Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

Sasori never gave up on figuring out how to truly kill Orochimaru.

"Then, I'll go and see for myself the strength represented by the 900 million taels bounty!" Kakuzu's words made Black Zetsu realize that unless he was forced by absolute power, it would be extremely difficult to get these people to act together.

It's not to say that everyone joined forces against a team from Konoha.

After learning that the Konoha ninjas had split into three groups, these bastards actually chose to go their own way and still acted in groups of at least two.

"Kakuzu, are you sure you want to mess with the Sixth Hokage? Facing that monster... could be fatal." Black Zetsu completely gave up on the possibility of getting the Akatsuki to join forces, and instead tried to see if he could persuade Kakuzu to change his mind.

Going head-on with Uchiha Mugen would be suicide!

Even though Kakuzu is known as the 'immortal ninja,' others don't know why Kakuzu can't die, but how could Black Zetsu not know? Having lived for a thousand years, he is a walking library, and he knows that Kakuzu's immortality is not true immortality. Once the secret is understood, he can be killed.

In contrast,

Hidan's immortality seems to be superior in essence.

At least Black Zetsu didn't understand where Hidan's 'immortality' came from. The only drawback was that Hidan's immortality ability was too one-dimensional. Even if it was difficult to truly kill him, ninjas never lacked methods to capture him alive. Sealing techniques weren't developed just to deal with tailed beasts.

If these two really go looking for trouble with Uchiha Mugen...

honestly,

Black Zetsu didn't want the Akatsuki to lose too much power right now, especially members with clean backgrounds like Kakuzu and Hidan. Compared to Orochimaru and Sasori, two untrustworthy bastards, Kakuzu, the money-loving veteran, and Hidan, the single-minded naive sweetheart, were much more lovable!

"That's nine hundred million taels."

Kakuzu emphasized.

The so-called 900 million ryo refers to the bounty offered in the underground black market. On the surface, the ninja world is dominated by five great nations, and the five great ninja villages are the five most powerful violent groups in the ninja world. But where there is light, there will inevitably be shadows, and the ninja world is also a world in shadow.

In this darkness where no light can be seen, there exists an organization called the Gold Exchange, whose main business is to acquire the corpses of powerful ninjas.

No one knows who or what force is backing the Gold Exchange. All that is known is that the Gold Exchange's bounty list includes almost all the top ninjas in the ninja world, including the Five Kage. The Sixth Hokage, Uchiha Sogen, surpassed the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, with a bounty of 900 million ryo to become the number one on the list.

This number is more than twenty times the bounty of a surviving member of the Twelve Guardian Ninja.

Kakuzu is really envious.

As an 'old man' who has lived to be nearly a hundred years old, his long life has worn away many of his hobbies. Now, only making money can bring him some happiness. Unfortunately, he is not good at business. Fortunately, there are many ways to make money, and you don't necessarily have to open a shop to make money.

hunting,

It's also a good way to make money.

While the pelts of ordinary tigers, leopards, jackals, and wolves can fetch a decent price, they are clearly not as valuable as the corpses of ninjas.

"Yes! That's nine hundred million taels."

Black Zetsu repeated Kakuzu's words.

The same words and sentence structure, but the meanings expressed are completely different.

The first nine hundred million taels was about the astronomical bounty, while the second nine hundred million taels was about the strength represented by the bounty. Ordinary prey worth tens of millions of taels was simply incomparable to this monster worth nine hundred million taels.

"Hmph! I would have dared to challenge even Hashirama Senju back then, but a mere junior... It just so happens that I only fought Hashirama Senju in the past, and never managed to exchange a few blows with Madara Uchiha. This time, I'm going to see for myself just how strong the Mangekyou Sharingan of the Uchiha clan really is."

Kakuzu snorted coldly.

They had already made up their minds and would not be disturbed by Jue in the slightest.

After saying this, he directly chose to dispel the shadow clone and transmit the information to the real body. Anyway, he had said what he needed to say, and what was next was nothing more than a battle. Seeing Kakuzu leave, the others followed suit, first Sasori, then Orochimaru.

Even Deidara dispelled his shadow clones.

Anyway, he was acting with Obito-senpai, and his opponent was that guy Uchiha Shisui. He got away last time, so this time he was going to get his revenge.

On the iron bridge,

Only Zetsu and Obito Uchiha remained.

What is Payne planning to do?

"Uchiha Obito asked."

Since his identity as Uchiha Madara was exposed, he lost the privilege of sitting and discussing philosophy with Pain and Konan. He was forced to team up with Deidara and became an ordinary member of the Akatsuki. He could only keep an eye on Pain's situation through Zetsu.

"We should probably wait and see first!"

Black Zetsu replied.

"But don't worry, Pain will definitely make a move. This time... if things go well, we have a good chance of taking down Uchiha Mugen. So, Obito, you must keep Uchiha Shisui occupied. Even if you can't deal with him for the time being, you can't let him come and cause trouble. Uchiha Mugen and Uchiha Shisui, this time we must take one of them down, or leave both of them behind."

I'll try my best.

Obito Uchiha did not take on everything.

The memory of his last confrontation with Uchiha Shisui was still fresh in his mind. Although his final defeat was due to the intervention of Uchiha Munen, he had not been able to gain the upper hand in his battle with Uchiha Shisui before Munen's arrival.

Moreover, this time Uchiha Shisui was not fighting alone.

He also brought along a group of subordinates whose strength was by no means weak.

Of course, he also has Deidara's support... In general, he has a fighting chance, but there's no guarantee he can make any promises.

