"As for the others, wait for assignments."
Black Zetsu had no intention of laying all his cards on the table and fighting the Five Great Shinobi Villages to the bitter end. Before that, it was only right to make the Five Great Shinobi Villages suffer a little. Did they really think they were invincible just because they had casually dealt with the remaining Amegakure ninja? If he did not show them what Akatsuki was capable of, they would think Akatsuki had no one left. As long as Hikaru did not make a move, Black Zetsu could guarantee that the Five Great Shinobi Villages would be tormented to the point of wishing they were dead.
Hikaru was transporting supplies with Konoha's people in the rear. To Black Zetsu, that was simply fantastic news.
Other than Hikaru, there were truly very few people in the Five Great Shinobi Villages whom Black Zetsu considered worthy of attention.
A retaliatory operation against the Five Great Shinobi Villages began. Though it was called the Five Great Shinobi Villages, it was actually only Iwagakure, Sunagakure, Kirigakure, and Kumogakure.
With Ōnoki, Rasa, the Third Raikage, and the Third Mizukage holding the fort, the Six Paths of Pain might not be able to carry out a one-sided massacre, but they could still slaughter the people of those four villages until they fled in all directions. Do not forget Jiraiya from the original story.
Was Jiraiya any weaker than those four? Not at all. Yet Jiraiya had still fallen at the feet of the Six Paths of Pain, without even much ability to fight back.
Although there was still an army of four thousand ninja, do not forget that the Animal Path and Asura Path excelled at this kind of battle. Their endless bombardment of techniques and countless Summoned