Tsunade refrained from sending a single ninja to honour her agreement with Mufeng and sent a warning to Enichi.
"Don't think I'm easy to bully. You know what you've done."
But Enichi had no idea. He thought Homma was just going to teach Konoha a lesson, not realising that Homma intended to destroy the village.
He was utterly stunned when he listened to Homma's explanation of his "Thunder Dream" plan.
"Baka!"
Enichi furiously grabbed a sword from a retainer behind him and swung at Homma.
"Bakayarou, who gave you the right to destroy Konoha!"
Enichi was no naïve Momojiro. Having served as Daimyo for so many years, how could he not know that Konoha's military power was the backbone of the Land of Fire?
And now Homma had gone and, without warning, cut off one of the country's significant limbs. Enichi couldn't tolerate this.
As the sword swung towards him, Homma's eyes flashed with sorrow. The lord he had fought so hard to protect couldn't understand his intentions.
Once Konoha followed the Sand Village's path towards industrialisation, how much longer could the Daimyo's status be maintained? Homma's heart turned cold.
He resigned himself to his fate.
"If the lord wishes his retainer to die, I have no choice but to die."
Homma closed his eyes as the sword came whistling down. But then there was a loud metallic clang, followed by Enichi's startled voice.
"Who are you?"
Homma quickly opened his eyes to see a man in an orange spiral mask wearing Akatsuki's red-clouded cloak, blocking Enichi's sword with a kunai. It was Obito.
"Hehe, call me Tobi. From now on, you can call me Senior Tobi. I'm finally a senior now."
Obito had been keeping a close eye on Konoha, and naturally, someone as ruthless as Homma caught his attention. This was the perfect time to recruit him.
Homma was shocked to see Obito's bizarre behaviour.
Enichi enraged at being ignored, swung his sword again.
"Die, you bastard!"
Obito grabbed Homma and flew out of the room. With a Kamui, both he and Homma vanished.
When Homma opened his eyes, he found himself with Obito on a mountaintop.
"Who are you?" Homma raised his staff in defence.
Obito introduced himself.
"I'm Tobi from the Akatsuki. Our organisation is recruiting new members, and you're a good fit, so I'm inviting you to join.
Homma had heard of the Akatsuki, rumoured to be an evil organisation composed of S-rank rogue ninjas from various nations.
"Hmph, I won't ally myself with rogue ninjas like you."
Obito mockingly replied, "Aren't you already a rogue ninja? Oh wait, you're not even a rogue ninja, you're an abandoned ninja, discarded by your lord."
Homma flew into a rage, transforming his staff into a chain whip and attacking Obito. But with Obito's Kamui phasing ability, all of Homma's attacks passed right through him. Even when Homma tried to claw at him with his iron claws, it was as if Obito wasn't there.
It was only then that Homma realised that this "Tobi" was not someone to be taken lightly. He understood that Obito could quickly kill him if he wished.
Finally, Homma calmed down.
Obito smiled, "Good, I think we can now have a reasonable conversation."
Homma asked, "What does your organization want?"
Obito replied, "Despite what people say, our organization aims to create a world without war, a world of eternal peace."
"Hmph, quite the noble dream," Homma scoffed.
"And will Konoha exist in that world?"
Obito shook his head. "Of course not. As long as a source of chaos like Konoha exists, there can never be peace."
After a moment of reflection, Homma agreed to join Obito's organization. A world without Konoha was precisely what he wanted.
Obito was pleased.
"Welcome to the Akatsuki."
With Homma filling in for Sasori, the Akatsuki's membership was once again complete. Homma donned the red-cloud cloak and took on the role, wearing the ring of the jade position.
Akatsuki had successfully recruited a new member.
Meanwhile, in the Land of Fire, Enichi was dealing with the fallout. He had ordered a bounty on Homma and the unknown ninja (Obito) and urgently sent Hosokawa to Konoha to explain the situation.
Unfortunately, Tsunade wasn't one to be swayed.
She completely ignored Hosokawa's explanation. "The Daimyo was unaware? He was deceived by evil ministers? I don't care."
She asked Hosokawa just two questions:
"Has anyone invaded the Land of Fire?"
Hosokawa shook his head. "No."
"And have you captured Homma?"
"No."
Tsunade shouted in anger, "Then what are you here to talk about?"
"Go back and tell the Daimyo: if no enemies have set foot in the Land of Fire, then the country is not in danger."
"If they do, Konoha will act."
"But right now, the Daimyo has asked us to assist the Land of Rivers. Ninjas have the right to choose whether or not to accept a mission."
"Konoha is currently busy with reconstruction. We don't have time to accept any missions."
"Please leave."
"And if you come back, either bring Homma's head or tell me the enemy has entered the Land of Fire."
With that, Tsunade decisively dismissed Hosokawa.
Hosokawa returned to report, and Enichi was furious.
Konoha was now openly disrespecting him. But since he was in the wrong, he could only grit his teeth and endure.
"Fine, then I'll hire other ninjas to help."
"And I'll make sure to spend a fortune."
"I want Konoha to see that I, Enichi, can defeat the Sand Village without them!"