Led by Orochimaru, the group arrived in a spacious stone chamber. The stone door opened, and a cool, clean air flowed out from within.
The lights inside came on. Orochimaru walked in casually, then paced to a bookshelf, pulled out a scroll, and tossed it toward Hyuga Shin'ichi.
"The existence of Akatsuki has also begun to hinder my development."
"But even I haven't been able to uncover the full strength of this organization completely."
"These are some of the intelligence and information I have currently gathered."
"If Konoha is confident that a single operation can eliminate Akatsuki... I can cooperate with your attack."
"Fufufu..."
Saying this, Orochimaru suddenly let out a light chuckle, casting a meaningful glance at Jiraiya.
The Rinnegan!
Those legendary eyes must be incredibly powerful, right? For Orochimaru, Akatsuki's existence no longer held any value. He had already taken control of the Land of Grass and used Akatsuki's funds, along with the Land of Grass's resources, to establish many research bases and even helped the Land of Grass form the Sound Village.
He already had a basic foundation for his own development and no longer needed to rely on Akatsuki's power to achieve his goals.
On the contrary, he and Akatsuki were drifting further apart. Sooner or later, they would turn against each other and become enemies. Rather than passively waiting for Akatsuki to send strong members to pursue and eliminate him, it was better to cooperate with Konoha and crush Akatsuki first.
Jiraiya and the others had only found this one base of his. He had many, many other similar bases and was not at all worried about Konoha's tracking and investigation. Although the Flying Thunder God mark Hyuga Shin'ichi left on him was tricky, he could naturally avoid the Flying Thunder God technique through the Fūshi Tensei (Living Corpse Reincarnation).
Compared to Konoha, which was not very familiar with the distribution of its bases, the threat posed by Akatsuki was much greater.
More importantly, Orochimaru believed he understood Hiruzen Sarutobi and his friend Jiraiya very well. As long as he quietly focused on developing his own power, those two should not come looking for trouble.
The fact that the Third Hokage let him leave back then was enough to explain a lot.
Considering everything, Orochimaru could easily find his own position and know which side he should stand on at any given time.
"Orochimaru..."
Jiraiya noticed Orochimaru's gaze and silently lowered his head, avoiding eye contact. He knew very well why Orochimaru kept looking at him with such an expression.
The Rinnegan... there shouldn't be too many Rinnegan in this world, right?!
Could the leader of the Akatsuki organization be the child he briefly adopted and cared for in the Land of Rain all those years ago?
Nagato...
If that person had grown up smoothly, he would be a powerful and outstanding young ninja by now.
If he were fortunate enough to tap into the power of the Rinnegan, Nagato should have grown to a level Jiraiya could barely imagine. If Nagato had developed as he had envisioned, leading an organization with Akatsuki's strength shouldn't be a problem.
But...
"Could it be Nagato?"
"If it is Nagato, why would he cooperate with the ninja who attacked Konoha during the Nine-Tails incident?"
"If it's not him... then where did the Akatsuki leader's pair of Rinnegan come from?"
"Were they taken from Nagato?"
"Are those three children even still alive!?"
At this moment, Jiraiya was bombarded with many thoughts. While investigating the identity of Akatsuki's leader, Jiraiya was also worried about the safety of Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan.
When they parted ways, Yahiko and the others were only teenagers who had learned a few jutsu from him, merely Genin according to Konoha's ranking system.
Although the situation was relatively stable at the time, small countries like the Land of Rain were constantly ravaged by war. Even though the Five Great Nations had withdrawn from the Land of Rain's territory, the rogue ninjas and bandits left over from the war were still plaguing that land.
It was not easy for children of that age to survive in such an environment.
But on the other hand, while Jiraiya hoped that Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan were still alive and living peacefully, he also did not want to see them go down the path of mercenaries and become the leaders of a criminal organization like Akatsuki.
As a Konoha ninja, if the leader of Akatsuki truly was Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan, then even as his former teacher, he could not stand by and watch an organization like Akatsuki continue to grow.
Jiraiya had already sensed the danger level of the Akatsuki organization from Orochimaru's various descriptions.
A powerful organization harboring the intention of capturing the Tailed Beasts... Jiraiya would absolutely not tolerate the existence of such an organization, whether considering the macro-perspective of Konoha or just as Minato's teacher.
Publicly, he was one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha and had a responsibility to protect the village. Privately, he was the teacher of Minato and Kushina and had a responsibility to protect his disciple and his disciple's wife.
