The Gedo Statue stood in the void, its ten thick fingers like stone pillars.
At this moment, the people standing on those fingers were the main players of this gathering.
“Heh.
I didn’t expect to see you again so soon, Itachi.” Orochimaru’s voice echoed through the void, slick and unpleasant.
His projection stood on one of the fingers, his snake-like pupils glinting coldly in the darkness.
His gaze fell on Itachi, and it was filled with undisguised greed, as if he were looking at a priceless treasure, or a fine dish that had not yet been served.
Itachi stood there expressionlessly, his eyes lowered, as if he had not heard him, or simply could not be bothered to respond.
Orochimaru did not mind his silence at all.
In fact, the curve of his mouth deepened.
His voice grew even more “friendly,” carrying a skin-crawling gentleness.
“As fellow former Konoha ninja, and now fellow members of the Akatsuki, feel free to come to me anytime if there is something you don’t understand.” He paused, his snake eyes narrowing slightly.
“Let’s get along.” Before Itachi could answer, another voice cut in.
“Discuss things?
Get along?” The voice was hoarse, and its tone carried open mockery.
Sasori’s projection stood on another finger, as if he were laughing at something.
“When did you become so warm and helpful?
That doesn’t sound like something you’d say, Orochimaru.” He turned his head, those hollow puppet eyes “looking” in Itachi’s direction.
There was no expression on his face, but anyone could hear the gloating in his tone.
“You there, the new Uchiha brat.
You’d better stay away from that disgusting man.
That rotten snake never pays attention to anyone for no reason.” His voice dropped lower, as if he were sharing a secret, though it was still loud enough for everyone present to hear.
“Before you, he was bothering the other Uchiha brat too.
“Only it seems that brat taught him a harsh lesson, and he slithered away in a rather sorry state.” Sasori’s gaze moved away from Itachi and landed on Orochimaru, the satisfaction in his tone undisguised.
Orochimaru listened to Sasori’s mockery with perfectly calm eyes.
He chuckled, and though the sound was not loud, it seemed to chill the air.
He ignored Sasori’s words entirely.
His gaze remained on Itachi, and his tone was still gentle.
“If you decide you’re interested, you may contact me at any time.” Seeing himself ignored, Sasori’s eyes turned cold.
That chill seemed to pierce through Hiruko’s puppet shell, like killing intent made solid, stabbing straight toward Orochimaru.
“You…” … Itachi listened indifferently to their exchange, silently recording the information he could extract from their words.
‘Orochimaru and Sasori of the Red Sand seem to have a considerable grudge.
‘Especially Sasori.
He appears to hate Orochimaru deeply.’ His gaze swept between the two of them.
Though he had not activated his Sharingan, his observation was still sharp.
‘According to what Sasori just said, Orochimaru once fought Kurō-niisan… no, Kurō.
And Orochimaru actually lost.’ A trace of shock flashed through Itachi’s eyes.
It was faint and quickly suppressed, but waves still rose in his heart.
As a Konoha ninja, he knew very well just how terrifying Orochimaru’s strength was.
Orochimaru had lived through the Second and Third Great Ninja Wars, participated in countless battles large and small, and earned an illustrious record.
He was one of the most famous top-tier fighters in the ninja world.
Now he was in his prime, still at the peak of a ninja’s strength.
And someone like that had actually lost to Kurō… It was not because Itachi underestimated the “Kurō-niisan” he had known since childhood.
Quite the opposite.
It was precisely because Itachi understood Kurō so clearly that he felt shocked.
A hardworking genius.
In Itachi’s eyes, that was what Kurō had been.
He did not have the same top-tier talent as Itachi or Shisui.
Even among his Uchiha peers, his natural talent could only be called average.
Even with the strange ideas that constantly emerged in his mind and a level of understanding far beyond his age, he could at most be considered slightly above average.
And yet he relied on his own effort, step by step, to become the most outstanding Uchiha of his generation, winning over everyone in the clan who had once looked down on him.
He also relied on a bright, warm personality completely unlike a typical Uchiha to gain the approval of almost everyone in Konoha.
In a certain sense, he even improved Konoha’s negative impression of the Uchiha Clan, at least a little.
That Kurō had once earned Shisui’s and Itachi’s sincere respect and admiration.
