Konoha: You're letting me build up my bonds, but you're offending the entire ninja world.

Having worked in the Anbu for so many years and been exposed to a lot of information about ninjas from other villages, he had never heard of this unfamiliar name before.

"Are you saying that Obito Uchiha impersonated Madara Uchiha and controlled the Fourth Mizukage, and that was a conspiracy by Konoha?"

"As a welcome bonus, I can answer one of your questions."

Gengetsu Shimura held up three fingers. "Is this the 20 you wanted to know?"

"No need, I'll look it up myself." Kisame Hoshigaki shook his head.

If you know his name but still can't find any information about him, then he doesn't deserve to be a ninja, so naturally you won't waste this precious opportunity.

After thinking for a moment, Kisame finally made up his mind about the problem.

"Could you please tell me about the Akatsuki organization and why Obito wanted me to join?"

Gengetsu Shimura gave him an approving look.

As expected of a standard ninja, the question asked was very useful to him.

"The Akatsuki's apparent leader is Pain, but in reality, Pain is just a puppet controlled by the Rinnegan. The real mastermind behind it all is Nagato, who possesses the Rinnegan."

Reincarnation eye

Kisame's small eyes widened slightly; he had heard of the legendary eyes of the Sage of Six Paths.

"Between Obito and Nagato..."

"Partners, yet wary of each other, but both share the common goal of collecting the Tailed Beasts. Obito asked you to join Akatsuki so that you and Itachi would become teammates to monitor him."

Kisame nodded. Obito had told him this as well, and he knew what his mission was.

"Speaking of which, Itachi Uchiha is an old friend of mine."

Gengetsu Shimura suddenly laughed, "When you go on missions with him in the future, put in more effort and make him use his Mangekyou Sharingan less. We can't let him die now."

"Is he your friend?" Kisame asked honestly.

Shimura Gengetsu glanced at him sideways. This honest man was good in every way, except that his emotional intelligence was a worry.

"They're not friends, but he's someone I need to act in for a play I'm going to see in the future."

Kisame was even more confused this time, but he realized that the relationship between the two was not very pleasant.

After answering Kisame's questions, Shimura Gengetsu left.

Kisame continued his journey to the Land of Rain, secretly gathering information about Obito Uchiha along the way.

However, unless one conducts a thorough investigation within Konoha Village, no one would really care about the sacrificed Uchiha Chunin.

Kisame, realizing he had been proven wrong, originally planned to investigate Konoha again when he had the chance. However, after being misled by Shimura Gengetsu, he seemed to awaken some special attribute: he felt uncomfortable if he couldn't get the answers he wanted.

In the end, I couldn't resist and, at the cost of completing two tasks, I used up one of my chances to ask a question.

Gengetsu Shimura was stunned when he saw the scroll delivered by the shark.

So Kisame is a perfectionist?

It was just a piece of news about Obito, so Shimura Gengetsu didn't take it seriously and readily told Kisame, but only this once, and never again.

Kisame gasped in shock upon seeing this.

He never expected that the mastermind behind the chaos in Kirigakure and the release of the Nine-Tails to wreak havoc on Konoha would be such a romantic.

Konoha, no, the Uchiha clan really does produce a lot of talented people.

His future partner, Uchiha Itachi, was even more insane than Obito.

A few days later, Kisame Hoshigaki arrived in the Land of Rain and successfully joined the Akatsuki organization.

Because of Orochimaru's betrayal, Sasori and Itachi are currently in a solo state. However, Sasori felt that Kisame had no artistic talent, so Kisame successfully completed the first step and became Itachi's teammate.

Before meeting his new partner, Obito Uchiha sought out Kisame.

"Did you encounter any trouble along the way?"

No.

Kisame, who carried Samehada on his back, said casually, "It was just some assassins from the Hidden Mist Village's ANBU. I dealt with them."

"Oh right, when I passed through the Land of Fire, I also ran into Kakashi, the Copy Ninja who's been making headlines lately."

As soon as Kisame finished speaking, he noticed that when he mentioned Kakashi Hatake, the masked man paused and his breathing quickened.

