Born in Sunagakure, dedicated to antagonizing Konoha for decades

Real fighting shoulder pads.

Of course Uchiha Kagami had the Mangekyou Sharingan, and it was the most powerful and awesome genjutsu, but it was useless. He was stupid enough to be tricked by Danzo, a complete idiot.

To be honest, he really doubted whether Uchiha Shisui was actually Uchiha Kagami's grandson.

He had met Uchiha Kagami a few times before. Although he didn't inherit Tobirama Senju's cunning, he was still incredibly talented. Based on his interactions with Danzo, Danzo's intelligence was nowhere near that of Uchiha Kagami. Uchiha Shisui, as Uchiha Kagami's successor, did inherit his talent, but his intelligence... really, he was even managed to be tricked to death by Danzo.

He even suspected that the problem of diluted bloodline might have caused his grandson to only inherit his grandfather's talent but not his intelligence.

Having lived in Konoha for so many years, it's impossible that he didn't know the story between Danzo and the Uchiha clan. Yet he still foolishly believed Danzo. What's worse, he even admitted to Danzo that he had awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan. Isn't he just an idiot?

As a ninja, you have to be wary of even your own comrades, let alone someone who is completely at odds with your clan. Such a person is simply not fit to be a ninja!

.......

"Hahaha, that little bastard from the Uchiha clan has finally done something decent!"

In Iwagakure, Onoki looked at the intelligence report in his hand and felt like he had gone through a second growth spurt, growing much taller overnight and his nose becoming much whiter.

Konoha has always been Onoki's number one enemy, and the Uchiha are the ones he hates the most. The damage that bastard Madara Uchiha inflicted on him can never be erased. Ever since his precious granddaughter was seduced by that little bastard Uchiha, the name Uchiha has completely surpassed Konoha and become the one Onoki hates the most, even more so than that bastard Shiki.

And now, the Uchiha he hated has been wiped out, and by that same Uchiha brat who he despised, who single-handedly defeated them, greatly weakening Konoha's strength. That's just too damn awesome!

After so many years of bad luck, Onoki felt that God was finally loving him. He wanted to ask his stepmother in a dream if she was whispering in Rokudo's ear.

The only pity is that the Uchiha brat who had his precious granddaughter swooning over survived the entire Uchiha clan single-handedly. If he had died too, he would have had to offer incense as a sacrifice to the heavens!

"This Uchiha Itachi is truly amazing!"

Even Tsuchiki, who was standing next to Onoki, couldn't help but marvel at it. Although they were enemies, Tsuchiki had to admit that Uchiha Itachi was amazing.

912. Raikage: Shiki is a cunning old fox too!

The Uchiha clan is, after all, the most prestigious clan in the ninja world. With men, women, and children all included, there are at least 8,000 to 10,000 members, and at least 2,000 of them are capable of fighting.

It's important to understand that the Uchiha clan is known for its technical skills, unlike the Third Raikage or Shiki the Golden Lion who are superhuman. Even if you put two thousand pigs there for them to kill, they would be exhausted. So how did Itachi Uchiha manage to wipe out thousands of Uchiha clan members overnight, leaving only one kid who was in school at the time?

There are too many illogical things in the ninja world. For example, why are the Third Raikage and Shiki so superhuman? One could fight against tens of thousands of Iwa ninja and kill more than 4,000 before dying from exhaustion. The other was even more powerful, able to fight Konoha's Nine-Tails one-on-one a few years ago. These illogical things are basically all attributed to talent.

Compared to this, their village's Deidara doesn't seem so amazing after all...

"Stop thinking about useless things. It's a good thing that Konoha is without the Uchiha clan. It's just a pity that the Uchiha clan was wiped out a little too late..."

