31 The Akatsuki's Plans Launched

This is also Fanfiction, there is not too much stuff that one can't really logically write in such a limited world. It's better to sometimes write exposition too than to write nothing at all or end up with a very short story without it of just around 100k words and 50 chapters.

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Literally, that would be it If I just followed Neji's journey from start to finish without any exposition. The story would have already been FINISHED by now! And it would feel extremely short for everyone.

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If you don't like this style or don't agree with this, then don't read it in the first place, what can I say, this won't change.

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I had the option to completely change the story, to include some Chinese cultivation systems and whatnot, aliens, systems, other transmigrators, and new realms besides Pure Realm, or keep it pure canon like this with heavy exposition sometimes sprinkled for content. I choose the SECOND option!

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If I had to write a personal story I mean something like western fantasy fiction, then I wouldn't need to include so many expositions, because I would have no limits on how many plots I could logically include there, however, that is not the case here.

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Everything is limited by already established information, setting, time and place, etc. I can only do it in this way for content. If you don't understand this, then don't read it anymore. I explained this now once and for all. Don't bring up that point anymore. It's useless commenting on this matter again.

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There is always something you don't know and possible deeper reasons or circumstances for everything in life. Don't just blindly follow the herd or jump to conclusions, it's not good for you.

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And stop bitching so much, there were literally maybe only three information-heavy chapters, on the level of this one, in the entire story so far. I could end this story soon with the next chapter being Neji defeating Madara, and then the chapter after that him defeating Kaguya, and then defeating Ishiki. I could make 500-1000 words long chapters, but that's not the point. It would be even worse than this.

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Well maybe I should've introduced a Pokemon-like Harem system of 27 females and then you would get an interaction, with a different one, every single day, in my 500 words chapter story, meaning no info dumps, just pure "interaction" all the time for life, but that's too low-level for me.

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And it's not like writing those info dumps is easy for me, it's sometimes even harder for me than writing anything else just out of sheer research I sometimes have to do in order to connect all the dots and get to the right information. Not everything is copied from Wiki nor found only there.

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Many are also just my own unique insights into the interesting Naruto universe that you wouldn't find basically anything else. If you love the series then it wouldn't be a problem for you to read that as well, but it seems that is not the case. I could for example learn interesting information about Naruto for 7 days straight out of my sheer passion for the story, in fact, I constantly do it already.

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I feel like people leave a criticizing comment just out of a feeling of leaving one, without giving it a second thought. Just like during that time with Hiashi, getting your personal conspiracy theories and explanations instead of just reading directly and thinking more carefully about reasons for that.

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Hiahsi survived both because he was needed for his chakra source and he was also just a level below Neji who could logically escape from him as I already established in the story and killing someone was harder than just defeating someone.

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Ever since the chapter about the Hyuga massacre, I had many words to critique some of your comments too, but I kept my mouth shut or was doing it a polite way. You should behave like that as well. This was not a rant about just because of the previous chapter but because of all of that combined. Everyone thinks they deserve an opinion, while not everyone has an equal IQ in life. Don't mess with me and I won't mess with you! I can be polite, but only up to a certain point! The 98% of the readers are fine, this is not about you.

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"Neji Hyuga..?", Pain started speaking in a cold manner, "What does he have to do with us at this point? We are finally about to start everything! We have no time for other useless distractions..."

They recently located and decided to start their Tailed Beasts collection plan with Five and Seven Tails first from tomorrow. They were quite isolated as of now and were perfect for their first targets.

The tailed beasts were the nine titanic living forms of chakra created by the Sage of Six Paths out of the chakra from the Ten-Tails. They are differentiated by the number of tails they have, ranging from one to nine. The Akatsuki wanted to now revive the Ten-Tails with the help of Nagato's Gedo Statue.

Those chakra monsters roamed free for centuries before the First Hokage of Konoha, Hashirama Senju, the God of Shinobi, suddenly captured them all, one by one, with his exalted Wood Release.

He then sold the beasts amongst the newly formed great shinobi villages in order to stabilize the balance of power between them, so as to not make them too jealous of Konoha and turn them all against Konoha at the same time. He also got a big economic advantage for Konoha and the first step in the race of competition between them by selling eight such beasts for a large sum of cash.

At that time he also thought that by giving every village such power, all wars would stop, because they would be too scared of each other, however, he was quickly proven wrong, it didn't go his way.

Konohagakure kept the strongest Nine-Tails, however, all the other villages got at least two other tailed beasts either directly or through their proxy nation, as no nation outside the Big Five was truly free in this world. They were the true hegemons who subjected all the smaller nations as their vassals. But, recently formed, mysterious Otogakure, and the raining Amegakure were exceptions.

