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Kisame glanced at Itachi beside him and spoke meaningfully, "Itachi-san, you're probably not interested in this matter, are you?"
Itachi looked at Kisame. He was long accustomed to this partner who appeared rough and brash on the surface but was actually sharp and attentive. Occasionally, this partner would, intentionally or not, voice some of Itachi's true thoughts, as if seeing right through him.
"I have no preference," Itachi replied.
Even if Kisame seemed to have discerned his real intentions, Itachi could never admit it outright. And Kisame never pressed too deeply into Itachi's thoughts.
This was how the two maintained a delicate balance. Kisame clearly saw through Itachi's mindset, but as long as Itachi didn't verbally acknowledge it, Kisame would pretend he truly didn't know.
Hearing Itachi's response, Kisame chuckled. "Anyway, I'm not too keen on going. Itachi-san and I, we'll skip this one, right?"
Kisame proactively voiced the opinion not to participate in this mission—something that should have been Itachi's line to deliver. But because of Kisame's earlier question, Itachi could no longer suggest not going; otherwise, wouldn't it indirectly admit he didn't want to move against the Fifth Hokage?
Kisame proposing it now seemed almost like compensation to Itachi.
Itachi gave Kisame a deep look. "Either way is fine."
For some reason, within the entire Akatsuki organization, aside from Kagaya and Izumi, the person Itachi felt closest to was this partner with the shark-like face.
Itachi could guess that Kisame was likely sent by either Madara Uchiha or Pain to monitor him. Kisame could also guess that Itachi's heart probably still lay with Konoha.
But neither of them ever exposed the other. Instead, in certain matters, they would even look out for each other a little.
Listening to the discussion below, Pain noted that those who had explicitly expressed willingness to go were Kakuzu and Sasori. But that wasn't enough. After all, the target was a genuine Kage; they couldn't afford to be careless. Pain intended to send three Akatsuki members for this mission—a significant show of force.
Every member of the Akatsuki was exceptional. Sending three was a truly formidable deployment. Back when they hunted Kagaya, they had also only sent three people. If Kagaya hadn't awakened his Susano'o, he would have been killed by Deidara and the others. So, it was certain that three Akatsuki members working together could basically eliminate any single Kage-level opponent, provided the target was alone.
Speaking of which, this was the first time the Akatsuki had received a mission to target the Kage of one of the Five Great Nations. Upon receiving it, Pain had initially wondered if it was a trap. However, he quickly dismissed his doubts. If it were a trap set by other underground organizations, the Akatsuki's strength meant there was no need to fear or avoid it.
In fact, given the Akatsuki's current power, the vast majority of shinobi, regardless of their methods, posed no threat. Therefore, Pain was confident.
Unless the Five Great Nations directly moved against the Akatsuki, the organization had nothing to worry about.
And the Five Great Nations moving against the Akatsuki? In Pain's view, there was a certain possibility. But even if the Five Great Nations wanted to destroy the Akatsuki, they would absolutely not resort to such underhanded, sneaky methods.
In the original story, after the Third Hokage's death, Itachi and Kisame still entered Konoha wearing their Akatsuki robes undetected. This shows that before the Akatsuki began capturing tailed beasts, the Five Great Nations paid them no heed whatsoever. One could even say they didn't give them a second glance.
From the perspective of the current Five Great Nations, the Akatsuki was just a small organization hiding in the shadows. Being the five strongest organizations in the entire shinobi world, there was simply no need for them to fear the Akatsuki, nor even to look at them directly.
Thus, the likelihood of the Five Great Nations taking action against the Akatsuki was extremely low. And even if they did, with the pride of the Great Nations, they would absolutely come openly and brazenly, not resorting to sneaky traps or the like.
This was Pain's thinking. In fact, it was also correct. If not for Kagaya's appearance altering history, then before the Akatsuki began capturing tailed beasts, very few in the entire shinobi world paid any real attention to them.
It was like a fierce beast: if it doesn't bare its fangs, who knows how strong it is? Only when it reveals fangs capable of killing will those facing it take it seriously.
Just like back in the Land of Waves, even someone as insignificant as Gato of that tiny country looked down on the Akatsuki from the bottom of his heart. One could imagine the mindset of the far more powerful Five Great Nations.
That black robe with red clouds had yet to bare its fangs. Therefore, Pain wasn't worried at all about giants like the Five Great Nations moving against them.
As for whether Konoha's retaliation after killing the Fifth Hokage would fall upon the Akatsuki? Yes, but the main focus wouldn't be the Akatsuki. Konoha would only go all out against the client who commissioned the act—"Kumogakure."
The Akatsuki was quite experienced in such matters. Over the years, they had often carried out missions to assassinate important figures. The Five Great Nations had all lost important personnel to the Akatsuki to varying degrees, yet none had ever come to wage a desperate war against the organization.
In their view, the Akatsuki was merely a "tool." The real target for revenge was the one wielding the tool.
Moreover, the Akatsuki had few members, making pursuit and capture a huge drain on manpower and resources—a case of disproportionate losses. So, as long as the Akatsuki maintained a certain level of low profile, the wrath of the Great Nations would never truly burn them.
Considering all this, these were the reasons Pain accepted the mission to assassinate the Fifth Hokage.
Unfortunately, what Pain didn't know was that because Kagaya had awakened the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, Tsunade had taken early notice of their Akatsuki organization and was paying exceptional attention to it. She immediately set up an entrapment operation against them—something no one could have anticipated.
Even Kagaya couldn't have guessed this, because it was simply too sudden. While the entire shinobi world looked down on the Akatsuki, the leader of the shinobi world—Konoha—suddenly set an ambush as if treating the Akatsuki as a mortal enemy. Who could have imagined that?
This kind of thing was akin to the Akatsuki suddenly launching a full-scale assault on Konoha right now. By conventional logic, it was impossible.
Pain carefully considered the next candidate. Thinking left and right, he still felt uneasy. Finally, he spoke thus:
"Kakuzu, Sasori, for this mission, the two of you will come with me."
After all, this was the first time they were attempting to assassinate a Kage of the Five Great Nations. Pain felt it would be more prudent to go personally.
From this perspective, although Pain hadn't guessed that Tsunade would set a trap for the Akatsuki, if Pain went himself, it would constitute a miscalculation on Tsunade's part.
The Six Paths of Pain, plus Kakuzu and Sasori—even Tsunade and Jiraiya would have a very hard time handling that, with a real possibility of failure.
Of course, strictly speaking, it wasn't entirely Tsunade's miscalculation. Tsunade had no clear understanding of the Akatsuki's specific strength. From her perspective, deploying herself, Kakashi and the others, plus Jiraiya as a trump card, was essentially mustering Konoha's high-level combat power. She truly was taking the Akatsuki seriously enough.
Similarly, from Pain's perspective, personally taking action along with Kakuzu and Sasori was truly taking the Fifth Hokage seriously enough.