Before leaving, he asked Kai to train Naruto one-on-one. He didn't know if Naruto had grown in such a long time.

"Training? Although neither of them used their full strength, for now, Kai has the upper hand. After all, there is a huge gap in combat experience between the two."

Tsunade tilted her head and told the result.

Jiraiya was not surprised at all by this result. He had witnessed the power of the Eight Gate Dungeon with his own eyes. Although Naruto had now mastered the celestial arts and his strength had also improved significantly, to this extent, it was difficult to deal with it.

Kai, who possesses eight armor-defying arts, still finds it extremely difficult.

"One last thing, I want to confirm." At this point, the expression on Jiraiya's face became more serious than ever before: "Are you planning to let Naruto join in this operation?"

Tsunade was startled for a moment and replied: "Regarding this matter, Shikaku also mentioned to me that it would be fine if Naruto didn't know anything, but since he is also a witness, there is no point in hiding it from him. Not until then.

If you let him join in, he might sneak out of the village alone, in which case the situation will be more serious than if he joins the operation."

Jiraiya's face felt slightly bitter. Indeed, he could imagine that Naruto could definitely do such a thing.

Because Naruto learned the information about Orochimaru's upcoming reincarnation of Zuosuke from Scorpion, even if he concealed it, it would be meaningless. Instead, it would make him take risks and act alone.

"Also, I personally think that although many of Naruto's behaviors are a bit immature, he will never do anything to harm Konoha. Let him and Uchiha Sasuke come to an end. I think this is a good idea for both of them.

A good thing.”

Tsunade expressed her thoughts.

Unlike the other high-ranking officials in Konoha, she would not let such valuable combat power as Naruto remain in the village doing nothing and accept the protection of the village.

That would not only waste the village's public resources, but also waste Naruto's talent as a Jinchuuriki.

This is also the reason why she has been sending various tasks to Team 7 in the past few years. Only ninjas who have experienced blood and fire are worthy of being called ninjas.

The flowers in the greenhouse cannot become the pillars of the leaves.

If Naruto was deliberately excluded from this operation because of the presence of Uchiha Sasuke, this would be tantamount to laying a hidden danger for the village.

As the Hokage, Tsunade naturally did not want Naruto to become dissatisfied with the village because of such things.

"Of course, the premise of all this is that Uchiha Zuosuke can successfully survive from Orochimaru. If Uchiha Zuosuke cannot survive from Orochimaru, the so-called ending will not exist."

Tsunade said this calmly.

Jiraiya fell silent, stared at Tsunade's face, and replied: "I understand, then I will trouble you about things here. I will continue to keep an eye on that stronghold, and I will ask Toad to contact you then.

you."

After saying that, Jiraiya formed a seal with his hands and disappeared into the Hokage's office into a puff of smoke.

◎

"Speaking of which, Orochimaru seems to have been absent from the last few meetings. Is that guy secretly harboring some bad moves?"

On the top floor of the tall tower in Yuyin Village, in a conference room.

The Akatsuki members gathered together and sat in their respective seats, but three seats were vacant, one for Orochimaru, one for Scorpion, and one that originally belonged to Hidan.

With the exception of Scorpio and Hidan, who had already died in the line of duty, Orochimaru was not notified by Nagato that he had died in the line of duty. It was obvious that he could not come here to participate in the meeting due to other matters.

Guijiao made a sound about this matter, but his tone was not particularly concerned, as if he was just asking casually.

Beilihu, who is also a researcher in the organization with Orochimaru, also glanced at the vacant position belonging to Orochimaru and said: "It is true that I have rarely heard from him recently. However, maybe that guy Scorpion knows something. Compared with

I, the two of them seem to have something in common."

The so-called common topic is undoubtedly Orochimaru's pursuit of immortality.

Scorpion is the only known ninja in their organization who can live forever. Although he has the disadvantage of needing to replace body parts regularly, this kind of alternative immortality also gave Orochimaru a lot of inspiration.

Although Scorpion was very annoyed by Orochimaru's harassment when he was still there, he also learned a lot of things from Orochimaru.

If you ask who in the organization knows Orochimaru best, it is undoubtedly Scorpion.

"Scorpion must be dead."

The ghost returned the sentence.

"Well, yes, I regret this very much. I am quite interested in his forbidden human puppet technique."

Beiliuhu made no secret of his coveting.

Even though he is obsessed with the power of blood inheritance, who can refuse the power of immortality?

