In a dimly lit room, four people clad in black cloaks with red clouds were engaged in conversation.
The four were Obito, Zetsu, Konan, and Nagato. These four were the true core members of Akatsuki.
Since Yahiko's death, Akatsuki had been completely reorganized. Not only had the members' uniforms been changed, but the entire organization's principles had undergone a drastic transformation.
Nagato wasn't present in his true form. He had transformed Yahiko's corpse into the Deva Path Pain and was attending as Pain.
Due to the ambush by Hanzo and Danzo in Amegakure, Nagato's legs were now crippled. Also, because he had summoned the Outer Path: Gedō Mazō, which had caused him to overdraw his chakra, Nagato now relied on special equipment to sustain his life. He had almost completely lost the ability to move. He could only act by controlling the Six Paths of Pain.
Obito could use Hashirama Cells and White Zetsu's tissue to repair Nagato's legs and restore his lost vitality. However, that would also restore Nagato's strength to its peak or even further, which would be detrimental to his control. Therefore, Obito didn't do that.
"How is the member recruitment going?" Obito asked, wearing a red, swirl-shaped mask. Obito was still acting under the guise of Madara, so Nagato and Konan still believed that the masked man in front of them was Uchiha Madara.
"We have found a few good hands. Kakuzu, the rogue ninja from Takigakure, Kisame Hoshigaki, the rogue ninja from Kirigakure, and the recently recruited Sasori of the Red Sand," Konan said emotionlessly.
Since Yahiko's death, Konan's personality had also completely changed. She, who had been gentle to everyone, had become cold. She always had a cold expression, as if she had lost her emotions.
Hearing Konan's words, Obito frowned under his mask, "The progress is a bit slow. This number of members is far from enough. We need to gather at least ten official members."
"We also hope to find suitable candidates to advance the organization's plan as soon as possible. But there aren't many experts who are independent of the various ninja villages. You provided the information on the previous members. Do you have any new candidates?" Pain asked Obito coldly.
In Akatsuki's plan, besides collecting the nine Tailed Beasts, they also needed to gather a large amount of funds beforehand. This required enough manpower to prepare. Pain was currently arranging for members to take on high-paying bounty missions to raise funds.
"A while ago, Orochimaru, one of the Sannin of Konoha, defected. We recently discovered his hiding place. Orochimaru is a fickle person. We're worried that approaching him might be risky. But since you're the leader, you should decide whether or not to recruit him into the organization," Zetsu, who was on the side, said.
"Orochimaru isn't easy to deal with. He should be the strongest of the Sannin right now," Obito added.
Pain didn't care about what Zetsu and Obito said. He said coldly, "Under these Rinnegan, Orochimaru can't do anything."
"Give me the information on his location. I'll personally go with Sasori. If Orochimaru agrees to join, we'll arrange for him to be Sasori's partner. If he doesn't agree, I'll just take care of him."
A few days later, in a gloomy underground cave, Orochimaru had just sealed Shukaku's Yin Release chakra into his body's "Four Symbols Seal."
"Perfect. I feel incredibly powerful right now," Orochimaru said, a look of excitement on his pale face.
At this time, if anyone familiar with Orochimaru were present, they would notice that Orochimaru was shorter than before. The reason for this was that Orochimaru had successfully completed his first "Edo Tensei!"
To perform the Edo Tensei and then seal Shukaku's Yin Release chakra into his new body, Orochimaru hadn't started the sealing process immediately after obtaining Shukaku. He had waited until now to complete the sealing.
Because of the existence of Yusuke, his academic friend, Orochimaru's technical abilities were much higher than in the original story. The "Edo Tensei," which should have been developed a few years later, had not only been completed ahead of time, but he had also found the "Four Symbols Seal," which could temporarily compensate for the huge flaw of his weakened mental power after the Edo Tensei.
Looking at Shukaku, who had shrunk to half its size and only had Yang Release chakra left, Orochimaru was troubled.
He didn't have a suitable vessel to seal Shukaku. If he sealed Shukaku as a jinchūriki in another ninja's body, not only would the ninja need to have a suitable physique, but he would also need the corresponding sealing jutsu.
The sealing jutsu for sealing Shukaku in a ninja's body to create a jinchūriki was currently only researched by Sunagakure. Orochimaru didn't have the necessary conditions to create a One-Tailed Jinchūriki.
If he kept Shukaku, Orochimaru would have to personally watch over him. And Shukaku was hot-tempered and talkative, which made Orochimaru very annoyed. But releasing Shukaku would be a real waste.
Therefore, the remaining half of Shukaku was completely useless in Orochimaru's hands.
After thinking for a moment, Orochimaru decided to kill the half-Shukaku directly. Although it was a pity, he didn't have the spare energy to watch over Shukaku.
