"Why do you look like you've seen a ghost? If you don't want to talk, then don't."
As she spoke, under Mōryō's resentful gaze, a cubic water prison once again sealed him away. This time, however, there was no Obito to come and rescue him.
"Yo ho, everyone sure left pretty fast."
After dealing with the most eye-catching Mōryō, Furina discovered that the other Akatsuki members had, in this short period of time, tacitly put a considerable distance between themselves and the area. Clearly, not a single one wanted to help him.
This was to be expected. The Akatsuki had all sorts of people, but fools were not among them—or if there were any, they were very few.
Seeing the situation turn bad and immediately fleeing was perfectly normal.
Moreover, for Furina, as long as she captured Mōryō, the rest actually did not matter much. After all, Mōryō was related to Shion's issue, while the others had no such complications.
...
One day after the attack, the Kage from various villages—who had been lured away—finally returned. Although the Akatsuki's goal had not been achieved this time, the Kage from villages other than Konoha were not particularly happy.
Because through this battle, they had witnessed a threat far greater than the Akatsuki: Furina's strength had far exceeded their estimations. If one were to describe it more concretely,
it was the same as when Ōnoki was young facing Uchiha Madara—a vast gap had already opened between her and the nominal strongest shinobi of each village.
And right now, they were all still in Konoha. If Furina had any ideas, they would have almost no way to resist—whether it was the jinchūriki or those elite ninja.
Moreover, this threat was constant. Even if she had not acted now, what about later? Would she never have such thoughts in the future?
But even in this situation, if the village leaders truly took their ninja and returned home, they could not really do so.
The threat from Konoha was only a possibility, but if they went back, the threat from the Akatsuki—who had not suffered major losses—would definitely become reality.
Staying here at least allowed them to huddle together for warmth. Thus, under the tacit understanding among the Kage, no side chose to leave this place that had already become very dangerous in their eyes.
In this way, with daily worries about Konoha suddenly making a move, more than a year passed.
During this period, although the Kage's feared event did not occur, on smaller demands—such as Tsunade requiring unified command over all ninja—the Kage like Ōnoki and A, though very reluctant, ultimately swallowed their pride and accepted it.
As for the Akatsuki, perhaps because the setback they suffered earlier was too severe, they had quieted down during this time. News about them in the ninja world had greatly decreased, far from the days when the entire ninja world revolved around them.
However, it was not completely without news. The Akatsuki's infamous rogue ninja, the Uchiha clan massacre Itachi, had been killed by someone unknown less than a month ago. And after Itachi's death, the Akatsuki gained a new member.
Uchiha Itachi's younger brother, Uchiha Sasuke. After he appeared in the ninja world wearing the Akatsuki robe, many speculated that perhaps Uchiha Itachi had been killed by his own brother Sasuke. But these were only rumors and could not be confirmed as true.
Furina, however, knew. Although she had no definite intelligence, Uchiha Itachi had absolutely been killed by Sasuke—or rather, it was revenge.