After Kisame Hoshigaki, Deidara, and Sasori surrendered,
Akatsuki's so-called "Konoha Tailed Beast Plunder Plan" was completely dead.
Konoha's shinobi were shocked by Akatsuki's sheer audacity, and at the same time, their admiration for the Fifth Hokage surged to new heights.
He was too strong—far too strong.
If not for the Fifth Hokage, Konoha might have been destroyed—the village reduced to rubble, with countless dead.
And so, under those circumstances—
The unity and confidence of Konoha's civilians and shinobi rose yet another level. The village quickly returned to its rapid development.
Of course—
With Kisame, Deidara, and Sasori submitting, Konoha's upper ranks also learned the truth about Akatsuki's real strength—and their ultimate goal.
Especially after learning that Akatsuki intended to use tailed-beast weapons to conquer the world, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Uchiha Fugaku, Hyūga Hiashi, and the others all drew sharp breaths, their expressions turning grave.
No one had expected that an organization the Five Great Villages had never truly taken seriously would harbor such vicious ambitions.
If not for the Fifth Hokage's overwhelming power—If Akatsuki hadn't smashed itself to pieces against Konoha…
Akatsuki alone could have plunged the entire shinobi world into a storm of bloodshed.
—
Konoha.
Inside the Hokage Tower's top-floor conference room in the central district—
"Deidara," Tsunade asked, bracing both hands on the table, her tone heavy, "you're saying Akatsuki has already been planning to gather the tailed beasts?"
"Yes."
Deidara's expression was bitter. "That's why Akatsuki attacked Konoha this time—for the Three-Tails, Five-Tails, and Eight-Tails."
"Sigh…"
Kisame shook his head helplessly. "Just didn't expect we'd fail at the last step."
"At this point, Akatsuki exists in name only," Sasori rasped. "Only Nagato and Konan are left."
After a moment's thought, Deidara added, "Nagato has the Rinnegan. Konan specializes in a special ninjutsu—Dance of the Shikigami."
"The Rinnegan…"
The instant those words were spoken, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Uchiha Fugaku, Hyūga Hiashi, and the others all turned even more serious.
After all—
That was the Sage of Six Paths' eye.
If Akatsuki hadn't run into the Fifth Hokage, Konoha might truly have been ruined.
"Alright."
Ren, who had remained silent until now, spoke with casual finality.
"First, we annex the Hidden Rain Village. Then we collect the tailed beasts ourselves—take Akatsuki's road and leave them nowhere to go."
In truth, Ren already knew everything about Akatsuki.
This was simply giving Tsunade and the others the full picture.
"No problem."
"Agreed. Annex the Hidden Rain Village first."
"Akatsuki struck first. We answer in kind—eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth."
Before the words even settled, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Fugaku, Hiashi, and the others' eyes went cold. They all nodded one after another.
As for Kisame, Deidara, and Sasori—
They could only wear bitter expressions.
In the end, they were the ones paying the price for everything…
—
The next day—
Konoha released a public announcement.
And once again, it threw the already-uneasy shinobi world into chaos.
The announcement said—
Akatsuki had launched a "Konoha Tailed Beast Plunder Plan." The result:
The Deva Path—Pain—was smashed to dust by the Fifth Hokage.
Hidan, Kakuzu, Uchiha Itachi, and Jūzō Biwa were killed.
Kisame Hoshigaki, Sasori, and Deidara surrendered.
Buzz—!
The moment the news spread, the shinobi world exploded.
Akatsuki had always kept a low profile. No one truly knew what kind of strength they possessed.
But when they finally moved—
They moved with frightening force.
Akatsuki had secretly gathered that many S-rank missing-nin.
If they had targeted any village—
Anything besides Konoha would have suffered a disaster.
The only good news was that Akatsuki—despite looking terrifying—had taken a catastrophic blow at Konoha's hands.
Dead were dead.
The rest had surrendered.
However—
That was only the beginning.
After announcing Akatsuki's defeat, Konoha also revealed Akatsuki's founding purpose to the world:
Akatsuki intended to use tailed-beast weapons to conquer the shinobi world.
In an instant, the shinobi world shook again.
Every major village began quietly gathering information on Akatsuki.
—
Amegakure, Hidden Rain Village.
Inside the tallest tower in the central district—
Humm!!
A terrifying pressure surged through the air.
Akatsuki's leader—Nagato—opened his Rinnegan, and an icy, heart-stopping ocular power spilled out.
Rage.
Pure rage.
Nagato hadn't imagined the Konoha operation would fail this completely.
Akatsuki's members were either killed—or beaten into surrender.
Each piece of that reality was like blood dripping from his heart.
He had poured everything into Akatsuki's growth.
And now, one mission—
One—
Had thrown them back to nothing.
Worse still—
Konoha had dragged Akatsuki into the full view of the shinobi world.
They had publicly exposed Akatsuki's purpose.
It was a slap in Nagato's face.
A dismantling of his stage.
A severing of every path forward.
For a long moment, Nagato trembled with fury.
He didn't know when Akatsuki could stand again.
He didn't know when his dream could be realized.
He didn't know how he was supposed to cross that mountain—
The Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Ren.
"Sigh…"
Konan, standing not far away, let out a quiet breath.
She didn't know what to say.
This defeat had burned away everything Akatsuki had accumulated over the years.
And the Fifth Hokage—
Uchiha Ren—
Had become a nightmare Akatsuki could no longer escape.
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