As he looked at Pain's unwavering gaze, the worry in Konan's heart gradually faded. She knew that as long as Nagato was there, their ideal would surely be realized.
She stepped closer and said softly, "The plan to collect the Tailed Beasts may have to be brought forward."
Pain gave a slight nod. "I'll get the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path ready as soon as possible."
At this stage, he hadn't finished preparing the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. But the situation outside had changed, so they had to adapt as well.
Konan continued, "Should we notify him?"
The "him" Konan meant was naturally Obito.
Pain said, "He shouldn't get in our way when it comes to collecting the Tailed Beasts. Besides, we can use the collection process to test his strength!"
Konan nodded. "All right. I'll notify him!"
The Five Great Shinobi Villages slowly moved their meeting forward amid constant arguments, while the Akatsuki Organization quietly built up its strength.
Shinji hadn't been idle, either!
Over the past few days, he had regularly exchanged Chakra with Karin through Naobi and Magatsu.
Karin's high-purity Yang Release Chakra had greatly stimulated his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan. Each time they exchanged Chakra, his Dojutsu improved noticeably.
The same was true the other way around.
Shinji's high-purity Yin Release Chakra had also brought Karin great benefits.
The clearest example was the wrinkled skin around the graft on Karin's arm. It had smoothed out considerably and no longer looked as unsightly and crumpled as before.
According to Shinji's estimate,
the wrinkles on the grafted area of Karin's arm should completely disappear within two months at most.
And once that area returned to normal, it would mean that Karin had fully integrated the White Zetsu Cells and no longer had any risk of rejection.