Kimimaro's gaze swept across the surroundings. Besides Itachi and Kisame, the rest were just illusions.
Including himself, there were a total of nine people.
Pain, Konan, Kakuzu, Deidara, Sasori, Kisame, Itachi, and Zetsu.
Hidan had not yet joined the Akatsuki at this time, so he wasn't present.
And Obito was still operating behind the scenes in the early stages, so he didn't appear on the list of core members.
"Otogakure? Isn't that Orochimaru's village? This kid is Orochimaru's subordinate?"
Sasori looked at Kimimaro, a curious glint in his eyes.
He had teamed up with Orochimaru in the early days, but they couldn't stand each other.
When Itachi joined the Akatsuki, Orochimaru took the initiative to break up his team with Sasori and team up with Itachi.
Sasori then started teaming up with others, and his teammates changed several times, all becoming his human puppets.
This phenomenon only eased with Deidara's arrival.
Therefore, he was still somewhat interested in Kimimaro, who came from Otogakure.
"The surname Kaguya sounds familiar. Is it Shikotsumyaku?"
Kakuzu, as one of the living fossils of the ninja world, knew more than others, so he quickly deduced Kimimaro's ability from his surname.
"Hello, seniors. I am indeed from the Kaguya clan."
Kimimaro greeted everyone.
"Hey, kid, you're not here to spy for Orochimaru, are you?"
Deidara blurted out.
"Of course not. I'm actually on the run from Orochimaru."
"Really?"
Deidara was skeptical of Kimimaro.
Sasori, on the other hand, looked at Kimimaro more like he was looking at a piece of art. He seemed to have already started imagining how to turn Kimimaro into a human puppet.
"Alright, enough chit-chat."
Pain spoke, and everyone else fell silent.
He looked at Kakuzu and said, "Didn't you kill your teammate three days ago?"
"That guy was too weak and got in the way, so I just took care of him along with the mission target."
Kakuzu spoke matter-of-factly, as if this wasn't the first time he had done such a thing.
"Hahaha, I knew Kakuzu-senpai's partner this time wouldn't last a month."
Deidara had an "I told you so" expression on his face.
The others were also unsurprised.
Pain didn't intend to blame Kakuzu either. Compared to Kakuzu, the dead person was worthless.
"Then Kimimaro will be your new teammate. After the meeting, your real body will come and meet him."
Kakuzu sized up Kimimaro upon hearing this.
"I heard that the Kaguya clan's bones are very hard. I hope you can last a little longer this time."
"Thank you for your concern, Kakuzu-senpai."
Kakuzu, who possessed the Earth Grudge Fear, was a good partner for him.
Kimimaro was quite satisfied with this.
He was one of the three people in the Akatsuki that he was most interested in.
After arranging Kimimaro, the meeting moved on to the main topic.
"For the next three years, the Akatsuki will enter a dormant state and try to minimize the outside world's attention to us. Especially Jiraiya from Konoha, he has already started investigating the Akatsuki. Before we are fully prepared, do not easily come into contact with such strong individuals.
During these three years, Konan and Zetsu will continue to search for powerful ninjas and recruit them to strengthen our combat power. As for the rest of you, there is only one mission: to make money. Only after gathering a large amount of funds can we initiate the final operation and capture all the tailed beasts!"
Pain's cold voice echoed in the cave, and the meeting concluded there.
After Pain announced the dismissal, the illusions of the members dispersed, leaving only Kimimaro, Kisame, and Itachi.
"Kimimaro, Kisame and I will leave first. You just wait here for Kakuzu to arrive. He will tell you everything you need to do to join the organization."
Itachi glanced at Kimimaro and said.
"Thank you for your guidance, Itachi-san."
Soon, only Kimimaro was left in the cave.
"Itachi-san, you seem to be very concerned about that Kaguya kid. Is it because he came from Otogakure?"
Kisame inquired in a low voice.
"I can't see through him."
After saying that, Itachi didn't speak any further, and the two left directly.
Kimimaro didn't wait long in the cave before Kakuzu arrived.
"Kakuzu-senpai."
Kakuzu didn't say anything and directly threw something in his hand at him at a considerable speed.
Kimimaro caught it effortlessly.
It was a black robe with red clouds and a scroll.
"Kid, not bad reflexes. Pain asked me to bring you this robe. It's an organization rule to wear this during missions. And this scroll contains a technique that all core members of the Akatsuki must learn. Learn it as soon as you have time. If you can stay alive, it will come in handy. Destroy the scroll after learning it and do not pass it on to others."
"Yes, Kakuzu-senpai."
"There's only one requirement for teaming up with me: don't hold me back. Otherwise, don't blame me if you die by my hand one day."
Kakuzu was quite adept at killing teammates, so without some strength, teaming up with him wouldn't last long.
Pain couldn't even remember how many teammates he had replaced for Kakuzu.
There were two major teammate consumers in the organization: one was Kakuzu, and the other was Sasori.
In comparison, Kakuzu's consumption rate was even higher.
"Understood."
"Good. I've accepted a bounty mission. This is what we'll be doing for the next two days. Follow me."
After saying that, Kakuzu turned and left, and Kimimaro followed behind him.
Along the way, neither of them spoke.
During a break, Kimimaro took out the scroll.
The scroll recorded a ninjutsu, no, it should be said to be half a ninjutsu.
The Art of the Astral Projection!
After sitting in meditation, one converts their chakra into thought waves. Pain, upon receiving these thought waves, amplifies them and projects an illusion at a certain location.
This illusion can use all the ninjutsu of the original body.
The illusions of the Akatsuki members that Kimimaro had just seen were all created through this technique.
"It's quite an interesting ninjutsu. Unfortunately, this scroll only records the method of converting chakra into thought waves, not how to convert thought waves into illusions. It seems to be one of the special abilities of the Rinnegan. Just like the Elephant Transformation Technique, it's one of the Rinnegan's skills."
It had to be said that Pain's Rinnegan had a wide variety of tricks, so many that it was enviable.
Kimimaro muttered to himself and then began to try converting his chakra into thought waves.
This process went very smoothly.
He succeeded on his first attempt.
And the moment he succeeded, Nagato, who was far away in Amegakure, also sensed it.
"This newcomer is quite talented. He learned how to convert chakra into thought waves so quickly."
"Nagato, you arranged for Kimimaro to be with Kakuzu. Aren't you afraid he won't survive a few days?"
Konan, who was beside him, said.
"The Akatsuki doesn't need weaklings. If he can't survive under Kakuzu's hand, then it doesn't matter if he dies."
(End of Chapter)