Meanwhile, in Iwagakure of the Land of Earth...

Onoki was staring at the intelligence reports spread across the desk with undisguised panic.

Something about the Hidden Leaf Village holding a concert...

Something about the Hidden Leaf Village's Fifth Hokage...

Something about Hiruzen Sarutobi being resurrected...

Something about the Hidden Leaf Village declaring war on Kumogakure...

None of that meant anything to Onoki.

At this moment, Onoki had been frozen in one position for well over an hour, eyes locked on a single name in the report...

That name was none other than Madara Uchiha — the Shinobi World's Asura.

The instant that name registered, Onoki's entire mind was dragged into memory.

Back then, Onoki had still been just a child, following a teacher to the Hidden Leaf Village in the Land of Fire. The teacher had wanted to discuss a potential alliance between Iwagakure and the Hidden Leaf with the Hokage.

That day. That man Onoki had seen in the Hidden Leaf Village.

That man called Madara Uchiha.

Just one glance. Just one look from those eyes, and the sheer crushing weight of that presence obliterated every thought of resistance before it could even form.

That single look had remained an inescapable nightmare for decades.

Even now, having grown incomparably stronger than that childhood self, Onoki still had no confidence of being able to defeat the Madara Uchiha of that day.

Could such a being truly be resurrected?!

If this was real...

Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, together with Madara Uchiha. The other villages were in serious danger.

Just as Onoki was lost in the memory of that suffocating pressure, a sudden BANG rang out from the office door.

BANG!

A pair of long legs came crashing through the doorway, no, wait!

The future Fourth Leg-kage, no, wait!

The future Fourth Tsuchikage, Onoki's long-legged, no, wait!

Onoki's granddaughter had come barreling in.

CRACK!

The sudden noise gave Onoki a massive fright. Onoki tumbled straight off the chair, and a decades-old back let out a sickening crack.

"Ow! My back!"

"Grandpa!"

"Oh... it's Kurotsuchi. Scared your grandpa half to death..."

Kurotsuchi stared at Onoki with a thoroughly puzzled look.

"Grandpa... what exactly are you doing? You've been sitting in here frozen in the exact same position for over an hour, just staring at that document. What on earth happened?!"

"Nothing much... it's just that the Shinobi World is probably about to descend into chaos. Kumogakure and the Hidden Leaf Village have declared war on each other. The peaceful days probably won't last much longer."

Long-legged Kurotsuchi froze at that.

"What?! Grandpa, what did you say?! You're saying Kumogakure and the Hidden Leaf Village declared war on each other?!"

"That's right... ow... my old back..."

"How could they suddenly declare war? Those two haven't had any incidents recently, have they?!"

Kurotsuchi genuinely could not make sense of it.

"Grandpa doesn't know the full details either... in any case, something major really does seem like it's about to change in the Shinobi World.

All right, Kurotsuchi... come help your grandpa up. This back gets worse by the day at this age.

Ow — ow, ow, ow!"

...................................

The news of Kumogakure and the Hidden Leaf Village declaring war sent undercurrents churning through the entire Shinobi World. Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure in the Land of Wind, had already assembled a shinobi force and set out toward the Hidden Leaf Village. Kirigakure of the Land of Water and Iwagakure of the Land of Earth had both begun making their own preparations as well.

Meanwhile, in another corner of the Shinobi World, Nagato, tubes running out of his back, body gaunt and frail, had been in a terrible mood lately.

The Akatsuki had been steadily growing. More and more powerful figures kept joining: first the one who called himself Madara Uchiha, then Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, Kakuzu, Hidan, Deidara, Sasori, one powerhouse after another. Things had been looking up.

But lately the organization seemed to have run into a problem.

Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki had gone to the Hidden Leaf Village to gather intelligence and then vanished completely. So Nagato sent out Hidan and Kakuzu next, and those two had also inexplicably disappeared without a single word making it back.

