บท 35: Who are you?

Ajisai's eyelashes twitched in her sleep and seeing this I flickered into the darkness of the corner. From the lighting there was only a small window in the wall. And due to the fact that it was already evening, the sun almost did not illuminate the room.

Flickering into the corner and plunging into the darkness, I decided to assess what she would do.

Stretching out with a moan she looked at Fuyo.

"It's already evening, why didn't you wake me up Fuyo? Fuyo !? Suiren wake up !!! " Jumping and checking Fuyo's condition, Ajisai stand up and drew her weapons.

Suiren stands up, too, ready for anything.

Both girls drawing out their weapons, began to look around. With poor vision, Ajisai made the best decision and threw four kunai at two of the darkest places. There was a knock on the wall from one corner. But those that flew in my direction, I caught with one hand silently.

Realizing where the enemy was, they began to throw weapons one after another, but they all disappeared silently in the darkness. Only a couple of kunai remained in their hand, and I saw how they prepared the last hope for my murder - explosive seals. Deciding not to go that far, I stretched my hands out of the shadows into the light and unclenched my fingers. With a characteristic sound of metal, the caught kunai, shurikens, senbon fell to the ground one after another.

This ostentatious sight frightened the two girls greatly. After all, in order to catch all the weapons like this, you need to be really capable. Although the secret was in my gloves. They were strong enough to leave no liquid on them. For example blood. Thanks to them, when I hit my fist, I received little damage to the skin. Well, in conjunction with my strong body and eyes, which see everything too clearly even in the dark, it was just a game.

Putting my hands back into the darkness, I walked out into the light in a cloak with red clouds.

"Good reaction. Even if it didn't bring results. " - I praised them.

"Cat-sama, what's going on. Why is Fuyo unconscious?" - asked the leader of the group.

"I gave her a hint that there was a stranger in the room, and a very fat one. She saw it, but attributed it to her imagination. Now she will remember her mistake. " - Approaching Fuyo, I clamped her mouth and grabbed her shoulder. Stretching out from the finger with a string of chakra, I touched the desired nerve.

"MMMMMMMMMM!" - Fuyo screamed into the palm of my hand in pain waking up.

After calming her down, I explained to all three the situation outside. After discussing what they need to do, I went to the door.

Going outside, I signaled for the others to follow me and ran along the wall. Jumping off it, we ran through the trees. The guards did not notice us and there were quite a few of them. This could be true if I hadn't already sensed two people on my tail. Having signaled to the team to move on, I stopped to meet those two.

In black cloaks and animal masks, they caught up with me and, recognizing me, immediately ran back, correctly assessing the strength. Surprised by such a clever decision, I stretched out two fingers and launched a network of lightning across my body, destroying the beetles that began to crawl towards me. It hurt but was bearable.

Jumping from the point where I stood, I made sure that there were no more bugs on me. Having caught up with the team, I examined the girls with the Sharingan. Gently gripping them on what I almost caught a blow to the head from the reddened Ajisai, I took out the beetles and threw them away. Blowing out a small ball of fire, I burned them without a trace. Having returned the lower part of the mask to its place, I ran further leading the group.

The rest of the way went without any problems except Ajisai sulking at me ostentatiously.

The journey took all night and morning, given the respite. And all the tired ones tumbled into the gates of the land of rains. Girls are tired of the road. And I'm tired that they are as slow as turtles.

Without hiding, I walked straight ahead at a leisurely pace towards a cone-shaped building made of iron with a face on it. When I went in, I clarified where Konan was and it was so lucky that she was there.

When I entered the office, I saw her sitting at the table in the guise of Hanzo and writing papers. Seeing that it was me, she canceled the paper version of Henge. I must note that the group is really so independent that it has already enslaved two villages. So soon it is not far from world domination.

"Yo Konan! Guess who I brought after that Hashirama and his brother fought with Hiruzen, and then giant frog jumped along with the one-tailed and nine-tailed destroying the forest. Oh, and even Orochimaru with first Hokage Hashirama and his brother participated in the party like the icing on the cake. In general, it was fun. " - I greeted and missed the team, which bowed to Konan and marked their arrival.

Konan was directly burning with curiosity I saw in her eyes, but slowly asking, she handed me a suitcase.

"I didn't fully understand what you said or how it's possible, but Zetsu followed the event and will tell later in the meeting tonight. As for the payment, we added another two million for you for the time spent. "

With a wave of my hand, I pulled the suitcase with the threads and, after checking the cash, closed it back.

