Wu Chen had come to take control of New York's underworld, then use its intelligence network to locate the seal.
Of course, that was not his real objective. His real objective was to take control of the underworld and then act all of this out.
He wanted the outside world—or, more precisely, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the governments of various countries—to know that a force lurking in the shadows was coveting the Tailed Beasts Minato Namikaze had spoken of.
He wanted the whole world to believe that the Tailed Beasts were real, and that they were nearly invincible beings ordinary people could not stand against.
As long as they believed all of that, it would be much easier for Wu Chen to increase his acting progress for any Hokage World character in the future.
All this groundwork might seem tedious, but it would make things easier later on.
A true climax was built on groundwork.
Knowing this full well, Wu Chen was in no hurry as he spent time here with Kingpin.
Besides, less than half an hour had passed since he arrived at Kingpin's place. There was still plenty of time.
Wu Chen was in no hurry to leave. He was making the final preparations for the opening act.
That meant assigning Kingpin and the others to search for the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's sealing location.
According to Wu Chen's setup, the Masked Man's side of the Akatsuki did not know the Nine-Tails' exact sealing location. They only knew he was in New York, but not exactly where.
That was why they had sought out Kingpin, the emperor of New York's underworld, hoping to use the local power's influence to find the Nine-Tails' sealing location.
After assigning Kingpin and the others this task, Wu Chen also gave them a brief introduction to the Tailed Beasts' power.
Kingpin and the others immediately looked shocked.
According to their lord, each Tailed Beast was a reusable nuclear bomb with a mind of its own!
And one of those Tailed Beasts was sealed right here in New York!
The Akatsuki had a plan behind their interest in the Tailed Beasts.
As everyone knew, people did not share one another's joys and sorrows. One person might laugh happily, while others only found it noisy.
The simplest conflicts would eventually escalate into wars between nations.
Desire and greed were decisive factors driving the outbreak of war.
Take the reason the United States went to war with Iraq, for example. It was bullshit—counterterrorism!
But was it really for counterterrorism?
Iraq was in the Middle East, where oil resources were abundant, and the United States was a major consumer of oil. With the added pretext of 9/11, the American military entered Iraqi territory in the name of counterterrorism.
Therefore, there had to be an overseer to supervise it all.
The overseer would wield a powerful weapon, one capable of destroying a large nation in an instant.
That way, everyone would fear destruction and could sit down at the negotiating table and resolve their problems peacefully.
We, the Akatsuki, are the overseer, and the Tailed Beasts are the weapon!
Unite the Nine Tailed Beasts to create the invincible Ten-Tails. Control the Ten-Tails, hold the world's lifeline in our hands, and bring true peace to the world!
That's right! We, the Akatsuki, are doing all of this for world peace.
The pain of today is merely a prelude to peace.
This is the darkness before dawn. Endure it, and it will pass. The Akatsuki will create a better future.
It had to be said that Wu Chen, acting as Obito Uchiha, had considerable potential as a speaker.
Even though he delivered it all in a straightforward manner, his words still stirred Kingpin and the others' blood.
If they had a choice, who would want to be a villain?
Hadn't they all been forced into it by this damned society?
Now that we've joined the Akatsuki, we're no longer villains. We're doing the right thing!
Seeing this, Wu Chen smiled with satisfaction.
Then, taking the ten million Kingpin had sent someone to bring him, he used the Kamui Dimension's teleportation ability to leave Fisk Tower and return home.
Wu Chen had been unwilling to leave early not only because he needed to assign Kingpin and the others their tasks and instill the organization's ideals in them, but also because he hadn't collected his ten million yet!
With the money in hand, Wu Chen returned to the safety of his home. He turned his gaze to the shop and smiled.
Back at Fisk Tower, after the Masked Man left, Kingpin slowly sat back down in his custom-made chair.
Bullseye looked at Kingpin's new appearance—the strange black marks that had appeared on his forehead—and asked, "Kingpin, what happened to you? How did you get your forehead tattooed in the blink of an eye?"
Kingpin frowned at that, but before he could speak, Green Goblin came over and said cheekily, "Kingpin, show everyone that again!"
Scorpion King nodded in agreement. "Yeah, yeah, show us that Chakra again! We haven't seen enough yet!"
Only Doctor Octopus remembered how Kingpin had just taken on all four of them and beaten them senseless. He kept his mouth shut and quietly watched Bullseye and the other two court death.
Sure enough, Kingpin's fierce eyes widened, and his enormous body slowly rose to its feet. He forced the words out of his throat in a low voice. "What gave you the courage to speak to me like that? Have you forgotten the pain you just suffered?"
At Kingpin's reminder, Bullseye immediately shuddered and took two steps back. "Boss, this has nothing to do with me! It was their idea."
Green Goblin and Scorpion King looked at each other, but they did not back down. Instead, they turned venomous gazes on Kingpin.