Aftermath

A mountaintop cave in the Central Land of Earth.

The battle is over, Seven-Tails Jinchuriki —no, she's just an ordinary little girl now—has been healed.

The three from Konoha did not leave.

The three dispersed and searched the cave carefully, hoping to find out if the Akatsuki had left any other special information.

After circling around, the three of them gathered in an area at the very back of the cave.

This is the very place where the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path was summoned.

Taiichi squatted down and pressed his hand on the ground.

The soil was compacted and hardened, with no visible air holes, clearly indicating that it had been crushed by a heavy object.

Looking up again and scanning the area covered by these marks, although much of it had been damaged by the aftershocks of the battle, a small portion of the cave still bore these traces.

That area is quite enormous.

"The Akatsuki must have used Summoning Jutsu to summon a rather large object here, used it to extract and seal the Seven-Tails, and then released it from the summoning before we arrived."

Taiichi, combining the clues found at the scene, revealed as much information as he knew to Hiruzen Sarutobi and Tsunade.

Both of them were experts in this field, and with Taiichi's guidance, they quickly sketched out the scene in their minds.

"I wonder if this summoning object can only be used to seal the Tailed Beasts, or if it has some other ability. If it can fight, its size—combined with the Tailed Beasts ' Chakra —would probably be difficult to deal with."

As expected of Tsunade, her combat awareness was extremely sharp; she immediately connected the enormous size of the summoned object to its potential uses in war.

Taiichi, and he immediately gave an affirmative response.

"Regardless, let's consider the worst-case scenario first. The Akatsuki went to great lengths to collect the Tailed Beasts; they couldn't have just been after their destructive Tailed Beast. They must have a greater purpose, such as these massive war machines."

Just as the three were discussing, a soft "humming" sound rang out.

The three quickly stopped talking and turned to look at the source of the sound.

There, the former Seven-Tails Jinchuriki has regained consciousness.

While unconscious, Fu felt intense pain all over her body, the kind of pain that comes from watching helplessly as the life-sustaining substances within her body are slowly being pulled away.

Not only was she suffering physically, but she was also constantly plagued by a deep-seated fear.

What's even more tragic is that you can't escape this pain at all; you can only clearly and truly experience every single feeling.

Until the flame of life is about to be extinguished, the will of the self falls into eternal darkness.

For a moment, Fu even thought that dying like this wouldn't be so bad.

At least in this Pure Land, she no longer has to worry about being ridiculed, Byakugan upon, or even bullied by the villagers.

But the next moment, a strong sense of resentment welled up in her heart. She wanted to continue living, to continue seeing this wonderful world. She had not yet found someone she liked, had not yet experienced a sweet romance, and had not yet given birth to a lovely baby.

A strong will to survive kept her alive, barely preventing her life from being extinguished.

Until—a strong, warm current flowed into her body, sealing her deficiencies, making up for her losses, and pulling her life back from the brink of death.

Opening her heavy eyelids, Fu vaguely saw three figures hovering above her.

Not yet fully awake, she raised her arm to touch something, and immediately felt her hand being embraced by something warm.

"Is he alright now?" Hiruzen Sarutobi asked curiously, as he knew very little about medicine.

Tsunade grabbed the girl's outstretched hand, placed her fingers on her wrist, and after a brief Scout of her Chakra, she knew the situation pretty much as it was.

"The body wasn't injured, and once the life force stopped draining, recovery was quick. After a while, I was able to run and jump without any problems."

At this moment, Fu also fully regained consciousness. Looking at the three ninjas wearing Konoha Headbands in front of her, she knew that these were the people who had saved her.

With her heart finally at ease, Fu spoke very politely.

"Thank you—thank you all for saving my life."

He stutters a little when he speaks, but his logic is very clear, which means there's nothing wrong with his mind.

Taiichi and Tsunade exchanged a glance and nodded, seemingly quite satisfied with the patient's condition.

"We're too late. The Tailed Beast inside you has already been extracted by the Akatsuki. We'll take you back to Takigakure now."

Tsunade spoke up and gave her a general overview of Fu's situation.

The little girl struggled to sit up, raised her hand to touch her stomach, and showed an expression that was hard to tell whether it was joy or regret.

