One day earlier, a secret Akatsuki Organization Base.
"Based on the intelligence I've gathered so far, this is the situation."
Zetsu meticulously reported all the intelligence he had gathered about Adam during his month-long infiltration of Konoha.
"A person from another World, who, by establishing a connection with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, can transfer the Kyuubi and appear in this World for one hour. Such a thing actually exists."
Uchiha Obito's face also showed an expression of disbelief after hearing Zetsu's report.
The last time, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki named Adam displayed too much power. He simply, right before Obito's eyes, snatched one Rinnegan from Nagato.
Especially that final Ninjutsu attack before he left, it truly startled him.
If he didn't clarify the intelligence on this new Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, many subsequent plans couldn't proceed.
So he sent Zetsu to infiltrate Konoha, to try every possible method to collect intelligence on Adam and figure out what exactly was going on with this new Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
Initially, the intelligence suggested Adam came from Mount Myōboku, but after deeper investigation, using various methods and means, he finally obtained complete intelligence about Adam from several Konoha high-ranking officials.
"According to your observation, he is summoned to Konoha from Mount Myōboku by Naruto every day at 2 PM, and disappears at 3 PM?"
"Normally, yes, but he hasn't appeared these past few days."
Zetsu reported.
As Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's third son, possessing some of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's memories, he had some conjectures about Adam's situation.
He believed Adam might be from another Planet in the Universe, who accidentally formed a connection with this Planet, leading to such a situation.
"He hasn't appeared?"
Obito's brows furrowed involuntarily.
To execute the Eye of the Moon Plan and create a World where Rin exists, it is necessary to collect the Chakra of all nine Tailed Beasts, revive the Ten-Tails to form the God Tree, and activate the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Currently, the Eight-Tails has not been captured, but he has already had Kisame hide inside Samehada and be taken away by the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, so its capture is only a matter of time.
The troublesome one is the Kyuubi.
It now appears that the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is still Naruto under normal circumstances, and becomes Adam when he appears.
To capture the Kyuubi, it's best to avoid the time Adam appears and capture it when the Kyuubi is inside Naruto.
So, he had originally planned to lead all Akatsuki members to attack Konoha, capture Naruto, extract the Kyuubi from his body, and avoid conflict with Adam, either before 2 PM or after 3 PM.
However, Adam hasn't appeared in Konoha these past few days, which makes the situation uncertain again.
"How about we wait a bit longer, until I see Adam appear, and then see him disappear, before we move to capture the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki."
Zetsu perceived Obito's concerns and offered his opinion.
But Obito shook his head:
"We can't wait any longer. The entire Ninja World has already united to hunt down Akatsuki, and we can't hide for much longer.
Since both Naruto and Jiraiya can summon him from Mount Myōboku, it's normal for you not to find him if he disappears for a few days.
We will launch a full-scale attack on Konoha tomorrow at 4 PM, and we must successfully capture the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki."
He paused here:
"If the situation goes awry, you are to control Nagato's body and use the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to revive Uchiha Madara."
In his original plan, he didn't intend to revive Uchiha Madara.
Although the Eye of the Moon Plan was devised by Uchiha Madara, Obito himself was saved by Uchiha Madara back then.
However, deep down, he didn't fully trust Uchiha Madara. Instead of letting Madara revive to complete the Eye of the Moon Plan, why not complete it himself?
The outcome is the same anyway.
A World with Rin, a completely peaceful World without war, a happy World where everyone's wishes come true.
But if an unexpected situation truly arose, and the entire battle turned, then he would need to leverage Uchiha Madara's power to deal with Adam.
The intelligence Zetsu gathered about Adam was too incredible. If it wasn't accurate, or if the information was wrong, with Akatsuki's current strength, facing Konoha and Adam, they might not necessarily win.
Even if the intelligence was accurate, they still had to consider the worst-case scenario: Adam didn't appear at the normal time but suddenly showed up in the middle of their fight.
In fact, there was an even worse possibility.
That is, if Adam's appearance indeed caused the Kyuubi to transfer into Adam's body, then even if they captured the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki Naruto and extracted the Kyuubi to seal it into the Ten-Tails' shell, it would be useless.
Because as soon as Adam appeared in this World, the Kyuubi would be gone.
He didn't want to go through all the trouble of reviving the Ten-Tails, only for it to revert to its original form because the Kyuubi suddenly disappeared.
Or even worse, immediately after completing the Infinite Tsukuyomi, Adam arrives in this World, the Kyuubi returns to Adam's body, the God Tree is dispelled because it lacks the Kyuubi, everyone breaks free from the God Tree's control, and the Infinite Tsukuyomi also vanishes.
Therefore, the safest method was actually to kill Adam. If Adam died, such a situation would naturally not occur.
"No problem."
Zetsu smiled and nodded.
Of course, Uchiha Madara had to be revived. Reviving Uchiha Madara and activating the Infinite Tsukuyomi was the only way for his mother, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, to be freed from her seal on the Moon.
"Then let us go persuade Nagato!"
Obito put on his mask, transformed into Obito, and disappeared using Kamui.
The next day, at 4 PM, twelve Ninja wearing the standard Akatsuki Organization fire cloud robes appeared in the forest on the outskirts of Konoha Hidden Village.
They were the Six Paths of Pain controlled by Nagato, Sasuke's Taka team, Konan, and Obito.
Last time, after one Rinnegan was taken by Adam, Nagato's ocular power was greatly reduced. He had initially thought he could no longer calmly control the Six Paths puppets.
However, after recuperating, he found that while having one less Rinnegan indeed significantly reduced his ocular power, the burden the Rinnegan placed on his own body was also halved, making it even easier to control the Six Paths puppets.
Sasuke was willing to join Akatsuki because Obito told him that once the Kyuubi was gathered and a super weapon of war was created, he could borrow its power to exact revenge on Konoha.
Now that Akatsuki had decided to directly destroy Konoha, he naturally couldn't ask for more.
As for Konan and Obito, one of them was originally supposed to guard Nagato's main body, while the other had always hidden behind the scenes.
But this time, they also appeared here.
Because before devising the plan, Obito considered that if Adam appeared, Zetsu would need to control Nagato to use Rinne Rebirth to revive Uchiha Madara for assistance, and Konan, guarding Nagato, would inevitably intervene.
So, he specifically used the excuse that Konoha's current strength would be tough to crack, bringing Konan here. To alleviate her suspicions about him, he himself also no longer hid behind the scenes.
As for the other Akatsuki members, Itachi died at Sasuke's hands, Kisame was hidden with the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Deidara self-destructed and died in battle with Sasuke, and Sasori was killed by Chiyo and Sakura working together.
Kakuzu and Hidan were captured alive by Adam and are currently serving time in Konoha.
"I'll go in and draw all the fire. Madara and Konan will capture the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. Sasuke, your Taka team..."
Pain was about to assign tasks but was interrupted by Sasuke raising his hand:
"My targets are Danzo, Homura Mitokado, and Utatane Koharu. Only after killing them will I help you destroy Konoha."
"Alright."
Pain nodded and then threw the Animal Path, which could summon the other five paths, into Konoha first.