The Akatsuki's Focus

With the major shinobi villages pursuing what was almost a policy of appeasement toward them, the Akatsuki had grown rapidly. Its military strength wasn't the only thing that had developed; its intelligence network and supplies had expanded just as swiftly. Before the major villages even realized what was happening, the Akatsuki had once again quietly located and confirmed the precise whereabouts of their Tailed Beasts, along with the strength of their defenses. Without a doubt, just as in the original story, almost all the Tailed Beasts held by the major villages were left unguarded.

The only exception was the One-Tail Jinchuriki—Gaara, who still spent most of his time in Sunagakure.

But Sunagakure was widely regarded as the least like one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

Nagato and Obito weren't worried in the least about capturing the One-Tail.

In the original story, they had invaded Sunagakure and forcibly taken Gaara right in front of thousands of Sand Ninja from the entire village. This wasn't just a matter of looking down on them; it was a blatant slap in the face. To put it plainly, of all the Tailed Beasts possessed by the Five Great Shinobi Villages, the One-Tail was the easiest for Nagato and Obito to capture.

That had been true in the original story, and it was still true in this life.

The location was locked down.

The intelligence was confirmed.

All that remained was to finish the preparations.

Then they could assign the mission and send their official members to capture it.

As for the other Tailed Beasts' locations, the Akatsuki had also tracked them down one by one through the full efforts of the vast intelligence network led by Zetsu. The reports even indicated that the Two-Tails Jinchuriki and Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, both of whom belonged to what