Chapter 18: Finding Him a Friend
The number one richest woman in the ninja world, rich beyond reason.
Clutching one hundred million exploding tags and a chakra receiver for summoning Pain, Uehara Naraka thus left the Akatsuki base amidst Konan's farewell waves.
Besides him, the other ninjas also had to depart for their respective missions.
The light-blue-haired woman stood at the base entrance, watching Uehara's figure gradually disappear, the worry on her face yet to fade.
Nearby, Kakuzu and Uchiha Itachi had somewhat subtle expressions.
Kakuzu was the oldest member of Akatsuki, with the broadest experience. Seeing Konan's expression, he couldn't help but say, "Hmph, can a ninja possibly avoid danger their entire life?"
Konan glanced at him, then said with tightly furrowed brows, "Naraka is different from us. He's only twelve this year, still a child..."
"I started performing solo missions when I was twelve!"
Kakuzu looked even more displeased, glancing at Uchiha Itachi, "Hey, kid from the Uchiha clan, Konoha ninjas also graduate at twelve, right?"
"Mm."
Uchiha Itachi nodded. He had graduated from the Ninja Academy at seven, become an ANBU squad captain at eleven, and at the age of thirteen, became an S-rank rogue ninja of Konoha due to the clan massacre incident.
Seeing Konan's state, Uchiha Itachi decided to add a few words, "Konan, he's only one year younger than me, but his strength is considerable... If not for his carelessness during our first meeting, perhaps I would have been defeated."
"Hmm..."
Konan's brow immediately relaxed. She nodded and said, "Alright, then let's head to Yugakure (Village Hidden in Hot Water) now!"
"..."
Uchiha Itachi closed his eyes and sighed.
Indeed, regardless of age or personality, as long as you go along with a woman's wishes, you can achieve your own goal.
Konan led Kakuzu and Uchiha Itachi away from the base, heading towards Yugakure to find Hidan. A spatial vortex appeared where they had just been standing.
The figure of the mysterious masked man emerged from the spatial vortex. He spoke to the empty air, "Black Zetsu, I'm going to see how that intern from the organization plans to recruit Kisame..."
His voice no longer held the comical laughter from the Akatsuki meeting; instead, it was somewhat heavy, carrying the gloom and authority of a ruler.
A Venus flytrap emerged from the ground. The half-white, half-black monster appeared, speaking in a hoarse voice, "Obito, don't pay so much attention to a mere kid, right? His existence won't hinder our plan, and he'll become a fighter for collecting Tailed Beasts in the future."
"That kid named Uehara doesn't have a dark past!"
The mysterious masked man sneered, looking down at Zetsu on the ground, and continued, "Will he accept our ideals in the future? Since Pain and Konan found him, they've been protecting him. If we don't act this time, we might not get another chance!"
"Hm? What are you planning to do to him? If you kill him, Konan and Pain will definitely suspect us, Obito. That doesn't align with our plan."
Zetsu shook his head. Everything was currently proceeding according to their plan; he didn't want the mysterious masked man before him to create unnecessary complications.
"Relax, I won't kill him!"
The masked man grasped the patterned mask on his face and said in a low voice, "I will manipulate Uehara Naraka into falling into darkness, just like I manipulated Uchiha Itachi in the past..."
"You saw it before too. He's only twelve, yet he easily defeated a mixed Jonin squad. He already has at least Jonin-level strength now, and might become even stronger in the future. We absolutely cannot let him remain loyal to Nagato!"
While Konan and Uehara Naraka were out attacking the Ame (Rain) outpost, Black Zetsu and the masked man were also secretly observing Uehara's situation.
When they saw Uehara Naraka easily defeat that squad of over twenty people using Lightning Release ninjutsu, Black Zetsu's mood was fine; he had seen plenty of big scenes.
There was some doubt in Black Zetsu's hoarse voice. He looked up at the masked man in surprise, "Having Jonin-level chakra and strength at twelve doesn't seem particularly noteworthy. Take Konoha Village's Kakashi Hatake, for example..."
"He's different from that trash Kakashi."
The masked man coldly interrupted Black Zetsu, casually cursing the genius Konoha ninja who had promoted to Jonin at twelve.
If nothing unexpected happened, Uehara Naraka could definitely reach Kage-level strength in the future. Unlike Akatsuki's Kakuzu, Uchiha Itachi, and Sasori, who belonged to Akatsuki's neutral faction, he was an asset to Nagato and Konan.
Uehara Naraka's existence might cause deviations in the masked man's future plans to directly control Akatsuki openly. This was a minor but not insignificant hidden danger.
But...
The masked man suddenly realized that if he turned Uehara Naraka, the kid could actually serve a wider range of purposes.
The masked man could even use Uehara Naraka in reverse, making him a spy between Konan and Nagato to steal their intelligence; he could also use Uehara Naraka to influence Konan and Nagato's actions.
For example, in the future, when the time was right, he could induce Nagato to directly attack the major hidden villages, causing mutual destruction between him and the Five Great Shinobi Villages!
"Trying to change that kid won't be easy..."
Black Zetsu relayed the intelligence he had gathered in a low voice, "Uehara Naraka's father died protecting Konan twelve years ago; his mother also died of illness a few months ago... Besides Nagato and Konan, he has no other existing bonds."
Shattering a ninja's bonds to make them fall into darkness is the quickest method, and they had some practical experience with it.
The problem is, Uehara Naraka is an orphan!
Currently, Uehara Naraka's deepest bond is with Konan. But if something happened to Konan, Nagato might abandon collecting the Tailed Beasts and directly transform into a world-destroying demon king.
If something went wrong with Nagato's Rinnegan, describing it as 'the losses outweigh the gains' would be too mild...
Never mind Black Zetsu, the mysterious masked man wouldn't allow such a thing to happen either. So he planned to guide Uehara through another method, "Bonds, these useless things, can be cultivated."
Black Zetsu looked at the masked man, feeling like he had heard something incredible, "Obito, are you thinking of arranging a friend for that kid? Destroying a bond is easy, but cultivating one is much harder..."
"Hmph, there's always a way."
The mysterious masked man clenched his fist and said in a low voice, "Prepare a White Zetsu for me. I'll arrange a suitable identity for it!"
Black Zetsu nodded helplessly, "Fine, whatever makes you happy."
Anyway, it wasn't a particularly important matter. Success would benefit them, failure didn't matter much either.
Uehara Naraka still didn't know someone was planning to arrange a friend for him. He had run into another problem: having never left the Land of Rain before, he wasn't very familiar with the geography of the ninja world.
And his mission was to head to the Land of Water to recruit Kisame Hoshigaki.
Not only did he have to leave the country, but he also had to go overseas.
(End of Chapter)