Just as Hyuga Shin'ichi unrolled the scroll and carefully examined its contents, Jiraiya raised his head with a look of determination and asked Hyuga Shin'ichi:
"Shin'ichi, how do you plan to investigate next?"
"Have you decided on a direction?"
The scroll provided by Orochimaru detailed some information about Akatsuki, but much of it was personal information about the members, with no record regarding the leader. He didn't record that the Akatsuki leader might be a ninja from the Land of Rain. Some things could be recorded in a scroll, but some things were safer kept in the mind.
Honestly, while Orochimaru's information contained a lot of intelligence, Shin'ichi found very little of it useful at a glance. Shin'ichi knew much more about Akatsuki than Orochimaru did, and his information was also more detailed.
However, this information was not entirely useless. At the very least, Shin'ichi could openly disclose some info about Akatsuki without having to worry about people questioning the source of the intelligence.
As Shin'ichi pondered which information to reveal, he heard Jiraiya's question. After a moment of pause and thought, Shin'ichi smiled and said:
"Didn't Lord Orochimaru provide a vital clue?"
"Although we don't know who the mysterious leader of Akatsuki is, the direction for the next investigation is clear."
"Isn't this guy a rogue ninja from Takigakure?"
"They should have some interest in pursuing a rogue ninja, shouldn't they? Not just Takigakure, Kirigakure should be interested too."
Hyuga Shin'ichi didn't want to point out the location of Akatsuki's main base rashly. Furthermore, he was considering recruiting some helpers, even if they were just cannon fodder. If they acted together, the success rate might be higher. Therefore, he set his sights on Takigakure and Kirigakure.
Since Deidara was not yet a member of Akatsuki, the number of helpers Shin'ichi could recruit was not many, but if these two parties were willing to contribute, it could provide some assistance.
Hearing Shin'ichi's intended direction of investigation, Jiraiya did not object. After a moment of deliberation, he finally made up his mind and said:
"Shin'ichi, I have a clue regarding the Rinnegan."
"That leader of Akatsuki... is very likely a ninja from the Land of Rain!"
Now that it had come to this, Jiraiya no longer intended to cover for his former disciples. At the same time, as he said this, Jiraiya had already resolved to enter the Land of Rain to uncover the truth.
Regardless of whether the Akatsuki leader was Nagato, he wanted to find him and confirm his fate.
Jiraiya's words stunned Shin'ichi, but in an instant, Shin'ichi had adjusted his emotions and asked with some surprise:
"A ninja from the Land of Rain? How do you know that?"
As Shin'ichi asked this, Orochimaru, who was not far away, also looked toward Jiraiya with an unreadable expression. Shisui, Kakashi, and the others also turned their gaze to Jiraiya, all surprised that Jiraiya actually had information related to the Akatsuki leader.
"That's a long story."
"Simply put, when I was younger, I met a ninja who possessed the Rinnegan, and that child... was from the Land of Rain."
"I'm not sure if the Akatsuki leader is the child I met back then, but I think we can start the investigation from the Land of Rain."
Jiraiya's words were brief and to the point, but the intelligence he provided disrupted Shin'ichi's original plan.
Following Jiraiya's line of thought meant they had to enter the Land of Rain, but with the strength of their current team, entering the Land of Rain would achieve nothing but alerting the enemy.
Unless Might Guy opened the Eight Inner Gates to fight for his life, but...
Shin'ichi didn't even know if Might Guy could open the Gate of Death right now. Even if Guy could open the Gate of Death, using such power against Nagato felt like a waste to Shin'ichi. When they could potentially "unscathed" defeat Akatsuki in the future by accumulating power, why risk their lives now?
However...
Noticing Jiraiya's expression at that moment, Shin'ichi felt that even if he disagreed with investigating in the Land of Rain, Jiraiya would go to find the truth himself.
He couldn't stop Jiraiya from doing what he wanted.
Allowing Jiraiya to investigate alone in the Land of Rain would also alert the enemy. And without reinforcements, that guy might lose his life there by investigating alone.
Since Yahiko's death, Nagato's hatred for this world far exceeded what ordinary people could imagine. Even when facing his former mentor, Jiraiya, the enemy would definitely not hold back.
Before being talked down by Naruto, Nagato was already so extreme that he would use any means necessary to achieve his goals. Shin'ichi absolutely could not let Jiraiya take this risk alone.
