At the same time, Land of Rain.
Deep within Amegakure, the Akatsuki's underground secret base.
Unlike the gloom of Otogakure, this place was filled with cold steel, damp pipes, and the ceaseless dripping of rain.
Inside a spacious meeting room deep within the base, the light was dim, with only a cold beam of light projecting down in the center.
Several Akatsuki's members, dressed in black trench coats embroidered with red cloud patterns, were either sitting or standing, scattered in the shadows of the meeting room.
The atmosphere was oppressive and deadly.
"Hey, Tobi! Can't you be serious?!" Hidan brandished his huge, bloody crescent-bladed scythe, the red edge of the blade gleaming with a bloodthirsty luster in the firelight.
"Wearing that swirling mask all day, pretending to be mysterious… it's annoying to look at!"
The one being accused was a man wearing an orange swirling mask, only his right eye visible.
He wore the Akatsuki's black-based, red-cloud robe, but his posture was slouchy and loose, out of place with the surrounding serious atmosphere.
"Oh dear, Hidan-senpai is so mean~" Tobi, or rather, Uchiha Obito, said in an exaggerated tone.
Tobi even put his hands up in a scared gesture. "I'm just a newbie trainee, please don't bully me, senpai~"
This only made Hidan even angrier.
He had joined the Akatsuki not long ago and was looking for someone to establish his authority with. This annoying Tobi, who was always grinning and dislikeable, became the perfect target.
But every time he wanted to make a move, he was stopped by Itachi.
"You bastard—" Hidan raised his scythe, about to charge.
A pale hand landed on his shoulder.
"That's enough."
Itachi had appeared behind Hidan at some point, his voice calm and placid.
He wore the standard Akatsuki's outfit, but his collar was pulled up high, covering the lower half of his face.
What stood out most were his eyes… his Three-Tomoe Sharingan already activated, his red pupils slowly rotating in the dim light.
Hidan's body stiffened.
This wasn't the first time he had experienced Itachi's Genjutsu. That feeling of being completely mentally controlled was worse than death.
"Itachi, don't stop me!" Hidan gritted his teeth. "I'm going to teach this disrespectful newcomer a lesson today!"
Tobi hid behind Itachi, poking out half his head. "Itachi-senpai, save me~ Hidan-senpai is trying to kill me…"
His performance drew varied expressions from the few watching nearby.
Ameyuri Ringo leaned against a stone pillar, her arms crossed, a senbon in her mouth.
She wore a Kirigakure-style Ninja uniform, with the Akatsuki's black-based, red-cloud robe over it, a Ninja Sword strapped to her back.
Seeing Hidan get put in his place, her shark-like sharp teeth revealed a hint of mockery.
Momochi Zabuza, on the other hand, sat in a chair with his eyes closed, seemingly ignoring the commotion around him, but the slight twitching of his eyelids revealed that he was paying attention.
"Itachi." Hidan started to say more.
Itachi spoke again, his voice still calm, but the rotation of his Three-Tomoe Sharingan quickened slightly.
Hidan felt his vision blur, and the world suddenly turned upside down.
He saw himself raise the bloody crescent-bladed scythe and swing it at his own neck.
"Stop!" Hidan shouted in terror.
The Genjutsu was released.
Hidan gasped for breath, finding himself still standing in the same spot, the scythe still firmly in his hand.
But the stinging pain on his neck felt so real.
"That really hurt!" Hidan glared at Itachi, but his tone had significantly weakened. "Think you're so great with your Sharingan!"
Itachi withdrew his Sharingan and closed his eyes again. "Next time you throw hands during a meeting, it won't be just a Genjutsu."
Tobi jumped out from behind Itachi, clapping and laughing. "As expected of Itachi-senpai! So amazing!"
Hidan glared at him fiercely but didn't say anything more.
He walked off in frustration, stabbed his scythe into the ground, and sat down.
Just then, the sound of footsteps came from the passageway.
Everyone turned to look.
Pain walked at the front.
He wore the black-based, red-cloud robe, his Rinnegan glowing with a purple light, his steps steady, each footfall carrying a pressure, like a deity looking down on mortals.
Konan walked beside Pain, along with Zetsu.
"Leader!"
Seeing Pain appear, everyone in the meeting room, including the rebellious Hidan and the goofy Tobi, restrained their attitudes, either bowing slightly or nodding in greeting.
Pain's gaze swept over those present, finally resting on Zetsu beside him.
Zetsu's half-black, half-white body squirmed slightly. The black side spoke in a hoarse voice: "According to the latest intelligence, Konoha's Joint Chunin Exams this time is far larger in scale than ever before. Besides the confirmed Takigakure, Kusagakure, Amegakure, and Otogakure, Kumogakure is also inclined to participate... and the Land of Stars, through some channel, seems about to send a team to participate as well."
"The Land of Stars?" Zabuza snorted coldly.
The white half of Zetsu spoke in an exaggerated tone, continuing: "That's right, that's right! And oh~ according to reliable information, the Genin Team sent by the Land of Stars is extremely likely to include that... One-Tail's Jinchuriki!"
"The One-Tail's Jinchuriki?!"
This news was like a stone thrown into a calm lake, instantly attracting everyone's attention!
Even Itachi, who had been keeping his eyes lowered, lifted his gaze, his crimson Sharingan looking at Zetsu.
Then, his gaze swept towards Sasori, who was standing silently in the corner.
