Itachi realized that as someone still inside the village, it was inconvenient for him to act. If the Konoha Destruction Plan was to be executed, only Gusion outside the village could plan and prepare.
The Uchiha clan's current situation was urgent; now was not the time for endless theorizing. The seniors were indeed more thorough in their considerations than he was.
Thinking of this, he summoned a ninja crow as a secret liaison to Gusion. "Senpai, before you leave, could you tell me what your last resort plan is?"
Gusion had just leapt onto a tree branch. Hearing this, he turned back and smiled, "Last resort? Actually, I think it's a pretty good plan. Why are you all so hung up on the tree that is Konoha? Just leave and become independent."
Itachi was stunned for a moment. He thought, this so-called last resort… actually sounds pretty feasible.
If they didn't stir up trouble and simply left, would Konoha really go so far as to wipe out their entire clan?
After all, the Uchiha were Konoha's founders. If the village wouldn't even let them leave, that would be hard to justify.
After leaving Konoha, they could find somewhere to establish a new ninja village. Then, following the Gusion's suggestion, let their bloodline spread throughout the ninja world. In time, they'd gain huge influence and live well.
Objectively, this was indeed a sound plan—but for the proud Uchiha, it was still a last resort.
Because Itachi understood: the proud Uchiha would never agree to flee like stray dogs. After all, they helped found Konoha; leaving would be too humiliating.
He wanted to say more, but saw that Gusion had already vanished, and could only shake his head regretfully.
In the chaotic battlefield of the forest, he gathered the bodies of several Anbu, helped organize their belongings. Though this was only a temporary Anbu squad with little camaraderie, they were still Konoha ninjas; Itachi didn't want them left exposed in the wild.
But Itachi felt no guilt in his heart, because this was the ninja world—if you kill, you must be prepared to be killed in turn.
If he hadn't personally experienced Gusion's plight, and hadn't struck up a conversation about the Uchiha, the result here would probably have just been one more corpse.
He wasn't so saintly as to blame Gusion for killing Konoha ninja. Konoha was in the wrong first; Gusion had every reason to fight back. Now, they were united in purpose.
Itachi's heart was now only for clan and village; individual ninja lives, aside from his loved ones, meant little to him.
…
In the ninja world, somewhere in an underground cavern.
The massive Demonic Statue of the Outer Path stood deep in the cave, both hands raised. Seven spectral figures stood atop its ten fingers.
This was the Akatsuki's Demonic Statue Projection Technique, a long-range meeting enabled by the Rinnegan.
"Why are we missing people again? Kakuzu, where's your partner?" Biwa Juzo questioned, seeing an empty spot opposite him.
"Weak, useless, I killed him," Kakuzu replied coldly. "If you care so much about my partner, why not team up with me?"
Juzo was annoyed; he valued his comrades and thought Kakuzu was going too far. He was about to curse him out when a commanding voice interrupted.
"I didn't summon you all here to argue." The man at the head's eyes bore six concentric rings—Pain, controlled by Nagato. "Also, Kakuzu, restrain yourself. Powerful rogue ninjas aren't so easy to find."
"I heard there's a strong rogue ninja making a splash in the Cloud Village lately," spoke Sasori, inside Hiruko.
"You mean Disaster Gusion? He's got a sixty-million bounty. I'm tracking him down," Kakuzu said, excitement in his voice—he already considered Gusion's bounty his.
"He cut off the leg of the Fourth Raikage, the world's fastest. He's not easy prey, Kakuzu. Don't get careless," Juzo taunted.
"Disaster… He's a Konoha rogue ninja, right? Orochimaru, do you know him?" Pain asked, growing curious about whether to recruit this powerful rogue.
Orochimaru, asked directly, stuck out his long snake tongue and licked his lips. "Disaster Gusion, huh? That's a nostalgic name. He was a hero of Konoha in the Third Ninja War, but he never became Hokage." There was a hint of mockery in his tone.
Orochimaru certainly knew about Gusion. Back then, Gusion was a strong Hokage contender like himself. But the one who became Hokage was Namikaze Minato.
To Orochimaru, it was no surprise. The old Third Hokage disliked him, Jiraiya didn't want the job, so by tradition, the Hokage spot went to Minato.
But Orochimaru still felt bitter. How had he performed as a Konoha ninja?
108 S-rank missions, 491 A-rank, 521 B-rank. Arguably the ninja with the most high-level missions in Konoha's history, a war hero in both great ninja wars—a model workhorse for the village.
But the Hokage title didn't go to him. It went to Minato. How could he accept that?
Experience, strength—where was he lacking? experimentation? Only because the village wouldn't fund his research. If he'd had money to buy bodies, he wouldn't have resorted to using villagers.
Human experimentation unforgivable? Please, the Second Hokage did far worse!