Of course, even if Orochimaru killed Shukaku, he wouldn't truly die. He would still reappear in the Nara Desert not long after.
"I wonder if Yusuke-kun has found the materials for the 'Reverse Four Symbols Seal,' which can seal Yang Release chakra."
Orochimaru couldn't help but think of Yusuke. If he could complete the "Reverse Four Symbols Seal" now, the other half of Shukaku's Yang Release chakra wouldn't be wasted.
When Yusuke first proposed the "Four Symbols Seal," he used Hashirama Cells, which had incredibly powerful Yang Release, to seal Yin Release chakra, achieving the effect of using yang to control yin, forming the Four Symbols Seal.
The "Reverse Four Symbols Seal" actually worked on the same principle as the Four Symbols Seal. It used a material with powerful Yin Release to control yang, forming a seal that could seal a large amount of Yang Release chakra.
"The Sharingan should be able to serve as a material for a seal that represents Yin Release power. But an ordinary Sharingan definitely won't do. It has to be at least the special Sharingan that Uchiha Shisui used when he fought Yusuke-kun."
"But it would be a shame to use such a pair of eyes as a material for a seal."
"It's a waste, a waste!"
Temporarily putting aside the idea of the "Reverse Four Symbols Seal," a cold glint flashed in Orochimaru's eyes. He slowly walked towards Shukaku.
At that moment, two people wearing black cloaks with red clouds were approaching the cave where Orochimaru was.
"It seems like this is the place," Sasori said slowly, looking at the entrance-like cave in front of him. Sasori was hidden inside his puppet, Hiruko. The entire puppet's body was lying on the ground, and his voice, which had been specially processed, was very hoarse.
"It seems so. We didn't hide our tracks. Orochimaru should have noticed us," Pain said.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Orochimaru slowly walked out of the cave.
Orochimaru had just killed Shukaku, who only had Yang Release chakra left, when he discovered Pain and Sasori's arrival.
Sensing that something was amiss, Orochimaru took the initiative to greet them at the entrance of the cave. He also wanted to test the strength of his newly reborn body, which had the "Four Symbols Seal" implanted.
In the original story, Orochimaru joined Akatsuki relatively late. And with Kabuto as an undercover agent under Sasori, Orochimaru had already learned a lot about Akatsuki's secrets when they came to him.
But now, Kabuto had been taken by Yusuke, and Akatsuki had noticed Orochimaru earlier. Therefore, at this stage, Orochimaru was still very unfamiliar with Akatsuki.
Looking at the Deva Path Pain in front of him, Orochimaru didn't recognize him as one of the three orphans he had met in Amegakure with Jiraiya and Tsunade.
For him, he had seen too many war orphans and didn't care. At this time, his attention was entirely on Pain's pair of ripple-shaped Rinnegan.
"These eyes are a very special dōjutsu kekkei genkai!" Orochimaru stuck out his snake-like tongue and licked his lips, thinking to himself.
Although he saw Pain's extraordinary eyes at a glance, Orochimaru didn't recognize them as the legendary Rinnegan.
But instinctively, he felt that these eyes were very powerful. When he was stared at by these eyes, Orochimaru felt like he was a defenseless prey being firmly locked onto by a hunter!
"Orochimaru, it's been a long time," Sasori, who was beside Pain, took the initiative to greet Orochimaru.
Shifting his gaze from Pain to Hiruko, who was beside him, Orochimaru frowned and carefully observed him. He asked with an uncertain tone, "Are you Sasori of the Red Sand?"
Orochimaru had met Sasori once. At that time, Sasori hadn't joined Akatsuki, and he hadn't hidden his body inside the puppet, Hiruko.
But with Orochimaru's eyesight, he still noticed something unusual about the puppet. But he couldn't be completely sure.
"Yes," Sasori replied.
Orochimaru's signature sinister smile slowly appeared, "I wonder what brings you here to visit me, Sasori, dressed so oddly."
Sasori snorted coldly, "You're the one who's dressed oddly. You should take a look at yourself. The shimenawa doesn't suit you at all!"
Hearing Sasori's words, Orochimaru's smile faltered. He couldn't help but think of the night he traded Shukaku with Yusuke. Yusuke had also suggested that he change clothes.
Could it be that these clothes really don't look good? Orochimaru couldn't help but begin to doubt himself.
At this time, Orochimaru was still wearing his signature outfit, with a rope tied around his waist and a big bow tied behind it. This rope was called a shimenawa in Japan.
Pain snorted coldly, "Enough, Sasori. Don't talk about these irrelevant things. Let's get down to business." He didn't expect Sasori and Orochimaru to go off on a tangent and start talking about fashion.
Sasori still had a certain amount of awe for Pain, who was powerful. He said to Orochimaru, "Our organization is recruiting some powerful ninjas as members. Your strength meets the requirements."
"You have two choices now. Join or die!"
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