The Land of Rain.

  The Akatsuki's base.

  The Akatsuki had no intention of accepting Kisame Hoshigaki.

  When Bck Zetsu learned that Kisame had killed the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, it nearly lost its mind—because along with Yagura's death, the Three-Tails would also perish.

  Though the Three-Tails wasn't the strongest tailed beast, and all tailed beasts were immortal, it would take a few years before it revived in the ninja world. This dey significantly disrupted Bck Zetsu's pns.

  In Bck Zetsu's opinion, now that Shigen had been revived, the Akatsuki was already strong enough to execute the Eye of the Moon Pn. As long as it and White Zetsu located all the tailed beasts, the capture process could begin immediately.

  "I've been working hard gathering manpower while also tracking down the tailed beasts. Now, only the Four-Tails Jinchūriki remains unaccounted for…"

  When Bck Zetsu brought up Kisame, it was filled with rage. "That damned Kisame actually killed the Three-Tails Jinchūriki!"

  "That is a bit troublesome…"

  Shigen furrowed his brow, displeased with Kisame's reckless actions. He calmly tried to soothe Bck Zetsu.

  "All right."

  "No need to panic."

  "Let me think if there's a way to salvage this."

  Shigen sighed and softly shared his idea. "Aside from the dead Three-Tails Jinchūriki, does the current ninja world possess any remnants of the Three-Tails' chakra? If so, I might be able to cultivate it, which could keep our pn on track…"

  "For instance, I once met the Gold and Silver Brothers forty years ago. They had obtained a portion of the Nine-Tails' chakra. If we can find someone like them who has inherited the Three-Tails' chakra, we might be able to use them…"

  "..."

  Bck Zetsu felt a rare warmth in its heart.

  At times like these, it was always Shigen who remained reliable.

  Even now, he was coming up with solutions.

  However, Bck Zetsu had no choice. It could only shake its head and say, "The Three-Tails' chakra has never leaked. We can only wait for it to revive before proceeding with the pn…"

  "How long will that take?"

  Shigen frowned even more, feigning ignorance. "Has the Three-Tails ever died before? How long did it take to revive?"

  "At least seven or eight years…"

  Bck Zetsu recalled the circumstances following Rin Nohara's death and sighed. "Obito was always controlling Yagura. He should have been the most secure part of the pn…"

  And yet…

  The Three-Tails still ended up as a problem.

  If Shigen hadn't been revived, Bck Zetsu wouldn't be too anxious. But now that hope was within reach, this setback was infuriating.

  Annoyed, Bck Zetsu instinctively cursed, "That idiot Obito couldn't even protect the Three-Tails Jinchūriki…"

  Shigen's expression turned slightly odd.

  After all, Bck Zetsu hadn't even figured out that Kisame was working under Obito. It clearly didn't trust him much, either.

  "Forget it."

  "Bming him won't change anything."

  "Maybe it's because I assigned him to monitor Orochimaru."

  Shigen casually made an excuse for Obito before adding, "Still, being able to kill the Three-Tails Jinchūriki means Kisame is quite strong…"

  "That's true."

  Bck Zetsu didn't know much about Kisame but was aware of the Hoshigaki cn's abilities. "The Hoshigaki cn has abundant chakra and the ability to absorb it. Recruiting him into the Akatsuki could help us in future tailed beast captures…"

  At this point, the only option was to find a way to make up for the loss.

  "Should we send Sasori?"

  Bck Zetsu considered the only avaible member.

  Akatsuki's members typically worked in pairs to keep each other in check, but this rule currently applied only to Sasori.

  After all, the Pain trio was the core of the Akatsuki and was busy carrying out missions. Kakuzu was another exception—sending him on missions with a partner was practically the same as sending him alone, and he was trusted enough that betrayal wasn't a concern.

  Only Sasori…

  Without a partner, he could only stay at the base, working on his puppets.

  "I'll go myself."

  Shigen was intrigued by Kisame and took the opportunity to voice his pn. "Even though waiting for the Three-Tails to revive is frustrating, we should use this time to recruit more members and gather intelligence…"

  Bck Zetsu nodded in agreement.