"Little Seven, is he gone? He wasn't a bad person, actually?"

"Little Seven?"

"It's Seven-Tails, the name I just gave him, but unfortunately I can't tell him now."

The three from Konoha exchanged glances, and it was the beautiful older sister Tsunade who spoke first.

"You and Seven-Tails are very close?"

"Ah~ not really. I've never had any contact with them before. It was just before the Akatsuki attacked that I asked him to lend me his power—in the end, it was Little Seven who controlled my body so that I could fight successfully. It's just a pity—"

Tsunade sighed inwardly, thinking, "Another promising candidate for Perfect Jinchuriki. It's a pity he's not Konoha ninja, and the Seven-Tails has been captured."

"Rest a little longer, we'll be heading back to Takigakure soon."

Fu looked conflicted, but in the end she nodded without saying anything more.

Takigakure.

The higher-ups at Waterfall Village spent those three days in a state of tension and apprehension.

Two days ago, when Suien returned to the village, he startled the chief and several elders, who almost thought that only Suien was left in the pursuit team.

The Third Hokage and Tsunade perished at the hands of the Akatsuki.

If that's really the case, then Takigakure will be completely unable to defend itself, and might even be accused of colluding with Akatsuki, leading to its annihilation by Konoha.

Fortunately, that was not the case. Only Suien was seriously injured. Although they were ambushed by the Akatsuki, Konoha's Taichi Matsushita came to their rescue at the critical moment. He not only saved the three members of the pursuing team, but also killed two Akatsuki members.

As for the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, the Konoha Ninja continued to pursue him, and Suien's subsequent situation remains unclear.

"Chief, it's been three days, and there's still no movement. I think Seven-Tails is probably in danger." The Second Elder looked at Kui Mu, who was sitting at the head of the table, and spoke without much confidence.

"Hmph, whose fault is this? If they had just sent more reinforcements back then, we might not have even needed Konoha's help. We could have defeated Akatsuki with the help of the Seven-Tails. It's all your fault, you bunch of cowards who are afraid of death."

The Fourth Elder grew angrier and angrier, eventually even blaming the leader Kui Mu.

"Alright, Fourth Elder, you're getting more and more absurd. The decision was made by all of us together, all for the safety of the village. No one could have imagined that the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki would have such power. Do you even realize that?"

"That's right, the Great Elder is right. In my opinion, Fu harbors resentment towards the village and is intentionally concealing her strength. If she had let the village know earlier, we wouldn't have made this decision."

The Second Elder was clearly aligned with the Great Elder, and even more radical, directing all his attacks at the twelve-year-old Fu.

The Fourth Elder was so angry that his beard trembled. He pointed at the Second Elder had spoken and remained speechless for a long time.

The Third Elder, who had been silent until now, quickly stepped in to smooth things over.

"Alright, alright, we've been friends for decades, no need to get so worked up. The village children have done a great job. It's just a pity that if Konoha's reinforcements had arrived sooner, those children who died in battle could have survived."

"Third Elder, watch your words!"

Finally, Chief Kui Mu spoke up, rebuking the Third Elder and stopping the argument.

"We've already waited three days, what's a few more? At least we've eliminated two members of Akatsuki, a first in the entire Ninja World. This is enough to make Waterfall Village's name resound once again."

"Ah! Yes~ Yes~ Yes!" A barrage of flattery followed.

The Akatsuki were killed by people from Konoha, and the people from Konoha were hired by Takigakure. So, rounding it off, the Akatsuki were killed by Takigakure. That makes perfect sense.

At the main entrance of the Council Hall, Suien stood guard as if protecting the entrance.

Hearing the whispers behind him, his fists clenched involuntarily. The higher-ups of Waterfall Village were all such incompetents. How could Takigakure possibly thrive under their rule?

At this moment, a seed called wildness quietly took root and sprouted in the heart of the Suien.

The Land of Grass, the Akatsuki Base.

Today is a rare collective meeting, with all official members of the Akatsuki back at their base.

Of course, this excludes Kakuzu and Hiruko, who are already dead.

The atmosphere at the meeting was rather somber, as this was the first time since everyone had joined the Akatsuki that there had been such significant casualties.