Inside the underground base of Amegakure, the light of the torches cast dancing shadows on the puppet shell of Sasori.
The entire space fell into a brief silence.
Sasori of the Red Sand.
Although he had disappeared from sight for over a decade, the trigger for the Third Great Ninja War was precisely the disappearance of the Third Kazekage. And disappearing along with that Third Kazekage was this once-in-a-century puppeteer genius from Sunagakure.
Five years ago, during the Great Western War, Sunagakure was completely defeated, and the Land of Wind was annexed by the Land of Stars.
At that time, some in the organization joked about how Sasori of the Red Sand must feel, after all, that was his homeland, the place of his origin.
Sasori's answer was only two cold words: "Boring."
Now, under the watchful eyes of Pain and Konan, Sasori's puppet shell emitted a faint mechanical whirring.
His voice, transmitted through the puppet's internal voice device, carried a metallic coldness and hoarseness: "I have no particular feelings for Sunagakure. That place was nothing but a cage full of sand."
He paused, the puppet's eyes sweeping over those present.
"However, after the informant I left in Sunagakure joined the Land of Stars, he did provide some interesting information."
Zabuza raised an eyebrow.
He had fought against Sunagakure during the Third Great Ninja War. Although Sasori had already disappeared by then, Kirigakure's intelligence files still listed Sasori as an Elite Jonin of Sunagakure, with a danger rating of S.
Having been in the Akatsuki for these years, Zabuza had come to understand Sasori somewhat.
This guy cared about nothing but his puppet techniques. He joined the organization purely because Pain had beaten him into submission with absolute strength.
For such a person to say the word 'interesting'...
"Oh?" Zabuza spoke. "What kind of information could interest you?"
The others also cast curious glances.
Ameyuri stopped fidgeting with her senbon. Rokusho Aoi's gaze shifted over as well. Even Tobi and Hidan, who had been roughhousing earlier, looked over.
Itachi stood quietly, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan slowly rotating beneath his disheveled hair.
He needed to assess the importance of this information and whether it was necessary to send it back to Konoha.
Pain's Rinnegan fixed on Sasori. "Speak."
Sasori's puppet raised an arm, its palm opening, and shot a beam of Chakra from the palm.
The beam formed a three-dimensional image in the air. The image seemed to be of a factory's testing ground, where a pure white humanoid puppet with precise mechanical structures at its joints was undergoing adjustment.
"The Land of Stars possesses a puppet technology..." Sasori's voice carried a rare hint of what could be called excitement. "It can operate independently without the need for Chakra Threads. It can even autonomously determine tactics based on battlefield conditions."
The puppet in the image began demonstrating combat maneuvers: rapid movement, evasion, counterattack, using simple Ninjutsu.
Its movements were so smooth, it didn't seem like a mechanical creation, but rather a living, breathing Ninja.
"Most importantly, this type of puppet can be mass-produced. According to the informant's intelligence, the combat capability of its standard model... is already comparable to a Chunin."
The concept of a 'mass-producible Chunin-level combat puppet' made the expressions of everyone present turn serious.
If it were just a few dozen, or even a hundred Chunin, any Akatsuki's member could handle them with ease.
But 'mass-producible' meant that as long as resources were sufficient, the Land of Stars could continuously produce these war machines.
Hidan scratched his head. "They're just Chunin. I can kill as many as come."
"Fool," Sasori said coldly. "The point isn't the combat power of a Chunin, but the word 'mass-producible'. Do you understand what that means?"
Ameyuri spat out the senbon in her mouth and continued, "It means that as long as resources are abundant, the Land of Stars can produce combat units with Chunin-level strength continuously, just like producing kunai and shuriken!"
"They can assemble an army composed entirely of puppets in a short time. No need for training, no need to nurture bonds, no fear, no betrayal... Pure tools of war."
Aoi laughed gloomily. "And if a puppet breaks, it can be repaired, recycled, and reused. Human lives are much more valuable than weapons."
Konan also spoke: "The training cycle for a Chunin is at least five years, with a cost of... at least five million ryo. But for a puppet, if the material cost can be kept within one million ryo, and production efficiency is high enough..."
She paused, her brow furrowed, her voice taking on a serious tone. "The Land of Stars' economy and industrial capacity probably far exceeds our imagination."
Pain's Rinnegan stared at the puppet image in the air.
He saw a deeper implication. If this technology continued to develop, someday they would create puppets with Jonin-level, or even Kage-level combat power.
No need to pay commissions, no need to worry about casualties and compensation, just materials and energy...
By then, the value of Ninja would be completely overturned.
"Is the intelligence reliable?" Pain asked.
"Reliable." Sasori withdrew the Chakra beam, and the image disappeared. "The informant is an elite from Sunagakure's former Puppet Brigade, now working in the Land of Stars' puppet research and development department. I can guarantee that the information he sends is authentic."
Itachi remained silent.
His mind was racing, 'This information must be sent back to Konoha!'
'If the Land of Stars had truly mastered this technology, then the future mode of warfare would change completely.'
'Konoha must prepare countermeasures in advance!'
"Interesting." The ripples in Pain's Rinnegan slightly spread, his cold voice echoing in the meeting room. "Zetsu, strengthen the collection of industrial intelligence on the Land of Stars. Especially the location of puppet factories, production capacity, and technical details."
Zetsu's white half replied with a grin: "Got it~ I'll have my clones work harder…"