Over the years, the Akatsuki built a continent-sized, large organization with all kinds of information sources and spies required for the completion of the tailed beast capture plan against the Big Five. That's why the plan took so long to kick start in the first place. However, now it was finally ready. It was ironic that those five great ninja villages used Akatsuki's favors and built them up for them to now start stealing their biggest weapons away from them. It would cause quite a shock once found.

"Nagato, think carefully. I think that we should either try and recruit him straight away, or get rid of him. It is precisely because our plan starts tomorrow that we have to deal with any kind of unforeseen circumstances, and he is such. None of us accounted for him in our previous calculations.", Obito explained seriously and patiently. He wanted everything to go perfectly well.

"There is no time now for that, Madara. We have enough members already integrated perfectly well inside our organization. We can't bring an unknown individual into the mix all of a sudden. We don't have enough time now to start testing his loyalty or integrating him into the organization. As for getting rid of him, there is no point. I heard about his unknown dojutsu, however, in front of these eyes, every other dojutsu is useless. These are the eyes of God.", Pain started speaking confidently, looking at Obito's showed eye a bit as if warning him. As for why he truly didn't want to deal with Neji now, it was not because he had a real god complex, but he didn't want to waste any members. Though, it didn't change the fact that he really didn't put that unknown teenager into his eyes at all.

'Damn it! He's listening to my suggestions less and less and getting cockier the more we approach the final part of the plan. And those eyes are not even yours!', Obito thought irritatedly but didn't show it on his face. He still needed Nagato's strength, and his loyal subordinates inside the Akatsuki to gather all of the tailed beasts for his plan for the Ten-Tails sealing, he would bear with it for now.

Unlike Nagato, Obito was way more knowledgeable in various ancient shinobi matters having been personally taught by Madara during his life. However, even Madara Uchiha apparently didn't know anything about the described dojutsu Neji used inside the Konoha village to deal with the Hyuga clan. As that person was also a Hyuga himself with Byakugan previously, Obito started theorizing about many possible dangerous matters. Therefore, he already placed Neji Hyuga as the potential biggest obstacle to their plan. However, Nagato now didn't see it that way which displeased him.

However, Obito didn't realize it, but even Black Zetsu now secretly had an angered and murderous expression toward Nagato as well. He was the one who added the hidden fuel to the fire for Obito to start almost paranoically thinking about Neji's dojutsu in the same way as himself. He slowly told him many things previously, as he was "Madara's will" with great knowledge, filling his head with apprehension. Of course that he was the most anxious about the unexpected reappearance of the Tenseigan into this world. As soon as he learned about it, he couldn't stop worrying about the guy.

As he lived in that era himself, he knew just how dangerous and big of a threat it was to his end goal of resurrecting his mother Kaguya. After all, the first memory he had in this world was when Hamura, with Tenseigan, and Hagoromo, with Rinnegan, sealed her away. He wanted for the whole Akatsuki to go after Neji Hyuga right now, however, Nagato rejected it. In his mind, Nagato was just a small person who was the placeholder for Madara's Rinnegan. It was not like he didn't have any other ways of resurrecting Madara without him, but, it was more troublesome to explain it to Madara later in that way. He also needed Nagato as a soldier for gathering the tailed beasts. So, he also reluctantly decided to silently put up with Nagato for now same as Obito, 'But not for long...'

"Nagato, think about this again! We don't know anything about his abilities. Moreover, nothing is set in stone in this world! Who knows if his dojutsu is even stronger than yours? I propose a four-member team to start going after him immediately. If you don't want to recruit him, then let's kill him instead right now!", Obito still didn't give up, now unknowingly speaking in a bit more stern voice toward the Pain's body. Zetsu nodded inwardly while Pain's face suddenly turned even colder.

"Madara, remember, the Akatsuki was originally our organization! And Nagato is the leader, not you! So, listen to his orders as all of the other members do, if you want to remain here!", Konan suddenly interjected. She was really defensive toward Nagato. She didn't like this 'Madara' at all, from the moment he entered their organization. Yahiko saw what kind of man he was so he rejected his help at that time, however, Nagato is now the leader and he still decided to let him join alongside that strange being Zetsu. Both of them now formed another faction inside the Akatsuki, though not many other members listened to them. They couldn't do much as they were just a duo.

She always felt like he had some kind of ulterior purpose and warned Nagato many times against him in the past. However, Nagato always told her that he understood it as well and not to worry. To be honest, she didn't even like Nagato's current plan regarding tailed beasts and Ten-Tails as Madara was the one who influenced him on it the most. And the plan really deviated from Yahiko's original vision for the Akatsuki.

However, out of her love for Nagato, she could only follow his wishes. He was the only person left to her in the whole world after all, even if she couldn't recognize him at some times. Moreover, she felt like she was the one that caused Yahiko to die at that time and turn Nagato into this kind of cold person. She sometimes also felt like even Nagato died on that day, not only Yahiko. However, out of guilt and her love for him, she still followed all his plans. And, she always looked out for Amegakure's and Nagato's well-being after the plan changed then.

