Deep within a shadowy cavern stood a colossal figure.
Its massive body resembled a sculpture carved from stone, exuding a rugged, rock-like texture.
Its ten outstretched fingers pointed skyward each finger large enough for a person to stand on.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
One by one, figures began to appear on each of the ten fingers.
One had a face split down the middle half black, half white his head encased in a pitcher plant.
Another carried a massive, oddly-shaped blade on his back, the tip of which featured a strange hollow ring.
A third figure was short and hunched over, resembling a crouched old man.
A woman with bluish-purple hair wore a pale blue paper flower in her hair.
One man bore a cold, emotionless expression, his eyes marked with eerie ripple-like patterns.
Each wore the signature black cloak adorned with red clouds, and each bore a ring symbolizing their identity within the organization.
They were the infamous Akatsuki—a group destined to shake the shinobi world and ignite the Fourth Great Ninja War.
"Kakuzu has gone missing!"
The half-black, half-white man Zetsu spoke.
"Missing? That's impossible. With Kakuzu's strength, only a handful in the entire shinobi world could even dream of killing him,"
remarked the large man with the strange blade.
His na was Kisa Hoshigaki. Before becoming a missing-nin and joining the Akatsuki, he had been one of the Seven Ninja Swordsn of the Hidden Mist.
"He might not be dead. He could've defected,"
rasped the short, hunched man.
He was known as Sasori of the Red Sand, a rogue ninja from the Hidden Sand Village, renowned for his mastery of puppet techniques hailed as a genius puppeteer.
"If it's confird he's defected, can I turn him into a puppet?"
Sasori looked toward the man with ripple-patterned eyes, a flicker of wariness hidden in his gaze.
Though Sasori had once slain and turned the Third Kazekage Sand's strongest Kazekage into a puppet, he knew full well he had no chance of defeating the man before him.
In fact, he was certain he would lose.
"Where was Kakuzu last seen?"
the ripple-eyed man asked in an indifferent, almost emotionless tone.
He was Nagato, the de facto leader of the Akatsuki. Those eyes of his the Rinnegan were said to be the sa legendary eyes once wielded by the Sage of Six Paths.
Zetsu replied to Nagato's question.
"In an underground black market in the Land of Fire. He had accepted a bounty to assassinate the Uchiha clan head, Uchiha Fugaku."
"Uchiha...?"
Nagato's expression didn't change, but a ripple stirred in his heart.
As wielder of the Rinnegan, his strength was imnse, but there was one person he deeply feared.
A man who claid to be Uchiha Madara.
Though Nagato couldn't confirm if the man was truly Madara, the stranger's bizarre space-warping ability was undeniably troubleso, even for him.
"What did the investigation uncover?"
"I sent a White Zetsu clone, it should be arriving soon."
Zetsu's white half answered.
At that very mont, a pale white figure erged from the earth at the scene of Kakuzu and Fugaku's battle—it was the clone of White Zetsu.
Soon after, it made a discovery: in the ashes, it found a warped and scorched ring.
"There's been a developnt. A battle broke out on the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain. Kakuzu's ring was found at the scene."
"A battle… and Kakuzu's ring was left behind? He really was killed?"
Kisa said in disbelief.
Though the possibility had been considered, hearing confirmation was still a shock.
"Most likely. The one who killed him was probably his target Uchiha Fugaku,"
said Zetsu's white half.
"Hard to believe Kakuzu would die by the hand of his own target. To have killed Kakuzu… Fugaku must be at least Kage-level."
Kisa sighed.
"Maybe it wasn't Fugaku. He could have encountered another powerful enemy beforehand."
The woman with the light blue flower—Konan, the only female Akatsuki mber—offered her thoughts.
"Whoever it was, if they could kill Kakuzu, they're valuable enough to be turned into a puppet. Let take care of it."
Sasori spoke with evident interest.
He had a taste for turning powerful shinobi into human puppets. And anyone capable of killing Kakuzu was clearly a worthwhile subject.
If he was lucky, he might even retrieve Kakuzu's body two powerful puppets for the price of one.
"Fine."
Nagato responded coldly.
Though Kakuzu had been strong, he was ultimately expendable in Nagato's eyes.
Suddenly—
"Hmm…?"
Zetsu let out a surprised sound.
"Fire Release, Water Release, Lightning Release, Wind Release, Earth Release… All five chakra natures were used. One of the combatants was definitely Kakuzu."
Analyzing the remnants of the battlefield, White Zetsu confird the findings.
As a mber of the Akatsuki skilled in intelligence gathering, he was well aware of Kakuzu's ability to use five chakra natures—thanks to his five hearts.
"Was his opponent really Uchiha Fugaku?"
Zetsu muttered doubtfully.
Though the bounty target was indeed Fugaku, there was no conclusive proof he was the one who fought Kakuzu.
Kakuzu, an S-rank missing-nin, had many enemies and had accepted nurous assassination contracts against high-profile figures across the five great nations.
If his location was discovered, the villages might have banded together to hunt him down.
"But if it really was Uchiha Fugaku… then his power…"
Zetsu's expression turned grave.
Kakuzu's strength was undeniably Kage-tier. Anyone capable of battling and killing him had to be Kage-level or possibly beyond.
If that was truly the case, then Fugaku had been hiding his power extrely well.
"Still… there's a chance Kakuzu faked his death to disappear."
He speculated internally.
Most Akatsuki mbers were missing-nin, rogues who had already proven their unpredictable nature.
It wasn't unthinkable that soone might stage their own disappearance to avoid the organization's scrutiny.
"I waited for good reason!"
From within the dense foliage of a nearby tree, a single eye observed the White Zetsu clone from the shadows.
It was none other than Uchiha Fugaku.
He had originally planned to enter the Land of Rain in search of White Zetsu, but reconsidered.
Given Kakuzu's disappearance, he correctly guessed that Akatsuki would send soone to investigate.
If he simply waited here, White Zetsu was bound to appear.
Of course, there was risk if Akatsuki had sent soone else, or multiple mbers, things could've gone very wrong.
Fortunately, it was only White Zetsu and not a more dangerous presence.
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