Amegakure (Hidden Rain Village).

It was 9:00 AM.

Seeing sunlight in this land was a rare luxury—dark clouds constantly loomed overhead, stretching endlessly into the distance from any high point in the village. It had been this way for centuries, unchanged. However, today's rain had lightened somewhat, which was at least something to be pleased about.

At the highest tower in the village center...

"Pain, how are you feeling lately?" Uchiha Obito, dressed in a long black coat and wearing an orange, spiral-patterned mask, appeared at the window of the top-floor room. He casually sat down on the windowsill, one leg dangling loosely.

"What are you doing here?"

In the center of the room, Pain lay on a deep red sofa. His build was medium—neither tall nor short, not particularly muscular or thin, just balanced. He had short, fiery orange hair and wore a headband marked with the symbol of Amegakure, signifying his status as a rogue ninja. His face and body were adorned with black, nail-like piercings on his ears, lips, and nose. Hearing Obito's voice, he opened his eyes, revealing lavender orbs with a ripple-like pattern—the legendary Rinnegan.

Pain remained motionless on the sofa, his hands clasped in front of his chest, his cold, indifferent gaze landing on Obito.

"I'm just checking on your progress," Obito said casually.

"Everything is going smoothly on my end, so you don't need to worry about me. Instead of trying to pry information from me, why don't you figure out how to recover the reputation you've lost? Uchiha Madara, defeated by one of your own descendants... To be honest, I'm beginning to doubt if you're really Madara."

Pain wasn't privy to the full details of the fight between Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Sōgen. However, the Uchiha fan was one of the key items that this man, who claimed to be Madara, had used to prove his identity. And now, word had spread throughout the ninja world that the youngest head of the Uchiha clan had reclaimed the family treasure—the Uchiha fan—lost for decades.

After asking Zetsu, Pain learned that there had been a "clash" between Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Sōgen during the war between Konoha and the Hidden Mist, and the outcome was that Madara had been overpowered and lost the Uchiha fan.

"If it weren't for Senju Hashirama, do you think I would need to work with you?"

Behind his mask, Obito's face darkened. Being ridiculed over his defeat by Uchiha Sōgen still gnawed at him like a thorn in his heart, one that hurt deeply every time it was touched.

"Hmph."

Pain decided to stop there, having had enough. He truly didn't like Obito, which is why he mocked him. As for whether this man was truly Uchiha Madara or not, Pain didn't really care. He was confident that with the power of the Rinnegan, he could surpass the legendary Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara.

Their cooperation was only because Pain valued the ancient knowledge this so-called Madara possessed and his ability to gather information.

Collecting the tailed beasts, creating terrifying weapons of mass destruction, and obtaining the power to destroy entire nations in an instant—Pain's plan was to use the fear of such devastation to suppress wars, forcing humanity to experience pain and, thus, guiding the world toward peace. This was a plan that aligned with Pain's inner beliefs.

However, the knowledge necessary to carry out this plan, specifically the creation of tailed-beast weapons, came from "Madara."

This wasn't something Pain could figure out on his own, even with the Rinnegan.

The knowledge "Madara" had provided convinced Pain that this man truly was Uchiha Madara, especially since the Rinnegan was considered a mythical power, similar to the Sage of Six Paths, more a fairy tale than reality. Yet, this man knew all the details of the Rinnegan's abilities, many of which Pain hadn't even fully discovered himself, as its powers were incredibly vast and complex. For this reason, they had formed their alliance.

"The maximum control distance for the Six Paths technique has reached about five kilometers after this period of training. As for the Outer Path's power... I haven't made much progress yet. Still working on it," Pain reported his current status briefly.

"No rush. According to the ancient records, mastering the Outer Path's power doesn't come easily. Besides, we still have plenty of time," Obito replied calmly, returning to the main topic.

According to their plan, Nagato had to master the Outer Path's power before they could begin capturing the tailed beasts in earnest. Without the Rinne Rebirth technique, Uchiha Madara couldn't be revived, and Nagato also needed time to further familiarize himself with the Rinnegan's full range of abilities.

Although Nagato had received the Rinnegan when he was very young, it didn't change the fact that the Rinnegan wasn't originally his.

He had to spend a tremendous amount of time and effort to gradually uncover its powers, unlike the Uchiha clan's Mangekyō Sharingan, which granted its wielder innate mastery over its unique abilities once awakened, with no need for extensive practice.

"Gathering intel on the jinchūriki has been difficult. I just received word that the Fourth Mizukage is on the verge of death. Once he's gone, we'll need to re-establish the location of the Three-Tails or its new jinchūriki. The Four-Tails' jinchūriki disappeared after defecting from Iwagakure, and tracking him down will be tough. As for the One-Tail jinchūriki, we're sure it's the youngest son of the Fourth Kazekage, but his stability is uncertain. They might even replace him with a new jinchūriki..."

Gathering information on the jinchūriki was indeed challenging, as they were strategic weapons for the villages, making such information highly classified.

But identifying the jinchūriki wasn't impossible, as they were often feared and discriminated against, which made it easier to pinpoint them.

"The jinchūriki aren't our immediate concern. What we need more than that are stronger members for Akatsuki—people capable of capturing jinchūriki. So far, we've only recruited Kakuzu. We still don't have enough members," Pain said seriously. Though Pain himself was capable of capturing the jinchūriki, he knew that exposing the Rinnegan too early would bring an onslaught of enemies, jeopardizing their plan to collect the tailed beasts.

