Konoha Corpse Processing Division.
"You bastard! You will suffer the curse of Lord Jashin!"
Tonbo Tobitake pressed his hand onto Hidan's head. Even now, Hidan's mouth continued to flap incessantly, seemingly devoid of any fear of death.
However, as the Mind Reading Jutsu activated, Hidan's eyes gradually rolled back. Tonbo was performing a "violent extraction" this ti; it didn't matter, as Hidan's body would eventually recover on its own. Since Hidan still possessed chakra, he wouldn't die.
The long-lost tunnel of mory opened.
Hidan was a child who grew up in the Village Hidden in Hot Springs. From a young age, he was dissatisfied with a mundane, peaceful life. As he grew, he heard of a group called the Jashin Cult that found joy in slaughter. Eventually, he murdered his fellow shinobi in the Hot Springs Village and joined them.
Within the Jashin Cult, he found exactly what he was looking for. Due to his unique constitution, he was studied deeply by the cult's scientists and subjected to experints. Ultimately, he gained a special body that would not perish as long as his chakra remained.
As for why he "fled" the cult... it wasn't exactly a flight. It was because the cult mbers, seeing his immortal body, kept using him as a lab rat, which deprived him of the joy of killing and sacrificing to Jashin. One day, Hidan killed the guards watching over him and began wandering the ninja world until he was recruited by the Akatsuki.
Within the organization, he was paired with Kakuzu. They continuously executed missions for the Akatsuki. Although he took orders, it was exactly what Hidan wanted—it allowed him to keep killing and sacrificing to the Great Jashin.
During the extraction process, Tonbo witnessed Hidan's killing thods and gained a deeper understanding of the Curse: Death Controlling Blood. Compared to the other cult mbers who lacked immortality, Hidan's mories provided Tonbo with a wealth of insights. He felt a new breakthrough coming for his Yin Release Nature Transformation; his progress in the coming days would likely be even faster.
Rumble!
As the mory reading continued, he finally saw sothing of interest: the battle between the Kakuzu duo and Chiriku. He saw exactly how Chiriku died. Kakuzu had used ninjutsu to shatter Chiriku's defenses, and Hidan took the opportunity to obtain the blood and finish the job.
It was a simple, brutal way of fighting—hardly like a "ninja" at all. Tonbo felt a flash of disdain.
It's clear there was a significant gap between Chiriku and Kakuzu. It only took two combined ninjutsu to break Chiriku's defense.
Next, he focused on intelligence regarding the Akatsuki organization. Much of it consisted of mories of them roaming various countries, accepting missions, and killing bounty ninjas for cash. He also saw scenes of Tailed Beasts being sealed via Pain's Genjutsu: Nine Dragons Seal.
"The power of the Rinnegan is indeed remarkable. Using the Shapeshifting Jutsu, they can utilize sacrifices to achieve things even Shadow Clones cannot!"
He saw how the duo utilized Pain's Shapeshifting ability to accomplish various tasks. It was a highly convenient jutsu. By using specialized rings to convert a ninja's chakra into "thought waves" and routing them through Pain as a hub, they could project a high-fidelity image over vast distances and even unleash ninjutsu.
I should find ti to study how to convert chakra into thought waves and build a relay station to cast spells. That's a very interesting subject. Tonbo thought. The jutsu certainly had a high "cool factor."
After reading everything accessible in Hidan's mind, Tonbo slowly opened his eyes.
"Well? What did you find?" Tsunade asked. Beside her, Asuma, Shikaku, Inoichi, and others watched him intently.
This was the first living mber of the Akatsuki they had captured. Furthermore, Tonbo was famous for his mory-reading skills, often said to surpass even Yamanaka Inoichi in terms of depth and efficiency.
"The One-Tail, Two-Tails, and Seven-Tails have already been captured by the Akatsuki," Tonbo began. "The leader is a man with the Rinnegan—the sa individual I faced twelve years ago during my undercover mission in the Hidden Rain. His abilities roughly consist of... This organization is comprised entirely of specialists and monsters. Including Itachi Uchiha, they all possess extraordinary abilities. Individually, any one of them is a threat to a Tailed Beast. Also, Deidara—the stone rogue who fought Kakashi—is not dead.
"The Akatsuki's goal... is to collect the power of all nine Tailed Beasts to make the world feel the 'pain' of war, thereby forcing everyone, including Konoha, into a state of fear-induced peace. At least, that is what the leader tells them."
Tonbo relayed the intel, filtering out only what Hidan actually knew. In truth, Hidan was the most "heartless" mber of the group—he only cared about killing, so his knowledge of the higher-level grand sche was sowhat limited.
"What? The Two-Tails and Seven-Tails are gone too?"
The high-ranking officials present, including Tsunade, all frowned. Those were Tailed Beasts. While they had expected the Seven-Tails of Takigakure might be in danger, the loss of the Two-Tails was a heavy blow. If the Akatsuki were acting this boldly, it ant the other beasts were likely being hunted as they spoke.
"So the leader of the Akatsuki is the head of the Hidden Rain? It seems their base of operations is there," Shikaku mused.
Inoichi added: "What should we do? The other four Great Nations likely won't cooperate right now. If Konoha initiates a war, it could destabilize the entire ninja world and potentially trigger the Fourth Great Ninja War."
"Not only that," Tsunade noted, her brow furrowed as she sat in the Hokage's chair. "Tonbo says every mber has the strength to capture a Tailed Beast. Konoha's strength alone might not be a substantive threat to the Akatsuki's core."
A heavy silence fell over the room. And this was only the strength the Akatsuki showed on the surface; who knew what they had in the shadows?
"How about this," Tonbo suggested, breaking the tension. "Let's first dismantle the subordinate organizations and outposts ntioned in the intel. We might be able to cut off a portion of their information network."
Beyond the "old scher" Zetsu, the Akatsuki had other intelligence-gathering assets.
"Yes, Tonbo is right," Tsunade agreed, snapping out of her contemplation. "No matter how much we worry about the future, we must handle what's right in front of us. Let's strike their bases.
"Inoichi, have the Decryption Division send word to the other nations. Share the Akatsuki intel. Even if they won't cooperate yet, it will put them on high alert. If we can prevent more Tailed Beasts from falling into their hands, it hinders their progress. Then... dispatch twenty squads to wipe out the Akatsuki bases within the Land of Fire!"
Tsunade quickly began issuing thodical commands to address the imdiate crisis.
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