Akatsuki's Invitation

"Well then. Let's hear the reports." Shiki announced.

"Zabuza and Haku can go first." He said.

"We fought Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Itachi.After being pressed beyond out limit, we were force to use out Curse Marks to counter attack which was successful. Unfortunately however, we could not prevent them from escaping." Haku gave the gist of the matters.

She and Zabuza then proceeded to explain the details of the battles more thoroughly and mentioned that they would each compile a personal report as per Mugetsu's rules and file it after their meeting.

"Very well. I can see that you are feeling disappointed with your results in this mission but taking into account that you faced one of the most powerful Akatsuki pairs, it is not to surprising. Uchiha Itachi in particular is not someone easy to trap." Shiki evaluated their performance.

He patted them both on the shoulder and added.

"All there is to do, is double down on your training so that you never have to experience such disappointment ever again."

"Yes boss!"

"Yes Shiki-san!"

Zabuza and Haku responded with fervor.

"Good!" Shiki said.

"Now then, Isaribi, Tayuya, it's your turn now." He declared.

"Yes Shiki-sama!" Isaribi replied and started on her report.

"We encountered Sasori and Deidara of the Akatsuki. I immediately activated my full Kaima Transformation with the assistance of my Curse Mark after activating the large scale barrier to prevent them from escaping." She began.

"They proved to be difficult to take out and even succeeded on causing minor damage to me some insignificant scratches on our facilities but with Tayuya using her sound based genjutsu for support, they were forced into a retreat and had to hide as the barrier surrounding the battlefield did not permit that."

"Finally, once their positions were determine, Tayuya used a sealing formation created with Shiki-san's Paper Tags to seal them before they could plan a comeback, resulting in the capture of our two opponents." Isaribi finished.

"Very good work you two. You can think about a reward you want from me as you make your written report to file. Meanwhile, I have my duties to consider so you're all dismissed." Shiki announced.

Zabuza and Haku left with a drive to further improve themselves while Isaribi and Tayuya left with unbridled joy, discussing what they would ask for their rewards.

Shiki on the other hand was expecting to be contacted by the Akatsuki pretty soon owing to the crushing defeat they had suffered, so he stopped his plans and freed up his schedule in anticipation for the call.

Sure enough, the very next day, a call came, but not from the Akatsuki itself, no, it was Nagato that had used the Paper Tag Shiki had given him to establish contact once he had made his decision.

Shiki considered the possibility of a trap but thought Nagato was smart enough to realize that, even if all members of the Akatsuki were present, they wouldn't be enough to deal with him so he dismissed the possibility.

Still, before he met Nagato, Shiki careful inspected Amegakure for hidden Zetsus or some other spying devices to make sure no information was being leaked to Obito.

After ascertaining that, Shiki once again appeared before Nagato.

"Thanks for the present." Shiki said as an opening.

"This makes three Akatsuki prisoners under my control." He added.

"So, why have you called?" Shiki asked.

"Prisoner? They are all alive?" Nagot asked.

"Indeed! But I'd like you to answer my question." Shiki retorted, this time with some hostility since his organization had come under attack while they were in negotiations and, as the face leader, there was no way Nagato was not part of the decision.

"I have decided to accept your bargain." Nagato declared.

"After a bunch of attacks on my people?" Shiki asked with some mockery.

"It was necessary to prevent suspicion from the masked man. However, he now wants to discuss things with you as well so I though I'd make my decision and join you beforehand." Nagato explained.

"Fair enough." Shiki replied.

The two sealed up the previously agreed terms in the Soul Contract and began discussing how the meeting was planned.

Nagato was to act as the leader as always but would be negotiating under the masked man's directives, Zetsu would be present for the discussion as well and a White Zetsu would be the one delivering the invitation for the meeting.

After covering a few more details over the contents of the meeting itself, they parted ways. The repositioning of personnel and Nagato and Konan's integration in Mugetsu would come after the meeting had taken place.

