Naruto: Escape From Konoha-Chapter 251 - 244: Akatsuki’s Actions

"As long as you know how to ride social trends, Kumo's shameless method can be countered using similar shameless methods."

Ayane had never taken this matter too seriously. She had witnessed far too many such incidents within the Land of Demons. It just so happened that this was also Root's area of expertise. Matters that the Hyuga clan and Konoha conservatives were not well-equipped to handle were most appropriately left for Root to step forward.

As long as Danzo could be persuaded to make a move and the price was reasonable, with Danzo able to withstand frontal pressure, the Hyuga clan's reputation could be preserved.

"However, being suspected by both the Hokage and main family like this, the coming days do not look easy for the branch house..." The branch ninja frowned with distress.

"Does it matter? As long as you're honest and accountable, they have no evidence against you." Ayane sneered.

After her departure, the main family and Hokage had always been suspicious of the branch house. Now those impressions had only grown stronger.

As the saying goes, if there are too many lice, you won't feel the itch. No matter how suspicious the main was towards the branch family, it was but a mild irritation to the current branch Hyuga.

"Even so...Ayane-sama, have you truly joined forces with Danzo?" The branch ninja asked, very concerned about the situation.

On the surface, the situation had been neatly resolved by Root's involvement. However, Danzo's Root would still face some suppression and checks by the Third Hokage to a certain degree. Allowing Root, which had finally developed and strengthened somewhat, to take a hit at this juncture was likely not Danzo's style at all.

If no one from the Hyuga clan had established secret contact with Danzo, it would have been impossible for Danzo to intervene so self-righteously this time around.

Getting involved with political games between the leadership had always been expressly prohibited by the Hyuga clan.

Whether they were the main family or branch family, neither side was permitted to participate in political machinations between top echelon.

As long as the Hyuga clan retained possession of the Byakugan Kakkei Genkai, Konoha would be unable to abandon the Hyuga clan and their status would not diminish.

Navigating turbulent undercurrents while maintaining delicate stability had always been the Hyuga clan's strategy.

But that "always" now seemed to have been broken at the moment.

"Who knows?... You just need to bide your time for opportunities in Konoha. No need for any extra actions on your end. When the time comes, everything will naturally become clear." Ayane maintained an air of mystery.

"I understand."

The branch ninja replied. He couldn't shake the nagging feeling that there were too many inexplicable aspects still lingering around the unfolding situation. But as an informant, he naturally didn't dare to presume he could know everything.

The more one knew, the greater the risk of being exposed after all.

But one thing was for sure though, someone from the Hyuga clan had definitely established secret contact with Danzo and promised irresistible benefits that prompted Danzo's Root to take action, blocking Kumo's sanctions on the Hyuga this time.

As for whether these people were from the branch family or main family, that remained uncertain.

"Then I shall take my leave." The branch ninja said, intending to peave.

"One more thing." Ayane's voice sounded from behind him. "Pay attention to Hyuga Hizashi. He has received orders from the main family to secretly investigate the branch members. Remind them to act normal and refrain from unnecessary actions."

"Understood."

branch ninja replied in surprise. Their branch was unaware Hizashi had struck such a deal with the main family. They had assumed after this incident Hizashi could be won over to their side becoming a force for them.

Now it appeared everything had simply been wishful thinking on their part.

Watching the branch ninja leave, Ayane turned her head slightly and looked at a tree not far away, shrouded in darkness.

"Come out."

Ayane said flatly. Following her voice, a figure emerged from behind the tree.

Wearing a medical staff's white coat, with a pair of glasses on her chest, her eyes looked very bright and full of wisdom - it was Asami Masumi.

"It's been a while, Ayane-sama." Asami gave a slight salute to Ayane.

"What brings you to see me at this time?"

Ayane asked. She had come to Konoha alone without informing Asami Masumi.

So, rhe woman had deduced something was wrong from the recent series of changes occurring within the Hyuga clan.

One had to acknowledge this woman possessed very sharp insight. Being able to deduce so much important information just from small changes in details and even tracking down clues that led her directly here. It was proof enough of her intelligence.

"I have something that someone wants passed on to Shiraishi-sama. I had originally planned to let someone else deliver it, but this matter is of utmost importance. If Ayane-sama could hand this over to Shiraishi-sama personally, it would set my mind at ease." Asami took out a black scroll from her coat's pocket.

Ayane observed through her eyes that an extremely powerful sealing jutsu had been placed over the black scroll.

The complexity of the sealing jutsu even made Ayane frown slightly.

"Who is it from?"

"Akatsuki." Asami Masumi said.

This was the name of that organization. Originally started in the Land of Rain area in earlier years, it had been a formed by a group of idealistic youths willing to sacrifice their blood and ideals to save the Land of Rain.

