Naruto: A Century as an Arrancar, Starting Off by Killing the Demi-God

Kakuzu's provocation didn't come as a surprise to Uwa.

After all, in the original timeline, most of Kakuzu's previous partners had been killed by him.

The only reason Hidan survived was because of his immortality. Even then, the two were constantly bickering and threatening to kill each other.

"Didn't you say before…" Konan asked, her expression tinged with curiosity, "that the Akatsuki and Amegakure should remain separate? With Amegakure handling diplomatic affairs with the Five Great Nations publicly, while the Akatsuki operated from the shadows to deal with matters best kept out of the spotlight?"

She tilted her head. "You said it's best to play both sides, right? Once Amegakure becomes stronger than the Five Great Nations, the Akatsuki can then… wash… wash what again?"

"Wash their hands clean," Uwa reminded gently.

"Right! Wash clean," Konan nodded absentmindedly, then hesitated. "But since you've already revealed yourself as Amegakure's leader, wouldn't showing up at an Akatsuki meeting expose you? Wouldn't that make it harder to 'wash clean' in the future? Maybe you should wear a mask?"

"No need. I'll use a different identity."

Uwa gave a faint smile.

Right in front of Konan, he shifted into his "Reaper" form.

His dark green eyes turned pitch-black. The markings on his face vanished. The bony mask atop his head shattered into dust.

His once-white divine robes deepened into black, and his pallid skin quickly flushed with crimson vitality.

The transformation was dramatic, like a completely different person.

"Uwa-senpai, you…" Konan blinked, stunned.

If she hadn't watched the entire transformation, she wouldn't have believed the man standing before her was the same person.

His facial features, his presence, even his aura all completely changed.

The old Uwa gave off a cold, melancholic air, like an unreachable winter moon.

The new Uwa felt warm, easygoing, and radiant like sunlight.

He winked. "Which version's more handsome?"

"Uhh… this one," Konan answered before blushing.

"So the old one wasn't good-looking?" he teased.

"No, no, that's not it!" she quickly waved her hands. "You used to have that cool, aloof charm super hard to approach but very handsome in a mysterious way."

"Haha! I'm just messing with you."

Uwa chuckled, then added seriously, "From now on, I'll appear in this form as the Akatsuki's acting leader. Which means I can't use the name 'Uwa' anymore. Let's go with… 'Kuhaku.'"

"Kuhaku, got it."

Konan nodded, then turned to head back inside. "This is your first time showing up as part of the Akatsuki, so I'll fetch you a proper uniform and your code ring."

Watching her leave, Uwa shook his head with a helpless smile. "Whatever. It's just a uniform. As long as I don't take it off, nobody can kill me anyway."

A few minutes later, Konan returned with a fresh Akatsuki cloak, a small bottle of nail polish, and a silver ring etched with the character "虚" (Kuhaku).

"…Seriously?"

Uwa stared at the nail polish in silence.

He had forgotten that every Akatsuki member painted their fingernails some bizarre color.

Pain wore blood-red. Hidan used green. Kakuzu wore black. Itachi had blue…

And now, he was holding a bottle of white.

What kind of absurd artistic tradition was this?

As a man with blood in his veins and pride in his soul, Uwa firmly refused.

He suited up, slid on the ring, and, with Konan at his side, prepared to depart.

Since this would be the first full gathering of the Akatsuki, he'd even summoned Tobi back from his intel-gathering mission in the Land of Earth.

…

Somewhere deep within the Land of Rain…

Inside a massive underground cavern…

Crack!

A spatial rift slowly split open like a yawning mouth, and two figures stepped out one man, one woman.

"Uwa-senpai, I didn't know you'd mastered such a rare space-time technique. How does it compare to Tobi's?" Konan asked in awe.

"Hmm… hard to say. They each have pros and cons."

Uwa responded modestly.

His own technique, Kekkū, allowed for instantaneous teleportation through space-time.

Unlike Tobi's, his ability could carry multiple passengers with no delay or burden.

Tobi's Kamui, on the other hand, also offered teleportation but included a personal dimension allowing him to phase his body into an alternate space, rendering most physical attacks useless.

The only downside was that long-distance jumps with passengers slowed him down considerably, leaving openings in combat.

Still, with both Sharingan activated, Tobi had now reached Super Kage-level. His warp speed had increased severalfold.

Honestly, other than Uwa, there was probably no one in the entire shinobi world who could deal with Tobi head-on.

That said, when teleporting with others, Tobi's efficiency suffered drastically.

So which technique was better? It depended on the situation.

As they finished talking, the air beside them twisted violently.

Whoosh!

Tobi emerged from the spiral distortion. Seeing Uwa's altered appearance, his entire body tensed in alarm.

"Who are you?! How dare you barge into the Akatsuki's base?! Do you have a death wish?!"

"It's me," Uwa said, unamused.

"Eh…"

Tobi froze.

The voice was familiar, but he remained cautious.

With no choice, Uwa quickly switched into his battle-ready Kuhaku form, then reverted.

Seeing the transformation, Tobi was stunned. "You have a shapeshifting ability like that? Even people who know you well wouldn't recognize you… what kind of forbidden technique is this?"

"Even if I told you, you wouldn't understand and you definitely couldn't learn it."

Uwa waved him off. "Now listen. When Kakuzu and Sasori arrive, don't say a word. Just follow my lead. Got it?"

Tobi exchanged glances with Konan and nodded. "Got it."

It seemed…

Kakuzu was in for it.

Not even half an hour later, two cloaked figures stepped into the cavern.

Both wore Akatsuki's signature black robes with red clouds.

One had piercing green eyes, a black face covering, and a gray cloth wrapped around his head.

The missing-nin from Takigakure Kakuzu.

The other had a strange, slithering posture, his entire body low to the ground with a long silver tail behind him.

The rogue puppet master from Sunagakure Sasori of the Red Sand.

The moment they arrived, Kakuzu started grumbling under his breath.

"Ugh, what a waste of time. What's the point of these meetings? I could be out earning bounties right now. Seriously…"

He hadn't even finished complaining before he noticed Uwa standing nearby.

Curious, he turned to Konan. "A new recruit? This meeting's to welcome him?"

Uwa stepped forward with a calm smile. "I'm not a new recruit. Leader Pain is currently unavailable due to more pressing matters. I've been appointed to temporarily manage the Akatsuki in his place. In other words, I'm the acting leader. You can call me Kuhaku."

"Acting leader? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Kakuzu frowned.

"It means you can also call me vice-leader," Uwa replied with the same friendly tone.

"Vice-leader? You?"

Kakuzu gave Uwa a quick once-over, his expression full of disdain. "You don't even look like you've finished puberty. I can barely sense your chakra. You feel weaker than a Genin. What gives you the right to be our second-in-command?"