Onoki didn't care about the Touma's thoughts. He just felt a little regretful. It was a pity that they had suffered too many losses in the last great battle in order to kill the Third Raikage. They still hadn't recovered. Moreover, the gambling debts owed by that idiot former daimyo made it impossible to start a war. Otherwise, they could have taken advantage of Konoha's current low strength to start a team-up against Sunagakure and Kumogakure. Without one Uchiha clan member and a few double-flowered red staffs, Onoki couldn't even imagine what Konoha would use to withstand the combined forces of the major villages.

He had already put Kirigakure behind him. He knew that the Fifth Mizukage had taken over a few years ago. Although he didn't know what had happened in Kirigakure in the past few years that led to such an ordinary change in leadership, the fact that no one from Kirigakure participated in the last joint Chunin Exams held by Iwagakure indicated that something major must have happened in Kirigakure. If it weren't for the special geographical location of the Land of Water, surrounded by the sea, and the fact that Iwagakure was not good at naval warfare, he would have wanted to lead a group to fight and avenge his teacher.

...

"Mabu-i, Konoha backed down last time regarding the Hyuga clan incident. Now Konoha doesn't even have the Uchiha clan anymore. What do you think? Should we contact Sunagakure and Iwagakure to attack Konoha together? We can take the opportunity to avenge Father then?"

The Fourth Raikage shared the same idea as Onoki, but unlike Onoki, the Fourth Raikage's main purpose in launching the war was to take this opportunity to avenge his father. Of course, he would not object to gaining some benefits by attacking Konoha, but his main goal was to use the pretext of war to kill Onoki and force Onoki to fight his father one-on-one.

"...Personally, I don't quite agree with doing this. Although Konoha's strength is much weaker than before, their core strength and armed forces still far surpass those of our villages. Moreover, Iwagakure suffered too many losses in the last great war, and given Onoki's personality, he might not agree. Furthermore, if we take the initiative to contact them, that cunning Onoki might guess our intentions. And Sunagakure...I've been reviewing the data from the major villages' several major wars recently, and I've found something unusual. Since the First Great War, although Sunagakure suffered considerable losses, even the Second Kazekage died in the One-Tail's rampage, compared to our other villages, these losses are definitely not significant, especially...During the First Great War, not only was the Land of Earth invaded by us and Kirigakure, but many parts of the Land of Water were also ravaged by a small group, resulting in heavy losses. And in the Second Great War, although Golden Lion Shiki..." The war broke out during the war with Konoha, and both Sunagakure and Konoha suffered heavy losses. However, after the Third Kazekage went to the front lines to replace Shiki, the fighting became mostly minor skirmishes. After the war was about to end, Shiki and our Third Kazekage met and cooperated in the Land of Earth. There's also some easily overlooked information: during the Second World War, Konoha sent a large sum of supplies to Sunagakure; it's unclear what kind of deal was involved. And in the last World War, after Kirigakure entered the fray, the Land of Water was again plundered by a group, just like in the first war… While Sunagakure seems to have suffered heavy losses in these three wars, compared to our villages, except for the Second World War, Sunagakure's losses in the First and Last World Wars were actually not that great. Especially in the Last World War, although Sunagakure initiated the war, the battlefield situation was far less severe than in other wars…”

"...You mean...the Sand Village profited from the wars during the past three major conflicts?"

The Fourth Raikage wasn't stupid. After listening to his strategist's analysis, he also realized a common point. During the First Shinobi World War, the Land of Earth was attacked by them and Kirigakure, while the Land of Water was invaded by an unknown force. In the last Shinobi World War, Iwagakure and Kirigakure fought to the death, and their battle against Sunagakure was practically child's play compared to Iwagakure and Kirigakure. But after Kirigakure entered the fray, another unknown force, just like in the First Shinobi World War, went to invade the Land of Water. Thinking back to Sunagakure's attitude in the last Shinobi World War, even though they were supposed to be the vanguard, their attitude was completely unlike that of a starting vanguard; they seemed to want to be substitutes.

