Naruto: From Ninja Academy to an Early Grave

While Black Zetsu was worrying about his plan to save his mother, White Zetsu was dutifully delivering his intelligence report.

Their current role within the Akatsuki was that of intelligence gatherers.

"Well, the information on the One-Tail through Eight-Tails jinchūriki is basically complete. The only thing I haven't been able to determine is the identity of Konohagakure's Nine-Tails jinchūriki."

Deidara snorted.

"What's so hard about that? Everyone knows the Nine-Tails jinchūriki is the Fourth Hokage's wife, Uzumaki Kushina. That's what's written in Iwagakure's ninja handbook, yeah!"

White Zetsu spread his hands.

"That's hard to say. Konohagakure has quite a few Uzumaki these days. Besides, the Fourth Hokage's son also carries the Nine-Tails' aura. So who knows which one is the real jinchūriki? It's really hard to guess."

Sasori looked at him.

"Zetsu, with your abilities, something like this should be easy to figure out."

"Sorry, but Konohagakure has become very strange over the years. Their barrier system has changed, so I can't infiltrate it like I used to."

"And the village's ninja have changed too. Unlike the shinobi of other villages, some of my methods simply don't work on them."

He was referring to his spore parasites. Since Konohagakure's ninja had all undergone Natural Energy Training to one degree or another, his spores had become ineffective.

Kisame grinned.

"That's simple. Don't we happen to have a former Konohagakure ninja right here? One of the legendary Sannin, no less. Isn't that right, Orochimaru-san?"

Orochimaru remained silent.

Truthfully, he had little interest in the organization's plans. Compared to peace in the ninja world, wasn't scientific research far more appealing?

If not for Higashino Makoto's instructions, he would have packed his bags and defected from the organization long ago.

After all, certain people were no longer supplying him with the ninja world's hidden secrets, and the Rinnegan now seemed completely out of reach. There was no helping it—he couldn't beat the leader.

Pain turned toward him, his gaze devoid of emotion.

"Orochimaru, tell us what you think."

Orochimaru replied calmly, "As far as I know, during the Night of the Nine-Tails, after Higashino Makoto and Namikaze Minato suppressed the Nine-Tails together, they sealed it back into Kushina's body."

"Given what I know about Kushina, as a mother, there's no way she would agree to have the Nine-Tails sealed inside her son."

"And without the Nine-Tails, she wouldn't still be alive today."

"So the answer is obvious. Is it really that hard to figure out?"

Behind Pain, Nagato was also a member of the Uzumaki Clan. Putting himself in Kushina's shoes, he chose to believe Orochimaru's conclusion.

"That makes sense. Then our information on the jinchūriki is now complete. Next comes arranging their capture."

At that moment, the Akatsuki's White Tiger—Konan, the organization's only publicly known female member—finally spoke.

"Unlike the others, the Nine-Tails jinchūriki is the Hokage's wife. She rarely leaves the village for missions. How are we supposed to get past Higashino Makoto, the new God of Shinobi, infiltrate Konohagakure, and capture her?"

Deidara sounded unconvinced.

"That guy can't be much older than me, right? Is he really that strong? Konan, aren't you being a little too timid, yeah?"

Konan shot the troublesome Iwagakure brat a glare and couldn't be bothered to respond.

Kisame laughed.

"Deidara, you're seriously underestimating the strength of the ninja world's universally acknowledged second 'God of Shinobi.' Back then, he defeated the Fourth Raikage and a large force of elite shinobi all by himself."

"It's been nearly ten years since then. Nobody knows how strong he is now."

"If you're not careful, you'll die. Especially a brat like you who doesn't know how to respect the strong. Those types die the fastest."

Sasori nodded.

"Exactly. The moment I heard you talk about your 'art of the instant,' I knew you looked like someone destined for an early grave."

"Sasori-nii!" Deidara protested. "Aren't you supposed to be my partner? Whose side are you on?"

Pain had no interest in listening to a bunch of lunatics bicker.

The truth was that Higashino Makoto's strength—and Konohagakure's growing power—had indeed become a major obstacle to the organization's plans.

Even Nagato himself would find it difficult to deal with the Fourth Raikage and several hundred elite subordinates on his own.

After a moment of thought, he continued.

"Zetsu, three years ago, a mysterious battle broke out outside Konohagakure. You've been investigating it for a long time. Have you discovered anything?"

White Zetsu shook his head.

"Nope. The scene was cleaned up thoroughly. There was nothing left to find."

"All I could determine from the traces that remained was that both sides were extremely powerful."

Everyone's gaze immediately shifted to Orochimaru again.

After all, if there was a problem, why not ask the miraculous Mr. Orochimaru?

Among everyone present, he was the only one originally from Konohagakure. Sasori, Kisame, and the others were convinced he must still have intelligence sources within the village.

After all, they had all left contingencies behind in their own villages as well.

Pain looked at him.

"Orochimaru, what do you think?"

A mysterious smile appeared on Orochimaru's face.

"My apologies, Leader. The informant I have in Konohagakure doesn't have access to information at that level."

"However, the enemy must have been extremely powerful. At the time, Konohagakure evacuated all of its civilians into shelters."