But with the outbreak of the Third Ninja War, Akatsuki too became a victim of Konoha's absolute victory in the showdown between Hanzo and the Sannin.

Most of Akatsuki's original team members had died at the hands of the Konoha, including their first leader Yahiko.

However, although most of Akatsuki's members died in Konoha's victory during the war, they weren't completely annihilated.

Two more people had escaped unscathed that day. With Konoha and Kumo locked in a pivotal moment of war, Akatsuki's remnants took the opportunity to wipe out Kandachi who had betrayed Ame's interests, gaining complete control of Amegakure and preventing Konoha from intervening.

According to investigations by the Land of Demons's intelligence personnel, over the past two to three years, Akatsuki had gradually shown signs of resurgence.

"Akatsuki?"

Ayane seemed lost in thought. It was no wonder others may not know much about Nagato, but to her, it wasn't really a big secret at all.

Akatsuki's leader was Nagato, possessor of the eyes the legendary Sage of Six Paths was said to have - The Rinnegan.

A few years ago, when she had joined forces with Shiraishi and Ruri to kill Uchiha Madara, Nagato's strength had already been formidable. After a few years, there was no telling how much he had grown in strength.

In general, this was a potential threat no less than the five great ninja countries.

And in terms of concealment abilities, they were no weaker than the Land of Demons either.

"Yes."

Asami didn't seem surprised at all that Akatsuki's Nagato was seeking her out to establish contact with Shiraishi.

Three years ago, they had briefly cooperated once, resulting in the sacrifice of Konoha's Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato and his wife, greatly reducing Konoha's strength.

With such good cooperative foundations already in place, it was only natural for Nagato to seek their partnership again, going through her as the intermediary.

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"I heard this organization's movements have been quite dubious lately. Even Jiraiya seems to be pursuing the Akatsuki."

Ayane remarked as she took the black scroll from Asami, intending to take it back for Shiraishi to handle.

"Jiraiya?" Asami Masumi seemed a little stunned.

"Yes, ever since Orochimaru defected from Konoha, it appears Jiraiya has been tracking Orochimaru's footsteps across the ninja world. Later on, Orochimaru seemed to have had contact with Akatsuki, so they also became one of Jiraiya's targets." Ayane explained.

"Akatsuki is actually in contact with Orochimaru? Now that is really news to me."

Asami showed an incredulous smile. If her memory served correctly, the very reason the original Akatsuki had met such a tragic end was because Orochimaru had been the mastermind behind the scenes.

Back then, Orochimaru had still been a member of Konoha's Council of Advisors. It could be said Hanzo had died not so much at the hands of the Sannin, but rather due to Orochimaru's machinations.

Orochimaru had betrayed his agreement with Hanzo and failed to show up on the battlefield the day of the decisive showdown, leading to Hanzo being surrounded and killed by the Suna.

Afterwards, to conceal this fact, Danzo's Root had also immediately launched a sneak attack, backstabbing Akatsuki and brutally massacring most of Akatsuki's members, installing Hanzo's right-hand as a ruler, thereby achieving their goal of controlling Amegakure.

Given such bloody feud between them, Asami found it truly incredible that Akatsuki was actually cooperating with Orochimaru now.

"Akatsuki's leader is no blind optimist. Be careful when dealing with him in the future." Ayane warned her.

"Of course, I understand." Asami replied with her expression extremely solemn.

For Nagato to be able to calmly join hands with Orochimaru, someone who had caused the tragic fate of his comrades and shared a deep blood feud with them, meant that Akatsuki's leader was even more dangerous than imagined.

The most terrifying people were those willing to dedicate everything for the sake of their ideals, even able to tolerate bloodshed and vengeance.

Such a person would sooner or later become the number one enemy. An even more formidable opponent than the five great ninja villages.

....

Within a desolate small village, blue smoke lingered everywhere.

Not long ago, this had been a relatively peaceful small settlement. Now it lay in ruins.

"Truly frustrating, I still can't find any satisfactory material..." A hoarse, impatient voice emerged from the mouth of a hunched old man.

With shaggy eyebrows, a gruff voice and just five strands of hair left on his head - no matter how one looked at him, he was clearly a very rough-looking adult male. What's more, he walked with a hunch, making him appear even uglier and more vulgar.

Wearing a black cloak with red clouds, his hands were hidden within the sleeves.

Behind him was a metallic, scorpion tail-like weapon. Its tip and sides were stained with copious amounts of blood mixed with the purple venom on the metal tail, presenting an extremely bizarre sight.

He bent over, dragging his bulky body as he carefully inspected every single ninja corpse lying on the ground. Yet no matter how thoroughly he searched, he could not find a "material" that satisfied him among the dead.

These corpses could only be turned into miscellaneous soldier puppets at best, not precious additions to his eternal art collection.

