Chapter 6: More Than You’ve Ever Seen
As for Kisame, he remained relatively neutral. Although he was a rogue ninja, he was extremely loyal. As long as the organization he belonged to didn’t betray him, he wouldn’t betray it—even if it cost him his life.
Nagato’s betrayal of the Akatsuki was an indisputable fact. The new leader, Uchiha Madara (Obito), was quite famous and hadn’t done anything to betray the organization, so Kisame chose to stay.
“Nagato betrayed us. All the help you gave him back then was wasted. From what I know, if you hadn’t treated him, he would’ve died from overusing the Rinnegan.”
Obito tapped his fingers lightly on the stone table.
“If you’re dissatisfied with me as leader, I can hand the position over to you. In terms of seniority, you’re no worse than anyone here.”
Obito wasn’t flattering him. Setting everything else aside, just in terms of capturing tailed beasts, Su Xiao had first worked with Deidara and Sasori, then joined Itachi and Kisame’s squad, participating in many captures.
If that wasn’t enough, what about attacking Konoha with Nagato? Whether Nagato betrayed the organization or not had nothing to do with Su Xiao. His participation in that attack was entirely under the Akatsuki’s banner—and that was an assault on a ninja village.
If Su Xiao spoke up now, he could very well become the Akatsuki’s leader. Deidara would likely support him, and Obito would definitely back him.
But was becoming leader really a good thing? Of course not. The current Akatsuki had only six official members, including Su Xiao himself. That meant even if he became leader, he’d be managing at most five people.
No, that wasn’t right. Obito wouldn’t take orders at all. Black and White Zetsu were out of the question. And Uchiha Sasuke, who was always late to meetings? Forget it—he was just a revenge-driven rebellious youth, a hothead by any other name.
As for Deidara and Kisame, forget it. Deidara followed orders intermittently, while Kisame would obey completely.
The only one who could truly keep these Akatsuki thugs in line was Nagato. No one else could.
Becoming leader = killing brain cells = drawing hatred = being a target = getting focused first = dying fast.
“Heh, I choose to support you.”
Su Xiao smiled as he looked at Obito. Obito felt a twinge of disappointment inside. If he’d had another option, he wouldn’t have taken the leader role himself—it was a living target.
“Having internal strife already?”
A cold voice rang out. It was the latecomer, the Second Pillar. He was wearing the Akatsuki uniform, followed by Suigetsu, Karin, and Jugo. Although all four wore the Akatsuki outfit, only the Second Pillar was an official member.
“Everyone’s here. Let’s discuss the real matter—the Rinnegan. Without it, even if we capture the tailed beasts, we can’t seal them into the statue. The Eight-Tails is a case in point.”
Obito’s tone was low. He wasn’t too angry about Nagato’s betrayal; what infuriated him was that Konan had hidden Nagato’s body.
Heaven knew how Konan would handle the Rinnegan. If it was just soaking in a solution, fine. But if she left it on Nagato’s corpse, within six months, the Rinnegan would be ruined.
The Rinnegan was powerful, no doubt, but it was still an evolved human eye. If it went too long without nourishment, even the mighty Rinnegan would deteriorate. That was Obito’s biggest worry.
“Bai Ye found traces of Konan earlier.”
White Zetsu spoke, and everyone’s gaze turned to Su Xiao.
“I saw her once in the Rain Country. Her exact whereabouts are unknown.”
“Is that so?”
Obito looked somewhat disappointed.
“Zetsu, stop monitoring Konoha’s post-war movements. They’re busy stationing ninja in the Rain Country and pose no threat to us for now. Focus all efforts on finding Konan’s trail. Start from the Rain Country and send out clones to search.”
“Mm.”
White Zetsu responded casually, seemingly dissatisfied with Obito as leader, but that wasn’t really the case.
“Did you successfully capture the Eight-Tails?”
Su Xiao suddenly spoke. Hearing this, Deidara pressed a hand to his forehead.
“You’re at it again with that old habit.”
Deidara knew what Su Xiao was about to do—absorb the tailed beast’s energy.
But that wasn’t it. Su Xiao’s Devouring Core was currently in a “cooldown” phase and needed time to recover. If he recklessly absorbed a large amount of energy soon, he might turn into the Demon Blade. He just wanted to confirm whether the Eight-Tails had been captured.
“The Eight-Tails is already very weak. You’ll kill him.”
Kisame also spoke up. He, too, had captured tailed beasts with Su Xiao and witnessed him devouring their energy. For some reason, even as an S-rank rogue ninja, Kisame felt his hair stand on end thinking about that scene.
“…”
Sasuke remained silent, unsure of what was happening.
“Personal hobby.”
Su Xiao dropped the cigarette in his hand, seeming to think of something, and asked casually, “Who captured the Eight-Tails?”
“Sasuke led the squad to capture it. Bai Ye, remember to leave it alive.”
Obito didn’t stop Su Xiao. This could be seen as an attempt to win him over. Besides, tailed beasts weren’t easy to kill. He still hadn’t given up on using Su Xiao as a shield.
Soon, the Eight-Tails jinchuriki, Killer B, was carried in by Sasuke’s subordinate Jugo. With a thud, Killer B was thrown to the ground, motionless.
Su Xiao stepped forward and pressed a finger to Killer B’s arm, testing a hypothesis. Based on his judgment, Sasuke at this point shouldn’t have been a match for Killer B. No, Sasuke would have been beaten black and blue. Even with Karin and the others’ help, he’d still get thrashed. Their combat experience wasn’t even in the same league.
Killer B, the Eight-Tails jinchuriki, was the strongest jinchuriki alive, bar none. He had a cooperative relationship with the Eight-Tails, allowing him to fully transform while maintaining his sanity. Moreover, the Eight-Tails would assist him in battle.
Setting aside Killer B’s immense strength, the number of battles he’d been through was many times more than the Second Pillar’s. With that gap in strength, how could Sasuke have captured the Eight-Tails?
More importantly, in the original story, Sasuke had been fooled by the Eight-Tails.
Cyan Steel Shadow energy flickered at Su Xiao’s fingertip, quickly invading Killer B’s body. Moments later, the energy dissipated.
Su Xiao turned and returned to his seat.
“Congratulations…”
Su Xiao looked at Sasuke. Sasuke remained expressionless, looking cool~
“…on catching a fake.”
“Huh?”
Sasuke was displeased. He had nearly died capturing Killer B. Not only had he been stabbed multiple times, but over 40% of his internal organs had been blown away. Without Jugo and Karin, he’d be a corpse by now.
“What do you mean?”
Suigetsu, standing behind Sasuke, was also dissatisfied.
“A fake?”
Obito stood up and walked over to Killer B. After a careful inspection, he vaguely sensed something off. His eyes narrowed, and he thought to himself that Sasuke was still too immature—or rather, his hatred wasn’t deep enough. Obito had always wanted to mold Sasuke into a pawn, an important one.
“What do you mean by ‘fake’? Just based on your judgment, you expect me to believe it?”
Sasuke clearly didn’t accept Su Xiao’s view. If he had nearly died only to catch a fake, wouldn’t that make him look incompetent?
“Believe it or not. The number of tailed beasts I’ve personally captured is more than you’ve ever seen.”
“You…”
Suigetsu clearly felt that Su Xiao was deliberately mocking them.
“That does seem to be the case.”
Deidara knew the truth. Su Xiao’s statement, “The number of tailed beasts I’ve personally captured is more than you’ve ever seen,” was perfectly accurate.