  "And…"

  Shigen decided to give Bck Zetsu a warning to prevent future setbacks. "If possible, keep an eye on the other tailed beasts, especially the strongest one—the Nine-Tails. If anything happens to it…"

  The Nine-Tails' chakra was the most powerful.

  If it died, its revival time would be unpredictable, and the Eye of the Moon Pn could be deyed indefinitely.

  "Understood."

  Bck Zetsu already had pns for that. "I'll send a White Zetsu clone to monitor the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki in Konoha. He's just a kid, which makes him a weak link…"

  "Make sure to protect him."

  Shigen narrowed his eyes, hiding his true thoughts. He needed Bck Zetsu's help in protecting Naruto Uzumaki.

  "While you're at it…"

  "Keep an eye on Itachi's younger brother."

  "The two of them might awaken a pair of Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, which could serve as a backup pn."

  "Good thinking."

  Bck Zetsu nodded repeatedly. Hearing Shigen's strategy finally calmed its anger over the Three-Tails' death.

  "By the way…"

  "One of my clones is missing."

  The real White Zetsu finally found a chance to bring up its concern. "I need to use Spore Technique to grow more repcements…"

  "Missing?"

  Shigen raised an eyebrow, surprised. "Which one?"

  "The one monitoring Orochimaru."

  White Zetsu sounded slightly distressed. "It might've been discovered and killed…"

  "Just a clone."

  Bck Zetsu didn't care much and simply ordered, "Grow a new one and send it back to monitor Orochimaru."

  A glint fshed through Shigen's Rinnegan.

  If they sent another White Zetsu to Orochimaru's location, they would soon discover his secret dealings with Obito.

  At that point…

  The missing clone's fate would be obvious.

  Bck Zetsu and White Zetsu would surely assume Obito had killed it to protect his secret.

  Shigen stopped focusing on the missing clone and instead asked about Kisame's whereabouts. Upon learning that Kisame was in the Land of Hot Water, he simply told them, "Let's split up."

  "Mm."

  Bck Zetsu and White Zetsu vanished into the shadows, but before leaving, they mentioned another discovery. "By the way, we also found two potential partners for Kakuzu in the Land of Hot Water. Kakuzu is currently at an orphanage there…"

  Clearly, they expected Shigen to handle it while he was there.

  He didn't refuse, but he was curious. Finding two suitable partners for Kakuzu? That was rare.

  "Two?"

  "Yes."

  White Zetsu expined, "Kakuzu's partners die too frequently, so we prepared backups. Hopefully, this one will st longer…"

  "One of them is Hidan, a former ninja from Yugakure. He seems to have obtained some kind of immortality from his faith in Jashin. No one has ever been able to kill him…"

  "Sounds perfect for Kakuzu."

  Shigen's fingers twitched slightly.

  "The other one…"

  White Zetsu hesitated.

  "You should be quite familiar with her."

  Bck Zetsu smirked and spoke a name that took Shigen by surprise.

  "Tsunade of the Sannin. She's been traveling the world, healing people—just like you did in ancient times."

  "Tsunade?"

  Shigen's expression flickered. This was the second time he'd heard her name, bringing back memories of the little girl from forty years ago.

  "Konoha never decred her a rogue ninja…"

  Bck Zetsu considered recruiting her. "But she hasn't returned there either, so maybe—"

  Shigen waved his hand, firmly rejecting the idea. "Tsunade is Hashirama's granddaughter. No matter what, she'll never leave Konoha to join us."

  "Besides…"

  "Letting her heal people isn't a bad thing."

  "A medical ninja of her talent is more valuable to this world as a doctor than as a soldier."

  "…Tch."

  "So I was right."

  Bck Zetsu chuckled. "You're still just as kind at heart…"

  Even now, despite everything, Shigen still carried a deep compassion for the world.

  "Honestly, she wouldn't be a good fit anyway."

  White Zetsu added, "She's racked up a massive gambling debt over the years. People in the casinos call her a legendary sucker…"

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  Powerstones?

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