Moreover, it was not like she wasn't prepared to clash with this Madara if needed in the future. She already readied an ocean full of her six hundred billion explosive tags inside of the Amegakure's lake. Nagato was aware of her plan but didn't stop it with showed that he was also wary of him.

Obito suddenly turned his eye at her a bit while thinking critically, 'This bitch truly didn't give a damn about our plan from the start. She constantly sits inside this village as if she is its Kage. She is the most dangerous to my plans. I must get rid of her secretly in some way as soon as possible...'

"That's right, Madara Uchiha! I'm the leader of the Akatsuki, and you're presently just one of my subordinates. This is the end of the matter! You can go now, if that's all you wanted. I'll meet you again alongside others after we've gathered those two jinchurikis.', Nagato spoke commandingly.

"Alright, Nagato, yours is final! See you later!", Obito spoke in a light manner as if he didn't take it to the heart, and with some kind of a spatial vortex forming, he and Zetsu disappeared from there.

They appeared again in some kind of cave, used by Obito for his Kamui teleportation. Obito's voice was chilling and furious as he immediately ordered, "Zetsu, you try to find Neji Hyuga, in your way, just remember not to engage him, only gather everything you can about his abilities...", 'Nagato, you will regret speaking to me like that! And, this bitch, Konan...', Obito gritted his teeth in anger. Complete Zetsu and Kisame Hoshigaki were currently the most loyal members to him in his opinion.

White Zetsu's Parasitic Clone technique allowed him to biologically produce clones of himself, which he is able to communicate with and control remotely. Unlike normal clones, they don't dispel when they are dealt damage or killed. They can also be used with White Zetsu's Substitute Technique to assume the form of any individual that he has touched, even copying their unique chakra auras and items.

Mayfly was White Zetsu's other technique used to merge his body with the ground and flora and travel at very high speeds. His insectivorous plant-like shell has the ability to merge with the ground because it is tinged with his chakra. Then, using the underground network of organic matter, consisting of things like plant roots and water veins, he can travel everywhere at high speeds. Using this technique he can conceal himself in such things as trees and even sand.

Once merged, his presence is completely concealed, making it impossible to detect him, even for the best sensory ninjas. This makes this technique perfect for close-ranged spying. It can also connect itself to the nearby network of plant roots in order to remotely send messages to other Zetsu. In this way, Zetsu created various biological networks around the world, kind of Obito's own personal information and communication channel without the rest of Akatsuki knowing about it.

He hasn't been this agitated for a very long time. He was now sure to give Nagato and Konan very painful deaths later once they gathered all of the tailed beasts required for him to become the new Ten-Tails jinchuriki and to perform the Infinite Tsukuyomi for creating that new world full of only various joys for everyone. However, for Nagato and Konan, he was certain now, there would be no place in that perfect world that he would make. He was never worried about Nagato because he knew his current state of health and he could also always just teleport to his real body to kill him.

'Also that Neji Hyuga... Maybe I should really get my other eye back if he, for some reason, goes against our plan in the future...', From the moment Neji appeared, Black Zetsu also wouldn't stop pressuring him to get his other eye back from Kakashi, which he was previously always reluctant to do because of his pride, not because he had any kind of emotional connection to Kakashi anymore, but, now was different. His plan was way more important than his pride in not taking back his gift.

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A few days later, Neji run swiftly toward the Land of Waves, a small island just below the Land of Fire to get someone interesting he needed for his plan. He knew that he was already famous all over the world as an S-class missing ninja from reading various memories of people along the way. He even obtained and looked at his page inside Bingo Book as he ran there. He was presently the man with the highest listed bounty in the world. All the various Bingo Books, in the world, had his face and description, with big rewards. He was still in the Land of Fire, these past few days, as he decided to stay and study his Tenseigan even more, only now deciding to speed up due to various reasons.

Neji already knew about White Zetsu and other potential spies, so he was moving everywhere using his maximum Six Paths level of speed, making it impossible for someone to sneak and spy on him.

The Land of Waves does not have a hidden village, thus relying on seeking assistance from other hidden villages like Konohagakure. It also has many rivers running through it and is famous for its mangroves, which are filled with all kinds of life forms. Though an isolated island, relying on shipping for commerce and trade, it was prosperous. It was also famous, in Neji's previous world, as Naruto's first serious mission site where they fought against the unforgettable Zabuza and Haku.

Neji firmly decided to build a shinobi team working for him next. He thought about it for a very long time and realized that there were currently not many people stronger than him in the Ninja World, maybe there were on one hand. However, the only thing that could make him worried was being overwhelmed and defeated by numbers. After all, Akatsuki currently had ten different S-class shinobi, and similar were the great five shinobi villages. Whereas he was currently only one person.

