Shika stood at the center of the base, still tired but finally rested enough to use his chakra again. He took a deep breath and opened the first portal. One by one, he opened more—each connected to a secret location in a different nation. These were the meeting points he had chosen long ago, just in case they needed to regroup.
One after another, his teams arrived. Before passing out, he told Karin to call everyone back. That was an impromptu decision on his part. While earlier he was playing the waiting game, now he wasn't sure that was the right approach anymore.
He now knew that he held enough power to act against Pain and actually have a good shot to end this entire thing in one go. So waiting for the story to go the way it went would be foolish.
Honestly, he should have done that much earlier. However, he was being lazy. Just following the story and letting things happen the way they did. He, however, now knew that he can't play defensive all the time. He has to take action now.
Though maybe the one thing which gave him enough confidence to take action now was something to do with his last reward.
He got Kisame's Chakra. He didn't know since Itachi took Kisame while he was wounded and unconscious, but Mahoraga really did him nasty. He didn't survive since Shika, not too long after they were gone, got Kisame's powers, and of course, he went for the chakra. Sage knows that he needed that.
Karin and Fuu came in first. Fuu looked a little nervous but excited. She stayed close to Karin, who gave her a small nod of reassurance.
Next came Haku and Suigetsu, still bandaged and healing from their recent battle with Kisame and Itachi. Haku gave Shika a quiet look, not saying anything more, while Suigetsu gave a lazy wave. "Thanks for saving our ass again, boss...," he joked, but he was smiling.
Then came Guren and Kimimaro, who were brought there by Shika through a portal. Calm and quiet, they didn't speak much, but they both gave respectful nods to Shika. It was the first time in a long while they were all in one place again.
Shika sighed, seeing the last team not showing up. There was no reply from Sasuke. He at once wondered whether he should go there to look at what's going on, but that wasn't necessary until there was an SOS signal.
Utakata was the last to arrive. He looked cautious but curious. His eyes scanned the room carefully, lingering on each new face. He stayed close to the wall, keeping a bit of distance.
Once everyone had arrived, Shika stood up and faced the group.
"It's good to see all of you here," he said. "I know it's been a while since we all met like this. Some of you are still recovering, but we'll talk about that later."
He then turned to the newcomers.
"Some of you haven't met each other yet. Let me introduce everyone."
He pointed to the girl beside Karin. "This is Fuu, the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki."
Then to the quiet man near the wall. "And that's Utakata. He holds the Six-Tails."
Utakata gave a short nod. Fuu gave a small wave.
"And these are my current teammates. Redhead is Karin. The pretty one is Haku—a boy, by the way. Beside him, the crazy pointy teeth kid is Suigetsu. This lovely lady here is Guren, and beside her is Kimimaro. There are two more who aren't here, but mostly, this is our team," I said to both Fuu and Utakata.
"What happened to Sasuke and Jugo?" Karin asked with a strange look on her face.
"No reply, not sure what that bastard is doing. Whatever it is, he ain't replying. I'm pretty sure he would be fine, so he mostly just doesn't wanna come to lose out on missing his big brother." I grumbled but then shook my head.
"Whatever, back to the reason why I organized this meeting..." I said and waited, making all of them look at me with expectation.
"It's finally time to attack the Akatsuki." I said, and the silence grew.
"Good, I like the motivation."
---
[Akatsuki Base]
At the Akatsuki hideout, Pain stood in silence, his Rinnegan eyes glowing with frustration. Before him was Zetsu, who had just returned from scouting.
"Did you find anything about Shadow?" Pain asked in a calm but sharp tone.
Zetsu shook his head. "No trace. He's very careful. He doesn't seem to move around in any normal way since most tracks just end abruptly. All those leads were dead ends. No matter how many clones I send, we couldn't find his whereabouts."
Pain's eyes narrowed. "He has already taken more Jinchuriki from us. First the Six-Tails, now the Five-Tails. Soon, and who knows whether he had more, we won't have any left to capture at this rate."
Pain turned away, deep in thought. "We can't let him go like that. He's a threat."
He clenched his fist.
"If we can't find him, we'll force him to come to us."
Zetsu tilted his head. "How?"
Pain looked over his shoulder. "We attack Konoha."
Zetsu blinked in surprise. "You're ready to go that far?"
Pain nodded. "The Nine-Tails is there. That's one of our main targets anyway. Sooner than later if we have to. But more than that… if there's any link between Konoha and Shadow, we'll find it when we burn the village to the ground."
Zetsu was silent for a moment, then said, "When will you move?"
Pain turned fully. "We'll wait until Itachi and Tobi come back with the One-Tail."
The room fell quiet again as Zetsu disappeared into the shadows.
Pain stood still for a moment longer. The idea of losing to someone like Shadow—someone hiding behind a mask, playing hero—was infuriating.
He would destroy Konoha, take the Nine-Tails, and drag Shadow out of hiding. No matter what it cost.
xxx
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