The carriage carrying the group rolled into Amegakure, a village with a distinct punk aesthetic—its landscape dominated by a maze of industrial pipelines running throughout the city.
Standing atop the tower, Pain used his Rain Tiger at Will technique to detect several unfamiliar chakra signatures approaching.
"Konan, the new recruits Madara mentioned have arrived. Go greet them."
In front of the carriage, a flurry of paper danced through the air, forming the shape of a woman.
As she descended, countless villagers of Amegakure dropped to their knees in reverence, unfazed by the rain-soaked ground beneath them.
At the front of the carriage, Uchiha Izumi was visibly shaken by the sight.
Hyuga Gakuya stepped out, immediately recognizing the woman with her short bluish-purple hair and signature paper flower.
"I was introduced by Tobi to join Akatsuki."
"I know. Come with me."
...
They arrived at the base of the tallest tower in the village, the very heart of Amegakure. Konan led the four of them inside and brought them to their dorms.
"This will be your residence. You'll be staying here."
"I'll get you your uniforms and gear. In the meantime, clean up and settle in."
As she walked away, Gakuya gave a slight shake of his head. No matter how much she changed, that quiet gentleness inside her hadn't faded.
Gakuya and the others picked three adjoining rooms. Karin insisted on staying with her mother, so there were just enough for everyone. Yukari had already made Gakuya's bed and tidied his space for him.
Not long after, Konan knocked on Gakuya's door.
"Come in."
Konan stepped inside and placed a red cloud cloak, a straw hat, and two scrolls on the table.
"This is the Akatsuki uniform. These two jutsu scrolls—you're required to learn them."
Then she pulled out a ring and a bottle of nail polish.
"From now on, your codename is 'Sky'. Both the ring and the polish are necessary to use those two jutsu."
"Wear the ring on your left pinky. That marks your place on the Gedo Statue."
"Understood," Gakuya said, sliding the 'Sky' ring onto his finger.
That ring had originally belonged to Orochimaru, but after his defection—especially following Uchiha Itachi's recruitment—it had been left unclaimed. Now, it had found a new owner in Gakuya.
Gakuya recalled that the ring was never recovered in the original timeline. Had Nagato forged a new one?
"There's a meeting tomorrow. You'll be introduced to the rest of the members. I'm Konan. Codename: White."
With that, Konan turned to leave.
"Actually, could I ask you for a favor?"
"Go ahead."
"Help me file an application. I want Karin to enroll in your village's shinobi academy."
"The red-haired girl?"
"That's right." Gakuya had promised to give Karin a better life—and he wasn't about to break that promise.
"I'll have someone arrange it."
"Thanks. I appreciate it."
After she left, Gakuya picked up the two jutsu scrolls laid out on the table. They were: Magic Lantern Body Technique, Sealing Jutsu: Nine Phantom Dragons.
...
The next day, after a full day of rest, Gakuya followed an Ame-nin escort to the Akatsuki meeting chamber.
Several members were already seated.
"Codename: Sky. Hyuga Gakuya," Konan introduced him.
She proceeded to name the other members, some of whom Gakuya already recognized.
"Our leader, Zero—Pain."
"Codename: Mysterious—Zetsu. He handles reconnaissance."
"Jade—Sasori."
"Three—Hidan."
"North—Kakuzu. In charge of finances."
"South—Kisame Hoshigaki."
"Scarlet—Uchiha Itachi."
Gakuya nodded in greeting. Noticing an open seat beside Itachi, he sat down.
"Itachi. Didn't expect you here. Guess that makes you my senpai now," Gakuya said casually.
"Hn," Itachi replied coldly, offering nothing more than that.
Given their history, that wasn't surprising. Gakuya's involvement in stirring tensions between the Uchiha and the village during the clan's downfall was a sore point.
"Cold as ever."
"Don't mind him. More importantly—tell me, how did you wipe out your whole clan?" Hidan jumped in, clearly intrigued.
Gakuya gave a faint smile. "Went house to house under the cover of darkness. Knocked on each door, then killed everyone inside."
"Nice. That's a beautiful way to kill," Hidan said with admiration.
"You ever consider joining the Cult of Jashin?"
"I'll give it serious thought," Gakuya replied. Once he was strong enough, he might just look into whether these 'gods' really existed.
"Keh-heh-heh. Who would've thought—the infamous clan-killers from Konoha are all joining Akatsuki. Our organization's really thriving," Kisame chuckled.
Kakuzu quietly pulled out a bounty ledger. "Hyuga Gakuya. Black market bounty: fifty million ryo."
"Ever consider defecting from Akatsuki? I'd love to cash in your head," Kakuzu asked plainly.
"Not planning on it... at the moment," Gakuya replied.
Pain interrupted the chatter. "Silence. Let's move on to the upcoming missions."
The room quieted immediately.
Pain explained that until they started hunting Jinchūriki, Akatsuki would take on missions from various villages to maintain income.
"Anyone interested in recruiting Deidara?"
Gakuya and Sasori raised their hands simultaneously.
Gakuya wanted to witness Deidara's Explosion Release firsthand—it might help with his own experiments. Sasori, on the other hand, was curious whether Deidara's concept of fleeting beauty clashed with his own pursuit of eternal art.
"Alright. You two take the mission. Zetsu will guide you."
Gakuya stood. "Let's go, Sasori-senpai. Iwagakure's a long way from here."
...
Sasori said nothing, silently following Gakuya out of the room.
Before leaving, Gakuya checked in with Karin, Yukari, and the others. He told them to stay in Amegakure and left enough money to support them for a long while.
Yukari wanted to come along.
"Gakuya-sama, let me go with you. I can help take care of you on the road."
"This is a mission, not a sightseeing trip. You focus on learning sealing techniques. I'll need your help with that later."
"Understood, Gakuya-sama."
"Good."
With that, Gakuya and Sasori departed for the Land of Earth.
...
Crossing into the country wasn't easy. With war looming, the borders were locked down. It took quite a bit of effort just to get through.
That night, the two camped by a fire.
Gakuya held out a skewer of grilled meat. "Want some, senpai?"
"No need," Sasori replied, still concealed within his Hiruko puppet like a hunched old man.
"Alright, but living off soldier pills alone isn't good for you." Gakuya pretended not to know that Sasori had long since turned himself into a puppet.
"You're a puppet master, right? Could I commission you to make some for me?" Gakuya pressed. He remembered that his Tenseigan would one day allow him to grant sentience to puppets. It was something he'd eventually need.
"What kind of puppets?"
"Nothing too fancy. Just something mass-producible."
"I can draw up some blueprints in a few days," Sasori replied. He figured Gakuya might be a kindred spirit in the pursuit of puppet mastery.
"Thanks. If you ever need anything in return, let me know."
Sasori designed a blueprint for a simple, easy-to-produce puppet. It resembled a humanoid warrior wielding a katana.
Along the way, Gakuya studied Sasori's techniques. By the time they neared Iwagakure, he had successfully created a functional puppet of his own.
...
Deidara had been relocated outside the village due to the... destructive nature of his experiments, which made Gakuya's job easier.
"Deidara's in that building up ahead," Zetsu said, popping up from underground. "His explosions kept damaging property, so Ōnoki made him live alone."
"Got it. Leave the invitation to me."
Gakuya knocked on the door.
"About time! Is that food—"
Before the sentence could finish, Deidara opened the door and saw two unfamiliar figures standing outside.
"Who the hell are you?" He immediately went on guard.
"We're here to invite you to join Akatsuki," Gakuya said.
"Akatsuki? Never heard of it."
"Not interested in joining any groups. I've got my art to work on."
----------------
Pls Drop some Power Stones
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