"One side of the battle was Higashino Makoto and the genin team under his command. The other was a mysterious individual supposedly from some Ōtsutsuki Clan. Has anyone here ever heard of that surname before?"

After revealing that information, Orochimaru extended his tongue and casually licked his face clean while secretly observing Black Zetsu's reaction.

Naturally, Makoto had been the one to give him that information and had specifically instructed him to bring it up while Black Zetsu was present.

Orochimaru was curious and wanted to figure out the relationship between the two.

Everyone in the Akatsuki said they had never heard of such a clan.

On the surface, Black Zetsu remained calm as ever.

Inside, however, the moment he heard the words "Ōtsutsuki Clan," his mind completely froze.

What the hell was going on?

Why would it be the Ōtsutsuki Clan?

As far as he knew, besides his mother Kaguya, the only other Ōtsutsuki connected to the ninja world were her two dead brothers who weren't even in the world of the living.

Even he himself was only a half-finished creation, a manifestation of his mother's will. Strictly speaking, he didn't even qualify as a true member of the Ōtsutsuki Clan.

So where had this so-called mysterious Ōtsutsuki come from?

Had his mother failed to tell him something important?

Pain spoke up.

"No matter how powerful the enemy may be, the organization's plan will not change. Every team will be responsible for capturing two tailed beasts in the coming years."

"We'll begin with the One-Tail and proceed in order."

"As for the strongest one, the Nine-Tails, I will personally deal with it. No matter how powerful this so-called God of Shinobi may be, he will not be my opponent."

"Because he is a false god."

"And I am the true god."

The chūnibyō energy inside the cave suddenly shot off the charts.

Konan wanted to object but held her tongue.

She couldn't openly question the leader's orders in front of the other members. Instead, she planned to persuade Nagato in private.

She didn't want her only remaining companion to take such a risk.

Orochimaru asked curiously, "Leader, what if you fail?"

Pain replied without hesitation.

"Impossible. Absolutely impossible. Gods do not fail."

"But what if? The organization should have a backup plan."

"..."

Pain stared at him.

What was wrong with this snake?

Why was he always trying to undermine him?

And of everyone in the organization, Orochimaru was the one who contributed the least. Under the excuse of conducting research, he spent most of his time slacking off whenever organizational missions came up.

Orochimaru continued, "Does the organization's plan require the Nine-Tails itself, or would its chakra suffice?"

Black Zetsu and Obito quietly signaled to Pain.

Pain nodded.

"A portion of the Nine-Tails' chakra would also work. So, Orochimaru, what exactly are you getting at?"

Orochimaru smiled.

"I'm thinking that Konohagakure is simply too powerful. There's no need for the organization to clash with them so early. That would interfere with your plans, wouldn't it, Leader?"

"If all we need is a portion of the chakra, then the solution is simple."

"As far as I know, the Gold and Silver Brothers of Kumogakure possessed large amounts of Nine-Tails chakra."

"And there's also a brat in the Fire Temple with a considerable amount of Nine-Tails chakra sealed inside him."

Kakuzu frowned.

"The Gold and Silver Brothers? I remember them. They were figures from my era as well."

"But they've been dead for many years, haven't they?"

Orochimaru shrugged.

"That doesn't matter. We can simply pull them back from the Pure Land."

Pain's eyes narrowed.

"Orochimaru, have you perfected that technique?"

"Yes, Leader. It's perfect now."

After thinking it over, Pain nodded.

"Very well. We'll make that one of our contingency plans."

A mysterious smile appeared on Orochimaru's face.

His mission from Makoto was to divert the Akatsuki's attention away from Konohagakure without disrupting their plans.

Otherwise, what if Nagato suddenly lost his mind and decided to go to Konohagakure to flatten the place?

They absolutely had to keep his attention focused on the other hidden villages instead.

Konan quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

As long as Nagato wasn't going to Konohagakure, she was satisfied.

Black Zetsu also breathed a sigh of relief, though his thoughts went much further.

He took the initiative to speak.

"Leader, I believe the original plan is flawed."

"The tailed beast capture operation cannot be dragged out for too long. The longer it takes, the greater the chance of interference from Konohagakure."

"We need to find the right opportunity and capture the tailed beasts in the shortest time possible."

"At the same time, we must divert attention elsewhere and buy time for the organization's plans. We cannot allow the Five Great Shinobi Villages to focus their attention on us."

Pain looked interested.

"Oh? Zetsu, do you have a better idea?"

"Of course."

"I do have a new plan."

"And Orochimaru-san is the key to making it work."

Black Zetsu glanced at Orochimaru as though he were looking at a treasure trove, then laid out the plan for everyone and invited them to help refine it.

After hearing the proposal, Pain found it quite promising.

Then a realization suddenly struck him.

The Orochimaru he had always considered a slacker who barely did any work was, in fact, the organization's true core employee.

Sure enough, when someone possessed the core technology, even if they spent all day slacking off, a boss like him couldn't just fire them whenever he felt like it.

Thank goodness he hadn't kicked Orochimaru out of the organization.

Otherwise, he would have ended up laying off the employee connected directly to the company's lifeline.