"Nice to deal with! Finally, it's a normal reward for the mission, and not the one to destroy the bridge, destroy the house ... "

"These are the usual missions, of which there are quite a few. However, how fast you perform it hit Kakuzu's eye like a log. He can't wait to strangle you when he sees your earned money. If you haven't forgotten his people work for us as accountants. " Konan said fact with a grin. She might not have talked about it.

I myself, at every meeting, had the pleasure of watching Kakuzu glare at me. What is his abnormal need for money ?? He constantly thinks that I steal his easy money ...

Having said goodbye, I almost left the office as I remembered something. Stretching out my wrist, I sealed the case under the bandages and quickly walked over to Ajisai. Remembering the awkward moment when I was looking for bugs, she blushed. I stood there and, looking at her face, remembered where I saw her. I took her by the chin and lifted her reddened face while approaching her with my mask. Now I know for sure that I saw her before.

More precisely, her corpse.

She was one of the Pain-bodies, a girl making summons. But that girl was supposed to be younger than she is now, then why is she here? Looking at her from different angles, all doubts disappeared - this is her. Her hair, face, lips. Straining my head, I remembered the episode where she died on one of the missions as an adult. I have changed a lot in this world, but I still liked her during the time I spent with her.

"Is something wrong Cat-sama?" She asked nervously.

Looking at Konan, I thought. Konan also looked at me coldly and waited for an explanation.

Could Konan have raised her as a vessel for Pain's powers from the beginning? And she's going to rig that mission fatally too?

For Nagato's sake, she couldn't tell the difference between good and evil. For Nagato's sake and his goals, she was willing to do anything. We stood in silence until Konan got tired of it.

"What's the matter? Did you like this girl? " She asked calmly.

"There is such a thing. She's pretty strong and has the potential to be something big. She quickly learns from her mistakes. OK, bye." - Saying goodbye in a cold voice, I suppressed the feeling of sympathy for Ajisai and left.

I myself will do anything for my own purposes, and a relationship can give me peace of mind that slows me down. I need constant movement. I can not stop.

When I got out, I found a park and leaned against a tree, admiring the sound of nature again started by the rain. Drops hit the leaves and closing houses in the distance in a veil. The sun was not visible and it was dark. Thinking about my future and whether it is worth it if I am immortal but lonely all my life, I leaned against a tree near the building and bowed my head.

"What do you want Zetsu." I said into the air after a long silence. Nothing happened and then I looked with the Mangyoku Sharingan at tree, from which a slightly purple mass was sticking out.

"Pretty interesting, how did you find me?" - the face of the tree parasite crawled out with its roommate.

I looked at him in silence. Zetsu understood the atmosphere in my voice and that there was no time for empty talk. Therefore, he immediately got down to business.

"Why do you need the one-tailed chakra? And where is she now? And where did you get Sussano's abilities? They are only owned by members of the Uchiha clan. You used them in the forest a week ago, I saw it perfectly and I cannot be wrong. " - he dumped in a cheerful voice as if from impatience to find out.

Squinting under my mask, I thought about the likely possibilities. He knew not just a lot, but too much. So he followed not only the village, but also me?

"Is it so important? I don't think it has anything to do with our organization. What I didn't expect is that some kind of parsley will hunt down my affairs. "

"Ehehehe, you walk around so mysterious in a mask hiding your face. Who wouldn't want to know everything? Today at the meeting you will find out about the tail beasts. The chakra of the tailed beasts really affects our affairs. If you don't want to answer, then I leave. "

"I read a book not long time ago. Old legends, fairy tales. " - I began and Zetsu slowed down and stayed realizing that I was talking to him.

Looking back at the rain, I continued: "Once upon a time there was Hagoromu, the progenitor of the chakra. He lived a carefree peaceful life, but, one day he learned that his mother kidnaps people and makes them soulless puppets, soldiers. He rebelled with his brother against his mother and by defeating her he sealed the evil. " - After a pause, I looked at the black Zetsu sitting on white. His expression was unreadable, but his voice betrayed his concern over my words.

"The usual legend of which there are many. Why are you telling me this? "

"Because there is a piece of truth in every legend. Why did she make soldiers? Who did she want to protect herself from? Or attack? And why did her sons betray so quickly after she gave them life, freedom, and love? Too many questions and so few answers. Who knows if the legend was true, then to this day she still locked somewhere. "

Zetsu looked at me in silence. The air smelled of suspicion. He manipulated the world for his mother all his life. And then someone tells him about her when the whole world has forgotten her.