Orochimaru left Konoha in disillusionment, thinking the villagers didn't understand that science was the path to progress. After defecting, he joined Akatsuki and secretly set up a new research team in the Land of Rice Fields.
"Orochimaru, how strong is he, exactly?" asked Sasori, his teammate.
"Disaster is very strong—no weaker than the Fourth Hokage. His battle with Cloud is proof. If he joined us, he'd be a powerful asset."
Orochimaru's assessment showed his natural sympathy for Gusion.
He saw them both as victims of Konoha. Gusion had strength and talent, and unlike him, no stains on his record. But ultimately, he too was exiled for being too accomplished.
So Orochimaru felt they'd have a lot in common—maybe even plan revenge on Konoha together someday.
"If even you say so, he must be the real deal," said Pain. He looked at Kakuzu. "Kakuzu, forget the bounty. You're closest to Disaster—recruit him."
"Recruit him?" Kakuzu sounded reluctant. "He's worth sixty million. Can I… test him first?"
"Kakuzu, are you going to disobey the leader?" Juzo tried to stir the pot.
Kakuzu remained calm. As Akatsuki's treasurer, his status was above most members. "I only said I'd test him. If he can't withstand my test and dies, then he wasn't worth recruiting."
"Heh, Kakuzu, don't get yourself killed chasing a bounty," Orochimaru taunted, his reptilian eyes fixed on Kakuzu, irritating him.
"Orochimaru, want to die?"
"You can try. I'm in the Land of Rice Fields—not far from you."
Orochimaru was no pushover. Regardless of who was stronger, Kakuzu could never kill him.
"Enough. No more bickering," Pain interjected. This was routine for Akatsuki meetings—if not for his overwhelming strength, they would have killed each other by now.
He looked at Kakuzu. "Test him if you must, but remember the real mission."
He understood Kakuzu's greed: if he ordered him to just talk, Kakuzu wouldn't listen anyway—might as well be upfront. And Kakuzu had a point: if Disaster could be easily killed, he wasn't worth recruiting, and sixty million was a good payday.
"Relax, according to my intel, he's not far," Kakuzu said cheerfully.
…
The next morning, after separating from Itachi.
Gusion stood on the border of the Land of Waterfalls, having just killed an Explorer.
That was an explorer from the Divine Space, who'd been overconfident enough to try to ambush him.
Unfortunately, he didn't drop a Dead Man's Chest, making Gusion regret not trying to kill him in a more creative way.
By a stream, Gusion knelt to wash his face, removing the dust from days of travel.
He then headed toward a marked underground exchange on his side quest map, ready to cash in the explorer he'd just killed.
After killing that explorer, he triggered a new side quest called "Bounty Hunter."
The mission was simple: kill bounty-ninjas and cash them in at underground exchanges. Money earned this way counted toward the side quest and would be exchanged for "End Coins" at a 1000:1 ratio when he returned.
For example, Asuma would be worth about thirty thousand End Coins.
Not much, but the mission was repeatable, so by keeping an eye out in the Naruto world, he could accumulate some wealth.
Following the map, Gusion soon found the underground exchange—a shabby inn with a sleepy old man at the counter.
"Want a room?" the old man asked quietly, squinting at Gusion.
"Exchange."
Gusion was blunt.
The old man's eyes widened and he stood up. "Please, come with me."
He led Gusion down a side hallway, opened a hidden door, and entered a room reeking of corpses.
"An Iwagakure rogue-nin, Fūjin, worth eighteen million. Please wait."
Shortly, the old man brought out a box. "Please count it now. We're not responsible after you leave."
Gusion took the suitcase and, using his spatial appraisal, knew immediately how much was inside. As soon as he stowed the money, his side quest progress increased.
"You seem new to this. Hope I don't see you here as a bounty next time," the old man said—a customary blessing, but clearly recognizing Gusion as the recent high-bounty wanted man.
Gusion waved him off, not interested in chatting.
The old man moved to reopen the hidden door, but as it opened, both Gusion and the person outside froze.
Standing before Gusion was a man in a black cloak with red clouds, the high collar covering half his face, a rogue-nin headband from Takigakure atop his head, eyes lighting up at the sight of Gusion.
"Damn, you've got bad luck. Looks like I'll have to move some funds again," the old man muttered, glancing at Gusion—sure the hunter was about to become the hunted.
After all, Kakuzu was famous in these circles—there were few targets he couldn't kill. His efficiency at bounty missions was top-tier.
And facing a sixty-million-yen fat sheep, Kakuzu wouldn't let this go.
"Disaster?" Kakuzu confirmed, his tone flat.
"Oh? That outfit—Akatsuki, I presume?" Gusion confirmed with a smile, battle blood stirring.