章 200: Chapter 200
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"Akatsuki?"
Hearing the name immediately made Sasuke think of Itachi, clad in the organization's black robes with red clouds, and the time he and Naruto had faced Kisame, only to be completely overwhelmed despite their combined efforts.
Sasuke couldn't understand why Gensou had set his sights on a mysterious organization composed of S-rank rogue ninjas, especially when it seemed to be connected to something as grand as "eternity."
Seeing that Gensou wasn't inclined to delve deeper into the topic, Sasuke didn't press further.
For him now, it didn't matter whether the target was the Five Great Nations or the Akatsuki. Whoever or whatever the enemy, as long as Gensou commanded, Sasuke would use his eyes without hesitation to eliminate all obstacles from their path.
As Sasuke touched the bandages over his eyes, he felt it—it was time.
And right then, Gensou spoke. "It's time. You can remove the bandages."
Sasuke immediately complied.
One by one, the bandages fell away, revealing his tightly closed eyes. Slowly, he opened them.
What was once a pair of standard Mangekyō Sharingan had evolved. Before Gensou now were a pair of Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, the six-pointed star pattern overlain by a black, triangular windmill design.
Sasuke had officially become the second Uchiha, after Madara, to awaken the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
Gensou inspected the eyes, nodding in approval. "Take your time getting accustomed to them. It won't be long before you'll need them in full force."
"Understood," Sasuke replied, before hastily heading toward the training grounds to test his new power.
Meanwhile, Gensou remained in the lab, preparing for the next phase of his plan.
That was, until Hanare arrived with new information.
"No sign of the Rinnegan in Amegakure?" Gensou frowned as he opened the scroll Hanare handed him, the one marked with the clan's signature paw print.
If the Akatsuki was the target, the first step was to focus on its leader, Pain.
Neither Obito nor Black Zetsu was the current priority. Capturing Pain's Rinnegan and securing the Gedo Statue would allow Gensou to take control of the Ten-Tails and the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
That would enable him to finally launch his true plan.
To defeat Pain, it was crucial to locate him first. Since Amegakure had been closed off for years, Gensou had discreetly sent in the ninja cats to investigate. While other ninja might have been detected, who would suspect the presence of mere stray cats?
By establishing connections with the local stray cats, Gensou's ninja cats had quietly gathered information, their presence unnoticed in the rain-soaked village.
But the report was clear: neither Pain nor Konan had been seen in Amegakure for some time.
"Could they be away on a mission?"
Gensou pondered this possibility.
Pain wouldn't remain in Amegakure indefinitely. Whether it was recruiting new members, carrying out missions for hire, or hunting Jinchuriki, Pain had a history of acting personally.
Additionally, because of Nagato's weakened physical condition, Konan would always accompany him as a bodyguard.
"Anything significant happening in the shinobi world recently?" Gensou asked Hanare.
Without hesitation, Hanare replied, "Aside from the ongoing Uchiha and Konoha situation, Samui reports that the Fourth Raikage has confined the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki in the Valley of Clouds and Lightning. Meanwhile, intel from our Kirigakure contacts suggests a recent surge in pursuit activity by the Hunter-nin, likely tracking down a highly important defector."
Though Hanare's intelligence network wasn't as vast as White Zetsu's, it was still effective. She didn't know that the Kirigakure traitor was the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, but Gensou quickly connected the dots.
"Escaping from Kirigakure, evading the Hunter-nin across the ocean to the mainland—this defector must be formidable," Gensou remarked.
Being a rogue ninja was no easy task. Even a high-ranking Jonin would struggle against the power of an entire hidden village.
To make it to the mainland without being captured, the rogue had to possess extraordinary skill.
Through a process of elimination, Gensou identified the most likely candidate from Kirigakure: the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, Utakata.
Jinchuriki always seemed to get into trouble.
Recalling past events, Gensou knew that Utakata had indeed defected from Kirigakure during this period.
