Itachi's words fell,
The entire scene fell silent.
Whether it was Deidara and Pain, or Kakuzu and Kisame beside them, all were stunned.
No one expected,
That after just rejecting Kyo's participation plan, he would immediately start recommending himself!
As a Missing-nin from Konoha...
This time, he actually chose to personally go capture the Kyubi???
Hearing this,
Pain and the others were naturally stunned for a moment.
"..."
The whole scene fell into a slight silence.
However,
Only Kyo beside them still had a calm expression.
In fact, a relaxed smile even appeared in his eyes.
That's right.
He had naturally anticipated this long ago.
In fact,
From the moment Pain announced the mission assignment,
Kyo had already noticed Itachi's subtle emotional changes.
Although he was an actor,
His expression management was at a master level, seemingly unchanged.
He always looked like he had a poker face, unresponsive.
However,
When Pain mentioned that Kyo and Deidara would be responsible for capturing the Kyubi,
At that moment, his breath...
Stopped for a second.
For others, this might be difficult to detect.
But,
For Kyo, whose spiritual pressure perception covered the entire scene, it was like magnifying it a hundred times.
And then,
When Itachi formally raised his objection to Pain,
Kyo naturally became even more convinced of his speculation.
This guy,
Did not object for the reason that "Kyo would expose Akatsuki's base in Amegakure."
The real reason he wanted to oppose this plan,
Was simply because --
He was afraid.
He was afraid that Konoha's Kyubi would really be captured.
Afraid that the Konoha he wanted to protect in his heart would be plunged into war due to this Tailed Beast Capture Plan.
So,
He naturally had to speak up to stop it.
However,
What Kyo didn't expect was,
Itachi truly lived up to being an excellent spy.
The reason for his opposition was unexpectedly refreshingly unconventional, and even... logically perfect.
If the one assigning the mission, Pain, was on the first level, then Deidara was probably in the basement.
And this time, Itachi's thinking,
Had clearly entered the atmosphere layer.
Even Kyo,
Had to admire that this reason was truly unassailable.
And next,
It depended on whether he could convince Pain to let him go.
Thinking this,
Kyo slightly raised his eyes, withdrew his thoughts, and continued to watch calmly.
And at this moment,
After a moment of silence, Pain frowned slightly and said:
"You say... you want to go yourself?"
"That's right."
Itachi responded almost without hesitation,
His Sharingan eyes were like a clear mirror and still water, as if without any guilt, calmly staring at Pain, and said calmly:
"As a Missing-nin from Konoha,"
"I can responsibly say that among all the Akatsuki members present, no one knows Konoha better than me."
"And no one knows Konoha's Shinobi better than me."
"Even the skilled fighter Kyo-senpai,"
"If he were in Konoha, he might not necessarily be more at home than me."
"Because,"
"In my hands, I hold intelligence on the vast majority of Konoha's Shinobi."
"So I also have confidence,"
"To face almost any Konoha Shinobi's obstruction."
"Finally,"
"Successfully capture the Kyubi Jinchuriki."
Itachi's expression was like an iceberg, speaking without emotion.
As his words fell.
Everyone couldn't help but be stunned again.
This...
Come to think of it,
These words really make some sense...
Itachi,
After all, was the one who personally slaughtered the entire Uchiha Clan, and was also a member of Konoha's Anbu.
When it came to understanding Konoha, indeed... no one could match him.
Hearing this,
Pain's gaze shifted slightly, imperceptibly looking at Konan beside him.
Konan's expression remained unchanged.
After thinking for a moment, she just nodded slightly.
Pain immediately understood in his heart,
So,
He again raised his eyes, looked around at everyone, and said indifferently:
"What does everyone think?"
In fact,
Having heard this, he had already been successfully convinced by Itachi.
However,
He naturally still needed to ask for others' opinions as per routine.
And as his words fell,
Unexpectedly, the first to speak was Kisame beside Itachi.