"I don't know why you told me this, but I haven't told anyone about your susano yet. Perhaps I will not speak further. " - having said that he froze. Turning my face in his direction, I silently looked at him. Both sides felt pressure and awkwardness in the air.

"Why did you suddenly start telling me about this legend?" - he asked again, but after a couple of seconds, he began to leave.

Having plunged back into the tree back as quickly as possible, he disappeared realizing that there would be no answers. I thought about it. The fact that he has information that I am Uchiha, I was not going to hide with his murder. Even though I could take his soul, White Zetsu has no soul. Through contact with the tree, they could convey information that I killed the black Zetsu.

It is unlikely that black Zetsu would try to get rid of me, but just to be sure, I decided to prepare my best seals to guard the place where I slept.

Having assumed the guise of a civilian, I quickly found myself a hotel and after taking a shower began to relax, sipping sake in front of the fireplace and reading a new book about poor Tom, whose wife turned out to be a ninja spy. But Tom loved her too much and went to her home village to find out that she was already married. As a result, Tom's ex-wife was torn between two people whom she fell in love with.

Such nonsense, but so interesting that the bottle was emptied pretty quickly, and I fell asleep mentally making sure that my traps capable of demolishing the whole house were in place.

A couple of hours of light sleep passed.

The alarm clock sounded and, opening my eyes, I removed all alcohol with chakra from the body. The brain cleared up and went to the bathroom, to put myself in order.

Leaving the hotel I ran to the meeting point. Through heavy rain, completely wet, entering large cave without encountering a single trap, i entered the spacious cave with large round table in the center. The dark cave was only lit by 4 torches on the walls. The light constantly flickered and illuminated the figures standing here.

All those present in the same black cloaks with red clouds like mine looked in my direction.

"Look who's here, I'm wasting time waiting for you here. Time is money. And now you owe me money. " Kakuzu started his song.

"I was only an hour late for a good reason." - I answered calmly, taking my place around the round table.

"And what is it?"

"I was running through a clearing and found a beautiful twig in the shape of a bird. And then a black cat crossed my path and I had to go around. I'm more surprised that you arrived here on time. I thought you went to work as an accountant again. "

"I have people for this to whom I pay."

Kakuzu stared at me coldly, trying to kill me with a glance. Yawning comically, I looked at Konan and Pain.

"Well, what are we waiting for the meeting to start? What kind of new news, Pain ? " - Looking at him, I waited for him to announce.

"Now that we are assembled we can start. Try not to be late next time Cat. " Nagato began in a deep voice. After examining everyone, he began.

"Our group has asserted its dominance and many missions go straight to us, not to the villages. But this is still not enough to crush the hidden villages, both financially and in terms of strength. Therefore, from now on, our goal is to collect tailed beasts, having them in power, we, being the strongest, will be able to establish our own rules in this world. We will start the hunt starting from the first tail and seal into the statue prepared for them one at a time. In the end, we will cleanse this world of evil and hatred. "

Sasori waited until Pain finished and asked: "With them, how are you going to control them?"

"With pain and strength for the sake of peace. As I said, by sealing them we can use them without any problems, the hardest part is catching them all. Your rings own one of the dragon seals of this statue. Everyone will participate in the tug of chakra and by joint force we can easily deprive the tailed beasts of the will. " - answered Pain.

"As long as I can show the world my art, I don't care." - the blonde crossed her arms.

"As long as I get paid for it, I don't care either." Kakuzu squinted at Pain with black eyes.

"Your wars and this monopoly don't bother me much, as long as I can dedicate others to Jashin's faith and I don't care what you sick bastards are up to." - said another, poking himself under the shoulder with a kunai.

Itachi, Kisame, and I were silent.

Zetsu climbed halfway out of the wall and began sharing information: "Recently, Orochimaru attacked the leaf village. The Third Hokage was killed. There we also learned the identities of the three jinchūriki. One-Tailed - Gaara from the Land of the Sands. The Nine-Tails - Naruto Uzumaki from Leaf Village. Utakata is a renegade ninja from the Hidden Mist Village, as well as the Six-Tails' jinchūriki. The Six-Tails fled when the party began, but the One-Tails and Nine-Tails jinchuriki began to fight. There was another jinchuriki but he also escaped. But there is little I can tell you here. How about telling all the events in the first person, Cat? "

Everyone turned their faces to me.