Based on these signs, it's likely that Sunagakure did indeed profit from the war. The reason they didn't go to the Land of Water to fight during the Second World War but instead met up with their father in the Land of Earth was probably because Kirigakure wasn't involved at the time, so they didn't have a chance to fight the Land of Water a second time. Sunagakure was too far from their Land of Lightning, spanning the Land of Fire, so they sent Shiki to lead the way to fight in the neighboring Land of Earth. Coincidentally, their father also had this plan at the time, which is why the two sides met in the Land of Earth and formed their first team cooperation.

In other words... Sunagakure was already using this tactic decades ago, and they were even better at it than Kumogakure and Kirigakure. The Kumogakure and Kirigakure were eventually discovered, but Sunagakure has been using it for decades without being caught. If their strategist hadn't recently been reviewing the historical records of various villages, probably no one would have discovered Sunagakure's scheme by now, especially those idiots in the Land of Water. They were tricked twice and didn't even know who the culprit was. This tactic is too damn deep!

If that's the case, then his previous idea of ​​launching a war to avenge his father is no longer viable. Who knows if Sunagakure, having already thoroughly ravaged the Land of Earth and the Land of Water, might launch a surprise attack on them from behind? Originally, he thought Shiki was an upright and honorable man because Shiki saved his father's body from Iwagakure.

Who knew he was such a cunning old fox, even more cunning than Onoki...

913. So many years have passed, and the handsome Scorpion has grown into a super dashing guy.

"Konan, you and Sasori go pick up Uchiha Itachi."

In a basement in the Land of Rain, Nagato, who was emaciated and soaking in a large vat, opened his eyes and spoke to his companions. As he spoke, his body, still submerged in the vat, trembled slightly with barely suppressed excitement.

For many years, since Orochimaru, the Akatsuki hadn't absorbed any new blood. He himself hadn't expected that high-ranking rogue ninjas with good looks would be so scarce in the ninja world.

There have been quite a few high-ranking rogue ninjas over the years, but they are all ugly and deformed. If they had special skills like Kakuzu, it wouldn't matter if they were ugly. But the key is that they don't. There's only one Kakuzu in the entire ninja world who is good at making money. The rest are all ugly and have no special skills.

Now, he has finally met Uchiha Itachi, who is not bad looking and has an even more charming temperament. How could he not be excited?

Since their transformation, he had planned to achieve their goal within fifteen to twenty years. But now half that time has passed, and excluding the peripheral supporters, the organization still only has a handful of members, especially Orochimaru and Sasori, those two tech geeks who spend all their time in their labs and toy rooms. After all these years, who knows if their practical skills are still up to par? Anyway, they still seem pretty cool...

This Uchiha Itachi just wiped out his own clan. According to the description of that cowardly guy who always uses the name of Uchiha Madara to scam people out of food and drink, he is a promising candidate with strong combat skills. Moreover, he was willing to be fooled by that masked man who uses the name of Uchiha Madara to scam people out of food and drink and join their Akatsuki group.

He's skilled with his hands, good-looking, and his irresistible charm is simply irresistible. He definitely meets the basic requirements for joining the Xiaotian Group.

"...Nagato, this Uchiha Itachi...is more popular than Sasori right now, shouldn't you consider him?"

Tuhao Nan frowned and hesitated before speaking to his friend.

This Uchiha Itachi certainly meets all the requirements of their Akatsuki group, but there is one thing that worries her a lot, which is that his popularity is too damn high. Now, in the entire ninja world, including their Land of Rain, nearly half of the girls are fans of this Uchiha Itachi. Walking on the streets of the Land of Rain, you can see Uchiha Itachi's posters everywhere. This is very inconsistent with the rule that their Akatsuki group must keep a low profile before their debut!

They already have a handsome guy named Sasori, who is famous for his good looks and is considered the most handsome man in the ninja world. Fortunately, Sasori is a tech geek and a father, so he doesn't usually care about women. However, Uchiha Itachi is only twelve years old. We don't know much about his personality yet, but he is definitely single.

