The Uchiha clan, which was wiped out entirely, lacked vision.

Uchiha An flipped over in mid-air and landed steadily. He reached out and wiped his face, removing the blood and tears from his eyes.

When he looked up again, his vision was indeed a little blurry, but with the nourishment of Yang Release, it quickly returned to normal. Moreover, the original defects in his eyeballs, which had been damaged and were now regrowing, were also somewhat repaired.

It is foreseeable that if this happens a few more times, his Mangekyou Sharingan will most likely evolve into the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan on its own.

Pain descended slowly from the sky, separating the two. With a flick of his finger, he presented a ring to Uchiha An, saying in a matter-of-fact tone:

"Put on this ring. From this day forward, you will be the eighth member of Akatsuki, codenamed 'North'."

"Internal strife is prohibited within the Akatsuki organization."

"I don't care what grudge you have against Itachi Uchiha, but you are not allowed to fight him to the death again."

Pain stared intently at Uchiha An, clearly intending to teach him a lesson at the slightest provocation.

To everyone's surprise, Uchiha An took the ring without hesitation, put it on the middle finger of his left hand, and said with a grin:

"North?"

"The Southern Dipper governs life, the Northern Dipper governs death, this ring suits me quite well."

"Oh dear, Chief, don't look at me like that!"

"Don't worry, he's very magnanimous!"

"Although I have a grudge against Itachi, revenge doesn't necessarily have to involve killing him."

Sometimes, being alive is worse than being dead!

"Closing your eyes and knowing nothing at all—that would be so liberating!"

"Killing a beast like him is too lenient!"

"I will destroy Konoha, the village he loves most, and let him experience what hell is like."

"However, Chief, although I am magnanimous and would not mind putting aside my grudge against him, he doesn't seem to have the same magnanimity as me. He's making a huge fuss over the death of his brother."

"Hehehe..."

Upon hearing this, Pain turned his head and looked coldly at Itachi Uchiha.

"Itachi, what's your attitude?"

Veins bulged on Itachi's face, his jaw clenched, and he was breathing heavily. His Mangekyou Sharingan was fixed on Uchiha An, who had a smirking expression, as if he wanted to devour him alive.

This continued for a while, until Pain gradually lost patience, before Itachi Uchiha slowly closed his eyes, wiped away the blood and tears from his eyes with his sleeve, and replied in a hoarse voice:

"I see."

"I will control my emotions and will not engage in a fight to the death with him."

"Very good." Pain nodded in satisfaction, then turned to look at Uchiha An.

"Now that you've joined Akatsuki, stop using Itachi's face. Who are you really?"

Uchiha An then canceled the transformation technique and regained his true appearance.

"My name is Uchiha An. I was originally an ordinary Jonin, but with Itachi's 'help,' I successfully awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan."

"As a token of my gratitude, I also chopped off his younger brother's head to see if I could properly repay Itachi."

Seeing that Uchiha An intended to provoke him again, Pain frowned and shouted:

"Alright, stop provoking Itachi!"

"Everyone, return to the village and discuss how to deal with the impending retaliation from Konoha Village."

Thinking that all of this was caused by this guy in front of him, Pain couldn't help but feel disgusted and glared fiercely at Uchiha An.

Then he saw Uchiha An suddenly raise his arm and call out with a grin:

"Chief, I want to report this!"

"Itachi Uchiha didn't truly betray the village; he was Hiruzen Sarutobi's henchman, a spy sent by Konoha!"

"If we're going to war with Konoha, the first thing we need to do is get rid of this spy!"

"Otherwise, even before Konoha comes knocking, all the information about everyone in our Akatsuki organization will be leaked!"

Payne frowned again upon hearing this.

However, during the previous feud between Uchiha and An, they were so emotional that they leaked all sorts of information.

He understood perfectly that Itachi Uchiha was indeed acting under orders from the higher-ups of Konoha to carry out the clan extermination plan.

The claim that he was a "traitorous ninja" is indeed somewhat untenable, and it remains to be seen whether this person is trustworthy.

Facing Pain's suspicious gaze, Itachi Uchiha coldly said:

"Perhaps I wasn't a rogue ninja of Konoha before, but after this guy impersonated me and caused all this trouble, I can't avoid being a rogue ninja even if I wanted to."

That's not wrong. If a ninja killed the Hokage's grandson, kidnapped the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and directly or indirectly caused the deaths of a large number of elite ninjas in the village, then he would definitely become a rogue ninja.

If someone can still be forgiven by Konoha Village under such circumstances, then that person must have a powerful background and connections.

For example, the third generation's good apprentice, the seventh generation's good buddy, and so on.

Payne nodded, concluding with:

"Itachi's identity is beyond question; please do not question it again."

Uchiha An pursed his lips and said nothing.

Outsiders cannot understand the obsession of the Mangekyou Sharingan Uchiha; no amount of explanation will help.

The Mangekyou Sharingan is inherently illogical, and it is completely wrong to judge the actions of the Mangekyou Uchiha clan using common sense.

All Mangekyou Uchiha are madmen, without exception.

One cannot live without being obsessed; those who are not crazy enough cannot awaken the Mangekyou Sharingan.

Seeing that Uchiha An remained silent, Pain used the Body Flicker Technique to leave and return to the village.

The others also returned to their villages, and Uchiha An followed them to Amegakure.

The rain began to fall again, pattering softly, like Itachi Uchiha crying.

Uchiha An, on the other hand, was quite cheerful. He walked along, looking around and ignoring the murderous gazes that occasionally came from behind him, as if Uchiha Itachi didn't exist.

Soon, the group arrived at the top of the central tower, the abode of the gods and the headquarters of the Akatsuki organization.

After entering the meeting hall, everyone sat down in turn. Pain sat in the main seat, and the person sitting next to him wore a mask, revealing only one eye with a blood-red three-tomoe star inside. It was clearly Uchiha Obito.

Wasn't this guy always causing trouble in the shadows? Why did he suddenly appear today?

Was it because Itachi Uchiha was introduced as a member?

Or do they feel that war with Konoha is about to break out, so there's no need to hide anymore?

Not only was he puzzled, but the other Akatsuki members were also very curious, wondering about the origins of this suddenly appearing, unfamiliar Uchiha.

Seemingly sensing everyone's confusion, Payne explained:

"This is Madara Uchiha, a collaborator of the Akatsuki organization, one of the earliest founders of Konoha Village, who, together with the first Hokage Hashirama Senju, quelled the chaos of the ninja world and established the ninja village system—a legend in the ninja world!"

"Oh!" This title was quite frightening, immediately stunning most of the people present, who all gasped in shock.

If someone else had introduced him, no one would have believed it. But Payne was so arrogant, calling himself a god and looking down on everyone. Now that he was introducing this person so solemnly, the person's identity immediately gained some credibility.

Obito Uchiha nodded pretentiously, about to say a few words, when suddenly Uchiha An burst out laughing.

"Haha..." Uchiha An clutched his stomach with one hand, looking like he was about to roll on the ground, and pointed at Uchiha Obito with the other, tears welling up in his eyes from laughing.

"This guy dares to call himself Uchiha Madara?"

"If he is Madara Uchiha, then I am Hagoromo Otsutsuki, the Sage of Six Paths!"