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Mui was in agony. There was nothing more despair-inducing than having his son, Muku, die by his own hand.
And those bastards had fled without a trace after Muku's incident, showing not a shred of responsibility.
By the time he emerged from the basement, the entire Hōzuki Castle had become a sea of fire, with more than half of it nearly reduced to ruins. Those trapped inside, whether the ninja on regular duty or the prisoners confined there, were all desperately fighting the flames.
Mui felt nothing about this. Holding his son's corpse, he passed through the bustling crowds, intending to return home to arrange Muku's funeral. However, his home had turned into a living hell. Without exception, whether his wife or the servants, all had perished.
Mui's eyes widened, unable to believe the scene before him.
His son's death had caused him immense pain, but his remaining rationality made him endure this grief because, no matter what, his son had died for Kusagakure.
As a member of Kusagakure, he should feel proud—even though he felt no such emotion inside. On the contrary, he missed his son terribly. He would rather not have summoned the "Box of Ultimate Bliss" at the cost of Muku's life.
He just wanted Muku to live.
However, even if he regretted his actions, wanting Muku resurrected was almost impossible.
He was hesitating about how to tell his family about Muku's death when he witnessed his family being killed.
In that instant, he felt a heart-wrenching pain. Despair for the future instantly seized his heart.
"Who... who killed you!!" Mui roared, howling at the sky.
Rain began to fall, making it impossible to tell whether what slid down his face were tears or raindrops.
Just then, over a dozen black shadows suddenly emerged from all around, hurling hundreds of kunai towards him.
Mui's eyes were bloodshot, but a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. In the blink of an eye, he appeared before the ninja closest to him. Before the other could react, his hand blade pierced the ninja's abdomen.
It was you who killed them... It was you who killed them...
This was the only thought left in Mui's mind.
Blood fell from the sky along with the raindrops, mixing with the rainwater and flowing to the ground, staining it red.
By the time he regained his senses, his hand blade was piercing the abdomen of the last ninja.
"Who... sent you?" Mui asked.
The ninja ultimately failed to utter his last words, struggled briefly, and then fell still.
Mui pulled off the mask—he actually recognized him; he was a ninja from Kusagakure.
No, it must be a misunderstanding...
Mui struggled to his feet and went to the other corpses, removing their masks.
Recognized... recognized... recognized...
When he pulled off the mask of the last attacker, he stumbled back two steps in despair and fell to his knees.
He couldn't understand. What had he done wrong? Why did the Kusagakure ninja want to kill him!?
For the village, he had even sacrificed his son. Could that be wrong?
What for!?
Revenge... I want revenge!!
Mui clenched his fists, pounding the ground repeatedly. Blood flowed from his fists, mixing with the rain, but he felt no pain at all.
"Does it hurt?"
A voice came from behind Mui.
"If I were you, I'd definitely want revenge, right?"
Mui turned his head and saw a masked man in a black coat standing in the rain, watching him.
He suddenly stood up, gathering all his strength into his right fist, intending to strike the masked man, but was kicked flying by him.
"Don't waste your energy; you can't kill me. I know you want to avenge your wife and son, but have you never considered bringing them back to life!?" the masked man asked.
"You can do that?" Mui's eyes suddenly lit up, like a drowning man suddenly grabbing a floating log.
"I cannot, but the 'Box of Ultimate Bliss' should be able to, right?"
"But I can't activate it. Can you?"
"I cannot, but I can help you. As long as we find the Tailed Beasts and borrow their power, we can activate the 'Box of Ultimate Bliss.'"
"The power of the Tailed Beasts..." Mui murmured.
"Correct."
"But I'm no match for a Jinchūriki..."
"I know. You can join us. Our target is the Tailed Beasts. When the time comes, you can use their power to fulfill your wish—to see your family again."
"See my family again..." Mui repeated these words, as if the whole person had gained a reason to live.
Revive the glory of Kusagakure!?
No, that wasn't important.
What was important was family.
"Who are you?"
"Who I am is not important. What is important is that our organization is called 'Akatsuki'..."
"Akatsuki?" Mui knew of this organization, but at this moment, his heart could no longer accommodate any other voices.
He only wanted his family reborn... as for other matters, they had nothing to do with him.
...
Midorima felt somewhat uncomfortable; it was his first time participating in such a large-scale mission.
Although he had only set a few fires, he had indeed been dragged into Kusagakure's civil war.
However, in the world of shinobi, one couldn't survive by being kind.
Even the protagonist with all his cheats couldn't have maintained his ideals if he didn't have the Nine-Tails inside him and wasn't the reincarnation of Asura's chakra.
After getting past the initial discomfort, Midorima returned to normal.
All the members gathered in a large cave. Everyone in Akatsuki sat in the corners of the cave, their eyes fixed on Pain in the center of the open space.
"This mission has been successfully completed, and the client is very satisfied with our quality. So, I have nothing more to say. I just hope everyone continues to work hard next time. However, this is one of the few opportunities for us to cooperate fully. From now on, we will basically operate in two-person teams. After this disbandment, according to our previous groupings, you will act separately. Additionally, I have a few points to mention..."
Pain's gaze quickly swept over each person. "First, our primary task is to identify the identities and locations of the Jinchūriki. If you discover a lone Jinchūriki, do not act rashly. It is very important not to be discovered prematurely by other shinobi villages. Although this mission seemed quite high-profile, shinobi villages including Konoha will not trouble us over it. However, if they discover we are targeting Jinchūriki, they will definitely take action. Before we possess sufficient strength, we must remain calm."
Midorima rubbed his chin.
On the surface, the current membership of Akatsuki wasn't much smaller than in the comics—basically just missing Deidara. His own joining had filled that vacancy. Even though he planned to leave Akatsuki later, Pain probably wasn't aware of his thoughts.
So, numbers weren't the key issue.
Considering everything comprehensively, what Akatsuki really lacked was money.