"At the rate you're going, countless more will have to die. You're too impatient, Sasori." Another man approached, his laughter tinged with ridicule.

Sporting purple eye shadow with cold eyes resembling snake pupils, his long black hair fluttered in the wind - it was none other than Orochimaru, the Sannin who had defected from Konoha two years ago.

Now a notorious S-Rank rogue nin. He too wore a black cloak with red clouds.

"I have no interest in failures. You on the other hand could make for a fine collectible." The man addressed as Sasori sneered at Orochimaru without the slightest cordiality between companions.

"You can't kill me off."

Orochimaru didn't get angry. His face still bore a smile and there was no telling what he was thinking.

Sasori grunted in irritation. Indeed, like Orochimaru had stated, he was incapable of killing off this seemingly immortal rotten snake.

Judging from the power of their respective ninjutsu, he might be the stronger one. Yet in terms of immortality, this rotten snake likely no longer fell under the category of human anymore. Just like himself.

"Next, I'll go look for suitable material by myself. If that doesn't sit well with you, feel free to take over."

Sasori truly hated getting along with the likes of Orochimaru. He understood this very clearly. This rotten snake didn't understand the beauty of art at all, only capable of spewing out snakes from his mouth.

Such disgusting ninjutsu was nothing short of blasphemy against art from Sasori's perspective. Even if Orochimaru no longer belonged to the human category, thinking about Orochimaru's jutsus still made Sasori nauseous.

"But we're part of the same group and expected to get along. Those were the leader's instructions." Orochimaru pointed out.

"Get along? Without shared interests there's nothing that can be done. I've no desire to chat about art with a rotten snake all day." Sasori retorted angrily.

"That's unfortunate. I was quite interested in your puppet body," Orochimaru remarked, his interest contrasting sharply with Sasori's indifference.

Sasori snorted coldly and, ignoring the fallen ninjas around him, dragged the bulky corpses away, departing slowly. Orochimaru followed at a leisurely pace, leaving the nameless village behind.

Small, unnamed ninja villages were rare in the ninja world. Most were simply gatherings of people with rudimentary ninjutsu skills, forming mobs for survival.

"Next, we head to the Land of Bears,"

"The Land of Bears?" Orochimaru frowned slightly.

"The Devil's Ravine in the Land of Bears possesses the highly toxic substances I need. In addition, the treasure of Hoshigakure, rumored to be an a meteorite from the sky, is necessary material for enhancing my puppet's hardness," Sasori explained.

Orochimaru nodded in understanding.

"I don't care, but before that, we have someone to meet,"

"Who?"

"Have you forgotten the leader's instructions?"

"Of course, i haven't forgotten. The leader tasked us with finding powerful ninja to join and serve 'Akatsuki,'" Sasori recalled.

However, he had little hope for its success.

Powerful ninjas were primarily concentrated within the five major villages. Only a handful of S-rank rigues roamed freely, and most possessed unique abilities, making them difficult to locate. Even if their trails were discovered, convincing them to join remained a significant hurdle.

So far, their 'Akatsuki' organization boasted only a few official members.

"I have already identified a suitable candidate. After meeting him, we will proceed to the Land of Bears," Orochimaru said with a faint smile.

"Who is it?" Sasori asked, acknowledging Orochimaru's talent despite personal animosity.

A ninja personally recruited by Orochimaru must possess something special.

"Like myself, he too is also a Konoha ninja."

"Oh, a Konoha background is it." Sasori paused as if to mock Orochimaru, "In that case, you Konoha S-rank rogue nins are quite a lot indeed. As far as I know, there are already four Including this new person you mentioned, there are now a total of five people."

Even before Orochimaru the Sannin had defected, Konoha already had three S-rank rogues.

Except for Chiba Shiraishi whose background remained a mystery with scarce intel, the other two were from Konoha's prestigious clans - the Uchiha and Hyuga.

"I originally wanted to find Sakumo's three disciples, but the leader refused, stating they would not join Akatsuki."

Orochimaru recalled something amusingly, the corners of his lips splitting left and right like a snake's.

"Oh? In other words, has the leader already been in contact with those three?" Sasori asked.

It was certain those three S-rank rogue nins would not join Akatsuki. In Sasori's opinion, this was unlike their leader's methods at all.

That could only mean one thing - the leader had contacted those three without their knowledge and confirmed they would not be joining the organization.

"It can only be so. The Rinnegan truly possesses mysterious powers. I really underestimated it back then." Orochimaru stretched out his long tongue, licking it around his mouth as his expression turned gloomy.

Yet because of this, things were becoming rather interesting. Who could have expected those three brats released back then would grow to such heights now?