Hidan going missing was just going missing. As far as Nagato was concerned, it didn't matter much. Hidan had some ability, sure, but the screws were loose upstairs, spending every day screaming about Jashin, sometimes not even showing the leader any respect. On top of that, the lunatic couldn't be killed and had no fear of death whatsoever.

So gone was gone.

But Kakuzu was a completely different story.

Kakuzu was the Akatsuki's money bag. From the moment of joining the organization, Kakuzu had supplied massive funding, and considering Kakuzu had been alive since the Warring States period, the hundreds of millions in capital injected had fattened the organization up overnight. On top of that, Kakuzu had an extraordinary talent for making money, consistently and continuously generating income for the organization.

Losing the money bag was not something anyone could be happy about.

Four powerful members. All vanished without explanation. After all those years of building the Akatsuki up from nothing, what Nagato had left was: Nagato, Konan, and the one who called himself Madara Uchiha, though that one now went by "Tobi" and also seemed like a complete lunatic.

Beyond that, there was still Deidara and Sasori.

Right. Also two lunatics.

Thinking it over carefully, being the leader of this organization was genuinely hard. Every single subordinate was a lunatic.

At least there was Konan.

Nagato glanced over at Konan.

"Konan... has any news come through about Hidan and Kakuzu recently?"

Konan frowned slightly.

"Nagato... there has been some news, but it didn't come from either of them. This has already spread nearly all across the Shinobi World. But it does involve Hidan and Kakuzu..."

Nagato looked at Konan with a puzzled expression.

"What news?"

"Well... news out of the Hidden Leaf Village. It seems Hidan and Kakuzu have both joined the Hidden Leaf Village. And Kakuzu has apparently become the manager of some company and organized a Hidden Leaf Village concert..."

"What?! You're saying those two betrayed the organization? They joined the Hidden Leaf Village?!"

"Yes... Nagato..."

"Those two bastards! cough cough cough..."

➤ Next: Three Updates — Hold Your Horses

Chapter 248 - Three Updates — Hold Your Horses

"Nagato — I know you're in a hurry, but just hold on a second!"

"Cough, cough, cough," Nagato immediately broke into another fierce round of coughs.

"How could I not be in a hurry?! Those two damned bastards! How dare they join the Hidden Leaf Village, especially Kakuzu, actually becoming some kind of manager and putting on a concert?! It's like they don't regard me, their god, in the slightest!"

Konan, standing to one side, wore a pained expression.

"Nagato, what I'm trying to say is you're getting worked up too early!

Besides Hidan and Kakuzu, we've also picked up news on Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki. Those two have joined the Hidden Leaf Village as well."

Nagato's head snapped up the instant those words landed.

"What?! Cough, cough, cough, cough,

Damn it! Bastards! Every last one of them is a damned bastard! Why would they all suddenly join the Hidden Leaf Village?! Hidan and Kakuzu are one thing, but what's going on with Itachi Uchiha?!

Didn't Itachi massacre the Uchiha Clan?

A Rogue Ninja from the Hidden Leaf Village, how could they possibly go back? And how could the Hidden Leaf Village possibly allow a Rogue Ninja to return?!

False intel! It has to be false intel! Cough, cough, cough,"

Konan shook their head helplessly.

"No, Nagato, this should be real. And like I already said, I know you're in a hurry, but hold on a second. There's more news on top of all this."

"There's more?!"

Nagato had no desire to hear any more news at this point. Two updates in a row, both bad. Members of his organization were joining the Hidden Leaf Village out of nowhere, what kind of situation was this?!

The Tailed Beast collection hadn't even started yet, and somehow the organization was already on the verge of falling apart.

All that was left was that unhinged Deidara, that brain-dead Tobi, and then Nagato and Konan themselves. How were they supposed to collect Tailed Beasts like that? Was Nagato expected to step out personally?

Wouldn't that make the leader of Akatsuki look absolutely pathetic?!

Nagato looked at Konan with a helpless expression. Honestly, two updates in a row had been bad news, and Nagato had no desire to hear any more.

"Konan, what other news is there?!"

