"Itachi, Deidara, and Sasori are all my allies — you just didn't know about each other."
When Kazama said this, Itachi was even more shocked by his abilities.
"By the way, how did the two of you suddenly show up here?"
Kazama was clearly confused by the unexpected appearance of Deidara and Sasori.
Even though he had used Kotoamatsukami to control them, he hadn't summoned them. So how did they know he was here?
"Leader Pain found out that Itachi might be leaking Akatsuki intel. So he sent the two of us to check out who he was in contact with — that's how we found this place."
"What?!"
Hearing this, Itachi was clearly shaken. The fact that his betrayal had already raised suspicions was a serious problem.
"Don't worry. Sasori, Deidara — just tell Pain that Itachi hasn't leaked any intel. That should be enough."
"No problem with that... but will Pain really believe us?"
"Pain isn't the issue. The one you really need to be careful of is Black Zetsu."
Itachi already knew about Black Zetsu's abilities, so he didn't seem too surprised.
But Sasori and Deidara had always looked down on Black Zetsu, so hearing Kazama say this definitely caught them off guard.
"From now on, there are two people in Akatsuki you should always be wary of — Black Zetsu, and Tobi."
"Tobi just joined recently, and you already know about him too, Kazama-dono? But that guy acts like a total clown — does he really have that much power?"
"He does. Akatsuki is far more complicated than it seems on the surface. There are deeper secrets I can't explain all at once. Since the three of you now know about each other, look out for each other from now on. As for Black Zetsu, Tobi, and Pain — I'll handle them myself."
Originally, Kazama had planned to explain the truth about Akatsuki to Itachi, Deidara, and Sasori in full.
But Pain and Obito were both people Kazama still intended to bring over to his side. He didn't want any unexpected incidents while working on that, so he held back on revealing too much.
After parting ways with the three, Kazama returned straight to Konoha.
There, he reported everything to Tsunade — including how he'd tricked Black Zetsu into taking Sasuke.
Although Tsunade didn't quite understand Kazama's plan at first, she chose to trust him.
After all, she had absolute faith in Kazama.
Just then, an ANBU shinobi rushed in to report something urgent.
The moment Tsunade heard it, she slammed her desk into splinters.
"What happened?" Kazama asked. It was the first time he'd ever seen Tsunade so furious.
"A message from the Fire Temple — Chiriku of the Twelve Guardian Ninja has been killed, and Asuma's team is now in danger while trying to capture the culprit!"
"What?! That's impossible!"
Kazama was shocked. He knew that the culprits were supposed to be Kakuzu and Hidan.
But he had already taken care of them a long time ago.
How could they show up at the Fire Temple now?
"Tsunade-sama! Please let me go help Asuma's team immediately!"
Kazama knew that if he didn't intervene quickly, Asuma would be killed by Hidan — just like in the original timeline.
"Go!"
Relieved to see Kazama step up, Tsunade gave the order without hesitation.
She knew exactly how powerful Kazama was.
As long as he was there, any problem could be solved.
---
"Ahahaha! You really think you can kill me, old man? I'll make you taste Jashin-sama's punishment!"
At that moment, the ones attacking the Fire Temple were none other than the supposedly dead Hidan and Kakuzu.
But they hadn't narrowly survived — they'd been resurrected through Edo Tensei.
"Katon: Haisekishō!"
(Fire Style: Ash Pile Burning!)
"Susanoo!"
Just as Asuma was preparing to strike Hidan inside the ritual circle, a massive golden hand suddenly interrupted his attack.
At the same time, Hidan was blasted out of the circle by another golden arm.