The mere presence of the handsome Sasori already posed a significant exposure risk to the Akatsuki, and now with the arrival of Uchiha Itachi, whose popularity surpasses even Sasori's, she couldn't imagine whether the girls from the Land of Rain would cause a scene and prematurely expose the Akatsuki...

For the sake of the organization's future, and to better assist her teammates in developing the Akatsuki, she had been studying personality psychology for the past two years. The books Orochimaru introduced her to said that children like Itachi Uchiha, who grew up in the Uchiha clan where a serious expression was strictly forbidden, were most susceptible to the temptations of the outside world, especially those who constantly exuded a flirtatious air...

"...According to the masked man's account, this Uchiha Itachi should be that kind of person. We don't have much time left, we can't delay any longer, let's go see him."

Nagato remained silent for a while. Although he wasn't highly educated, he had grown up with his friends since childhood and naturally knew what they were worried about.

But their time is really running out. Sasori, who joined the Akatsuki at fifteen or sixteen, is already in his mid-twenties. Orochimaru, although he seems to be resistant to aging, is already in his forties. Kakuzu is even worse; if it weren't for the forbidden techniques of Takigakure that made him even more resistant to aging, he would be in his grave by now. These high-value, double-flower red-stick level rogue ninjas are already scarce, and they can't afford to delay any longer. If they delay any longer, they might not even be able to afford to wait for the youngest, Sasori. They shouldn't think too much about it; they should just find one and take it!

He hadn't realized this problem before, always thinking they were still young and could drag it out for another ten or twenty years. But now half the time has passed, and the handsome young man has grown from a little boy into a dashing young man, and his daughter is almost a teenager. Only now does he realize that time waits for no one!

Since Uchiha Itachi fits the bill in every way, we can disregard personality and other factors. As long as he can fight, that's all that matters. If we don't find a suitable candidate in two years, he's willing to just look at appearance and ignore combat ability.

Anyway, his Six Paths Puppet Masters always fought one against six, so they were always out of position when attacking anyone...

.......

"Orochimaru, Konoha has produced another talent! This Uchiha Itachi is amazing; he even wiped out the Uchiha clan. Do you think Pain will bring that brat in? We haven't had a new member in a long time. But... this brat is even more popular than you, Sasori! I've never seen anything like it in all these years..."

Inside the toy room of Handsome Scorpion, Kakuzu sat on Handsome Scorpion's sofa, which was bigger than a bed, holding a wine glass in his hand, looking all prim and proper, as if he really thought he was something special.

After so many years of hard work, Kakuzu finally turned the Land of Rain's finances from negative to positive. He also made a lot of money in the Land of Water a few years ago. Now Kakuzu is not as busy as before. In addition, he has a good brother's nephew who is not very good at taking care of himself to look after. So whenever he has free time, Kakuzu comes to Sasori's place.

Orochimaru and Shiki had a fairly good relationship, and Sasori's Eternal Art and Orochimaru's Longevity Technique shared some common topics. So whenever Orochimaru lacked inspiration, he would visit Sasori's luxurious toy house next door.

Their topic this time was also the recent super-hot topic in the ninja world: Itachi Uchiha's solo defeat of the Uchiha clan.

Over the years since joining the group, they have frequently received Pain's core organizational ideology. Although Pain has not yet explained what the Akatsuki's ultimate goal is, the two tech geeks and the veteran who has been in the ninja world for decades can guess some of it from the core ideology that Pain has been talking about for so many years.

Moreover, it has been many years since Orochimaru joined, and no new members have appeared. Uchiha Itachi, on the other hand, meets the Akatsuki's joining criteria perfectly, both as a rogue ninja and as capable of single-handedly defeating the Uchiha. To be honest, although the lineup of these three core members is very strong on paper, it still feels a bit deserted.

914. Orochimaru: When did the ninja world start judging by looks?

"Hmph! They're all just empty titles."