"Well... I did find a promising candidate—the rogue ninja Sasori of the Red Sand from Sunagakure. I've got strong evidence that he assassinated the Third Kazekage. I've been trying to recruit him, but I haven't been able to find him," Obito said, sounding frustrated.

Since abandoning his immediate revenge on Uchiha Sōgen, Obito had focused entirely on recruiting members. He'd been traveling all over the ninja world, and Sasori seemed like a great find. But he just couldn't track him down, which was deeply frustrating.

"Who knows if Sasori is hiding or already dead? What a shame."

After all, he assassinated the so-called "strongest Kazekage," the Third Kazekage. Regardless of how much exaggeration there might be in that "strongest" title, during the Second Shinobi World War, the Third Kazekage proved with solid achievements that he was definitely not just for show. At the very least, he didn't bring shame to the name of "Kage."

Being able to kill the Third Kazekage, the Red Sand Scorpion is certainly qualified to join the Akatsuki!

"If we can't find him, we'll have to look for someone else. It's not like the Red Sand Scorpion is the only qualified target,"

"If it were that easy to find people who can capture a Jinchuriki and aren't official ninja from one of the villages, the Five Great Shinobi Villages would have been wiped out by now," Uchiha Obito spoke the truth, then added, "But besides the Red Sand Scorpion, there are two other targets."

"Who?"

"One of them is Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin."

"The Sannin, huh?"

Pain fell silent.

Uchiha Obito didn't care about his reaction. He knew very well that Pain, or rather Nagato, along with Yahiko—who was already dead and whose body had been made into one of Pain's—and Konan, another of the Akatsuki's original members, were all disciples of Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin.

Mentioning the Sannin inevitably brought back memories of what could be called the happiest time of their lives. Yet, the more beautiful the past, the more brutal the present reality seemed.

"Orochimaru definitely fits all the criteria," Pain snapped out of his thoughts and acknowledged Obito's choice. "So, where is he now? Since he's one of the Sannin, it's best if I personally invite him."

"Well..." Uchiha Obito shrugged helplessly. "Orochimaru has hideouts everywhere. We haven't pinpointed his exact location yet. I'll contact you once we find something..." Before Obito could finish speaking, Pain suddenly stood up.

"What happened?"

"Someone's infiltrated the village."

"An intruder?"

"That's right. My Rain Tiger at Will Technique has been triggered. The intruder appeared right in the heart of the village... and judging by the quality and amount of chakra, they're quite powerful."

Drainage pipes are everywhere in Amegakure. Huge pipes are placed conspicuously on the ground or hung outside buildings. It's not that Amegakure's residents favor this architectural style, but the drainage system inside buildings and underground simply can't handle the village's astonishing amount of rainfall.

So, Amegakure is filled with all sorts of drainage pipes, straight, curved, made of steel or concrete—a veritable exhibit of pipes.

A gray water snake slithered out from a lake outside the village, then slipped into one of the temporarily unused pipes due to a reduction in rainfall. It smoothly avoided the patrolling and stationed Ame-nin, eventually reaching a secluded spot. The small snake opened its mouth, and a pale white hand emerged from its maw.

Two seconds later,

Orochimaru, dripping wet and covered in mucus, stood on Amegakure's soil.

"The Rinnegan... is it really in this place?"

Orochimaru stood in the rain, gazing at the towering buildings wrapped in drainage pipes. His eyes quickly landed on the tallest tower in the distance. Perhaps that was the central hub of Amegakure? After a few seconds, he averted his gaze and didn't act rashly.

Although he had bases in many countries, the Land of Rain was not one of them.

Orochimaru held no affection for this country of endless rain, even though it was here, after the battle with Hanzo, that he, Jiraiya, and Tsunade earned the title of Sannin. Still, he had never liked this place.

As a result, he knew little about Amegakure.

This time, his target was the Rinnegan. If what Uchiha Sougen said was true, extreme caution was necessary. The reason he had delayed this operation for so long was because he had been preparing. Orochimaru was not one to take risks lightly without proper planning.

Since he had already spent months preparing, he didn't mind spending a few more minutes extracting some information.

Not far away, two Ame-nin were approaching.

Orochimaru flicked his sleeve, and two grayish-brown snakes dropped from it. They slithered up the nearby drainage pipes, patiently waiting. As the two chatting Ame-nin approached the pipes, the snakes struck like lightning, coiling tightly around their necks and biting their shoulders, injecting venom that paralyzed the victims.

The attack happened in an instant. The two Ame-nin didn't even have time to cry for help before they were rendered helpless, their bodies paralyzed by the snake venom. All they could do was widen their eyes, trying to glimpse the identity of their assailant.

And they saw him.

Without any disguise or transformation, it was clearly Orochimaru.

The two Ame-nin, both in their forties, were not inexperienced rookies. They had lived through the tail end of the Second Shinobi World War and had been fortunate enough to witness the Sannin's invincibility on the battlefield. So, they immediately recognized Orochimaru and felt a chill in their hearts. If they could, they would have bitten their tongues to commit suicide.

"Let's see what secrets Amegakure is hiding."

Orochimaru muttered with a faint smile.

Dragging his captives to a secluded spot, he sent out a few small snakes to stand guard. Then, he placed his hand on one of the Ame-nin's heads, beginning to extract their memories. As a master of soul manipulation, Orochimaru didn't need to resort to lowly methods like torture to get information.