Far away, in Kiri...
Obito, accompanied by Zetsu, was speaking calmly.
"Still no trace of Jūzō?"
Several days had passed since his escape. He had indeed betrayed the Akatsuki.
"He took a boat from the Land of Rō's port..."
Once at sea, he would be impossible to track.
The shinobi world was vast, and the five great nations were only a small part of it.
Even Zetsu's abilities had their limits.
"It doesn't matter... A coward like that is of no use to us."
It was time to move on.
"Let's go recruit Kisame..."
---
Kisame Hoshigaki
Standing before the corpse of Fuguki Suikazan, Kisame wore a cruel and disillusioned smile.
"Who am I? Where am I going?"
The mission to steal Konoha's secrets had failed.
Ibiki Morino and his team had caught up with the decoding unit.
To keep the intel from leaking, Kisame had slaughtered his own comrades.
Years of killing allies had driven him into deep existential confusion.
As he was about to leave with Samehada...
"Kisame... You did well."
"Huh?!"
Kisame instantly gripped his sword.
In the darkness of the tunnel, two figures appeared.
One was the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura.
The other... a masked man, unknown to him.
"Will you join me? I'll show you the truth of this world..."
Obito extended his hand.
Jūzō had been removed.
It was time for Kisame to take his place in the Akatsuki...
And become his pawn.
Once Kisame was recruited...
It would be Itachi's turn.
---
In the distant Land of Demons...
The Priestess's splendid palace lay nestled among breathtaking mountain ranges.
For millennia, Priestesses had sacrificed themselves to seal away Mōryō, the ever-reviving demon.
"Why won't you understand?!"
In the palace's great hall, a young man in elegant robes and a black eboshi yelled at the Priestess.
"With Mōryō's power and your techniques... conquering the world would be child's play!"
His body radiated violet-black chakra, and wings of chakra had sprouted from his back.
He was the Daimyō of the Land of Demons...
And the current host of Mōryō.
Thanks to his royal blood, he had become the ideal vessel for the demon.
But he had another, far more important identity...
He was the Priestess's husband.
"How foolish..."
The Priestess, crowned in gold, shook her head sadly.
"Why can't you trust humans...?"
"Humans?! You still believe in them?!"
Their mutual misunderstanding escalated into conflict.
A couple that should have been in love turned to blows over their differences...
---
Omen of Disaster
"Mmh...!"
The Priestess awoke with a start, a muffled gasp escaping her lips.
Her eyes, swirling with violet patterns like an intricate kaleidoscope, glowed eerily.
What she had just experienced in her dream...
Was a vision of the future.
A power she couldn't control, which only activated in times of impending catastrophe.
"Haah... Haah..."
Soaked in sweat, she struggled to catch her breath.
It had been years since she'd had such a premonition.
And this time, she had seen...
The resurrection of Mōryō.
And the destruction of her marriage.
The Daimyō, in his madness, had shattered the seal left by the former Priestess, becoming Mōryō's jinchūriki.
The shinobi of the Land of Demons had conducted mad experiments, using the demon's power to create an army of specters.
All of it...
To conquer the world.
She turned toward her sleeping daughter beside her.
"Shion..."
But no sooner had she spoken her name than she sensed a presence.
"Who's there?!"
In the darkness of the room, a figure stood motionless.
"Priestess-sama..."
A young man with round glasses adjusted his frames, a mysterious smile on his lips.
"Kabuto..."
She recognized him.
The young man, recently rescued by the guards after barely surviving, had since become part of their ranks.
But now, his expression was anything but gentle.
"You... were sent by the Daimyō?"
The shinobi of the Land of Demons had been constantly harassing her.
"No."
Kabuto shook his head.
"I'm a ninja of Konoha.
Kabuto Yakushi."
The adopted son of Yakushi Nonō, he had uncovered the Daimyō's actions.
"According to my intel, he broke Mōryō's seal and took over both his soul and body..."
All of this had been done in secret.
But not enough to escape the Priestess's notice.
"Every ten or twenty years... Mōryō awakens, sowing chaos. Sometimes naturally... sometimes due to mankind."
Kabuto smiled.
"So why not deal with the problem once and for all?"
The Priestess remained silent.
Her guards were civilians, trained only in basic sealing techniques.
For generations, Priestesses had fought alone.
And since they always managed to seal Mōryō...
No one ever came to help.
Unless they explicitly asked for it.
"Then may I suggest... Why not come to Konoha?"
Kabuto, ever the spy, only cared for his village's welfare.
And more than anything...
The welfare of the orphanage.
"With your power and our ninjas' strength, eliminating Mōryō would be simple. For the good of the world..."
His offer was tempting.
"Think of your daughter... Shion-sama..."
The next Priestess—far stronger than her mother.
But none of that mattered.
If Shion could grow up in a world without Mōryō...
She would escape her fate.
And what mother wouldn't want that for her child?
Sensing her hesitation, Kabuto added:
"I'm sure the Hokage will welcome you with open arms..."
"I... will think about it."
The Priestess nodded, too proud to accept the offer of a spy right away.
But deep in her heart...
She already knew what she would do.