Chapter 61: The Vote
A day later, within the Land of Fire, the Akatsuki base.
Firelight flickered, illuminating the underground base brightly.
Su Xiao, Obito, and Deidara sat around a stone table, which served as the Akatsuki's meeting room. Any matters of importance were discussed here.
"Overall, this rescue mission was quite successful. But there's one thing I'm curious about."
Obito wore black gloves, his fingers tapping rhythmically on the stone table.
"Bai Ye, the Third Tsuchikage was also in the underground prison. How did you manage to rescue Deidara?"
Hearing this, Deidara looked somewhat surprised.
"You fought that old man, the Third Tsuchikage?"
"I almost got disintegrated by Dust Release. As for how I rescued Deidara, the Third Tsuchikage slipped, and I took the opportunity to pull Deidara out."
Su Xiao naturally wouldn't reveal that Bubu Wang had rescued Deidara. His current partnership with Obito was real, but the day would come when they turned against each other.
"Slipped... huh."
Obito's expression beneath his mask wasn't pleasant. He certainly didn't believe Su Xiao's nonsense.
As the three chatted, a mummy-like figure slowly walked over.
"Who's this? A new member?"
Deidara tilted his head, a hint of confusion in his eyes. He thought the 'mummy' was a new recruit.
"Ahem, this is Sasuke."
Obito spoke while glancing at Su Xiao.
"Looks like you've recovered well."
Su Xiao studied Sasuke. His recovery speed was faster than expected.
"..."
Sasuke remained silent, for a simple reason: he didn't want to see Su Xiao anytime soon. That was a nightmare of a memory. Sasuke was grateful for one thing—he had shown backbone during the surgery and hadn't said anything embarrassing, even if his screams later were somewhat shameful.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
Kisame walked over from a distance, a young girl following behind him.
Except for Zetsu, who was out gathering intelligence, all Akatsuki members were present. The purpose of the gathering was to decide whether the woman named Rose could join the Akatsuki.
If Nagato were still alive, a new member joining the Akatsuki would only require his approval. But now, Obito was the leader, and he couldn't command universal respect because he had never provided evidence of his identity as Madara Uchiha. Not only that, he always wore a mask. Among the Akatsuki, only Nagato and Kisame had seen his face. Su Xiao didn't count; he knew Obito's appearance from the original story.
"As it turns out, a leader as autocratic as Nagato couldn't lead us to the end. So I've decided to adopt a voting system. From now on, if a new member wants to join, they need more than half the votes."
Obito's approach was clever. He had noticed Su Xiao's reluctance toward the woman named Rose, but he didn't want to offend Kisame. So he opted for a vote—if the majority approved, it would pass.
"Senior Bai Ye seems quite unfriendly toward me."
Rose, sitting beside Kisame, suddenly spoke, her jet-black eyes blinking like black gems.
Su Xiao understood the meaning behind her blink—it was a signal of mutual non-interference, asking him not to block her entry into the Akatsuki.
Su Xiao wasn't deliberately targeting this girl named Rose. Although he sensed no malice from her, he detected a familiar aura.
It was a peculiar aura, not killing intent or hostility. Su Xiao himself had once possessed this aura, or rather, this temperament. It was the aura of someone who had buried all their hatred deep within, constantly plotting revenge.
Su Xiao's greatest ambition had once been revenge, which had honed his killing skills. But ironically, his revenge target had been a misunderstanding, leaving him questioning his life when he learned the truth.
The killing skills he had sharpened for revenge were never used for that purpose but instead gave him a massive advantage in the Reincarnation Paradise.
Seeing Rose, Su Xiao felt as if he were looking at his former self, infiltrating a target's side without any killing intent but burning with the desire to tear the enemy apart.
Su Xiao didn't know who Rose's target was, but he wouldn't let such a ticking time bomb go unchecked.
This was Su Xiao's personal feeling. Intuition and instinct were different. If his instinct had warned him of Rose's hostility, he would have acted immediately.
Unfortunately, Rose's disguise was too perfect, and his personal goodwill toward Kisame was considerable. This made things troublesome.
"Then, let's start the vote."
Obito looked around at everyone.
"I approve of Rose joining."
Kisame spoke first.
"I also approve. The Akatsuki urgently needs more hands."
Obito was clearly open to anyone. He had even dared to keep Su Xiao in the Akatsuki, let alone a perception-type woman.
"I oppose."
Su Xiao naturally wouldn't let Rose join the Akatsuki. The stability of the organization now directly affected the progress of his main mission.
"I oppose as well."
As expected, Deidara backed Su Xiao. The two had been teammates, and their bond was stronger than Obito and Kisame's.
Two in favor, two opposed. Sasuke's choice seemed crucial.
"I... oppose."
To everyone's surprise, Sasuke opposed.
"Your motives are suspicious to me. And besides, whether I oppose or not doesn't really matter."
Hearing this, Su Xiao looked at Sasuke with some surprise. The kid's intelligence seemed to have skyrocketed recently.
Sasuke was right. Even if Rose passed the vote, she couldn't join the Akatsuki. As for why Sasuke voted against, it was simply to avoid getting splattered with blood.
This showed that although Sasuke was young and sometimes reckless, he wasn't stupid.
"Unfortunately, no new member joins."
Obito, Su Xiao, and Deidara all looked at Rose. Kisame remained expressionless.
"Sorry."
Kisame inexplicably apologized to Rose.
The reason was simple. The moment Rose entered the Akatsuki base, she either joined or died here.
"Seniors, I traveled a great distance to join you, and now you want to kill me? Of course, I have no power to resist. But if other rogue ninjas find out how you treat defectors, what will they think?"
Rose wasn't about to go down without a fight. One-on-one against any Akatsuki member, she wasn't afraid. But if Su Xiao and Deidara teamed up, she wouldn't stand a chance.
Moreover, Obito's stance was unclear, and Kisame likely wouldn't help her in this situation. As for Sasuke, she ignored him for now. He was wrapped up like a mummy. If he dared to meddle, she would show him why flowers were red, even if she couldn't risk killing him, she would beat him from Sasuke into a second-rate pillar.
The atmosphere in the room grew tense. But Rose had a point. If the Akatsuki killed her without reason after she came to defect, word would spread, making it difficult to recruit rogue ninjas in the future.
Su Xiao didn't care about that, but Obito did. He needed to maximize the Akatsuki's strength to achieve his goals.
"Bai Ye, I've sensed from the beginning that you're hostile toward Rose. Give me a reason—a reason to kill her."
"Yes, a reason. Dying like this would be too unjust."
Rose seemed to be struggling desperately, but in truth, she was enjoying it.