The traces of him were found in a small town in the Land of Fire," Kuro Zetsu added. "He seems to have no more issues, wandering around the town, as if he's heading somewhere."
"Where is Uchiha Itachi?" Obito asked.
"No sign of Itachi," White Zetsu replied.
"In that case, our conversation is over. I should go find Sasuke and ask him about this matter carefully," Uchiha Obito said, then looked toward the distant horizon.
"Almost there... Just a little more to achieve our goal, and everything will return to normal," Obito took a step forward, a different light shining in his eyes. "The true power of the Sharingan, the power of my Uchiha Madara!"
As he finished speaking, Obito activated his Kamui and disappeared in a flash; Zetsu also left the scene.
"The sky is rumbling again..." Konan looked up at the gloomy sky. "Pain, you..."
"Now, let's head to Konoha. The Nine-Tails will be in our grasp!" a cold voice replied, emotionless. Pain coldly uttered these words and then entered a room.
It was a somewhat spacious room, dimly lit, with six machine-like pods, arranged neatly, resembling coffins.
"Since Hanzō died, I haven't fought properly in a long time," Pain said as he stepped forward, gently touching one of the pods, which gleamed with a metallic shine. "No matter how strong Uchiha Kaoru is, he doesn't stand a chance against my secret fighting techniques..."
As he finished speaking, all the pod doors opened, revealing the various Six Paths of Pain sitting inside, all gently sitting up.
"I hope this battle doesn't disappoint me too much, after all..." the six Pain simultaneously spoke.
"Pain..." Konan pressed her lips lightly, feeling an inexplicable unease in her heart.
However, Nagato, who considered himself a god, no longer cared about such things. His inflated strength led to an inflated ego; at this moment, he no longer regarded anyone as a threat.
......
In Konoha, after Sasuke left, Kaoru also returned home. Just as he arrived, he found a masked ninja waiting at his door.
"You're the person the Third Hokage sent, right?" Before the ninja could speak, Kaoru spoke first, already guessing the purpose of the visitor.
"Exactly. Lord Hokage wants you to go see him again," the masked ninja replied.
"Understood," Kaoru nodded.
He returned to the small hut and met with the Third Hokage. The Hokage no longer looked as despondent as before but instead wore a serious expression.
"How is Sasuke?" Seeing Kaoru come out, the Third Hokage asked eagerly.
"He has already left Konoha," Kaoru answered.
Hearing this, the Third Hokage immediately frowned, even neglecting to smoke, and said, "Then why didn't you stop him?"
"I didn't ask for your opinion, did I? It was you who let him go," Kaoru shrugged and said.
"That was just politeness. After all, I was one of the commanders during the Uchiha massacre. If I hadn't said that, it would seem too unkind. But I thought you should be able to handle this matter well. If Uchiha Sasuke betrays Konoha, it's better to kill this young sprout early, before it grows," the Third Hokage said with a stern brow.
"Hmph..." Kaoru chuckled noncommittally, then immediately said, "Rest assured, Lord Hokage, I understand your concerns. But for now, he has no intention of betraying Konoha."
"It's still too soon to tell. What if he's deliberately lying to you? What can you do then?" The Third Hokage frowned. "I am preparing for you to become Hokage. You cannot afford to disappoint me in this regard."
"I have it under control," Kaoru said with a smile. "But, Lord Hokage, if Sasuke really wanted to kill you at that time, what would you do? Would you just let him do it?"
"Of course!" The Third Hokage said without hesitation. "If Sasuke really kills me then, it means he knows the truth about Itachi and holds a grudge against Konoha. As he said, if he kills me in Konoha, he's dead for sure. Using my life to exchange for a life that could threaten Konoha—it's worth it."
"However, Sasuke has indeed grown. He saw through my plan and restrained himself from acting," the Third Hokage continued, then looked at Kaoru with a doubtful gaze. "But I really want to know—if Sasuke really wanted to kill me at that time, would you stop him? After all, you are also from the Uchiha clan. Maybe you feel the same about the Uchiha clan's extinction..."
"I wouldn't stop him," Kaoru said with a smile. The expression on the Third Hokage's face stiffened, but at the next moment, Kaoru continued, "Just joking. Although I am from the Uchiha clan, I don't have much feeling for Uchiha. I hold no grudge against you."
"Is that so... then that's good," hearing Kaoru's words, the Third Hokage only awkwardly smiled twice.
...…
At this moment, outside Konoha, the ninja responsible for patrols had just returned to the base.
"Captain, the reconnaissance is complete. Nothing unusual today, same as usual," reported a ninja wearing a headband.
"Hmm," the captain nodded, then looked up at the clear sky. "Looks like it's another good weather day."
"Alright, it's about time to write the scheduled report," the captain said, then suddenly noticed a man with orange hair and a face embedded with a metal appearing ahead!
"This is...," the captain hadn't yet reacted, but the man suddenly charged forward, and the black in his hand transformed instantly, piercing straight through the captain's body!
"Captain!" The others reacted quickly, immediately retreating. After observing the attire of this unidentified person, they quickly realized—he is from Akatsuki!
"Quick! Report to the village—we need to stop him!" one of them shouted, leading the others to rush forward. The youngest ninja nodded and turned around, preparing to escape.
"Ah!!" Before he could get a few steps away, the other Konoha ninjas who were about to intercept were blasted away and fell heavily to the ground.
"What's going on?!" The young ninja hadn't yet reacted, but suddenly he felt a massive force binding him. He was lifted into the air and flew forward rapidly, arriving in front of the stranger in an instant.
"Wha... what is this...," he hadn't yet figured out what was happening, but his chest was instantly pierced by the metal!
In the blink of an eye, all the ninja patrolling around Konoha's perimeter had been wiped out.
At this moment, five ninjas dressed similarly appeared beside the orange-haired man. Behind them, a cold woman stepped out from the woods.
This was the team of Six Paths of Pain and Konan, the divine envoys.
"Next, divide into two teams: one for luring the enemy and one for exploration. The lure team is Asura Path, Animal Path, and Preta Path, and the exploration team is Deva Path, Human Path, and Naraka Path. Konan, you're on the exploration team," Pain said.
"Understood," Konan nodded.
"Next, I will observe the barrier with the Rinnegan," Pain said, looking toward Konoha.
____________________
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