During the Shinno subjugation battle, the sight of Linto pulling out the Golden Wheel Rasengan from his pants pocket was seen by many. Even further back, he could pull a terrifyingly large Destruction Greatsword from empty space.
It was clear he possessed his own unique pocket dimension.
"If Linto actually pulls out a Tailed Beast CD and throws it into his dimension, we'll never be able to gather all nine Tailed Beasts again," Uchiha Itachi said.
A dimension linked by Space-Time Ninjutsu, if the caster dies, either the dimension is destroyed or the entrance can no longer be found.
Regardless of the outcome, the Tailed Beast CD would be lost.
What's more troublesome is that, judging from Raikage-A's state, extracting the CD doesn't mean death, and it even suppresses the Tailed Beasts' revival mechanism.
It's a truly unsolvable situation.
Kisame asked, "But can this really be done? It sounds like we're able to extract Tailed Beasts without harming the Jinchuriki."
Pain said with a deep voice, "In the past, it was probably impossible, but now it's hard to say. Don't forget, Linto's Research Institute just obtained White Snake Sage's memories."
Everyone understood.
The Evil God Great White Snake Squad's invasion of the Research Institute failed, Orochimaru's puppet body died, Hidan's mouth and eyes were captured alive, and White Snake Sage - Number Two died in the server room.
Before it died, it was still continuously synchronizing memories, filling the database to prevent the central control computer from detecting anomalies and triggering an alarm.
Although only a portion was read, that was White Snake Sage from one of the three sacred lands.
How rich were the research data, training experience, and Sage Art Ninjutsu in its memories!
With its knowledge, plus the support of thousands of scholars at the Research Institute, and Linto's incredibly strange abilities.
No one could say for sure.
The most important point was that Pain couldn't afford to gamble.
The Tailed Beast Weaponization Plan was the spiritual pillar that supported Nagato all the way to where he was now.
He was never someone who craved killing, and Nagato felt guilty for every person who died because of him.
However, the greater good in his heart triumphed over that guilt.
If Linto truly succeeded, the Tailed Beast Weaponization Plan would be directly sentenced to death, Nagato would be consumed by guilt, fall into madness, and might even choose to commit suicide.
No one knew if Linto could do it.
No one knew if Linto would directly fly back to Kirigakure after his negotiations with the Land of Wind Daimyo ended.
The longer time dragged on, the more variables there would be.
Therefore...
Pain said with a deep voice, "We must act now, and this is the only time we can act."
"Next, I will divide into three small teams. They will go to capture the Two-Tails Matatabi, the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki Fū, and the One-Tail Jinchuriki Gaara, respectively. We must complete the capture and sealing of all Tailed Beasts from one to seven in this operation."
The Akatsuki organization members nodded slightly.
In the past, they weren't very interested in Pain's plan, which was nothing more than an evil leader concocting a path to a world-destroying weapon of immense power.
Anyway, none of them were good people. The more chaotic the world, the better they prospered.
But now it was different.
After repeated operations, they genuinely wanted to see what the legendary Tailed Beast Weapon could achieve, and how far the Akatsuki, with such coercive military force, would go.
"Two-Tails Capture Team: Itachi, Kisame."
"Seven-Tails Capture Team: Tobi, Konan, Zetsu."
"And the One-Tail Capture Team."
Pain said, "I will lead the team. Deidara, Sasori, Hiruko, you will act with me."
Everyone nodded in agreement and were about to end the meeting.
Obito, who was standing to the side with his arms crossed, said in a deep voice:
"Pain, swap with me."
At these words, gazes suddenly turned towards him.
Swap?
It was known that the One-Tail Capture Team was specifically formed to confront Linto. Pain and Linto were considered a king-vs-king battle, and their greatest assurance for capturing the One-Tail.
Did Obito mean he was stronger than Pain?
Deidara, assigned to the One-Tail Capture Team, felt a premonition of something bad.
It's not scary to have a weak teammate; it's scary to have a weak teammate who acts tough!
Just as Deidara was about to speak, he heard Obito continue:
"After I failed last time, I kept thinking of ways to kill Linto. Now, I've found the answer. Let me go, Pain."
Pain stared deeply into Obito's masked eyes. After a long silence.
"I have only one request: the capture operation must be completed before Linto leaves the Land of Wind."
"No problem."
...
Land of Wind.
The setting sun fell into the rolling sand dunes, and the world suddenly went dark. After a few more seconds, once adjusted to the darkness, one could see the stars in the sky.
Linto's team was making a fire to cook in the desert.
For the first two days after setting out, Linto followed local customs, traveling at night and resting during the day, as is usual in desert regions.
But after two days, the group's biological clocks were becoming unbearable. Moreover, Linto discovered that as long as he stepped on the Earth, he could naturally control the Earth to regulate the temperature.
Centered around him, the path the team took was cool, and even the wind that blew carried a hint of coolness.
After discussion, they decided to travel during the day and rest at night to make their schedules easier and maintain their energy better to deal with potential attacks.
After all, they only had four days left to reach Washu City.
The closer they got, the more likely they were to encounter attacks from the consortium.
City Blindman poked at a roasted potato in the fire, twitched his nose, and nudged Amber sitting beside him with his elbow, chuckling softly and whispering:
"Linto-sama indeed has a way with women, even in the vast desert, beautiful women are writing him letters, two of them."
Amber looked back at Linto, who was reading a letter, and asked in a low voice, "How do you know they're beautiful?"
City Blindman pointed to his nose.
"This nose of mine recognizes women by scent.
The first letter, with fruity top notes, rich middle notes, and refreshing base notes – the writer is clearly a cold, alluring woman.
The second letter, no distinct top, middle, or base notes, uniformly floral, with a dense base note – the writer is obviously a dignified and vibrant woman."
Amber was amazed.
The two messenger eagles that had flown in earlier were handled by him. After confirming they were safe, he handed them to Linto.
The writers were Samui and Tsunade.
The former was cold and alluring, the latter vibrant.
He never expected it to be so accurate.
City Blindman lifted his chin slightly, "Back in my day, I was a heartthrob. Just a sniff, and I could nail a woman's personality within an inch or two. If it wasn't for the hardships of life, why would I have married an ugly hag?"
Amber looked at City Blindman's smug expression from head to toe, finding it a little familiar. "I know someone named Kambara Hayato. You two should get along well."
Linto, sitting on the other side of the fire, ignored their murmuring and flipped through the letters one by one.
He finished the first one. It was from Samui, explaining the situation of the invasion. Currently, they had read part of White Snake Sage's memories into the database and were waiting for Linto to return and review them.
Linto looked at the letter with a peculiar expression, somewhat confused as to why Hidan and the other two came.
Were they here to deliver something?
And to let Orochimaru wake up for some fresh air... It seemed they only had enough time to take a breath before he was alive again.
Linto shook his head and continued to the second letter from Tsunade.
Tsunade's message was much more concise, only writing one thing:
"Uchiha Itachi has applied to return to Konoha."