It would have been fine if Jiao hadn't mentioned it, but as soon as the topic of popularity came up, Handsome Scorpion got extremely angry.

Over the years, he has been diligently studying his human body art in the Land of Rain, never even leaving the house. His food is delivered to him by his underlings.

As the saying goes, a new generation replaces the old. He hasn't been active in the ninja world for so many years. Although he's handsome, he's already a father. What popularity does he have left?

Don't all girls these days like young, handsome men?

But over the years, his popularity has never waned; on the contrary, it has grown year by year. Even a small inspiration when he goes out will attract a swarm of infatuated girls from the Land of Rain. If he hadn't been working out regularly over the years and hadn't developed a six-pack, he might have been devoured by those infatuated girls.

Although he rarely went out, he had lived with that bastard middle-aged man for over ten years, and he was certain that all those ridiculous titles, such as the so-called number one handsome man in the ninja world, were definitely something that bastard middle-aged man had come up with.

"Heh... what an interesting pair of eyes. Over the years, there have been quite a few high-ranking rogue ninjas in the ninja world, but none of them have caught Pain's eye. Although it's still unclear what Pain wants us to do in the future, I think it's pretty much going to be about opposing those ninja villages. If we want to oppose so many ninja villages, we can't just rely on the people around us. The Uchiha clan used to be the most powerful clan in the ninja world. I think it won't be long before that brat comes along. After all, life as a rogue ninja isn't very good."

Orochimaru habitually licked his lips and grinned wickedly.

Over the years, apart from resolving its financial problems, the Akatsuki group has made no progress. If his two uneducated disciples, Jiraiya and Jiraiya, were fooled by Shiki and started looking for a way out, he is now making plans. However, he doesn't have a good excuse yet. After all, Jiraiya and Jiraiya have treated him well over the years, giving him money and giving him things. It would be unfair for them to leave without a reason.

Although Jiraiya's two disciples have not revealed the purpose of their organization over the years, Orochimaru can easily guess their goal from the negative sentiment they convey about the world through their core ideology.

If it were anything else, Orochimaru would be fine. After all, he was their senior, and he couldn't just be kept around without doing anything. Even if they wanted the Land of Rain to surpass Konoha and become the overlord of the ninja world, with the Rinnegan, Orochimaru would do his best to help them achieve that. But things like world destruction and rebirth are a bit mystical.

Based on his extensive knowledge over the years, the grand goal of destroying the world and being reborn, and becoming an enemy of the entire ninja world, is definitely not something that can be achieved with just a pair of Rinnegan and a few high-ranking rogue ninjas. Moreover, the Akatsuki group has not developed at all over the years, and Jiraiya's two disciples have extremely high standards. It's not enough to just be able to kill people; without a special skill like Kakuzu, they also have to consider looks. Such people are even rarer than the top scholars in both the civil and military fields.

He even suspected that these two had been assimilated by Jiraiya; when did the ninja world start judging people by their looks...?

"But speaking of which... how did this kid do it? He single-handedly wiped out the entire Uchiha clan overnight. I guess only Shinto in the whole ninja world has that ability. And this kid is only twelve years old..."

If there's anyone in the entire ninja world who understands the Uchiha clan best, it would undoubtedly be Kakuzu, the veteran who experienced the era of the great kings and queens of the ninja world. He personally witnessed just how powerful the Uchiha clan was back then. The words in the books simply cannot describe how powerful the Uchiha clan was under Madara Uchiha's leadership. Starting from the Land of Fire, they practically swept across the entire map. That era truly saw the Senju clan emerge unchallenged, and the Uchiha's ability to take on five opponents at once was on full display.

While the Uchiha clan isn't as strong as they were during Madara's era, their Sharingan is still formidable. Even someone with five lives would have to be cautious when facing several three-tomoe Sharingan users simultaneously. And this Uchiha prodigy, at just twelve years old, can single-handedly defeat so many Uchiha. Honestly, even novels wouldn't dare to write something like this.