"Well, it's about the Hidden Leaf Village. Didn't they hold a concert recently? The performer lineup seems to have some problems. Names like the First Hokage hashirama senju, madara uchiha, the great warriors of the Hidden Leaf across all generations, every past Hokage, all of them were on the list!

In short, it seems like all those figures have been revived. The ones who should already be dead. It looks like they've all appeared inside the Hidden Leaf Village now."

This time, Nagato's eyes went wide.

"What?! How is that possible?

Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

How could a bunch of dead people come back to life?

The Hidden Leaf Village is full of buffoons, how could they possibly revive the dead? How could they possibly have a method like that?!

Cough, cough, cough! Pfft,"

Nagato spat out a mouthful of blood.

"AHHH! MY HEAD IS SPLITTING!"

Konan rushed forward and rubbed Nagato's head.

"See, you're getting worked up again.

I haven't finished yet. There's more news besides this one."

There was still a trace of blood at the corner of Nagato's mouth. Nagato stared at Konan in disbelief, thinking: are you trying to kill me today or what?!

Can't you see I just coughed up blood?!

Is it really so hard to bring one piece of good news?!

"There's more?!"

"Yes, Nagato, I already told you I know you're in a hurry, so just hold on. This piece of news should count as good news for our Akatsuki."

Nagato finally let out a long breath. Good news had finally arrived. God, things had really not been easy. Four members defected, the great warriors of the Hidden Leaf across all generations revived, none of it was good for Akatsuki in the slightest.

But had good news finally come?!

"Konan, what's the good news?! Say it now! If you wait any longer I won't be able to hold back from coughing up blood!"

"Well, Kumogakure from the Land of Lightning and the Hidden Leaf Village from the Land of Fire have declared war on each other. The ninja from the Land of Lightning have already set out toward the Hidden Leaf Village. It looks like the two sides are about to fight a major battle, and this might be an opportunity for Akatsuki.

Hasn't Akatsuki always been trying to collect Tailed Beasts? With Kumogakure and the Hidden Leaf Village going to war, there might be some openings for us.

After all, the Land of Lightning's side has the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki Killer B, and the Hidden Leaf Village still has the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Whichever side ends up losing, we move in amid the chaos and seize the Tailed Beasts!"

Hearing this, something that finally qualified as good news, Nagato perked up.

"Oh?! There's actually such a lucky turn of events?!

Kekekekeke,

I had originally been worrying that losing four members would hurt our plans to capture the Tailed Beasts. I never expected Kumogakure and the Hidden Leaf Village to just go to war like that?!

Truly, heaven is on my side!

Hmm, Konan, this does qualify as good news!"

Konan nodded.

"Nagato, so this time, should we send Deidara and Tobi out?"

Nagato thought about it for a moment, then shook his head.

"No. This time I'm having Pain make a move. The first operation to capture a Tailed Beast absolutely cannot afford to fail. Who knows whether Deidara and Tobi will end up causing some kind of trouble?

Besides, that Tobi is honestly a bit too mysterious. From start to finish I have never truly trusted them.

Out of nowhere claiming to be madara uchiha, then out of nowhere going on about collecting Tailed Beasts to make the Shinobi World feel pain, saying only through that can peace be achieved,

I keep feeling like that one has some scheme they're not letting anyone in on.

And don't forget, wasn't there news from the Hidden Leaf Village saying madara uchiha has already been revived?! Tobi's real identity probably won't stay hidden much longer.

So this time, Pain makes the move. Whichever side ends up losing, the Hidden Leaf Village or Kumogakure, we move out immediately.

That guarantees the absolute success of this operation!"

"Understood, Nagato." Konan nodded.

Looking at Nagato, a look of worry settled across Konan's face.

"Nagato, your condition has been getting worse by the day. Do you really think we can accomplish our dream and our plan?!"

"Cough, cough — cough, cough — we definitely can! We will definitely accomplish our dream! We will definitely complete our plan!

After all, I have to carry Yahiko's share.

And keep going!"

➤ Next: You Exist Deep Within My Mind~