Akatsuki's Movements

In June, the rainy season in Konoha was coming to an end, and the weather was beginning to clear up.

While Sakura Haruno's Team was training under the sun, some countries were still experiencing continuous rain.

The Land of Rain, also known as the Land of Weeping, is just like that.

It rains a lot here, especially during this season, when it's incessantly drizzling for months on end; the sun and stars are hidden, and the mountains are concealed.

Amegakure.

On the tallest tower in the west of the village, a gentle woman wearing purple paper flowers in her hair stood by the window.

I haven't seen the sun for almost a month.

She gazed at the fine rain pouring down outside the window and said softly.

"Nan, if you don't like it, just stop it." A ninja with short orange hair walked over from behind and stood by the window, saying calmly.

"No need, let it be natural, Pain." The woman named Nan shook her head. Her beauty was stunning, like an angel. Her gentle eyes glanced back at Pain and asked, "What did he call us here for?"

"That guy, Madara..." Pain was about to answer when a thought suddenly struck him, and he and Nan turned around together.

"Ban, you've come..."

"There are some things I need to tell you." A man wearing Spiral Mask emerged from the ripples of time and space, appearing before the two. "Something that will affect 'Akatsuki's' actions."

He used the alias Madara Uchiha to operate in the shadows of the Shinobi World, but his true identity was Obito Uchiha.

Pain and Nan exchanged a glance.

Let's go.

Xiao's conference room.

It was a very spacious hall with three sofas in the middle, and nothing else.

The overly minimalist decor made the room feel unusually empty, and Pain's voice even echoed in the spacious room.

"What happened?" he asked calmly, sitting on the sofa.

"The spy family I planted in the Land of Water has been wiped out," Obito Uchiha coldly, staring at Pain.

"What does the Land of Water have to do with Akatsuki?" Nan Xiu frowned and asked coldly.

"Of course they're related. They've been responsible for relaying information about the Three-Tails' resurrection," Obito glanced at the woman and explained. "Without them, our operation to collect Isobu, would be greatly affected."

"Lack of intelligence support?" Pain asked.

Obito nodded. "That's right. Although we have a general idea of Isobu's resurrection time and the waters around him, without the support of locals familiar with the Land of Water, finding Isobu with our own manpower will be very difficult!"

Pain lowered his eyes, pondered for a moment, and asked, "What do you plan to do? Control another spy family or the Mizukage?"

"No, that would be too much trouble," Obito shook his head in disagreement, "Besides, Kirigakure certainly won't make that mistake again..."

"Even without intelligence support from spies, Akatsuki's strength is not a threat to Kirigakure. We have nothing to fear from them," Nan reminded them. "If the Fifth Mizukage and the Six-Tails Jinchuriki dare to obstruct us, just kill them!"

The Masked Man continued to shake his head.

"I used to think the same way, but things have changed recently," he said, tapping his fingers on the armrest of the sofa. "According to intelligence, Konoha and Mist Ninja have formed an alliance. They share a common goal: to fight against our Akatsuki organization!"

Pain scoffed, "Another country that sees us as a thorn in its side."

"No, they already hated us to the core; they've just joined forces now," the Masked Man said calmly. "The Mist Ninja are already half-crippled and won't recover anytime soon, so they won't have a significant impact on our plans. Considering only them, we can indeed forcefully carry out the mission to retrieve Isobu. However, now there's the added variable of Konoha..."

"You mean," Nan's eyes darkened, "that Konoha will help Mist Ninja capture the Three-Tails?"

"There's no genuine mutual trust among the Five Great Shinobi Villages. Kirigakure wouldn't allow Konoha to interfere in the capture of the Tailed Beast," Pain stated confidently. "Besides, Mist Ninja and Konoha have only recently formed an alliance and are still in a state of mutual distrust."

No, you're wrong.

Obito stood up and walked around the hall.

He paced back to the sofa before saying, "There's a new variable. We never took it seriously before, but now that I think about it, it seems we underestimated it..."

"Her?" With a woman's intuition, Nan keenly sensed that the "a" Obito mentioned referred to a woman.

A girl they once considered insignificant.

"That's right, that Ice Release girl named Sakura Haruno." Obito sat on the armrest of the sofa, giving Minami a deep look, his serious tone showing that he was not joking.

"The power of Ice Release..." Pain said in a low voice, "Should be far inferior to our Sharingan and Rinnegan. Why do you value a ninja with little potential so much? Even if she reaches the 'Kage' level, in front of the Rinnegan, she's nothing more than a slightly stronger ant!"

His words were filled with unquestionable confidence.

And that was indeed the case. Akatsuki had gathered powerful missing-nin from various countries, all of whom were terrifyingly strong, comparable to the Kage of their respective villages. However, in Pain's eyes, the power of the Rinnegan was on a higher level than theirs! He had fought some of the more unruly members, and these so-called "Kage" level ninjas were no different from ordinary ninjas in his eyes!