And if he remembered correctly, Utakata's fate, like so many other Jinchuriki, was sealed when his Tailed Beast was extracted, leading to his death.
The one responsible for his death? None other than Pain.
Gensou's eyes gleamed. "So, that's it. The intel aligns."
At this moment, Pain was likely hunting the Six-Tails Jinchuriki.
The location? Katsuragi Mountain, home to the Tsuchigumo clan.
The image of a young, beautiful woman named Hotaru, marred by the grotesque mark on her back, flashed through Gensou's mind.
"It seems we'll be meeting again soon," Gensou mused as he stood and made his way toward his office, issuing orders as he left. "Bring Sasuke, Izumi, and Jin to my office."
"Understood!" Hanare quickly departed to carry out his orders.
...
Five minutes later.
Sasuke, Izumi, and Jin, who had been training to adapt to their new powers, stood before Gensou in his office.
Gensou handed them three dossiers.
"Your next mission targets," he said calmly.
Each of them opened their files, and the familiar image of the Akatsuki's black robes with red clouds greeted their eyes.
After quickly scanning the dossiers, the three closed their files and looked back at Gensou, eager for the challenge.
"Understood, Gensou-sama!" they replied in unison.
Gensou gave a slight nod, "Then move out."
In an instant, the three vanished from the room, leaving Gensou alone.
He reached for another dossier on his desk. This one bore the name and image of Pain.
"It's time I made my move as well."
And with that, Gensou's figure also disappeared from the office.
(End of Chapter)
章 201: Chapter 201
The lively and uplifting sound of a flute echoed along the road, like a bluebird riding the wind, drifting far away.
While on his journey, Gensou slowed his steps, glancing at the long caravan beside him. An artist, wandering and playing his flute joyfully, caught his attention.
The melody was beautiful.
For once, Gensou slowed his pace, tilting his ear to listen.
When the song ended, applause erupted from the gathered crowd.
Gensou nodded in approval. Just as he was about to leave, his gaze swept over one of the guards by the caravan.
The guard seemed no different from anyone else, but as soon as Gensou appeared, his heartbeat quickened.
Now, it was even faster.
Gensou retracted his gaze and continued on his way.
A few minutes later, the guard, confident that the figure had moved far enough away, sighed in relief and quickly whispered to those beside him, "I'm going to the restroom."
He stepped into the dense forest lining the road and pulled out a scroll, writing: "Spotted Gensou. Time and location."
Just as he was about to perform the summoning technique, a hand rested on his shoulder, and a pair of eyes met his.
Without even a moment to feel shock or fear, the guard lost consciousness instantly.
"Konoha's ANBU has been very active lately," Gensou said thoughtfully as flames arose in his palm, quickly burning the guard's freshly written scroll.
On his way to Mount Katsuragi, he had already encountered several groups of Konoha shinobi.
Initially, he thought they were on some kind of mission, but now it was clear. These people had only one goal—to find the whereabouts of New Jomae Village.
Among the search teams, not only were there openly uniformed Konoha shinobi, but also undercover agents blending into the world of shinobi, like this guard.
The intensity of this search was far beyond that of the past two years.
Gensou had gleaned a significant amount of information from the guard's mind.
It wasn't just Konoha. The other four major shinobi villages and even the smaller villages under their control had mobilized the majority of their forces, both openly and covertly, in a bid to uncover the location of Jomae Village.
Individually, the power of a shinobi village may not seem impressive.
But war—that was their forte.
Now, the five major villages were trying to shift the situation to their most familiar battlefield.
"This reaction is quite intense. Have the five great shinobi villages finally realized that they're no longer the players controlling the pieces on the board?" Gensou chuckled but didn't dwell on it too much.
His current objective remained the key to all of his plans—the Rinnegan!
"I'll deal with you bigger fish later," Gensou muttered as he disappeared, moving swiftly once more.
While Gensou himself paid it little mind, the sudden massive search by the five great shinobi villages caused trouble for many others.