"--That's roughly how the mission unfolded. We must remember the sacrifices of Kakuzu and Hiruko, but their sacrifices were not in vain; they gave their lives for a peaceful new world."

Standing at the highest point, Pain delivered a moving speech for his two fallen comrades. Even though the crowd below seemed indifferent, it did not shake Pain's resolve, as if he truly Hiruko Kakuzu and Hiruko immensely.

After the emotional speeches concluded, the meeting finally got down to business.

"Taichi Matsushita, all of you here have dealt with him. What I want to say is that if you encounter this man in your future operations, survival is the most important thing. The mission can be temporarily abandoned. I don't want to attend your funerals before the New World is completed."

This was the first decision of the meeting, made and announced unilaterally by Pain.

Regardless of Pain's reasons for making this decision, the people present were still somewhat moved, at least more so than by Pain's long and emotional speech.

"Next, due to the deaths of Kakuzu and Hiruko, we are short-handed again. In the previous operations, have any of you found any talent that can be recruited into the organization? The organization needs fresh blood."

Everyone looked at each other, but no one said a word.

People usually act discreetly and rarely interact with outsiders, so recommending a new member is indeed quite disconcerting.

The meeting fell into a brief silence.

After a while, Jue, who was standing in the far corner, finally spoke, and his words surprised everyone.

"I have Secret Agent in Konoha, an elder of the Moon Otsutsuki Clan. He wanted to stay in Konoha to gather intelligence, but he hasn't succeeded. So, I thought it better to have him defect and join us."

"Wow, that's amazing! Isn't that the Byakugan clan?"

"Isn't there a Caged Bird Branch Family in Caged Bird Byakugan branch? Can someone like that be used?"

"That's so outdated. The Hyuga Clan doesn't keep Caged Birds anymore."

Pain's brow twitched slightly; he glanced at Obito, then looked at Zetsu.

"Regardless of his strength, the Akatsuki doesn't accept trash!"

"We've barely reached the level of Elite Jonin, and the key is that it's the Byakugan; its reconnaissance capabilities are exactly what we need in our daily operations."

Absolutely argued his case logically, pointing out that the Akatsuki was now notorious in the Ninja World, and even wandering ninjas avoided them at the mere mention of Akatsuki name. Recruiting members wouldn't be easy.

"Alright, let's bring it back and use it for now. We just received news that the One-Tail have been resurrected. Let him go to the Land of Wind and find it as soon as possible. We can't let the Sunagakure get there first."

Pain knew how difficult it was to recruit people, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and accept this defective product.

"Please be mindful during the event; the Ninja World is vast, and there are always those who yearn for peace."

Everyone nodded without saying a word; even the Moryo merely pursed his lips without uttering a rebuttal.

" Of the Nine Tailed Beasts, we have sealed five of them, and the mission is more than halfway complete, but we must not let our guard down."

Our next target is the Six-Tails of Kirigakure. Kirigakure is currently in chaos, which presents a good opportunity for us to capture the Six-Tails.

This mission will still be entrusted to Mr. Obito. With his abilities, capturing the Six-Tails should be a piece of cake.

Everyone's eyes turned to Obito again. To be honest, they were a little unaccustomed to it. Suddenly going from a Senior ninja to a junior who was not even twenty years old felt a bit awkward.

If it weren't for Obito's strength, there might have been more than one person who fell out with him on the spot.

Obito knew that this was a form of punishment for abandoning Kakuzu and Hiruko, but he could only silently accept it, since he was the one who had done it.

The meeting concluded quickly, reflecting on the past, looking to the future, and setting goals—it was efficient and purposeful.

After everyone left, only Pain and Konan remained in the room.

"Are we really not going to pursue that Obito Uchiha anymore?"

A piece of origami floated in Konan's hand, rapidly changing its form—sometimes Kunai, sometimes a paper crane. This had been her habit for the past two years, all to improve her control over Chakra and the power of her Paper Release.

"No need to worry about it. We have the same goal. His identity doesn't really matter. In fact, Obito Uchiha's identity is more advantageous to us. When it comes time to turn against us, this one will be easier to deal with than the real Madara Uchiha."

Konan nodded and said nothing more, but the paper in her hand changed even faster.