"But she has indeed caused us a lot of trouble. And we can't be too careless. I've recently gathered some information on her. In Sakura Haruno's strength composition, Ice Release isn't her main combat power; she also possesses several powerful Secret Technique that are even more troublesome than Ice Release!" Obito said solemnly, "You should still remember the battle that took place in the Land of Waves last month."

"That's indeed what the intelligence reports say. And then?" Pain countered.

The affairs of the Land of Waves are too distant for them to concern themselves with. It's only because of their significant impact that they are paying attention to them.

"The side participating in the war has been confirmed as Sakura Haruno," Obito replied.

"She's growing very fast, and it seems she's far from finished. Looks like... we've gained another thorn in our side!" Pain sneered, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Furthermore, it was she and the Fifth Mizukage who completely crushed the traitorous clan in the Land of Water." Obito ignored Pain's tone and continued, "After that, Mist Ninja and Konoha established diplomatic relations. I don't know exactly what kind of deal was made between the two villages, but the level of trust between Mist Ninja and Konoha seems to be higher than we imagined."

"My previous plan to control the Fourth Mizukage and weaken the Mist Ninja has been discovered... The Mist Ninja now hates Konoha to the core, and I suspect they might be thinking, 'We'd rather Konoha get the Three-Tails -Three-Tails than let Akatsuki get it,' and thus involve Konoha in the Tailed Beast capture plan!"

After hearing Obito's analysis, Pain and Nan fell silent.

"Even if the Mist Ninja and Konoha join forces, they can't send out more skilled fighters." Pain pondered for a moment, then said, "To be on the safe side, we can send two teams to retrieve the Three-Tails. No matter how much Konoha and the Mist Ninja gather, they can't possibly withstand the strength of two Akatsuki squads."

"Okay. The first group will carry out the mission, and the second group will provide support. To avoid any unforeseen circumstances, I will personally handle this mission!" Obito tapped his mask and pointed to himself, "As a reserve member, Tobi. Since Sasori's team only has him, I can team up with him as the second support group."

"A scorpion?" Pain frowned slightly, pondering for a moment.

"Nan, how well has his combat strength recovered?"

As a puppeteer, Sasori's combat power is closely related to the puppets he wields.

According to the intelligence report from Zetsu after the battle, Sasori's puppets suffered heavy losses after fighting Sakura Haruno. The formidable giant scorpion and the ace Kazekage puppet were wiped out, and almost half of the Performance of a Hundred Puppets was destroyed, instantly reducing their strength by a significant margin...

The woman closed her eyes, purple eyeshadow covering them, making her appear even more alluring. After a moment's thought, she said, "Things went fairly smoothly. The number of puppets Performance of a Hundred Puppets has been greatly increased, and Deidara's corpse has been used to create new Human Puppet. Because the corpse was in very good condition, the puppets' combat power has been well preserved, so Sasori's combat power hasn't dropped too much."

"Very good." Pain nodded.

"If Konoha sends reinforcements, it'll just be the same old faces. They only have a few ninjas they dare to send out to fight us." He looked at the Masked Man and said, "Scorpion is countered by Sakura Haruno, so it's best to prevent him from facing that girl."

"I know about this," Obito waved his hand impatiently. "The Three-Tails' revival is estimated to be around the beginning of next year, with no more than a few months' margin of error. Before that, according to the plan, we need to collect the Jinchūriki of the Five-Tails, Seven-Tails, and One-Tail in the second half of this year. However, because of Konoha's interference, the major ninja villages have increased their vigilance against us. If we delay any longer, things might change!"

"You want to move the plan forward?" Pain asked, sitting up straight.

"Yes... before they get on their guard!" Obito, "First, capture the Five-Tails, who's hated by the village, and the Seven-Tails, who's in the country. Then there's the One-Tail Jinchuriki. According to intelligence, he's also very unpopular in the village; he's the type that no one would be willing to rescue if he were taken away. In short, we can move things forward a little earlier!"

Pain and Nan exchanged a glance.

"This is several months ahead of schedule, and many planned tasks haven't been completed yet! For example, the intelligence gathering on the Eight-Tails..." Nan retorted, "Isn't this too rushed?"

"The remaining work can be completed after the plan is launched," Obito countered. "We can't possibly prepare the plan to perfection before proceeding! Especially since the major ninja villages are showing signs of uniting against us, the future could change in an instant!"

"First, we'll use skillful tactics to capture the first few Tailed Beast. Once we've accumulated enough power, we can even launch a direct assault on a country or a ninja village to capture Jinchūriki!"

"Okay, you do have a point... I agree." Pain nodded.

"So... who will go?"

"The Five-Tails is fine with me and Sasori," Obito. "As for the Seven-Tails, let Uchiha Itachi and Kisame handle it!"

(Third update! Bonus chapter for 400 monthly votes!)

(It's almost the end of the month, and my monthly votes will expire if I don't vote now! Please vote! I've finished three chapters today!)