The next day, early morning.
Amegakure.
On the tall tower.
Two figures wearing red-cloud black robes stood within.
The one on the left wore a pale purple paper iris flower on her head, Konan.
However, standing on her right now was no longer the past indifferent orange-haired puppet, Deva Path.
But...
Nagato, whose body had fully recovered.
He was also wearing Akatsuki's red-cloud black robe, his gaze fixed on the distance.
A moment later, he finally spoke:
"Konan,"
"Have all the teams sent out on Tailed Beast capture missions successfully returned to Amegakure?"
"Yes."
Konan nodded and replied:
"That's right."
"The Jinchuriki they brought back have also been restrained according to your instructions."
"Currently, the One-Tail, Two-Tails, and Four-Tails are all in place."
Hearing this, Nagato nodded.
This situation basically matched the results he had anticipated.
The One-Tail in the Land of Wind, captured by Kyo and Deidara's team, completed.
The Two-Tails in the Land of Lightning, captured by Hidan and Kakuzu's team, completed.
The Four-Tails in the Land of Earth, captured by Itachi and Kisame's team, completed.
The only deviation from the plan,
Was the Three-Tails in the Land of Water.
Originally in the plan, it was to be captured personally by Konan and Pain, and they also intended to incidentally try to take the Six-Tails from Kirigakure as well.
But unexpectedly,
Before they could officially set out,
The transformed Obito had led that Kitsune Ogre of Las Noches to cause trouble in Amegakure.
And it seemed,
It's not at all a spur-of-the-moment action,
But a well-planned attack.
If Kyo hadn't arrived in time to save the day, Akatsuki likely wouldn't exist anymore.
Therefore,
The mission to capture the Three-Tails was also delayed.
However, fortunately,
Three Tailed Beasts had already been captured, which was a consolation.
Thinking this,
Nagato's gaze shifted, instantly summoning the hidden Deva Path, and then said:
"In that case... let's have a general assembly."
"Huh?"
As Nagato's words fell,
Konan was momentarily stunned, then asked in surprise:
"Are we... going to start the Tailed Beast extraction ritual?"
She naturally knew,
To maintain the structure of Akatsuki, Nagato couldn't appear personally, so he still needed to show himself as Pain.
But she didn't understand why Nagato chose to assemble at this time.
Hence her speculation.
Hearing this, Nagato shook his head and said:
"The extraction ritual is still too early."
"Too many things have happened during this period,"
"Since Kyo hasn't indicated that the Tailed Beast extraction plan needs to start now, it means there are still some more important matters to handle."
"So,"
"I want to hear his views first."
"Incidentally, also see the reactions of the other members."
As Nagato's words fell,
Konan nodded in understanding.
She naturally understood the underlying meaning in Nagato's words,
In fact,
Since that conversation began.
The two of them had reached a consensus in their hearts.
Akatsuki's originally planned nuclear deterrence peace plan using the Tailed Beast weapons was now fundamentally untenable.
On the contrary, the deterrence and balance proposed by Kyo could bring long-term equilibrium.
Therefore,
The Tailed Beast extraction ritual,
Indeed didn't need to be rushed.
…
Inside the Outer Path Statue cave.
Akatsuki's nine members stood in position.
Among them, naturally, included the returned Kyo and Itachi, as well as the traitor Black Zetsu.
"I'll skip the small talk."
Pain spoke in his usual indifferent tone, calmly, his gaze sweeping across everyone's faces, and said indifferently:
"The Jinchuriki capture mission this time has progressed quite well."
"However,"
"There have also been mutations."
"Not long ago, Obito, who was expelled from the Akatsuki organization, led that Kitsune Ogre of Las Noches to attack Amegakure."
"--!????"
As Pain's calm words fell, instantly, the entire venue fell into dead silence!
Except for Kyo and Deidara, almost all the other members constricted their pupils and froze.
Whether it was Kakuzu or Hidan, or Itachi and Kisame, they all stopped.
What's going on...?
Whoa?
Akatsuki's traitor, Uchiha Obito... actually allied with the Kitsune Ogre of Las Noches???
These two guys, who had nothing to do with each other, simultaneously attacked Amegakure...?
This kind of incredible, ridiculous news naturally shocked them immensely.
Especially Itachi, who had crossed paths with the Kitsune Ogre long ago.
At this moment,
Hearing this,
A flash of horror shot through the depths of his Sharingan gaze.
That powerful Kitsune Ogre of Las Noches...?
Actually teamed up with Uchiha Obito...????
How... is this possible...?
Weren't they desperately fighting over the Sharingan back then...?
In Itachi's mind,
He still clearly remembered,
On the night of the clan massacre years ago,
Just as he and the masked man were about to leave Konoha, they were blocked by the Kitsune Ogre, who claimed to be one of Danzo's men...
And at that time,
He was mercilessly defeated by the Kitsune Ogre,
To the point where the masked man had no choice but to use his Space-Time Ninjutsu to absorb him.
However, later, for some unknown reason...
The Kitsune Ogre inexplicably disappeared from his Kamui Dimension...,
And,
The next time he appeared,
It was already the famous Kikyo Castle battle.
All of this,
Had once been very hard to believe for Itachi.
But now,
Hearing Pain's words...
A very bold speculation suddenly arose in his heart—
What if,
As early as back then,
The masked man and the Kitsune Ogre were just putting on an act...?
Realizing this,
Itachi's gaze suddenly became even more grim.
If that were really the case,
Then,
Their conspiracy back then was a bit too big...
Just as he was thinking this,
Kisame beside him suddenly curled his lips, showing a strange smile, and muttered to himself as if in a trance:
"Well..."
"So that's how it is."
"No wonder that area outside Amegakure has turned into a mess of rubble..."
"Just as expected, it's the aftermath of a battle."
In fact, the moment they returned to Amegakure,
They naturally immediately noticed the vast ruins outside Amegakure.
However,
They didn't know the reason before,
Now, combining Pain's words, it wasn't hard to imagine the scene back then...
Obviously,
At that time, Obito wanted to take advantage of the gap when all Akatsuki members were away to sneak attack Amegakure and destroy Akatsuki's foundation.
As a result,
They were successfully repelled by Pain and the others...
Thinking this,
And after listening to Kisame's words,
Hidan beside him showed an extremely surprised expression, gasped, and said:
"Could it be...!
"That collapsed area was actually the aftermath of a battle with the enemy???"
"As expected of our leader, when I first saw it, I thought it was a natural disaster like an earthquake or a meteorite..."
Hidan looked at Pain with an expression of great admiration.
Obviously,
He, who had never possessed explosive power, still had some awe for people with such strong power.