Additionally, he feels that if those full-blooded Otstusuki come down to Earth, in the future, then maybe he would be the one who needs to rely on numbers against them. Therefore, he needs a powerful but also loyal team. Once he determines their loyalty, then he would do everything in his power to make them powerful enough to be of some use later against Otsutsukis or other threats.

As for the first candidate he decided on, she wasn't especially powerful but had the potential to be extremely loyal. Additionally, her bloodline was also excellent. She was Karin Uzumaki. However, she has another crucial use for Neji now. She was a truly great sensory type who had the legendary Kagura's Mind Eye and could sense tens of kilometers ahead of her. Neji will try to use her and determine the location of the Giant Tenseigan that Hiashi hid somewhere, it would be his next step.

Until he later developed his DNA vision and tried to edit his genotype to be even closer to the Otsutsuki clan, he would need a large reserve of chakra to use if an unexpected danger arrived. With Karin's sensory ability and his own Tenseigan resonance, he felt like he could find it right away. He just needed to come relatively close to it, and then he felt like his Tenseigan would resonate with it for some reason. He realized it back there during his fight with Hiashi, it was as if it called him.

And even though it was probably a finite amount of chakra that he could access, it was probably enough for now until he gets another larger chakra source or develops his Byakugan DNA vision. Neji also decided to first form his complete future team before getting back to Konoha and forcing Hiashi to activate the thing again and then reveal the location of his Giant Tenseigan in that way. He would then absorb that chakra, when he finds its precise location, physically with his own personal Tenseigan's chakra-draining ability and his exceptional chakra control. Due to that, there would be no need for the use of any fuinjutsu like when shinobi got tailed beasts sealed inside of themselves.

The reason why he didn't try and directly read Hiashi's mind, to determine its location, was because it was impossible. Judging from their short exchange, Hiashi was already at a peak Kage level, at that time, just one step below him, at that time if he wanted to escape, Neji couldn't catch him. That's why he let him run off to Tsunade then. In such small differences of strength, killing the opponents fully was basically impossible. And reading Hiashi's memory was the same as killing him.

Neji had Karin in mind as his first subordinate even before he attacked the Hyuga compound on that day. He used his Tenseigan memory reading ability on a couple of Orochimaru's spies, familiar to him, inside the Konoha, to determine Karin's current location, and it was a jackpot, so, he was on his way there. Even though he already remembered her location, from the original, he still wanted to double-check. It was the same one. It was Orochimaru's Southern Hideout in the Land of Waves.

It was a hideous, dark place filled with prison cells, and wardens were also employed to keep the prisoners in check, one such person was Karin who later joined Sasuke's team Hebi in the original. Orochimaru needed those prisoners for experiments. Once he gets there, Neji will try to sense that island with his sensory ability. He had a small sensory ability of just a few kilometers while Karin herself had for tens of them. It was supposed to be a small rocky island in the middle of an ocean.

Otogakure was the newest hidden village in the shinobi world and the first one to be founded by a rogue ninja, Orochimaru of the Sannin. Its true nature was unlike any of the other ninja organizations meant to serve as the military power of its respective nation. His desire was to create a hidden village not bound to a nation or ideal and would instead be used to express the individuality of ninjas who don't conform to the standards of their society, it was also science-based.

Otogakure never existed as a single settlement of ninjas but as a secret network of bases spread throughout the continent. Each of them was built into the terrain itself or far away from any wanderers to hide them away from the world. Every hideout contains different aspects of Orochimaru's research to prevent the discovery of one from doing real harm to his overall goals. They did, however, have a main headquarters, the Otogakure itself, designed to emulate the other hidden village so that Oto could be recognized in an official capacity, that was how they were even invited to join Konoha's chunin exams and how Orochimaru managed to launch his invasion plan. Otogakure's secret modus operandi was also how Orochimaru wasn't found after leaving Akatsuki.

And soon, Neji crossed the ocean strait barefoot and arrived on the shores of the Land of Waves. Neji wasn't sure what Karin's reaction to him would be, but he was even prepared to take her by force and use her just for the Giant Tenseigan, if she didn't want to become a part of his group. As for Orochimaru, Neji now wasn't concerned about him. The earlier deal between them, regarding Rinengan, was crossed out of Neji's mind. He obtained everything he needed from him already. There was no need to make him stronger for no reason, Orochimaru with Rinnegan was bad news.

However, a few hours later, Neji was still surveilling the shores of the island in finding that specific secret rocky hideout where Karin was located, he suddenly opened his eyes wide and turned astonished as he sensed someone else more inwardly to the island from his current position. Two very large chakra presences that he couldn't recognize, but were at least of Kage level in strength!