---Hiro joins the Akatsuki--
Hiro is still a humble Amegakure genin with very few of the powers he would eventually acquire.
Hiro does experiments with mice.
The experiments are a success.
The corpse eater technique can now fully copy a subject's memories, though it still can't copy their form.
Hiro hears fighting while traveling to his village.
He arrives to find two of his countrymen.
One is dying, and the other orders Hiro to perform first aid while he chases the attackers.
The dying man tries to get Hiro to relay a message of critical importance, but he dies before he finishes relaying it.
Hiro uses the corpse eater technique to find out what the message was, but he messes up and falls unconscious.
Hiro wakes up believing he is the dead ninja and tries to carry out his mission.
Hiro arrives at an Akatsuki camp where a sensory arts user smells the blood in Hiro's breath and knocks him unconscious.
Hiro wakes up believing he is himself again and gets interrogated.
During this interrogation Hiro and the Akatsuki begin to piece together what happened.
Hiro relays the message of the dying man.
The message is that the meeting Yahiko is going to today is a trap where he and all the leadership of the Akatsuki will be killed.
Enemy sentries realized the jig was up and attacked the Akatsuki camp without the element of surprise they were hoping for.
Hiro and the Akatsuki fight off the ambush, but there are catastrophic casualties.
Only Hiro and Yahiko survive.
Yahiko's dream of a peaceful resolution to the wars engulfing the world are shattered.
Yahiko ponders killing Hiro for eating the brain of one of his most trusted comrades.
He instead orders Hiro to eat the brains of his most loyal allies who died in the battle.
In doing so, Yahiko ensured that Hiro would become fanatically loyal to him and acquire all the skills and knowledge needed to restart the Akatsuki.
And so, Hiro loses his individuality and becomes one of the founding members of the new Akatsuki.
Yahiko realizes he must take drastic measures if he is ever to achieve his dream of world peace.