After the rain, the sun was warm.
Even the air emitted a faint fragrance of earth.
Kyo walked along the street.
His mood was pleasant.
But, he couldn't help but feel a little emotional.
The usually gloomy Amegakure only occasionally became a bit more vibrant on Sundays like this.
Thinking this,
Kyo involuntarily began to recall the beautiful scene in Ashina in the Land of Fire.
Constant rain,
For Kyo, who had lived here for a long time, was indeed not very pleasant.
However,
As he walked and thought,
He would often pass by residents or Shinobi of Amegakure.
Ever since they learned that this Kyo was in the same organization as Angel-sama and had successfully led students back from the Chunin Exams, many people naturally had a very good impression of him.
"Yo! Kyo-sensei, good morning!"
"Good morning, Kyo-san!"
"Good morning."
Facing these polite greetings, Kyo naturally responded with friendly smiles.
After all, he had no deep-seated grudges, and when facing these friendly faces, there was no need to respond with a cold stare.
And just then, another familiar voice came.
"Ohh! Kyo-senpai!!"
"?"
This voice was full of youthful energy and sounded very boisterous.
Kyo naturally knew who it was.
He slightly raised his eyes and immediately saw the blond figure walking towards him in the distance.
It was the artistic genius, Deidara.
And at this moment, he had successfully changed into Akatsuki's red cloud black robe and was also wearing the "Blue" ring.
It was worth noting that he had also painted his nails.
However, perhaps because of this, he seemed a bit uncomfortable, always holding his hands slightly apart.
Seeing this scene, Kyo chuckled lightly and said casually:
"Just painted?"
Hearing this, Deidara was momentarily stunned, then helplessly spread his hands and said:
"Sigh, yeah."
"That blue-haired woman forced me to paint them, so strange... hmm!"
"If it weren't for everyone in the organization painting them, I wouldn't want to mess with this kind of stuff..."
"Hey, wait...!"
Deidara was only halfway through his words when his expression suddenly changed drastically.
He immediately looked at Kyo's hands, then looked at him incredulously and exclaimed loudly:
"Hey hey... no way, senpai... you never painted them at all?!"
As his words fell,
Kyo's expression remained unchanged, still smiling casually:
"I threw away that nail polish years ago."
"..."
Hearing this, Deidara's expression darkened.
"I-I see..."
"Damn, if I'd known, I would have..."
"Let's go, stop complaining."
Kyo smiled, waved his hand, interrupting him, and walked forward.
As his words fell,
Deidara immediately snapped out of it.
Then he followed. After a moment, he seemed to think of something and lowered his voice to ask:
"Senpai, I heard from that leader yesterday..."
"Akatsuki needs to gather nine official members before starting the follow-up Tailed Beast Capture Plan. Now... are we there yet?"
Deidara asked curiously.
Kyo didn't even raise his eyes and directly said:
"Not yet."
"After you joined, it should be exactly eight. Just one more left."
"Eh...?"
Deidara's expression immediately fell, and he shrugged his shoulders, saying:
"If that's the case,"
"Doesn't that mean we can only start the Tailed Beast Capture Plan after finding one more person..."
"Really weird rule... boring, hmm!"
Deidara said with a pout.
Kyo just glanced at him and didn't say anything more.
He knew,
With Deidara's talkative nature,
If they started chatting today, there would probably be no stopping.
However,
He was naturally aware of what Deidara was talking about.
The reason Pain decided to gather nine people before starting the plan was certainly not because of obsessive-compulsive disorder or some special hobby.
It was because,
Nine people were a necessary condition for Akatsuki's plan.
Of course,
Not a condition for capturing Jinchuriki, but... a condition for extracting the Tailed Beasts.
Akatsuki's goal,
Was to extract all the Tailed Beasts and store them in the Outer Path Statue, thereby creating the so-called "Tailed Beast Weapon".
But,
Killing a Jinchuriki would only cause the Tailed Beast to die as well.
It would take a long time for the Tailed Beast to revive.
Therefore,
They needed to use a special technique --
The Sealing Technique: Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals.
And activating this technique precisely required nine people to perform it simultaneously.