Back then, in their hearts, Kurō had been both their role model and the person they believed represented what the Uchiha’s future should look like.
But that did not mean Itachi accepted everything about him without question.
Talent.
That was the one thing Uchiha Kurō lacked.
He had indeed relied on effort and an unconventional style to carve out his own path to strength, reaching elite jōnin level at a young age.
But that should have been his ceiling.
Elite jōnin and Kage level were two completely different realms.
To reach Kage level, the most important requirement was talent.
In Itachi’s expectations, with Kurō’s talent, he would need at least another decade or more to reach that realm.
But now, only five years had passed since Kurō defected.
Not only had he already reached Kage level, he had even defeated Orochimaru, an established Kage-level powerhouse?
Itachi could not help looking in Kurō’s direction, doubt rising in his heart.
‘Kurō, over these years, what exactly have you…’ “Hahaha!
I win!” A smug voice interrupted his thoughts.
Kurō stood on another finger, currently waving his arm.
Even though his projected face was blurred like a mosaic, the smugness on it was practically overflowing.
He pointed one finger at the projection opposite him, who had turned away, and his tone was full of a victor’s delight.
“Tobi, you scrub.
Kneel before your Kurō-niisan!” Tobi’s projection had his back turned at this moment and was miserably drawing circles on the ground of the void.
A moment later, “Tobi” suddenly sprang up and shouted in that ridiculous voice, full of dissatisfaction, “Tobi refuses to accept this!
Kurō-senpai must have used the Sharingan to watch Tobi’s movements!
“One more round!
One more round!
Best two out of three!” “Quit whining.
Don’t play if you can’t handle losing!” Kurō shot back without mercy, his tone full of disdain.
“If you’re bad, practice more!” “One, two, three, rock-paper-scissors!” Tobi completely ignored his mockery, turning around enthusiastically and raising his hand again.
That ridiculous voice echoed through the void, perfectly matching his act of playing the fool.
“Tch.
As always, you never listen when people talk…” Kurō clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction, his tone carrying a bit of genuine helplessness and disgust.
Then, as if sensing something, he turned his head and met Itachi’s eyes, which were studying him.
“What are you looking at?” Although Kurō’s face was blurred by the projection, the irritation in his eyes was very real.
He snapped irritably, “Never seen a handsome guy before?” Itachi opened his mouth and replied somewhat stiffly, “…We are projections right now.
We cannot see each other’s faces.” “Shoo, shoo.” Kurō completely ignored Itachi’s answer and waved him away, as if driving off an annoying fly.
“This is a game for adults.
Stay out of it, kid.
Go home to your mom and dad.” He paused, and his tone gained an obvious edge of mockery.
“Oh, right.
I forgot.
Your mom and dad are dead.” Itachi: “…” His expression did not change at all, but that silent pause seemed to last a fraction longer than usual.
“Enough.” A low voice came from above, carrying an invisible pressure.
Pain stood on the highest finger, his purple Rinnegan looking down at everyone present.
There was no emotion in that gaze, yet everyone fell silent.
The previously noisy atmosphere instantly died.
Kakuzu’s uninterested, half-lidded expression, as if he were watching a show that had nothing to do with him, receded slightly.
A sharp gleam flashed through his cloudy eyes.
Sasori stopped speaking and only stared coldly at Orochimaru.
Orochimaru still wore that faint smile that was not quite a smile, but his gaze had already withdrawn and landed on Pain.
Tobi stopped making trouble as well.
He shrank his neck like a naughty student caught by the teacher and stood there obediently.
Even Kurō put away his lazy attitude, crossing his arms and calmly looking toward Pain.
Konan stood silently beside Pain, slightly lower than him.
Her gaze swept over everyone present before finally landing on Pain, her eyes filled with helplessness.
Pain looked over everyone with those purple Rinnegan, pausing for a moment especially on Kurō and on the “Madara” beside him, who was pretending to tremble nervously.
After a while, he said in a deep voice, “The reason I called everyone here today is to inform you…” “About the Akatsuki’s next expansion plan.” Silence filled the void.
No one spoke, but every person present was silently calculating something in their heart.
Pain simply stood there, looking down on them all with those purple Rinnegan.
Like a true god.