Pain, also on the move, sensed the strange happenings in the shinobi world. After extracting the memories of several Konoha shinobi using the Human Path, he roughly understood the situation.
"So, the entire shinobi world is searching for Gensou's forces? That's fine."
If White Zetsu had discovered the location of New Jomae Village, he wouldn't have minded spreading the information to fan the flames.
But now...
Pain paused, rubbing the ring on his finger.
Soon, the members of the Akatsuki, upon receiving the notification, appeared beside him in their holographic forms.
"What's the matter, Leader?" Kisame, who was on leave after his teammate Itachi's death, asked curiously.
Pain replied calmly, "The five great shinobi villages are now focusing all their efforts on searching for Gensou's forces. Everyone should be more cautious for the time being. If things seem off, you can put your tasks on hold."
Pain hadn't forgotten that his subordinates were all S-rank missing-nin. If they were caught by shinobi from the major villages, especially given the current mobilization levels, it wouldn't end well.
Until the mission of capturing the tailed beasts was completed, keeping everyone intact was the best course of action.
"Great!" Deidara was the first to voice his agreement. "I've been flying over the ocean for days! I'm exhausted. I'll take this opportunity to rest. Hmm!"
"I was already resting. Since the Leader says so, I'll just rest a bit longer," Kisame chuckled.
Hearing that, Deidara turned to Kisame and asked, "Are you still soaking in the hot springs of the Land of Hot Water, on that famous street of bathhouses?"
Kisame had mentioned during the last meeting that he was going to take a vacation in the Land of Hot Water, and Deidara had been "curious" about it.
Now, with the perfect opportunity, he wanted to confirm Kisame's location.
Kisame, never suspecting Deidara's motives, nodded without hesitation. "Why? You want to come too?"
Deidara grinned. "Of course! That street is part of my artistic vision!"
Knowing all too well what Deidara meant by "art," Kisame quickly waved him off. "You better not."
On the other side, Kakuzu reported to Pain, "We've tracked the Jinchuriki of the Five-Tails to the Iwadan Mountains in the Land of Earth. We've already arrived and will proceed cautiously."
Pain nodded.
He had merely issued a reminder. He wouldn't stop Akatsuki members from carrying out their plans if they were confident.
"The message has been delivered. Dismissed."
Without another word, Pain's holographic form vanished, and he continued on his way, his objective unchanged.
While others might fear the power of the shinobi villages...
He was different.
If discovered, he'd simply eliminate them.
No one could escape the gaze of the Rinnegan.
...
At the same time.
On a distant coastline...
"The hot spring street in the Land of Hot Water and the Iwadan Mountains in the Land of Earth... Thank you, Kisame, Kakuzu, and the Leader."
Deidara, feeling thrilled with his first time as a spy, gleefully wrote down the intel on a tiny bird he created and secretly let it fly away.
After completing everything, he joyfully returned to where Sasori was.
Sasori shot Deidara a sideways glance.
For some reason, this guy had been randomly grinning lately.
"Deidara, are you sure you're not sick?" Sasori asked coldly, distancing himself.
Deidara patted his chest. "Of course not! Brother Sasori, I've got an amazing art piece in mind. When the time comes, you'll be shocked! Hmm!"
Deidara eagerly anticipated Sasori's reaction when he eventually revealed, "I'm a spy."
Such a wonderful artistic moment, happening between two artists.
Just the thought made him excited!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Loud explosions echoed within Mount Sumeru.
"There's a secret base here!"
"There are shinobi! It's likely the target, New Jomae Village!"
"Gather more people! Seal the area, quick!"
...
People's circumstances were different.
The five great shinobi villages had yet to find Gensou or the Akatsuki, but by chance, they stumbled upon another individual.
Sitting at home, Utakata was bewildered as he watched the rising shinobi techniques drawing closer and the large number of shinobi behind them.
"Was this really necessary? I've been out of the shinobi world for years," Utakata murmured, still unsure what had just happened.
(End of Chapter)
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