"What about Orochimaru and Sasori?" Zetsu didn't pressure Obito Uchiha to give a guarantee; he believed Obito would do his best. So he changed the subject, "If they betray us and collude with Konoha... it could be a bit troublesome!"

"As long as Payne makes a move, that's fine."

Obito shrugged. "And Orochimaru... I always felt that he had ulterior motives. He probably had some dealings with Konoha, but to directly collude with Konoha, is he planning to return to Konoha and go back to his roots? I don't think so."

"We can send people to keep an eye on things. But there's no need to be too nervous. The most important thing right now is to weaken Konoha as much as possible. Orochimaru can't cause any real trouble."

Obito Uchiha also deeply trusted the power of the Rinnegan.

The power of the Rinnegan is invincible.

However, Nagato, as the vessel of the Rinnegan, had his weakness exploited before he even grew up. All of this was arranged by Madara Uchiha while he was still alive, and it wasn't just Nagato; Madara himself was also a pawn!

Fortunately, everyone's ultimate goal is the same.

The point of contention lies in who will lead the plan to achieve the desired future.

So this little bit of 'unpleasantness' is not enough to make him openly fight for true freedom and control over that ideal future.

This kind of thing requires patience and careful consideration. In any case, the plan hasn't been officially launched yet, so he still has plenty of time to think about how to contend with that old ancestor who won't rest in peace even after death. What he needs to focus on right now is how to bring the overly strong Konoha back to its proper level.

Uchiha Sogen, Uchiha Shisui, Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Chihaya...

These sticking out from the crowd,

Every single one of them must be leveled!

Just as he finished speaking, a sound like muffled thunder came from afar. However, the scattered dark clouds in the sky had not yet gathered, so the sound could not have come from the sky, but only from the ground.

"Has it already started? I can't delay any longer."

After Obito Uchiha finished speaking, his body shattered and dissipated into white chakra smoke.

"Uchiha Sogen..."

Black Zetsu turned his gaze to the southwest, but unfortunately he didn't have the Byakugan, so his vision couldn't go beyond the steel and cement buildings and he couldn't see Uchiha Mugen's progress. He could only rely on the information passed on by the White Zetsu to keep track of the situation in Amegakure.

The sound just now,

It originated from the group of people like Uchiha Sogen.

fighting,

The battle has officially begun!

[Chapter 368. Ninja Technique: A Thousand Books of Rain and Dew]

Blocking their path were not Akatsuki members wearing black trench coats embroidered with red clouds and straw hats with hanging wind chimes. Instead, they were Rain Ninjas dressed in standard uniforms, carrying four or five umbrellas and wearing respirators. Judging from the quality and quantity of their chakra, most of them were Chunin, and there were no more than ten Jonin.

"Uchiha?"

The lead Rain Ninja Jonin took a deep breath, his heart suddenly racing.

Immediately,

He suppressed his fear of the infamous Uchiha clan with sheer courage and coldly rebuked them, "Konoha ninjas, do you understand what you're doing? Invading our village, are you trying to start a new war?"

The Rain Ninjas didn't recognize Sogen and Jiraiya's identities. They only saw the fire fan family crest on Sogen and Chihaya's clothes, and they quickly lowered their eyes, not daring to look into Sogen and Chihaya's eyes. However, the reason they didn't recognize Sogen and Jiraiya was not because they didn't see their faces clearly.

Rather, they genuinely did not recognize the Sixth Hokage or Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin.

Unlike villages such as Kumogakure and Iwagakure,

After Pain ascended to power in Amegakure by stepping over the remains of Hanzo the Salamander, he launched a massive purge. Any Amegakure ninja who had previously attacked Yahiko's Akatsuki were punished according to the same laws for their crimes, effectively wiping out almost all of Amegakure's veteran ninja.

Payne then opted for a policy of closing the country's borders.

They deliberately cut off contact with the outside world.

The endless torrential rain monitored every rustle and movement in the village.

As a result, the new generation of Rain Ninja were completely oblivious to the changes in the situation abroad. They didn't even know that the Hokage of Konoha had changed, and many people still thought that the Fifth Hokage was in power. Meanwhile, older generation masters like the Sannin gradually faded from the younger generation's view due to their long-term inactivity.

Therefore,

Facing Sogen and Jiraiya,

These Rain Ninja vividly demonstrated what it means to be fearless in ignorance. Although the Angel had already given the order to annihilate all the invading enemies, the Rain Ninja in charge still wanted to try to persuade them to retreat with words.

After all, they're not stupid.

Four people dared to brazenly barge into Amegakure Village.

If they haven't lost their minds, then it just means that the other party is definitely not someone to mess with!

"If you dare to take another step forward, you will be hunted down to the death by the entire Hidden Rain Village." The leader of the Rain Ninjas spoke harshly, while also grabbing the umbrella handle, ready to take action if the negotiations broke down.

"A relentless pursuit?"

Zongxian smiled.

That's an interesting point!

Is this a certainty that they will inevitably meet their demise at the ironclad defenses of Amegakure and flee in disarray? Such a future... is not impossible, but unfortunately, Zongxian will never allow it to come to pass.

"Sorry, there's no point in wasting time talking to you. Let's find a more direct way to communicate!" Zongxian apologized to the Rain Ninja with little sincerity, then waved his hand and ordered, "Chihaya, clear the way! Today... let's have a good time! Don't hold back too much."

In the vast Rain Hidden Village,

I didn't sense much of the presence of living people.