He slightly grinned, with a light smile on his face, and said:
"I have no objections."
"I have witnessed Itachi-san's strength firsthand..."
"If our team goes to capture the Kyubi Jinchuriki, coupled with his familiarity with Konoha, there should be no mistakes."
Kisame's gaze flickered as he spoke.
As his words fell,
Kakuzu beside him also had an indifferent expression and said calmly:
"It doesn't matter to me."
"To me, whoever goes is the same."
"..."
Pain's gaze then shifted to Deidara and Kyo on the other side.
He saw,
Deidara's expression still seemed a bit unhappy, but since Kyo beside him hadn't expressed an opinion, he just pouted and said impatiently:
"I'll go with whatever Kyo-senpai says... hmm!"
Although he really wanted to go to Konoha and have some fun, and by the way show the people there his art,
Itachi's reason was really quite unassailable, and he had nothing to refute.
And thus,
In the end, the only one left to express an opinion was Kyo alone.
Pain's gaze paused slightly, looking at Kyo.
However,
Unexpectedly,
At this moment, a faint smile appeared on Kyo's face, and he chuckled leisurely:
"I don't mind."
"Since Itachi wants to perform, I naturally don't mind giving him the opportunity."
"..."
As his words fell,
Everyone naturally knew that he also supported Itachi going.
However,
Only Itachi, upon hearing this, felt a bit off.
Because,
Kyo used the word "perform".
For the spy Itachi, this made him a little uncomfortable.
After all,
His attitude just now was indeed a performance...
...
The meeting ended shortly after.
The final mission plan was almost just swapped.
Itachi and Kisame would go to Konoha to be responsible for capturing the Kyubi Jinchuriki, while Zetsu would be responsible for intelligence support.
And Kyo and Deidara's team, along with Kakuzu, would be responsible for recruiting Akatsuki's ninth member.
When Deidara saw this unclear intelligence in his hand,
He was instantly puzzled, waving the intelligence in his hand somewhat dissatisfiedly, and said:
"Hey hey..."
"What does this mean?"
"The location of this guy named Hidan hasn't even been determined yet?"
Hearing this,
Konan over there turned her head back, her expression indifferent as she responded:
"Currently, intelligence is scarce."
"However, we have confirmed that he is a faithful follower of that Jashin Cult."
"And recently,"
"There are a total of three places where the Jashin Cult has surfaced, one in the Land of Hot Water, and the other two in the Land of Fire."
"That's where you need to look."
"Ha--?"
Deidara immediately showed a strange expression.
However,
After saying this,
Konan paid him no further attention,
Indifferently turned around, transformed into paper, and directly flew away.
For a brat like Deidara with a bad temper and a love of babbling, if it weren't for Kyo's sake, she would have long stopped dealing with him.
"..."
And after Konan left,
The only ones remaining here were Kyo, Kakuzu, and Deidara.
As for Itachi, Kisame, and the others, they had naturally already left,
Preparing for their own missions.
Kakuzu looked indifferently at Deidara on this side and said in a low voice:
"Since there are three places,"
"Then we'll just split up--"
"I'll go to Yugakure. There happens to be a decent mercenary mission over there, and I might even get a good bounty."
"The other two places will be up to you."
After speaking,
Kakuzu directly turned around and walked outside.
Clean and neat.
On one hand, he naturally didn't want to team up with this noisy guy Deidara.
On the other hand, he also didn't want to act with Kyo, who is an old enemy.
"..."
Seeing Kakuzu leave, Kyo slightly raised an eyebrow.
As expected of the number one money-maker.
Facing mercenary missions, he really is enthusiastic about work...
A moment later.
Kyo's gaze,
Finally began to carefully look at the intelligence map in his hand.
He hadn't seriously studied the places where this so-called Jashin Cult had appeared just now,
However,
Now that he looked,
He was momentarily stunned.
"Eh?"
"Tanzaku Town...?"
This place name, why does it sound a bit familiar???