"And that is enough."
"Hm."
Konan nodded in agreement upon hearing this. As the saying goes, every matter has both advantages and disadvantages. Although each side recruiting new members might lead to chaos.
In the current world where the situation was not favorable for the Akatsuki, more combat power would indeed make collecting the tailed beasts smoother.
If distributed according to the original plan, each pair would have to handle roughly two tailed beasts on average. But now, with the increase in members, basically each pair only needed to handle one tailed beast.
That was far easier than before.
...
Land of Demons
Late at night
In a certain shrine, many guards patrolled back and forth, protecting the shrine's safety. But suddenly, five strangely dressed people launched an attack on them.
Most of the guards were ordinary people, while the attackers were all ninjas capable of using ninjutsu. Thus, it did not take long before all the guards here were wiped out.
Afterward, the space beside the five strangely dressed people distorted as if twisted, and a masked man emerged from within.
This person was none other than Obito. After Nagato recruited Shinnō and HIruko earlier, Obito had also instructed White Zetsu to search the ninja world for suitable candidates.
However, powerhouses were not cabbages sprouting up one after another. After Shinnō and HIruko, Obito found that there really were not many people in the ninja world he looked favorably upon.
Although there were many capable missing-nin, at most they were around elite jōnin level. That was decent elsewhere, but in the Akatsuki where the average was Kage level, they fell short.
Thus, Obito shifted his gaze elsewhere. Based on intelligence from Black Zetsu and White Zetsu, he soon found this place.
"This is the place, right? The location where the Mōryō's soul is sealed."
"Correct, this is it. As long as Lord Mōryō's seal is released, Lord Mōryō can cooperate with the various members of the Akatsuki. Conquering the world will surely be no problem then."
"Heh heh, I hope so. Continue, Yomi."
Seeing Yomi still trying to paint a big picture for him, Obito only smiled and did not take the other's words to heart.
Although legends did say Mōryō had the power to destroy the world, in Obito's view that was just legend. If it really had that ability, why was it still sealed here? Did it not want to get out?
Destroy the world? Forget others—even if it could get past Nagato, then talk about destroying the world. As for whether Mōryō could actually do it, Obito did not think so.
Moreover, according to Black Zetsu and White Zetsu's intelligence, for Mōryō to recover its full power, at least its soul and body needed to unite as one. But Obito had no intention of letting the other recover its complete form.
After all, what he needed was a Mōryō he could use, not a Mōryō that would turn on him immediately after full recovery. He had zero trust in such a demon.
However, the specific choice still depended on Mōryō's own strength. If Mōryō turned out to be a top-tier weakling with no real power, just big talk, and not even Kage-level strength.
In that case, he would definitely help fuse its soul and body. After all, if it was too weak, it had no use value. He might as well spend the effort recruiting normal humans.
Watching Yomi complete a series of operations, the seal on Mōryō's soul was thus released. After the seal was lifted, Obito could feel the powerful evil aura emanating from within.
"This level of strength? Just right."
Sensing the aura ahead, Obito gained a rough understanding of Mōryō's strength. Leaving aside the legend of it growing stronger through negative emotions, it was roughly ordinary Kage-level power.
That was sufficient—not too strong, not too weak, just right. And if he allowed the soul and body to unite, its strength would surely increase further, but then it would be much harder for him to control this demon.
With a plan in mind, Obito glanced sideways at the hidden White Zetsu in the distance. They had already planned this beforehand.
If Mōryō's soul strength met expectations, then White Zetsu would spread news of Mōryō's revival throughout the ninja world and exaggerate its threat, drawing people from other villages to prevent the body and soul from uniting.
Then, at the last moment, he would rescue Mōryō and invite it to join the Akatsuki. In that situation, Mōryō would basically have no choice but to accept. Plan successful.
Under Obito's expectant gaze, Mōryō's soul finally rushed out from the seal. However, the purple soul filled with evil aura did not enter the prepared body of Yomi as planned. Instead, it charged straight toward Obito himself.
"Hmph, fearless ignorance."
Watching the Mōryō soul rushing toward him, Obito sneered disdainfully. He made no move, simply standing in place calmly watching Mōryō approach.
"This body is mine now."
Seeing Obito nearby seemingly frozen in fear, Mōryō could not contain its inner joy. Originally, it had only planned to make do with the body of the person who helped unseal it.
But who knew that right after escaping the seal, it sensed a distant individual brimming with life energy. That was far more suitable than the others here, so Mōryō immediately changed its target to Obito.
However, what happened next greatly exceeded Mōryō's expectations. It found that upon contact with Obito, there was no sense of reality at all. The other seemed nonexistent, allowing it to pass straight through.
And that was not the end. After passing through Obito's body, Obito extended his hand toward it again. A powerful suction force followed, as if it wanted to devour him.
This startled Mōryō. It tried to struggle free, but because it lacked a physical form, it could not escape Kamui's powerful attraction at all.
Realizing its dire situation, Mōryō could only cut off its losses, sacrificing the portion of soul already absorbed by Obito to barely break free from the attraction.
After escaping, Mōryō no longer dared covet Obito's body. It immediately turned without hesitation and rushed toward Yomi. Seeing this, Obito did not block it further.
What just happened was merely a small lesson. His main purpose on this trip was still to recruit Mōryō. There was no need to make the other too miserable.
"Just who are you?"
After entering Yomi's body, Mōryō's mind settled somewhat. The masked man's ability was far too bizarre. In its soul state, it had no ability to fight back at all.
"I am called Uchiha Madara. You may not know me now, but you definitely will later."
Faced with Mōryō's question, Obito as usual pulled out the name Uchiha Madara to act mysterious. Combined with his earlier display, the effect on Mōryō was indeed quite good.