Black Zetsu said it as though it were only natural, but Minato and the Nine-Tails both quietly took note.
Given the strength the Three-Tails had displayed during the Chunin Ninja Exams, they did not believe that, with a Mizukage fighting alongside him, they would have been defeated as easily as Black Zetsu claimed.
"Obito originally wanted to bring the Three-Tails and his Jinchūriki under his control again. But forget controlling them—Karatachi Yagura even considered taking him down with them. In Obito's plans, Kirigakure was an important force he could control. Losing pieces like the Three-Tails and the Mizukage would have hurt his plans."
"Karatachi Yagura and the Three-Tails also came to accept reality. With their lives at risk, they ultimately chose to reach an agreement with Obito."
"After that, they joined the Akatsuki and gave Obito their full cooperation. With Shisui and Karatachi Yagura's influence, Obito's plans proceeded fairly smoothly within the Akatsuki. Pain probably felt that they were powerful and also carried out the duties the organization assigned them well, so he never tried to stop Obito's schemes in that regard."
"Obito's actions were a little more extreme than Pain's. He argued that the organization didn't need to lie low and recruit more people. He believed that adding people of inadequate strength to the Akatsuki would accomplish nothing. He was more concerned with the tailed beasts' whereabouts. While Pain and the others were still accumulating funds, he had already begun secretly approaching tailed beasts in other countries."
"As luck would have it, though, they discovered Orochimaru's movements while in Sunagakure in the Land of Wind. And then there was Konoha, which didn't know when to stay out of the way—ah, no, your village may simply have been too much of an obstacle to Obito's plans. After all, several Akatsuki