However, the changes were extremely minor and the situation quickly returned to normal.

"Copy Ninja? He's just a guy who got the Sharingan by luck, only knowing the simplest copy ninjutsu. He has no idea how much power that eye truly possesses." After his sarcasm, he asked casually, "You fought, did you kill him?"

"Of course not. His teammates are no pushovers, and I didn't want to make too much of a fuss, so I just exchanged a few words and left."

Kisame wasn't lying; he did encounter Kakashi Hatake, but they didn't fight, and Kisame outmaneuvered him.

"Humph."

The masked man quickened his pace. "Next time we meet, just kill him."

"That's exactly what I meant."

Kisame revealed a sinister smile, "His Sharingan is very interesting. I plan to steal it and transplant it into my own body."

Obito Uchiha: "..."

What the hell is wrong with this guy? Why is he suddenly eyeing the Sharingan?

Obito Uchiha stopped and looked at Kisame Hoshigaki with the single eye under his Xuanmo mask. "Don't you know? It's because of the Sharingan that Kakashi Hatake's chakra reserves have drastically decreased. A single three-tomoe Sharingan is just a burden to you."

"It's alright," Kisame said nonchalantly. "I heard that eye was a keepsake from his best friend. It's more satisfying to steal something of that value. As for chakra, that's the last thing I lack, so you don't need to worry about it."

Who the hell cares about you?

Those are my eyes!

mine!

"As you wish."

Obito Uchiha, seething with anger, opened the vortex of the Kamui dimension, his figure gradually twisting and disappearing, leaving behind a final warning.

"Don't forget your mission: keep a close eye on Uchiha Itachi and find out the limits of his eye power."

Obito disdained to take back the gift he gave Kakashi to become a Jonin, but if Kisame got his hands on it, he wouldn't have such reservations.

So no matter what the final outcome is, he will not suffer any loss; on the contrary, he can profit from it.

So I simply stopped caring about it.

Kisame continued forward, outwardly calm, but inwardly a wonderful sense of pleasure was rising within him.

Is this the joy of teasing others who are caught in the mystery after learning the truth?

It's so addictive... I can't stop!

Sound Village.

Orochimaru and Gengetsu Shimura have just completed an experiment.

A perfectly healthy person transformed into a five- or six-meter-tall, lush tree in just three days.

Orochimaru shook his head regretfully, "The cells are too active and aggressive; the inhibitors we've researched are simply not effective enough."

"Increasing the dosage will completely kill the interstitial cells. It's tricky, really tricky."

This is the biggest challenge in utilizing interstitial cells: it is simply impossible to tame such wild cells.

To what extent is the intercolumnar cell field defined?

Even though Hashirama Senju was dead, his cells were still alive and could be cultivated and reproduced. That's why Orochimaru didn't care at all when experimenting with them; if they were gone, he could just cultivate more.

Gengetsu Shimura also frowned.

He wondered if the cells in his body were just as wild, something he couldn't feel at all, and that he could extract chakra with ease.

"Take your time, Orochimaru-sensei. I believe you will succeed someday."

"Oh?"

Orochimaru gleaned a lot from those words.

"What does Lord Xuan Yue want to do..."

"That's right, I'm getting ready to leave."

Gengetsu Shimura didn't hide anything and said frankly, "Orochimaru-sensei has been too wary of me lately. Since I can't learn anything from him, I don't plan to stay here any longer."

"Xuan Yue Jun is indeed a straightforward person."

Orochimaru was surprised that Shimura Gengetsu had actually revealed their unspoken understanding, so he stopped trying to hide it.

"After all, your speed of progress is frightening me. If I don't hide some of my trump cards, I'm afraid I'll soon lose my usefulness."

Orochimaru admitted that he was afraid.

With decades of accumulated knowledge, Shimura Gengetsu learned 80% of his level in just one year.

If I keep learning like this, I might one day completely surpass him.

Orochimaru would never accept this, and even if Shimura Gengetsu used the same threats again, he would not teach him.

"Let me sign the scroll from Ryūchi-dō, and I'll leave immediately."