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Around midday, Obito arrived at the top of the tower and casually dropped the unconscious old man he had been carrying over his shoulder onto the floor with a dull thud.
"This is…" Pain's Rinnegan shifted downward, studying the elderly figure sprawled at their feet. "Who?"
"The Four-Tails jinchūriki," Obito answered evenly. "Right now we only need the One-Tail and the Two-Tails. Once we have them, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path will be able to absorb the first five tailed beasts completely. The Six-Tails is currently with Asachi Midorima, the Seven-Tails is in the Hidden Waterfall Village, the Eight-Tails is in the Hidden Cloud, and the Nine-Tails is still in the Hidden Leaf. That leaves six more to go. Which means the mission Itachi and the others are on right now is the real centerpiece. We absolutely cannot afford any mistakes."
Pain gave a slow nod of gratitude.
"Have you heard about the Five Kage Summit?"
"I've heard," Obito replied. "They're targeting us, aren't they?"
"But they're already too late," Pain said calmly. "We were originally concerned whether we would even get a real opportunity to collect all nine. Now the leaders of every major ninja village have left their home territories. Our movements will be far less restricted. The only real question is whether we have enough manpower."
"Four people—Kisame, Deidara, Itachi, and Sasori—should be sufficient to handle the Six-Tails and Eight-Tails. The One-Tail will be taken care of by the new pair, Hidan and his partner. As for the Seven-Tails, I'll handle that one personally. The Nine-Tails can wait. For one thing, its jinchūriki is still just a child—he's not going to cause any serious trouble. For another, the Nine-Tails needs to be the final piece fused last.
"I hope everything proceeds smoothly," Pain said.
"It will. But among all these assignments, the one that makes me uneasy is the group handling Itachi's team. They may be four people strong, but they're being asked to secure the Two-Tails, Six-Tails, and Eight-Tails simultaneously. That's an extremely heavy burden. I'm worried something could go wrong."
"You mean…"
"Every available member of Akatsuki has already been deployed. There's no one else left in reserve."
"So you want me to go?" Pain asked directly.
"No." Obito shook his head. "What I mean is that we should prepare for the worst-case scenario. Even with the people we currently have, it will be extremely difficult to stand against all five great ninja villages at the same time—not until we possess the Ten-Tails."
Konan watched Obito with clear suspicion, but just then their eyes met.
"Opportunities like this don't come often. A chance this perfect may never come again. If we succeed here, we will have eight tailed beasts in hand—only one step away from the Ten-Tails. No matter the cost, it's worth the attempt."
"I understand," Pain said, nodding once. "I'll have Konan accompany you. That should put your mind at ease. But there is one thing I want to remind you of: the One-Tail and Seven-Tails will not be easy targets either. Be careful."
"I know." Obito gave a slight nod, walked to the edge of the tower platform, and leaped off into the void below.
Konan's brows furrowed tightly. She stepped to the same edge and peered downward, but there was no sign of Obito anywhere in the distance.
"I'm leaving. What about you?" she asked, voice laced with worry.
"There are still the Six Paths of Pain. They will protect me," Pain answered.
Konan opened her mouth to protest, but Pain gently placed a hand on her shoulder before she could speak.
"You haven't forgotten Yahiko, have you?"
"No," Konan said quietly, shaking her head.
"Neither have I. Sometimes, in order to succeed, a price must be paid. So…"
"I understand. I will secure those three tailed beasts no matter what…"
"That's not what I meant." Pain's voice remained steady. "If you encounter danger—if you run into someone even those four cannot handle—then abandon them without hesitation."
"How can you—" Konan blinked in surprise.
"If the situation has deteriorated to the point that even those four cannot cope, then no matter how hard you fight, even if you sacrifice your life, you still won't succeed. Unless I myself intervene…"
Konan drew in a long, slow breath and gave the smallest nod of acceptance.
...
The first to arrive in the Land of Iron were Ōnoki and Kurotsuchi. Their village was geographically the closest, and since they had been the ones to propose the summit in the first place, it was only proper that they arrive early to set the tone.
The second group to reach the neutral country was led by Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage. Traveling with him was a young shinobi whom Ōnoki quickly learned was named Yamato.
There was no deep-seated animosity between the Leaf and Stone villages, so when the two Kage met, they were able to exchange polite greetings without too much tension.
After they had taken their seats, however, Hiruzen remained visibly troubled—his expression heavy, brows drawn tight, lost in thought. Ōnoki decided to break the silence first.
"You look like you've aged ten years since we last met."
Hiruzen let out a tired sigh. "Every village has its own headaches, doesn't it?"
"Wasn't Tsunade doing quite well in the role? Why did you have to come out of retirement again?" Ōnoki asked, genuinely puzzled.
Hiruzen gave an awkward, rueful smile.
Tsunade had stepped down from the position of Hokage largely because of the escalating conflict between the Hidden Sound and Hidden Leaf villages. The village elders had seized on the death of Kimimaro as an excuse to force the issue. But if one dug deeper, the real trigger had been Uchiha Itachi's defection.
Tsunade had genuinely wanted to mend relations with the Uchiha clan. She had made considerable efforts in that direction and had even achieved some modest success. Yet the upper echelons of Konoha had never fully lowered their guard against the clan. Only because Tsunade and Jiraiya had consistently mediated between the two sides had the growing rift been prevented from widening into an open break.
Then Itachi's betrayal shattered that fragile balance.
What came afterward was even worse. The Kazekage died while visiting Konoha, and the surviving Sand shinobi who had accompanied him pointed the finger directly at the Uchiha clan.
Overnight, the Uchiha became an unsolvable problem for the village leadership.
Externally, the Hidden Leaf was now locked in open war with the Hidden Sand. Internally, tensions between the Uchiha clan and the upper echelons had reached a boiling point—violence could erupt at any moment.
The village could not afford to send the Uchiha to the front lines; the elders feared they might turn against Konoha mid-battle. Hiruzen personally believed such a betrayal was impossible—after all, the entire war had begun precisely because Konoha had been unwilling to take decisive action against the Uchiha in the first place. But no outcome was ever certain, and the elders had eventually convinced him.
In short, the Hidden Leaf was now beset by internal division and external war. That was one of the main reasons Hiruzen was so eager to negotiate with the Sand.
Of course, he could never openly admit any of this to Ōnoki. Family scandals were never aired in public.
Kurotsuchi gave a light cough, smoothly interrupting her grandfather's line of questioning and redirecting the conversation.
"Lord Hokage," she said respectfully, "are you familiar with an organization called Akatsuki?"
"I am," Hiruzen replied. "Jiraiya once infiltrated the Hidden Rain Village and gathered intelligence on them."
"Really?" Kurotsuchi's eyes lit up with interest. Even Ōnoki leaned forward slightly, suddenly more engaged.
Jiraiya was one of the Legendary Sannin. He possessed the strength to have become Hokage himself, yet he had always preferred to wander the world.
If Jiraiya had personally investigated Akatsuki, it was unlikely he had come back empty-handed.
"So… what did he say?" Kurotsuchi pressed.
"I already told you the most important part," Hiruzen answered. "He infiltrated the Hidden Rain Village—which means Akatsuki's base of operations is located there."
"I meant more specific details," Ōnoki interjected.
"Well…" Hiruzen hesitated. "They have many extremely powerful shinobi. Jiraiya barely made it out alive. Also, it rains constantly in the Hidden Rain Village, and their leader is capable of using the rainfall itself to detect intruders."
"And after that?"
"Their ultimate goal is the tailed beasts," Hiruzen said in a low voice.
This last piece of information had not come from Jiraiya. It had been provided years earlier by Uchiha Itachi himself.