Thinking of Nagato's strength, Orochimaru couldn't help but shudder involuntarily. That didn't resemble a level of power humans could attain at all.

Faced with such might, even the Sannin seemed insignificant, completely helpless to fight back.

Looking at things now, Root's order to eliminate Akatsuki had been utterly mistaken. Within the Akatsuki back then, the biggest trouble wasn't rhe leader Yahiko but rather Nagato who possessed the Rinnegan.

But in this manner, it made one rather curious regarding which direction Akatsuki's actions would flow.

That had also been his reason for joining Akatsuki. Staying in Konoha which reeked of decay no longer held any interest for him.

Although there had been bad blood between himself and Nagato, the other party seemed not to care about it at all now, much to Orochimaru's surprise.

There was one more reason to stick with Akatsuki. it was more interesting to keep observing Nagato's every action and witness just how far someone possessing those legendary eyes could grow, as well as the new impact it would have on the ninja world. Far more fascinating than remaining in Konoha.

On the path of pursuing eternal life, there was nothing more suitable to pass time than such novel amusement.

Sasori likely thought the same way too. Orochimaru glanced at him knowingly and with some admiration.

While he himself was still on the journey seeking eternity, it appeared he had already accomplished this feat before even turning twenty.

Geniuses couldn't be judged by common sense after all.

In Orochimaru's eyes, Sasori was a genius ninja worthy of recognition. To think there were actually geniuses in this world who shared similar ideologies as himself, nothing could be more gratifying.

So, even if Sasori greatly detested him, Orochimaru would feel no dissatisfaction. That was simply the unique personality of a genius after all.

"Don't look at me with those kinds of eyes. Be careful or I may just end up killing you for real."

Orochimaru's gaze that seemed intent on licking every inch of his body utterly disgusted Sasori.

Especially that mouth which kept spewing out disgusting things all the time.

"Please accept my apologies, I couldn't help myself for a moment there. Shall we move on then? I happen to know of that man's whereabouts." Orochimaru flashed an indifferent smile and took the lead ahead.

Sasori let out a cold snort but slowly followed in Orochimaru's footsteps nonetheless.

....

Within an unknown mountain range.

Three days had passed since Orochimaru arrived here with Sasori.

"Is this where that Hiruko fellow you mentioned is located?"

Sasori asked, standing at the foot of an enormous mountain range while gazing up at its peak enveloped in thick, jet-black fog.

According to Orochimaru, the S-rank rogue nin from Konoha, Hiruko lived in seclusion here. However, despite being one of the rogues, this Hiruko apparently had an extremely low sense of presence.

At the very least, Sasori had never even heard of such an individual before.

"Hiruko and I happen to be ninja of the same era. That said, his talents were extremely mediocre so he could only turn to researching forbidden jutsus in order to increase his power. He was accidentally discovered by the Third Hokage later on, he escaped from Konoha." Orochimaru briefly explained Hiruko's background.

"Research into forbidden jutsus?" Sasori asked.

"Ah, it's precisely because he was unwilling to accept such a mediocre fate that he sought reliance on forbidden jutsu to change everything. After counting the years, it seems his research has yielded significant results by now." Orochimaru replied.

"Can someone like him really become one of us?" Sasori remained skeptical.

"It's unwise to underestimate others too much, Sasori." Orochimaru simply smiled.

"That will depend on his capabilities."

Having said that, a black shadow suddenly leapt out from under Sasori's cloak. An iron block shaped like a scorpion tail with a sharp edge connected to a long metal appendage.

This metal tail tightly bound a beast that had charged the two of them from behind.

The metal tail coiled increasingly tighter and tighter until its strength exceeded what the beast could endure. With a spray of blood, its corpse flew down from midair.

As if the death screams of that beast had served as a signal flare, swarms of poisonous giant bees suddenly emerged buzzing from both sides of the path ahead. Unfurling the poisonous stingers on their abdomen, they charged straight towards Sasori.

Sasori sneered disdainfully as the iron tail spun around his body with blinding speed like lightning. Countless bees rained down onto the ground, losing all mobility.

Orochimaru stood leisurely watching the spectacle from the sidelines with no intention of making a move at all.

Such a degree of offense was extremely lethal towards ordinary ninja, but Sasori was no ordinary ninja. An attack at this level could be likened to mere drizzle falling upon him.

At that moment, the faintest sounds of footsteps entered Orochimaru's ear, prompting him to turn and look towards their source.

A white-haired youth dressed in a white overcoat slowly made his way down the mountain path. His eyes glowed a fiery crimson while his countenance was obscured by white bandages. Exuding an air of tranquil composure, his gaze met Orochimaru's.

Orochimaru grinned and addressed him familiarly, "We meet again after all this time, Hiruko. Looking like that, I almost failed to recognize you. It appears much has changed since your left the village."

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