"Shinno has become unreachable; something must have happened to him!"
In Amegakure, Pain once again summoned Konan, Obito, and Zetsu for a meeting.
They had just sealed the Three-Tails, and they had been unable to contact it before that.
The more people involved in the Gedo Statue Sealing Technique, the faster the seal will be completed. Unless something unexpected happens, they dare not falter at this critical juncture.
"I'll have my men investigate. That guy's never been very well-behaved; maybe something got in the way!"
Konan took the initiative to speak up, saying that as the person in charge of the intelligence department, she also bore some responsibility for not properly disciplining her subordinates.
The Amegakure is in a rainy season all year round. Shinno was not used to the weather here. It was probably because he was getting old. With rain all year round, he developed arthritis even if he didn't have rheumatism.
Konan turned a blind eye to his frequent outings, as long as he didn't cause any trouble.
Even if he messed things up, you could still take the opportunity to teach him a lesson. But who knew that the other party would accidentally ruin his own life?
"Hmph! That's for the best!"
Pain snorted coldly; he had no liking for such disorganized and undisciplined subordinates.
"Two-Tails and the Three-Tails are wild. Capturing them didn't cause much of a commotion, but we need to hurry!"
Obito was lounging on the sofa with his legs crossed, looking quite relaxed.
He's probably the most idle person these days, but he probably won't be idle for long.
Sure enough, Pain looked at him the next moment.
"You and Zetsu will be in charge of the Four-Tails and Five-Tails, but I'll personally take charge of the Six-Tails!"
Obito had no objection to this arrangement. Even the Nine-Tails had to submit to his Mangekyou Mangekyō Sharingan, let alone the two Jinchuriki.
In the Ninja World, there is only one view on the Tailed Beasts: the Nine-Tails and others. No wonder Obito was so confident.
Both the Four-Tails and the Five-Tails originated from Iwagakure. After the Four-Tails, Rōshi, fought Orochimaru, they became much more cautious. However, after so many years, they have started to operate in the Ninja World again.
As for the Five-Tails Kokuō, after its resurrection, it was captured by Iwagakure and sealed away to become a new Jinchuriki, who is said to still be a teenager.
Even in Iwagakure, Obito didn't feel much pressure.
He's always so arrogant; it's time for him to do his part for the organization.
Of course, Pain wasn't just all talk; that wouldn't be enough to convince everyone, so he started with the Six-Tails.
Once they've captured the fourth, fifth, and sixth Tailed Beasts, they can discuss the remaining seventh, eighth Tailed Beasts later. In any case, the further they go, the busier they'll probably be.
By then, the other villages should have realized what was happening, and they won't be able to hide it anymore. There's no point in going that far.
After arranging the next action plan, Pain looked at Konan.
"How's the situation with Tenkūjo?"
"His condition has stabilized; he just needs some rest to fully recover!"
When they were sent to capture the Two-Tails, they happened to run into ninjas sent by the Kumogakure, and both sides had the same goal.
Fortunately, the opposing team was led by only Darui and Samui, but even so, it caused considerable trouble for Tenkūjo and Hiruko.
At the crucial moment, Hiruko and successfully captured the Two-Tails, meaning his partner will likely be out of the picture for a while.
Compared to the Two-Tails's situation, the Three-Tails was in a much easier position.
Under Konan's barrage of money, the continuous barrage of Explosive Tag quickly blew up the Three-Tails, though it took some effort to pull it back later.
After showing concern for his subordinates, Pain sent Obito and Zetsu to do their work, leaving only himself and Konan in the conference room.
"Are you really going to personally deal with the Six-Tails? Your body..."
After the two left, Konan looked at Pain with some worry, referring naturally to Nagato, who would succeed Pain.
To control the Six Paths of Pain, Nagato cannot be too far away from them, which means Konan needs to take Nagato out secretly for a while.
"It's just a matter of putting in some effort; a mere Six-Tails fox can't cause any trouble!"
Pain completely disregarded his opponent, a confidence stemming from the Rinnegan.
"Not long ago, Utakata, the Six-Tails Jinchuriki, returned to Kirigakure. It probably won't be easy to capture him!"
Konan added a sentence, recounting the intelligence he had recently gathered.
She knew that no matter where the Six-Tails was, it couldn't escape once Pain had its eye on it, especially since it was Kirigakure, which had been manipulated by Obito.
If Obito could run rampant in Kirigakure, there was no reason why Pain couldn't do the same. Otherwise, he would have let Pain take over as the leader!
This is something we must not only do, but do well. It would be good to let Kirigakure suffer beforehand.
"It doesn't matter. Go and prepare. We'll go to Kirigakure tomorrow!"
While the Akatsuki's top members were out capturing the Tailed Beasts, the idle members became restless again.
First, there's Itachi. After returning from a mission with Konan, he had secretly learned that his beloved younger brother Sasuke had left Orochimaru.
Having trained under Orochimaru for three years, he should be able to contend with him by now. Even if he's still a bit short, Orochimaru can hold back.
He had already used the Body Enhancement Potion Orochimaru had given him, and even without a health certificate, he was in a sub-healthy state, so he wasn't worried at all about not being able to survive until Sasuke grew up.
However, ever since he personally killed his clansmen, his heart had long since died, and living was nothing but torture for him.
Every time I close my eyes, it seems as if countless murmurs and wails echo in my ears, the condemnations, resentments, and curses of my deceased clansmen.
"It's time to end all of this, Sasuke!"
Thinking of this, Itachi summoned his Summoning Beast and tied a small piece of paper to its paw.
As the crows flew far away from Kirigakure, Itachi put on his straw hat and disappeared into the night without notifying anyone.
Besides him, there was another person who was also not very well-behaved.
"The Annular Solar Eclipse is approaching, and it's time for my plans to begin!"
On the rooftop, Hiruko looked at the night sky over Amegakure after the rain had stopped. A bright moon hung high in the sky, its light shining softly on his face, making his skin appear even paler.
He never forgot his purpose from beginning to end; even joining the Akatsuki was to use the Akatsuki's power to achieve his own goals.
Over the course of several years, except for the most important Sharingan he hadn't acquired, he had almost collected all the Kekkei Genkai ninjas he wanted.
"Kakashi of Konoha, after all these years, his Sharingan should have fully matured by now, right?"
A strange smile appeared on Hiruko's lips beneath the bandages.
He firmly believed that the Sharingan Obito Kakashi could help him complete his training in the Chimera Technique.
Moreover, he had planted the Puppet Curse on Kakashi a long time ago, and now the time has come to activate it.
He had considered Itachi, who also possessed the Sharingan within the organization, but it was not someone he could easily manipulate.
He suffered a great loss after just one attempt and was even warned by Itachi not to mess with Sasuke.
So in the end, we still have to rely on Kakashi's Sharingan.
Little did he know that the true owner of that Sharingan was also in the organization, but he was just pretending to be crazy so no one would notice.
Pain and the others, who had already left the village, had no idea that before Shinno's fate was even determined, the other members of the organization were already stirring up trouble.
I wonder if he'll be so angry he'll explode when he gets back and finds only a handful of things left at headquarters...