In his opinion, the only one in the current ninja world who could defeat the Uchiha clan single-handedly was his good brother, Shiki. After all, Shiki was a man who could fight the Nine-Tails hand-to-hand, even more powerful than the Third Raikage who was once a match for ten thousand men. However, he thought that even his good brother couldn't possibly defeat the Uchiha clan overnight.

After all, those are living people, not dead pigs lining up for you to farm their numbers.

But this kid actually did it, it's so damn outrageous.

Even this seasoned ninja who had been around for decades and had seen Orochimaru... ugh! Orochimaru poop!, upon hearing this news, was so shocked he ate dozens of kilograms of food and couldn't process it for a long time...

"...I've studied the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan. If I'm not mistaken, that brat should have awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan of the Uchiha clan. Back then, Madara Uchiha was invincible in the ninja world with those eyes, but..."

Let alone Kakuzu, even Orochimaru, a scientist, found it somewhat unbelievable. He had studied the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan and knew that after the three-tomoe Sharingan, there was the Mangekyou Sharingan, which was Madara Uchiha's signature eye. However, to be honest, although he had not studied Madara Uchiha's cells, he had studied Hashirama Senju's cells. Hashirama Senju's cells were much stronger than those of other members of the Senju clan, especially his unrestrained Yang Release chakra, which was not found in other members of the Senju clan. Even Nawaki could not be found with a trace of Yang Release chakra, and Tsunade only had a tiny bit.

Hashirama Senju was clearly different from the other members of the Senju clan. Madara Uchiha, who was once on par with Hashirama, was certainly different from the other members of the Uchiha clan as well. He must have had some unique qualities. Therefore, he was certain that even if an Uchiha awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan, they could not be as strong as Madara Uchiha. The wild Uchiha who awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan and fought Shiki in the Land of Water was just like that. If Madara Uchiha and Shiki were to fight, it wouldn't be such a small-scale battle. There would have to be another battle at the Valley of the End.

Because of this, Orochimaru guessed that Itachi Uchiha must have awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan. However, he also found it somewhat absurd to say that he could single-handedly defeat the entire Uchiha clan. As a meritorious figure of Konoha, he had the right to speak on the strength of the Uchiha clan. The Mangekyou Sharingan might be able to suppress the three-tomoe Sharingan to some extent in terms of bloodline, but that was all it could do. Without the stubborn strength of someone like Shiki or Madara Uchiha, it was simply impossible for him to single-handedly defeat the Uchiha clan.

915. In the ninja world, you can't just survive by killing people.

Based on his understanding of his Hokage teacher and his friends, the three giants of Konoha, there must be a lot of shady dealings involved. His Hokage teacher's attitude towards the Uchiha clan over the years was the same as Hashirama Senju's. Under normal circumstances, it would be unlikely that he would take action against the Uchiha clan, even if two geniuses emerged in this generation of the Uchiha clan, who seemed poised for greatness. But given his Hokage teacher's personality, he would not make such a resolute decision.

There must be some unknown secret behind this, and the fact that the person who did it was Uchiha Hoshi makes him feel that this matter is not simple.

Even though the Sannin have left Konoha and the Fourth Hokage is dead, his Hokage teacher is still capable of stabbing Onoki, and White Fang's short sword hasn't rusted yet. How could he possibly leave Konoha after Itachi wiped out the entire Uchiha clan, leaving only a kid?

This is very unreasonable.

Of course, this seems very unreasonable to someone who understands Konoha, but people who don't understand Konoha can't see anything wrong with it.

This inconsistency led Orochimaru to suspect that the annihilation of the Uchiha clan wasn't solely the work of Itachi Uchiha; Konoha was certainly involved. And why would his Hokage teacher do such a thing... and why was Itachi Uchiha chosen...? The word "undercover agent" suddenly flashed into Orochimaru's mind.