Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 313 Retrospective

"Is Xiao still not making any move?"

"Not at all. The members scattered around are either idle or carrying out normal missions; they don't seem to be involved in the Frost Country matter at all."

"They can't possibly not have obtained the intelligence yet, can they?"

"...Maybe?"

All eyes at the table turned to him, fixed intently on the seemingly distracted person in charge of the mission. To be honest, even they were almost used to this state, because Naruto always managed to utter some rather peculiar remarks.

"Akatsuki's real goal is world peace, right? Although what they're doing now has nothing to do with that, at least that's what they're saying. So far, their overt activities have been limited to the ninja world. There's no reason for them to specifically target a global human trafficking network. In any case, human trafficking would be targeted and cracked down on in a 'normal' national system. Akatsuki's current economic resources are already in a gray area. If they were to get involved in human trafficking, wouldn't they be afraid that major powers wouldn't hold them accountable?"

"But it was indeed the Ten-Tails' Root that devoured those people. Isn't the Gedo Mazo only controllable by the Rinnegan? Could that thing have its own consciousness?"

Hearing his younger brother's doubts, Hashirama slowly raised his hand. "...Maybe it really is? During my contact that day, I unintentionally established a brief connection with the Ten-Tails, and the consciousness that thing transmitted was only one."

"I'm so hungry."

This answer elicited rather interesting expressions from the crowd.

Tobirama looked like he was about to crack open, slamming his fist on the table and yelling at his older brother, "What kind of consciousness is this? Isn't this just instinct?!"

"The consciousness you mentioned is far from enough to allow that thing to lurk quietly beneath the city walls and devour people. There must be external factors interfering with its actions," Izuna said, expressing his disdain.

Naruto followed closely, saying, "I agree with that too."

“Weren’t you just trying to exonerate Akatsuki?” Fugaku pointed out the contradiction in his statement.

“Yes, Uncle Fugaku has hit the nail on the head. Actually, I’ve been wanting to say this for a while now…” Naruto had been waiting for this moment. He was 100% certain that this incident was the biggest flaw Black Zetsu had revealed, and it was really not easy to make everyone realize the real mastermind behind it all. “When we consider ‘Akatsuki,’ perhaps we shouldn’t think of it as a whole.”

The adults exchanged glances and immediately understood.

"Is there internal disagreement within Akatsuki? And this disagreement most likely stems from the personnel managing intelligence; otherwise, they shouldn't have been completely unresponsive to such a major incident near their own base." As the head of the intelligence department, Izuna knew all too well how actionable intelligence could be. Take that little rascal Shisui, for example. He relied on his good relationship with intelligence personnel to disappear from Huiming's intelligence system for quite some time, and every message he sent back was outdated.

Naruto almost wanted to applaud Izuna; that was truly a brilliant insight, leaving Black Zetsu nowhere to hide! However, he had to remain calm and not smile too obviously.

"That's very likely. This organization has few members, and most of them prefer to act alone. If there's a problem with the intelligence, then they'll really be in deep trouble."

"I don't see how White Zetsu could have such abilities."

"Isn't there definitely a black part among them?"

The group engaged in a heated discussion about the stability of Akatsuki's internal structure, ultimately reaching a strange consensus on the conclusion that "Black Zetsu harbors disloyal intentions." Verifying this conclusion would be quite simple; all they would have to do is throw Rumble's investigation report in the faces of Akatsuki's higher-ups. However, to achieve this without the knowledge of the Akatsuki's "intelligence personnel"... proved extremely difficult.

Amegakure, one of Akatsuki's strongholds, is extremely xenophobic. Pain constantly keeps his sensory abilities active, ensuring that any outsider who infiltrates the village will be detected. Being discovered obviously won't lead to a peaceful discussion; a fight is highly likely. And once a fight breaks out, the commotion will be immense. Will Blackbeard necessarily discover it? So, will the other side trust their own people or an infiltrated enemy?

The answer is obvious.

"The infighting within Akatsuki is to our advantage, so we don't need to worry about it. The more intense their fighting, the better. Let's think about something more practical, like how to explain your unexplained appearance at Hozuki Castle?"

Actually, this situation wasn't entirely unsolvable; an unplanned variable played a decisive role.

Sasuke had obtained a legitimate identity and infiltrated the fleet, hadn't he? The captain woke up to find his crew inexplicably missing, immediately assuming someone had fallen overboard. Given the unknown time of the fall and the slim chances of rescue, a fleet typically wouldn't turn back after setting sail, especially not on such an extremely dangerous route. However, the captain didn't consider the risks of a return journey and immediately ordered a retrieval.

Turning around in the reef area would be suicidal, but the crew carried out the order without hesitation, drawing a dangerous semicircle on the sea and sailing at full speed.

Their arrival at Hozuki Castle was perfectly timed; all the prisoners attempting to escape were intercepted halfway up the mountain, and none could escape Naruto's senses and Flying Thunder God technique. Sasuke drew the most fire from the front, while Naruto, behind him, caught the escapees and also searched for another heir to the Heavenly Prison who had almost fled by sea.

When Naruto revealed that Muwei was dead, the future lord of Hozuki Castle was not particularly surprised, and calmly handed Fu over to Naruto.

"This is an order from the higher-ups of the Land of Grass. They want to open the Box of Elysium, so they kidnapped the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki. My brother didn't want to harm her; he asked me to send the Jinchuriki back to the country."

"...I can't believe it." Naruto knew the other person was trying to instill information beneficial to the Tenryo clan, and in this critical moment, he had no choice but to accept it. "A large number of ninja criminals are escaping. Do you have a way to deal with it?"

"Don't worry, I also know the Heavenly Prison Technique, and I will help you solve this."