Chapter 529: Insight

His consciousness grew hazy for a moment, and when Su Xiao's vision cleared, he had arrived inside a sealed cave.

The cave was not large, and an oil lamp hung high in the center, preventing the space from appearing dim.

Su Xiao's body was somewhat translucent, like an image projected by a projector, swaying slightly with the flickering of the firelight.

Su Xiao was the only one in the cave, but it wasn't long before two projections appeared.

"I say, why are we gathering again? Didn't we just gather three days ago?"

A voice filled with dissatisfaction drifted over.

"Shut up. One more word of nonsense and I'll kill you."

"Huh? Kill me if you have the ability."

"Tch."

There was no need to guess who the two speaking were; the Immortal Duo, Hidan and Kakuzu, had arrived.

"Who is this guy?"

Hidan's phantom looked toward Su Xiao.

"A newcomer."

Another projection appeared; this time it was the Deva Path of Pain, the public leader of the Akatsuki.

"A newcomer? It's been a long time since a newcomer arrived."

Kakuzu glanced at Su Xiao and then fell silent.

"Hey, newcomer over there."

Hidan examined Su Xiao with some interest.

"Something you need?"

"Of course. Any interest in joining the Jashin Sect? The Jashin Sect..."

Hidan began to chatter incessantly, introducing the Jashin Sect. He was very eager to recruit Su Xiao; he did this every time a new member joined, though without exception, he always failed.

"No interest."

Su Xiao's demeanor was somewhat cold, fitting the style of the Akatsuki organization perfectly.

"What? Are you looking down on the Jashin Sect? Where are you? Tell me, I'll go and kill you."

Hidan's personality was considered quite "lively" within the Akatsuki; his most prominent traits were his boldness, talkativeness, and arrogance.

"Retard."

Su Xiao stopped looking at Hidan. This guy was practically a clown, completely out of place with the serious style of the Akatsuki.

"What!! You've pissed me off! Where are you? I've already heard the will of Lord Jashin; I must kill you!!"

Hidan shouted and hollered in anger. This guy didn't actually intend to come and kill Su Xiao; it was just his personality.

"The moment I arrive, I hear you shouting and hollering, Zombie Duo."

Kisame's voice drifted over. Kisame and Itachi had arrived.

"Who are you calling the Zombie Duo?"

Kakuzu, who had been caught in the crossfire, expressed his refusal to accept this, his green eyes filled with murderous intent.

"As united as ever, hmm."

A voice with a hint of a smile drifted over. Deidara and Sasori had also arrived.

"Dead fish, who were you calling the Zombie Duo just now?"

"Hmm? Dead fish?"

Kisame and Kakuzu had not been on good terms for a long time; both had long wanted to have a fight.

This scene of "unity and friendship" was perhaps something that only occurred within the Akatsuki organization; after companions met, they couldn't go three sentences without talking about killing each other.

Konan, standing beside the Deva Path, felt a headache coming on. The scene before her was the daily routine of the Akatsuki.

"Dead fish, I heard your mission failed last time?"

"It wasn't a failure; it was just casting a long line to catch a big fish."

"Is that so? I heard the target has already run to the Land of Lightning. Isn't the line a bit too long?"

Kisame glared with his dead-fish eyes, locking gazes with Kakuzu's green eyes. Su Xiao seemed to see sparks of electricity in the air; it was a pity Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang hadn't come, otherwise, Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang would certainly have brought out popcorn.

"Stop arguing."

The Deva Path spoke. Kakuzu and Kisame stopped arguing. The leader of the Akatsuki was not chosen by selection, but by the principle that the strong are respected.

"What's the matter this time? Could it be that we are starting that plan? The One-Tail is in..."

Deidara was just about to speak when the Deva Path raised a hand to interrupt him.

"No, this time it is just that a new member has joined."

Everyone present looked at Su Xiao.

"Bai Ye, new member."

Su Xiao spoke, reporting only his name.

"Is that the only thing?"

"Yes. Kakuzu, hurry up and prepare the funds; recent expenses have not been small."

The Deva Path looked at Kakuzu.

"No problem."

"Very good. Itachi, go observe Orochimaru's movements recently. He understands our plan; it would be best if he could be eliminated."

"Hmm."

Itachi replied and then fell silent.

"Sasori, stay behind. Everyone else, leave."

Su Xiao dispelled the Magic Lantern Body Technique. Light and shadow flickered before his eyes, and his consciousness returned to his body.

