nagato, because Nagato was the most talented disciple I have ever seen. He was able to master all elemental transformations at the age of fifteen, and even possessed the legendary eye technique, the Rinnegan, a bloodline limit..."

Jiraiya's fists clenched tighter as he continued in a deep voice, "Now, even setting aside his own power, just the puppets he controls can use some of the Rinnegan's abilities, and I've only obtained information about the abilities of two or three of those puppets..."

After saying this, Jiraiya slowly continued, "Moreover, it seems that Akatsuki has more members now, so our intelligence needs to be updated. They will have a hard time dealing with us."

Kabuto Yakushi, who could use the Sage Mode of Ryuchi Cave, and Sasuke Uchiha, who obtained the Mangekyou Sharingan and even activated Susanoo.

"Sasuke?"

Naruto Uzumaki slowly lowered his head.

A moment later, Naruto's fighting spirit was rekindled: "Ha, I've successfully mastered Sage Mode! This time, I'll definitely bring Sasuke back!"

"..."

Jiraiya curled the corners of his mouth slightly, but didn't say anything.

This war will be very difficult to fight.

If they wanted to use Konoha's strength to deal with Akatsuki, it would be nothing short of wishful thinking. Even Jiraiya, who was always confident, did not have high hopes for his side.

Even without mentioning the hidden Madara Uchiha and Obito Uchiha, and Nagato who has never made a move, those dozen or so S-rank rogue ninja alone could cause chaos.

There are also the six puppets controlled by Nagato, each of which can unleash unimaginable and bizarre abilities.

After all, no one has ever witnessed the power of the Rinnegan.

Those eyes are the eyes of the legendary Sage of Six Paths!

"alright."

Jiraiya looked up at Tsunade and whispered, "Tsunade, I've brought back information about Akatsuki from Amegakure. Nagato will definitely not let this go. He'll probably launch his plan to invade Konoha and capture the Nine-Tails soon!"

"Um."

Tsunade nodded hastily and said in a deep voice, "Now let's formulate a plan to ensure we're completely safe in the event of Akatsuki's invasion! As for you, go to the hospital and recover from your injuries!"

Just as the people of Konoha were nervously preparing to deal with the impending invasion of the Akatsuki and to face their first opponent.

Inside Rain Hidden Village.

Uehara Naraku lay on his bed, a faint, bitter smile on his face: "Heh, everyone else is reunited with their families, while I can only stay here silently honing my skills and becoming stronger..."

Here are the first two chapters...

There should be four more updates today.

I'll update again this afternoon and evening, and I'll write the list of donors tonight!

(End of this chapter)