"What's so hard about that. Orochimaru came, locked the third Hokage with him, and summoned the first and second Hokage. There, the kneading began and someone died. Then I saw two jinchuriki they had a fight and I left. My mission was different so I didn't care. "

Itachi narrowed his eyes as he realized that I was there too.

Zetsu giggled, shaking his green shoots, "But what about the part where you defeated the one-tailed one with one punch? Or the one where you almost killed Orochimaru, but spared him. "

"I don't remember that." I shrugged.

Itachi, tired of waiting, asked in a straight line in a cold voice: "What was your mission in the Leaf village?"

"Yes, just little things. I should have killed Sasuke Uchiha and took his eyes. "- watching his expression, I realized that he was angry and lost his temper. Does he really still care about his village and Saske?

"How gullible you are. My actual assignment was to protect the amegakure genin in the exam. " - I waved my hand soothing him. - "Since when do you care so much about the village you betrayed it?"

"I care more about my property in the village." - Having said this haughtily, he again assumed a boring look.

"When the exact information is available, I will inform you. For now, continue with your regular missions. That's all." - Turning Pain went through another door.

"Wait." - I stopped him.

Pain turned to look at me.

"We still have unfinished business." - I said in a cold voice and put my hand on the hilt of my sword. With a soft sound, the lightning passed through the handle and went into its sheath. Conan tensed at my change. The atmosphere has heated up.

Jumping up and stretching out my katana, I directed the blade into a crack in the ceiling. Cutting out pieces of stone with precise movements, I smoothly landed on the floor and hid the katana.

"What the hell are you doing?" Kisame asked, holding his hand on the hilt of the sword on his back.

Without answering, I just pushed aside the stone that crushed the centipede. Pulling out two senbons, I pierced it in two places, nailing it down.

"Well, I do not know. Maybe I removed a strange spy device? "

"Hehe, judging by the brown color, this is an ordinary non-venomous centipede. They hide in damp places like caves. Just look at this, danger has been eliminated. We all safe now." - Sasori laughed, mocking me. But unlike him, Pain and Konan instantly saw the true essence of this insect.

Konan waved her hand and tore it through many small sheets of paper, revealing wires and iron.

"This is a declaration of war on our organization. We will find the one who followed us and steal information and secrets and destroy them. All spread out and find the enemy. Knowing about the statue and our plans is too dangerous to leave them alive. " - Saying this, Pain flew out of the cave.

Having escaped from the cave, we dispersed and rushed through the forest looking for any target that would look suspicious. Looking out of the corner of my eye, not forgetting to probe the forest with waves of chakra, I saw Pain rise above the forest high into the sky.

Suddenly, somewhere on the edge of the forest, a red fire bullet soared into the sky and exploded. Having understood the signal, I rushed there at high speed. By way of biting my finger, I summoned two Eagles that, seeing my speed, changed shape to sparrows. Sitting on my shoulder they started asking what happened, we arrived at the place. Along the way, I managed to briefly explain everything to them and told them not to mention my real name.

When I arrived, I saw Kisame with a torn cloak and Samehada naked, standing opposite a man in a cloak. Itachi stood behind and in his eyes, I saw the Mangyoku Sharingan.

Looking at the figure in the raincoat, I remembered one group that strained me so hard, that I did not find a single confirmation of its existence. Is it possible that this is a member?

All the Akatsuki surrounded the clearing and looked at the cloaked figure in full readiness. Everyone waited for the moment to start the attack and used the time to assess the enemy.

The cloaked figure saw a numerical advantage but was in no hurry to try to escape. As if he was confident in his strength.

Pain descended to the ground in front of the figure. His orange hair fluttered in the wind. And looking at the man in a cloak, Nagato's eyes burned in purple color in the darkness, a rinengan from under the collar of Akatsuki cloak was seen from my side of the branch in his eyes, he asked a question again.

"Who are you."

In response, the figure attacked him at high speed and extended its hand to start charging something in it, but Pain moved his hand and the wave around him pushed the enemy straight into the trees at high speed. The ground cracked and a hole formed around Pain. After breaking the last tree on his path, the man stood up and shook off the black cloak from dirt while hissing from pain in his body.

Drawing out my katana, I prepared for a perfect moment of attack. Seeing the collision, the sparrows also tensed and squeezed my shoulders painfully preparing for the combination attack.

"Now answer me, or die. Who. Are. You." - Pain asked calmly.