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In a weed-choked, overgrown training ground, Kagaya had cleared a small area and sat quietly. Before him was Shisui's headstone.
He had now killed Danzo, avenged his clan. According to his original plan, it was time to prepare for resurrecting Shisui.
But now...
Now, Kagaya hesitated. What was the Impure World Reincarnation? Put nicely, it was resurrection. Put bluntly, it was creating the walking dead.
In his past life, watching from a screen, he hadn't thought much of it, only feeling that the Impure World Reincarnation was a good thing—dead people could come back to life.
But now, Kagaya felt that the Impure World Reincarnation was somewhat like an insult to the deceased.
First, to perform the Impure World Reincarnation, one needed a portion of the target's body. To obtain this, it often required "grave robbing." This act, no matter how you looked at it, seemed far too extreme in Kagaya's eyes.
Second, if he resurrected Shisui now, would Shisui truly be happy? At the moment of his death, Shisui had entrusted the hopes of protecting both the Uchiha clan and the village to Kagaya and Itachi.
But now, the Uchiha clan had long been exterminated. Konoha had been crippled by his alliance with Orochimaru. How would Shisui feel upon learning all this?
His clan, obliterated. The village he loved, left in ruins.
Knowing this, Shisui would likely experience the same kind of despair Kagaya once had.
Kagaya sat before Shisui's headstone for a long time, saying nothing.
In the distance, Karin and Haku watched him with concern. Both had been instructed by Kagaya not to disturb him, so neither dared approach.
A long, long time passed.
Suddenly, Kagaya smiled faintly. He took out a garment bearing the Uchiha clan crest and draped it over Shisui's headstone.
"That's enough, Shisui. You've suffered enough. The Uchiha clan lives on. Konoha remains the foremost shinobi village. Let it be."
Yes, at the moment of Shisui's death, in his final memories, the Uchiha clan still existed, and Konoha was still the leading shinobi village. Compared to the present, that time was far, far more beautiful.
Kagaya didn't want Shisui to be resurrected through the Impure World Reincarnation, only for him to ask how the Uchiha clan was doing, and for Kagaya to be unable to answer.
This was fine. The Uchiha clan... still existed. Konoha... remained strong.
Let it be, Shisui.
Kagaya stood up and left the place.
Not long after, Kagaya brought Karin and Haku to his parents' graves.
He paid his respects to his parents formally, said some words of greeting, stayed for a long while, then departed.
Like with Shisui, Kagaya had no intention of using the Impure World Reincarnation to resurrect his parents. Having experienced despair himself, Kagaya understood that sometimes, psychological pain far outweighed physical suffering. At this point in time, with the Uchiha clan already annihilated, resurrecting them would undoubtedly be an act of cruelty.
Of course, Kagaya sometimes wondered if "not" resurrecting them was also a form of cruelty.
But then he would smile wryly. Sometimes, death wasn't terrifying. No matter what, Kagaya still didn't want them to learn the cruel reality of the Uchiha clan's extermination.
Back when he had asked Orochimaru for the Impure World Reincarnation, he had indeed been acting without sufficient forethought.
A long while later, Kagaya brought Karin and Haku to a high vantage point overlooking Konoha from outside the village.
Karin asked carefully, "Kagaya, didn't you say earlier that you were going to exterminate that Shimura clan?"
Kagaya shook his head. "No. There's no need."
If Danzo were still alive, Kagaya might have truly gone to exterminate the so-called Shimura clan, to let Danzo experience the same pain. But now, Danzo was dead. Kagaya had little interest left.
Having personally experienced clan extermination, unless his hatred reached an extreme level, Kagaya would not easily inflict such a calamity upon others.
As for whether the Shimura clan would seek revenge against him for Danzo's fate?
Perhaps. But first, they would need the capability.
With Kagaya's current abilities, if he still feared retaliation from some obscure little clan in Konoha, it would be laughable. Even within the Akatsuki organization, Kagaya dared to talk back to anyone. Let alone a small clan in Konoha.
Turning around, Kagaya led Karin and Haku away. This time, they were truly leaving Konoha.
On the road, Kagaya raised his left hand, removed the ring engraved with the character "空" (Azure), and put it in his pocket.
As for the Akatsuki cloak, he hadn't worn it since changing clothes to infiltrate Konoha.
"Haku, Karin, starting today, we are leaving the Akatsuki organization."
Kagaya spoke calmly. Next, he needed to find a place to prepare for evolving his Mangekyo Sharingan into the Eternal Mangekyo.
The debt concerning Daisuke and Genji was not yet settled!
After the news of Kagaya and Orochimaru's attack on Konoha spread, the other shinobi villages began to stir.
Konoha was so weak now; not taking advantage would be a disservice to oneself!
However, not long after, several pieces of news arrived in succession, causing the other villages to abandon their plans of attacking Konoha.
The first was that Konoha announced an alliance with Sunagakure.
Both Sunagakure and Konoha had lost their respective Kage in this turmoil. Both villages were in a weakened state, so it was natural for them to band together for mutual support.
The second was that Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin, would temporarily reside in Konoha until the village recovered.
With Konoha so weakened, Jiraiya couldn't stand by and do nothing. He naturally stepped forward to deter other villages.
These two pieces of news dissuaded many villages. After all, Konoha and Sunagakure had allied. No matter how weak they were, these were two of the Five Great Shinobi Countries. A starved camel was still larger than a horse. No matter how weakened they were, once allied, they weren't someone anyone could casually bully.
Additionally, the presence of Jiraiya, one of the Sannin, temporarily filled the gap in Konoha's Kage-level combat power.
One month later.
Kagaya found Zabuza, speaking with clear dissatisfaction. "You got off easy."
Zabuza felt somewhat awkward but stubbornly replied, "Whose fault is that? Your attack was so sudden. You didn't even notify me."
Kagaya could only sigh, having nothing to say.
During the invasion of Konoha, Zabuza hadn't participated at all. Or rather, he hadn't even made it near Konoha.
This was mainly because, in Kagaya and Orochimaru's original plan, the attack was supposed to happen about a month later. Therefore, Kagaya hadn't disturbed Zabuza too early. He had only brought Itachi and Kisame to Konoha first, planning to call Zabuza from the Land of Waves a few days before the attack. However, Kagaya and Orochimaru hadn't anticipated that the Nine-Tails would go berserk due to unknown reasons, forcing them to act ahead of schedule.
By the time Zabuza in the Land of Waves received news of the events in Konoha, everything had long since concluded.
"Where do you plan to go next?" Zabuza asked Kagaya.
Kagaya let out a soft chuckle "Nowhere in particular. How about settling down here in the Land of Waves?"
"You serious?"
"What else?"