Preparations

[Pikachu]

Over in the distance the sound of the beginning of the final round of the Chuunin Exams could be heard. Matsuo, however, was standing at the entrance to the Sand Village. He was busy waiting for two friends of his to assist him in his preparations for the exams. But first he had one small business to attend to.

"Release."

With a puff of smoke Matuso was gone, and in his place as a man wearing an Akatsuki robe; Ishimaru. So far his plans had worked perfectly, and all that was left was for Shagoth and Yamata to arrive for the final part.

[Digital ♥]

Yamata cracked his knuckles as he appeared behind Ishimaru, he grinned as he glanced around. The sand village was pretty much empty, everybody was watching the exam finals.

"Hehehe those Genin are pathetic... though one of them concerns me. He would be a good recruitment for our team."he stated, "So... what do we need to do now?"

[Michael]

Shagoth appeared in a puff of smoke near Ishimaru. He was in a hand stand, but quickly jumped off his hands and on his feet. "Tada!" He shouted, with his arms extended. He enjoyed his little "Big Entrance" for a few seconds. "OK, hold the applause I'm here. What did I miss?" He said, moving back to a normal position.

[Pikachu]

Ishimaru didn't even flinch upon the unorthodox arrivals of his two teammates. Sometimes he wondered why he even recruited them. Then again, their offness could be helpful at times, as long as it was kept under control.

"How many of those genin are you going to consider for the team. First there was Mai and then that Toshiro, I assume. Personally, I don't care what you do with him. Unlike Mai, he's a nobody. Feel free to recruit him if you want." Ishimaru said, responding to Yamata's comment.

"Anyways, you two are just in time for the next phase of my plan. Now that everyone is at the stadium I need you to place bags of explosive notes at various places around the Sand Village. I've already placed a small one at the stadium myself, the rest of them are up to you. Report back to me with their locations. I'll be needing them for the next phase."

Ishimaru pulled out a piece of paper and wrote something down on it.

"Here is the location of the bags. It's not far from here, so there won't be a lot of time wasted. Have fun."

[Digital ♥]

"I`ll recruit who ever I want to Ishimaru."Yamata spat as he glanced at the paper. The ninja grinned as he planned out what he was going to do. If Ishimaru knew what Toshiro was able to become then he would consider him. Besides they didnt have very many people in the organization.

"So thats all we get to do? Just place the tags around the village?"He opened one of the bags and glanced over the tag, they didnt look like the normal ones. "Special tags? Or is that for me to find out?"

[Pikachu]

"You can recruit anyone you want for the most part. There are just a few ninja out there I have off limits at this time due to them being 'in the spotlight' so to speak, such as the Uchiha girl."

Ishimaru heard Yamata's observations about the tags, and he smiled a bit. It was an expensive touch to have it added to them (Ishimaru wasn't the greatest at seals, so he was forced to have them made by someone else), but it would be worth.

"Yes, they are special tags. These tags aren't activated by normal chakra. They require a much more powerful kind such as elemental or...demon."

[Digital ♥]

"Ahhh, I see.... There will be no winning until your long dead for them eh? HEhehehehehe, fun."Yamata laughed then disappeared. He began to look around to see where he should place the tags. Eventually he found a couple of good places then placed them.

[Michael]

"HeHe, just like Japanese Fire Works!" Shagoth said, as he grabbed his bag of explosive seals. He disappeared and began dropping them around random buildings and structures. After he got all the buildings, he then threw the rest of the seals every were else, like confetti.

[Digital ♥]

Once Yamata was done placing his tags in obvious but often over looked places he began to head back to his original spot. The star ninja stopped when he heard a foot step or two behind him. He grinned as he glanced over his shoulder.

"Ahhh, glad to see you came."

Toshiro took a few steps forward then appeared in front of Yamata.

"What do you know about my master?"asked Toshiro, Yamata walked forward and signaled him to follow. The two appeared before Ishimaru.

"The boy wants to know more about his master. I assume you mean his powers?"Yamata looked at Ishimaru as Toshiro nodded, "Well the leader of the organization probably knows more about him then I do, so why dontcha ask him..."

Toshiro stared blankly at Ishimaru and folded his arms across his chest.
"What do you know about him?"

[Michael]

Shagoth finished and disappeared and reappeared near Ishimaru. He glanced at Toshiro then to Yamata then to Ishimaru. Shagoth really didn't know what was going on so he decided to just listen.

[Pikachu]

The first thing Ishimaru thought of when he saw Toshiro is that he would have to have a serious discussion with Yamata about timing when this was all done. Bringing a genin who was to fight in the very next round of the exams straight to them was not smart. Someone may attempt to find him, and therefore eventually discover them. Not that he cared that much about that; it was a principles thing. Ishimaru prefered meticulous planning and timing while Yamata went almost purely on instinct.

"I believe that the first question belongs to me. Who is this 'him' you keep talking about. I may be an expert in genjutsu but I am not a mind reader. If you want to even bother talking to me I suggest in the future you do not take shortcuts on details."

[Digital ♥]

"Isnt it obvious Ishimaru? Toshiro wants to know about Pein and the Rinnegan, and frankly Im quite curious about him as well."Yamata told him, speaking for the younger ninja. Toshiro looked over Shagoth, interesting fellow was what he thought. Actually the rain ninja thought all three looked psycho, but if he wanted to know the secrets of the rinnegan he would have to put up with them.

Yamata noticed the young boys blank, yet curious facial expression and chuckled, "And who better to ask than the new akatsuki leader himself? Hehehehehehe."

[Pikachu]

The more time I spend with Yamata the more I think I'd be safer if I just had a giant bullseye on my back Ishimaru thought as Yamata told the young genin who he was. While he wasn't denying, telling such a fact to someone who wasn't even on their side yet was a risky move on Yamata's part. And Ishimaru hated risky moves. Still, there wasn't anything that could be done now, so he might as well play along.

"Thank you for being more specific. Now then, Toshiro here wants to know abotu Pein and the Rinnegan. I will fully admit that I know little about either of the subjects. As mentioned, Pein was supposedly the head of the former Akatsuki, though I've heard rumors regarding a Madara Uchiha really giving the orders. Anyways, the main thing I know about the Rinnegan is it somehow allowed Pein to control several bodies at once. Each body shared the other bodies vision. Outside of that I don't know much. The Leaf Village would have more information on him, but I'd assume all of that information is classified."

[Digital ♥]

Toshiro listened to Ishimaru carefully. No wonder he was so skilled with clones. The leaf village would know about Pein? Perhaps he would get these records. If he ever wanted to unlock his full potential he would have to find them, discovering them himself would take far too long.

"Where would this information be? The Hokage tower? Im sure it wouldnt be too hard to get my hands on."Toshiro told them, Yamata bit through one of his finger nails and looked it over. He was only half listening now.

[Michael]

Shagoth was not really interested in the conversation. He grabbed one of his Saki jugs, and took a few sips. He made sure to take small sips so he would stay sober. If a fight were to start he would just drink the whole thing in big gulps.