After a moment of deliberation, Hyuga Shin'ichi's gaze fell upon Orochimaru, and he asked in a serious tone:
"Orochimaru..."
"You just said... that if the village decided to deal with Akatsuki, you could provide assistance?"
"What level of assistance are you talking about?"
Akatsuki was strong—so strong that Hyuga Shin'ichi was willing to seek external help. Since they had to alert the enemy, they might as well strengthen their own team's power as much as possible.
Their interests and Orochimaru's were aligned regarding dealing with Akatsuki, which created room for negotiation and maneuver.
"Hoh..."
"Are you trying to get me to go with you to the Land of Rain to investigate?"
Orochimaru was an extremely clever person. Hearing Shin'ichi's question, he knew exactly what the other party meant.
Honestly, Orochimaru was quite interested in investigating. The Rinnegan was a huge temptation for him.
"Yes, I think you should be very interested in the Rinnegan, shouldn't you?"
Shin'ichi understood Orochimaru and naturally knew what to use to attract him.
"Hmph hmph hmph hmph...."
"That's interesting."
Orochimaru let out bursts of laughter and then agreed decisively:
"When are you planning to leave?"
Investigating Akatsuki was dangerous, but Orochimaru was very confident in himself and agreed with exceptional decisiveness.
Shin'ichi did not answer, but instead looked towards Jiraiya.
Sensing the eyes of the group, Jiraiya pondered for a moment:
"The sooner the better."
"We leave immediately."
Jiraiya was somewhat urgent. After hearing the news that Akatsuki's leader possessed the Rinnegan, he could no longer hold back.
Hyuga Shin'ichi's expression slightly darkened. He did not object, but simply used the Flying Thunder God Technique to send the scroll Orochimaru gave him away.
...
Konoha Village.
The door to the Hokage's office was suddenly knocked open. Minato, who was busy with official duties, raised his head and looked at Kushina, who pushed the door open and entered.
"What's wrong?"
Minato looked at his wife with gentle eyes and asked softly.
"Shin'ichi has sent back a message."
"It's about the person who attacked Konoha back then."
Saying this, Kushina handed the scroll to Minato.
This scroll was the intelligence on Akatsuki sent by Shin'ichi. Along with the scroll, a handwritten letter from Shin'ichi was also sent back to Konoha, which Kushina had placed inside the scroll.
Hearing that it was information about Obito, Minato immediately grew serious, unrolled the scroll, and carefully examined it.
"Akatsuki...."
The content of the scroll was information on Akatsuki's members, and Shin'ichi's handwritten letter stated their plans for the next course of action.
Shin'ichi also specified the risks of the trip, and the warning about the risk in the letter made Minato frown deeply.
He knew that Jiraiya and Orochimaru were traveling with Shin'ichi and the others—people outside the original team.
Even with such a team, there was still a huge risk.
Minato pondered for a moment, then put away the letter and said, "Kushina, I'm going to Mount Myōboku to make some arrangements."
"I'll be back later."
As his voice faded, Minato Namikaze instantly disappeared.
Did Hyuga Shin'ichi send a message back to the village just to transmit intelligence?!
No, his biggest purpose was to ask for help.
Minato and Kushina both had summoning contracts with the toads of Mount Myōboku, a lineage inherited from Jiraiya.
As long as preparations were made in advance, if anything unexpected happened in the Land of Rain, they could receive powerful reinforcements through the Reverse Summoning Technique.
Since they had decided to enter the Land of Rain, they naturally had to be prepared for a major battle to break out.
Hyuga Shin'ichi did not want Might Guy to risk his life, and he certainly didn't want to risk his own life!
...
The heavy rain poured down, and the sky was dark.
Since entering the Land of Rain's territory, the sky had not cleared up.
On the turbulent surface of the sea, a group of people wearing black rain cloaks stood on the water, looking toward the distant town with its towering buildings.
"Should we infiltrate directly?"
From beneath the hood of a rain cloak, Orochimaru's hoarse and magnetic voice rang out, seemingly seeking advice.
"Let's go straight into the city."
"First, find a living person to get a simple understanding of the situation."
Jiraiya lightly lifted his hood, his tone low. As he spoke, Hyuga Shin'ichi beside him reached out and subtly felt the rain, sighing inwardly:
"Sure enough..."
"We've already been discovered, haven't we..."
..........
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