Another few days down the line, a White Zetsu showed up at one of Mugetsu's offices that the Akatsuki knew about with a message. A meeting with their "leader" Pain to discuss a truce.

With the message delivered, he crept away and soon the message was passed on to one of Aion's terminals that promptly passed it on to Shiki.

The meeting was to be held in a small country, one in which neither Mugetsu nor the Akatsuki held any influence, three days from when Zetsu had delivered the message and each participant, namely Shiki himself and Pain/Nagato was allowed to bring no more than two subordinates to accompany them.

Shiki surmised Zetsu and Konan would be accompanying Nagato while he himself planned on bringing Guren and Chino who had acted as a part of Mugetsu for the longest amongst all core members.

The days passed and the time on the meeting arrived with both parties showing up exactly at the same time. Nagato's Chikushodo, accompanied by Konan and Zetsu and Shiki as the Reaper, accompanied by Guren and Chino, both in full Mugetsu gear with cloaks and masks.

"It's an honor to finally meet you. Reaper of Mugetsu." Nagato started.

'Man, this guy can act.' Shiki thought to himself.

"Indeed it is Pain. Now . . . To what do I owe this . . . invitation?" He responded.

"I've called you here to negotiate a truce between your Mugetsu and my Akatsuki." Nagato said.

"Oh? And what are the terms you are looking for I wonder?" Shiki asked.

"An immediate stop of all hostilities for starters." Nagato proposed.

"I can agree to that but it is far from enough for me let go of all grudges, since I obviously hold the advantage." Shiki countered.

"How so?" Zetsu intervened from the side.

"Three prisoners, Hidan, Sasori and Deidara. Along with the fact that if we consider our win / loss ratio along with the resources we have lost in this scuffle compared to what we have . . . Well, I'd say I have an absolute advantage." Shiki explained.

"We have a proposal to even the odds." Nagato said.

"We are aware that you broduce battle puppets that can move without an actual puppeteer so long as they have orders and we are willing to make a long term contract favoring your organization that will no doubt result in immense profit for you." He offered.

Zetsu then proceeded to explain the details of said contract and it was indeed a very nice offer, one even Shiki felt it was too good to pass up.

"Eh? Now that is slightly tempting." Shiki replied.

"What about my prisoners? What would you be willing to exchange for their release?" He inquired.

Once again Zetsu was the one to respond.

"The Akatsuki would be willing to step back from your area of operations and, should we require to operate in said areas, we'll forewarn you so long as you make a binding oath to secrecy." He said.

'Oh! They must be getting quite desperate but this will make watching their every move much easier and thus make the enactment of my plans much smoother . . .' Shiki thought.

Negotiations kept goin as more details were hashed out but Shiki accepted the deals in the most part but he had his own considerations going in the background.

Hidan had been tossed in the Box of Ultimate Bliss as an experiment and so, despite being perfectly capable of acting as his former self, he was now under Shiki's full control.

Sasori, as a puppet with just an organic core was also quite vulnerable to modifications and Shiki bought enough time until the release of the prisoners to finish making them, thus getting even more sleeper agents inside the Akatsuki.

Deidara on the other hand, would be much harder to brainwash without anyone noticing since the Box of Ultimate Bliss worked differently with the immortal Hidan, one of Shiki's experiments. Feeding the immortal to the Box and see if anything changed.

He was noticeable more functional that others but still under full control and now, Shiki had a perfect opportunity to return him to the Akatsuki as a sleeper agent.

Since this method would not work with Deidara however, he was returned unchanged.

Whatever the case, with all matter taken care off, the group dispersed, with Shiki planning to meet Nagato at a later date in order to settle their own matter while avoiding suspicion.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

P.a.t.r.e.o.n is officially up!

The link is: https://www.p.a.t.r.e.o.n.com/lusoba without the extra dots of course.

You'll get to read up to FOUR week ahead, a full month, but I'll still post here.

There's also my other novel Archon of DanMachi, do check it out!

I would greatly appreciate any support since this is going to be my breadwinner.