That was the purpose of gathering nine people.
And,
Barring any accidents,
In today's meeting,
There should be discussion about the ninth person, 'Hidan'.
...
A moment later.
Kyo and Deidara directly arrived at the meeting base.
Besides Pain, Konan, and Zetsu,
The two of them were still the fastest to arrive.
And in fact,
Although their team assignment hadn't been decided yet,
Because Deidara admired Kyo's "explosion art", he always stood beside him.
A moment later,
When Deidara saw Uchiha Itachi, Hoshigaki Kisame, and Kakuzu successively walking in from the distant entrance, his expression immediately turned strange.
Then, frowning slightly, he lowered his voice and asked:
"Senpai, who are these people respectively?"
He hadn't left the village much, so naturally, he wasn't very familiar with them.
Seeing this,
Kyo naturally introduced them casually:
"The one with red eyes is from Konoha's Uchiha Clan with the Sharingan, Uchiha Itachi, who joined after massacring his entire clan."
"The one with the big sword is one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, Hoshigaki Kisame."
"The remaining one is a Missing-nin from Takigakure, an immortal Shinobi with the secret technique Earth Grudge Fear, Kakuzu."
"..."
Listening to Kyo's explanation, Deidara showed a look of understanding.
However,
Being young and arrogant, he naturally had no reverence for these people.
After learning their names and identities, he still just glanced at them indifferently and said nothing.
And without a doubt,
The people opposite him,
Naturally, couldn't have seen this new member before either.
Walking inside, Kisame slowly grinned and chuckled:
"Ho, what a surprise..."
"Akatsuki's eighth member is actually a kid?"
"He seems like a genius-type Shinobi, just like you, Itachi-san."
Kisame said, looking at Itachi.
Hearing this,
Itachi just glanced over, then withdrew his gaze, his expression calm, saying nothing.
Deidara's joining age,
Was indeed slightly younger than when he himself had joined Akatsuki back then.
Joining Akatsuki at such a young age,
Indicated that his strength must be considerable.
Therefore,
Itachi naturally wouldn't underestimate him either.
And on this side,
Kakuzu just glanced and said nothing.
Although he didn't know how strong this kid was, he certainly wouldn't be as reckless as before.
After all, he had barely recovered the two hearts that were blown up by Kyo back then.
He couldn't afford to lose them again.
...
Seeing everyone had arrived,
Pain naturally didn't waste any time and spoke indifferently:
"The reason I called everyone here for a meeting today,"
"Is mainly for two purposes."
"First,"
"Is to introduce the newly joined member --"
"A Missing-nin from the Land of Earth, the wielder of the Explosion Release Kekkei Genkai, Deidara."
"From now on,"
"He will act as an official member, paired with Kyo."
As his words fell,
The gazes of Itachi, Kisame, and Kakuzu quickly focused on Deidara's face.
At the same time, their hearts stirred.
Hmm?
An Explosion Release Shinobi?
Indeed, rarely heard of...
Speaking of which,
Pairing such a kid with Kyo...?
The three had somewhat strange expressions.
Kyo's strength,
They all roughly knew,
And could basically confirm that he was definitely at the top level of Akatsuki.
But now,
Pairing him with a brat as a partner... wouldn't that hold him back...?
The three were puzzled,
But Pain seemed completely unaware of their confusion and still indifferently said:
"Next is the second point."
"As everyone knows,"
"Akatsuki's plan,"
"Has currently reached its halfway point."
"The preparation of funds and the recruitment of members are both nearing completion."
"Therefore,"
"Next, we need to complete the finalization of this phase of the plan, and... the beginning of the next plan."
Having said this,
Pain's indifferent gaze swept over all the members, and then he said in a deep voice:
"And that is..."
"The recruitment of the ninth member 'Hidan', and..."
"Regarding capturing the 'Kyubi Jinchuriki' in Konoha!"
"--!?"
As his words fell,
Everyone's gaze sharpened.
And on this side,
As Konoha's double agent,
Hearing this, Itachi's heart suddenly leaped!
What?!
What's going on?
Akatsuki's attack on Konoha's Jinchuriki was going to...
Start this soon?!