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Akio brought Nagato, and Jiraiya brought Minato. The four of them saw Nanako and Kushina off together. In the end, Kushina and Minato still had to be separated for a while—after all, Kushina still had parents and elders waiting for her back in the Land of Whirlpools.
Minato needed to resu training under Jiraiya. Because of Kushina, he had already fallen behind at the Konoha Academy.
"Hey, old freak, aren't you leaving yet? Still thinking about stealing my disciple?"
Old freak had beco Jiraiya's affectionate nickna for Akio.
Akio glanced at him. "Konan is still learning dical ninjutsu from Tsunade."
In truth, Akio was more worried about Nawaki. Although Nawaki had grown considerably stronger, he was roughly at the level of Asuma from the original series—strong, but not strong enough. There was no need for Pain to act; Kakuzu alone could easily kill him.
Lately, Nawaki had been fighting Fugaku constantly—minor scuffles every three days, and major ones every five. The most critical figure, Uchiha Mikoto, had yet to express her stance, and that ambiguity only fueled the competition between the two n. Each believed that winning would earn them the girl's heart, and the conflict kept escalating.
At this point, it wasn't just a clash between two individuals—it had beco a feud between two clans.
One was the heir to the Senju clan; the other was the nephew of the Uchiha clan head. Their social standings weren't far apart. The outco of this rivalry represented more than just personal pride—it had beco symbolic of the status between two great clans. Mikoto's eventual choice had beco a secondary issue.
"What a pain..." Akio sighed, ignoring Jiraiya's confused expression as he led Nagato back toward the Senju compound.
"Wait a second…" On a street in Konoha, Akio suddenly frowned and stopped Nagato, turning his head.
Soone had just brushed past him, but sothing felt off.
"Wearing that heavy cloak in this blazing heat—Kakuzu, aren't you boiling under there?" Akio sensed the man's chakra and paused in surprise before smiling.
The cloaked figure behind him stopped in his tracks, then slowly turned around and pulled back the hood, revealing a familiar, though mostly concealed, face.
"Elder Uzumaki Akio. Long ti no see. I didn't expect to run into you in Konoha."
Akio smiled and waved at Nagato. "You head back first. Your teacher ran into an old friend—going to catch up for a bit."
After sending Nagato off, Akio led Kakuzu into a nearby teahouse in Konoha.
Once seated, Akio grinned. "I heard you joined that Akatsuki organization. So why are you bold enough to show up in Konoha?"
"I've left the organization."
Akio raised an eyebrow. "When did you leave? Their leader let you go just like that?"
Kakuzu didn't answer directly. Instead, he continued, "I ca to Konoha to speak with the Hokage. I have information to sell. But since you're here, I don't need to make another trip."
Akio narrowed his eyes. "Information on Akatsuki?"
He had been quite curious about the Akatsuki. Taking Kakuzu to a teahouse had been part of his plan to dig into that.
"That's right. mber dossiers are ten million ryō each. Info on the leader is twenty million. Their objectives—another twenty million. Which do you want?"
Akio chuckled. That money-grubbing attitude of Kakuzu's hadn't changed a bit.
"No rush on those. I'm more curious about why you left. Didn't they pay you?"
Kakuzu paused, then shook his head. "I actually made more during the last war after joining them. But that organization... is full of lunatics. And their goals are vague."
"Lunatics?" Akio eyed Kakuzu up and down. "You're not exactly a poster boy for ntal stability either."
"Well then, tell exactly how they're not normal. Don't worry, I'll pay."
Kakuzu hesitated but ultimately decided to trust Akio's so-called "integrity"—not realizing Akio didn't really have any.
"Each mber goes by a codena. I never learned their real nas or saw their actual faces. My codena was 'Hokuto.'"
Akio blinked. That part didn't surprise him. "What about your ring? Did you return it?"
"Ring? What ring?"
Akio couldn't help but laugh. "You were working with a knock-off group and didn't even know it."
Kakuzu ignored him and continued.
"The one with the codena 'Santai' was a middle-aged man, completely deranged."
Santai? Akio frowned. Hidan probably wasn't even born yet. He couldn't guess who this madman might be.
"He constantly babbled about so cult worshiping an evil god. Said he wanted to kill because I didn't show respect to that god."
Akio was stunned. "The Jashin cult? That already existed before Hidan? I always thought Hidan was the first and only one…"
"You seem pleased with that bit of info," Kakuzu said, noting Akio's reaction. He stretched out his right hand.
"Akatsuki still shakes hands to seal a deal?"
"That information was one million ryō."
Akio waved it off. "You didn't tell anything useful—worth about one million at most."
Kakuzu stood up to leave, and Akio quickly stopped him.
He could've used force, but Kakuzu had worked for Konoha's benefit for many years—aside from his one failed attempt on Hashirama's life. Now he was handing over info on Akatsuki, so Akio felt bad about using violence. Besides, fighting inside the village would be troubleso.
"Give one more piece of intel, and I'll pay."
Kakuzu gave Akio a long look, then sat back down.
"Codena Zero…"
"Wait." Akio interrupted. "Tell about a regular mber first. Save the leader for last."
Kakuzu blinked. "Zero isn't the leader. I've never seen him, but I've heard his voice. Sounds like a ten-year-old child who follows the leader around."
"The leader isn't Zero?" Akio mused. "A child, huh? Could be Sasori, but I haven't heard of him disappearing from the Sand yet. Kisa, maybe? He looks older, but he wouldn't be ten right now."
Kakuzu extended his hand again. Akio sighed and took out twenty million ryō, handing it over.
"Now, tell about the Akatsuki leader."
Kakuzu accepted the money, clearly more animated now.
"The leader doesn't use a codena. He always conceals his appearance when giving orders. No one knows his real na either. But he constantly issues strange and troubleso commands. That's why I left."
"Strange orders… Trying to rewrite the plot?" Akio muttered, unsurprised.
"For example, the leader once told to stir up conflict between the Land of Water and the Land of Earth—he didn't want Iwagakure to attack Kumogakure."
"So that's why those countries are at war?" Akio realized. He had assud the Land of Water just lashed out at the Land of Earth over unrelated issues.
"All the other mbers are doing similar missions that have no obvious benefit, even though the leader does give us funding for them."
Akio nodded, ntally noting it all down.
"Tied down by this kind of structure, they may be easier to deal with than I thought." He paused in thought, then pulled out a thick bundle of silver notes.
"So… where is Akatsuki's base?"
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