Even people like Orochimaru abandoned everything and embarked on the path of pursuing immortality.

"If you two dare to be disrespectful to Brother Scorpion again, I don't care if this is a conference room. Hmm."

When Deidara heard the conversation between Guijiao and Beilihu, he instinctively felt unhappy and stared at the two of them with murderous eyes.

Even though he knew that Xie was not dead, but had just faked his death and escaped from Xiao, but even so, he would not allow his respected senior to be treated as a joke.

"That's really scary. Is it the sympathy of artists?"

Guijiao grinned, revealing his fangs, and let out a laugh of unknown meaning.

Beilihu ignored Deidara's threat and just poured himself a cup of tea quietly to pass the time.

"So, what's the purpose of bringing us here this time? Are you planning to take action against the Three-Tails and the Six-Tails?"

Itachi, who had been silent all this time, opened his eyes, glanced at Nagato who was sitting motionless on the seat with his scarlet Sharingan, and got straight to the point.

The rest of the people also shifted their gazes at the same time, all falling on Nagato's calm face.

At present, they have obtained four tailed beasts, and only five tailed beasts have yet to be captured.

The organization's plan to capture the tailed beasts has long been decided, and the next goal is to return the three-tailed and six-tailed animals at the same time.

That way, Akatsuki would have six tailed beasts.

Even if the organization is exposed by then, it will still have the power to fight and will not be as passive as before.

"No." Nagato denied calmly: "We haven't found an entry point to start yet. The Fourth Mizukage has lost his position, and it is difficult to grasp the whereabouts of the Six-Tails Jinchūriki. What's more, if we attack them at the same time, we must pay more attention to timing and means.

, can’t be too hasty.”

"Then summon us over..."

"It's to introduce a new member to you. Scorpion just happened to die in the line of duty, and Deidara still lacks a teammate who can make up for the lack of strength in the Sapphire team."

After Nagato finished speaking, before everyone could react, they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

Immediately afterwards, there was the sound of the conference room door being pushed open.

"Hello, good evening, seniors, long time no see. I will also be a formal member of the organization from now on. Please give me your advice~"

An informal and playful voice sounded in the room, and he put on a funny salute posture, full of distortion and weirdness.

The person who spoke like this was wearing a black red cloud coat and an orange spiral mask on his face. The eye hole exposed on the left side was completely dark.

The whole body is shrouded in an atmosphere of mystery and comedy.

"What, it's Ah Fei."

I thought he was some interesting newcomer, but after seeing the other person's true face, they all looked disgusted with him.

Even Deidara's face fell. He couldn't believe that this guy could replace Scorpion and become his teammate.

This guy named A Fei was a candidate member of the Akatsuki organization a long time ago. He entered the organization earlier than Deidara, but due to lack of strength, he has never been selected to become a core member.

"Is the organization so short of people now that even this kind of guy has to be dispatched?"

Deidara covered his forehead with one hand, looking like he had a headache.

"There's nothing I can do about it. Even a guy like this will come in handy one day. Anyway, I'm asking Deidara to take more care of him in the future."

Nagato also said in a subtle tone.

Among the white Zetsu that Madara left for him, this guy was the strongest, but he also had an extremely troublesome personality.

"Haha, I'll trouble you later, Deidara-senpai. Speaking of which, I've always wanted to ride senior's big bird, and now I've got the chance. It's great. I can finally go on my way without having to walk alone!

"

While showing off the 'jade' ring on his finger, A Fei came close to Deidara in an almost clingy manner, like a child acting coquettishly to an adult.

"Chief, seriously, can I blow up this guy right now? My art tells me that it requires a fool as a sacrifice. Hmm."

Listening to A Fei's almost idiotic speech, Deidara subconsciously thought of the White Zetsu who were killed by him. They were almost the same level of idiots.

"If this is the case, please feel free to adjourn the meeting."

After Nagato said this, he took Konan out of the conference room, fearing that Fei would also be infected with the germ called idiot.

The rest of the people also took the initiative to distance themselves from Ah Fei. Although they didn't know if the idiot would be infected, there was no harm in being careful.

"Itachi, what's wrong?"

Seemingly noticing an unusual fluctuation in Itachi's aura, Guijiao asked in confusion.

"It's okay, let's go."

The scarlet Sharingan inadvertently lingered on A Fei's body for a moment, and he and Onijiao left the conference room.

◎

"It feels good to go out in the middle of the night. I haven't seen such a clear night sky in a long time."
To be continued...