The Magic Lantern Body Technique was very practical. The location for each gathering was decided by Nagato, and other members did not know the location, which prevented information leaks.

"Is it starting?"

A smile appeared on Su Xiao's face. If he remembered correctly, the plan to capture the Jinchūriki started with the One-Tail, executed by Deidara and Sasori.

Continuing his journey toward the Land of Rivers, Su Xiao needed to meet up with those two unknown partners as soon as possible.

Although he vaguely guessed who those two partners were, Su Xiao still couldn't confirm it entirely. Among the three teams, the one he least wanted to join was the Immortal Duo, because these two guys were the busiest, accepted the most commissions, and Kakuzu, that guy, often ran to the toilet because he had to go to the black market to trade corpses for money.

One day later, within the borders of the Land of Rivers, near a suspension bridge.

Below the suspension bridge was a rushing river. This bridge was named the Zemo Bridge. Although it looked simple, a major event had occurred here.

During the Second Shinobi World War, a medium-sized battle had unfolded here.

The battle started when the White Fang of Konoha assassinated Sasori's parents. Chiyo of Sunagakure was driven to the brink of madness, and subsequently, this medium-sized battle unfolded with Konoha. This place was thus named the Zemo Bridge.

Sitting on a large rock beside the suspension bridge, Su Xiao was maintaining Checking Zhan Long Shan.

A breeze blew, and a few leaves were lifted.

*Clatter. *

The sound of hardwood rubbing came. Su Xiao put away his maintenance tools and sheathed Checking Zhan Long Shan. The person he was waiting for might have arrived.

A tall figure crawled over on all fours. The person was very strange: a bald man wearing a black cloth mask and the Akatsuki uniform.

"Waited a long time? Sorry, I was delayed by something on the way."

A low and hoarse voice drifted over. The person was Sasori. His current appearance was not Sasori's true appearance; this muscular man crawling on all fours was a puppet named Hiruko, and Sasori's true body was hidden inside Hiruko.

It was precisely because of this that Hiruko crawled on all fours; otherwise, the Sasori inside would be in a supine position.

There was a reason Sasori apologized as soon as he appeared; he didn't like waiting for others or having others wait for him. Today, he was late, which was rare.

"It's fine. It seems you are my partner? Mr. Sasori of the Red Sand."

"That's right. Although the Akatsuki are all duos, the leader considered your special situation, and since you have an important role, you were temporarily assigned to our team."

Hearing Sasori's words, Su Xiao's heart tightened.

"Important role?"

"You'll understand later. I'll take you to meet the other partner."

Sasori controlled Hiruko to crawl in one direction, but Su Xiao didn't move.

"Is this considered a test?"

Su Xiao looked toward a forest in the distance; someone was tailing them.

"Think what you want. I hate waiting for people, so hurry up."

Sasori stopped in place, with no intention of making a move.

"Hmm."

Su Xiao stood up and directly used Soru to rush toward that forest. The tracker inside the forest was greatly alarmed and turned to flee.

*Hum~*

Sound waves spread within the forest, leaves splashed, and blade light crisscrossed. In less than five minutes, the battle stopped.

Su Xiao walked out of the forest, dragging a half-dead man. Fresh blood dripped from the man's body. Su Xiao walked slowly toward Sasori.

The man in his hand had all four limbs broken, and his chest was densely covered in blade wounds, as if he had endured unimaginable agony. The man's eyes had already rolled back.

Sasori, inside Hiruko, narrowed his eyes. He had a rough estimate of Su Xiao's close-quarters combat strength.

Su Xiao threw the tracker in his hand toward Sasori.

"Consider this a greeting gift."

Sasori looked at the dying tracker with some confusion. He didn't understand the meaning of the greeting gift; this was just his probing of Su Xiao, but Su Xiao quickly helped Sasori resolve his confusion.

"If I haven't misidentified him, this is a ninja from the Sound Village, a sensory type, with strength roughly between a Chūnin and a Jōnin. He can mask others' perception; my preliminary judgment is that it is a relatively weak Kekkei Genkai, with signs of having been modified. Based on the current division of forces, this is Orochimaru's man. He sent someone to tail you; do you have a grudge against him?"

Hearing Su Xiao's introduction, Sasori, inside Hiruko, revealed a smile.

"It seems I have a reliable partner. Follow me; I'll take you to meet the other partner. That guy is nearby collecting clay." ===== CHAPTER 530 =====