And so,
Sasori and Juzo set off to capture the defector Orochimaru.
Meanwhile, Qingchuan stayed behind obediently.
Of course, he wasn’t idle.
Qingchuan received several tasks to eliminate Rain Village bases, but they were all outer ones.
Clearly, they posed little challenge.
Konan also handed him a uniform along with a bottle of purple nail polish.
Qingchuan didn’t refuse.
What was meant to come would always come.
Quietly applying the nail polish,
his Death Robe 2.0 blended with the Akatsuki uniform.
The only change in his appearance was that the white robe transformed into a black robe adorned with red clouds.
The details remained the same.
Before leaving,
Pain and Konan looked at the girl before them, their expressions somewhat peculiar.
"You didn’t tell Haruko that the uniform can’t be altered, did you?"
Pain asked coldly, but his gaze remained fixed on the girl.
The new outfit made the girl look somewhat cooler.
This was indeed what he wanted to see.
But...
"She’s still young; don’t bind her too tightly, Pain."
Konan said with a frown, her voice low.
"I always disliked this outfit.
"If it weren’t for you and Yahiko insisting, I wouldn’t wear it."
"Don’t think I’ll let Haruko change back!"
Pain paused for a moment, feeling somewhat awkward.
The original Akatsuki uniform was basically the same as now, all members were uniformed.
This was also to commemorate Yahiko.
But thinking back,
it seemed Konan had never quite liked it, had she?
Indeed.
He and Yahiko had been too focused on looking cool, completely overlooking her opinions.
Yahiko...
You’ll soon witness the true rebirth of Akatsuki.
With a cold gaze,
Pain handed over the prepared ring to the girl.
"I left a summoning technique on it; you can try to call me in a dangerous moment."
After explaining, Pain vanished without lingering, maintaining his high and aloof demeanor.
Qingchuan glanced at the ring in his hand.
It bore no inscriptions.
Other than that, it looked just like the rings of other Akatsuki members...
Was this preferential treatment?
Feeling a bit perplexed, Qingchuan couldn’t quite grasp Nagato’s intentions.
He actually had a ring too.
His dear teacher, Orochimaru, had left him nothing but that ring,
which carried his memories...
"This task isn’t difficult, but still requires you to complete it independently."
Before Qingchuan could reminisce about his teacher, Konan’s voice rang out again.
As she spoke, a handful of spinning papers appeared in her hand, looking quite beautiful.
"These contain explosive tags—accessible via the summoning technique."
"There are a total of 100, each storing ten thousand explosive tags.
"Don’t hesitate to use my abilities; you can freely produce explosive tags; they’re sufficient for your needs."
"Be careful."
After saying this, Konan handed over a stack of explosive tags to the girl.
Then, she vanished.
Qingchuan’s eyelids began to twitch.
What the—?!
What’s going on?
Though he was still far from the astronomical figure of 200 billion,
This...
One million tags?!
If he conserved them, wouldn’t that be enough to wipe out the entire Konoha?
These extravagant girls...
So tempting!
From now on, he would stick with you, Konan!
Silently stashing the explosive tags into his pocket, Qingchuan raised an eyebrow, embarking on his journey with a debt of 1,999,999,999 tags.
Meanwhile, in Konoha, Uchiha Clan District.
Still that small grove.
Itachi stood beside a large tree,
dressed in his Anbu attire, with his mask pushed up on his forehead.
Before him, countless corpses lay sprawling.
Blood pooled on the ground, forming a small stream, slowly flowing.
It was over.
Itachi looked at everything before him with indifference.
Except for his father,
all the clan members who intended to instigate a coup against Konoha were here.
He spent five days observing, confirming, and luring them here.
Then, in just five minutes...
he slaughtered them all.
Was this the right thing to do?
Itachi didn’t know.
These people were his kin, willing to pay any price for the honor of the Uchiha!
They were willing to sacrifice everything.
Haruko was the first sacrifice.
The death of Elder Danzo and Haruko’s defection had not yet been disclosed by Konoha.
These people were still preparing to make Haruko control the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki...
As Elder Danzo asked him that day,
Haruko must have foreseen this reality and chosen to leave.
"Killing these people won’t change anything."
In the darkness, a figure slowly emerged.
"The result of your actions will only breed further hatred; a new war will come soon.
Nothing will change."
Obito’s voice was cold, laced with disdain for Itachi’s immature actions as he spoke slowly.
Itachi did not respond, nor did he react,
merely standing silently, observing,
fostering darkness.
Indeed...
War might temporarily cease, but it could never disappear.
His actions would only lead to a temporary halt of the Uchiha’s resistance against Konoha.
But it was bound to be short-lived.
A new war would arrive; hatred wouldn’t simply vanish.
But...
If Haruko could shoulder this heavy darkness,
then what reason did he have to evade it?
What he wanted,
was simply to find Haruko.
That was all...
Pulling off his mask and removing his forehead protector,
Itachi deeply slashed a line across the forehead protector.
"None of this is your concern.
"I will become a defector who failed to assassinate the Hokage, and they will become heroes of Konoha."
As he spoke, Itachi raised his head, staring at the cold-eyed masked man.
"No matter what, I can no longer stay in Konoha.
"Danzo and the Uchiha will both suffer defeat; isn’t this exactly what you want to see...?"
"Obito."
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