Amegakure.
Not long after Pero left, Amegakure entered a strange state of war readiness, relaxed on the outside but tense within.
Nagato, Konan, and Obito were among the last batch of Pero Jinchūriki before Pero left.
They decided to visit Kumogakure to experience their new power and, along the way, complete Pero's assignment: force the Raikage to truly join the alliance on Konoha's side.
Kumogakure-the only Shinobi Village that still possessed two Tailed Beasts.
The battle in Kumogakure ended faster than anyone had imagined.
When three figures in black cloaks patterned with red clouds appeared above the village.
Kumogakure's vaunted Lightning Release and fortifications were as fragile as paper before Nagato's sheer, unreasonable power, bolstered by Pero's clone.
Finally, after Yahiko sent Killer B, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki in his Tailed Beast Transformation, flying with a single punch, Nagato effortlessly reached into the ruins and seized the Two-Tails Jinchūriki, who was trembling in terror.
Yugito Nii was pulled out from a distance.
This so-called Akatsuki "invasion" was more like a one-sided show of force.
When Raikage A arrived, all he saw was a devastated village strewn with shattered walls.
Countless ninja were dead or wounded, and cries of agony filled the village.
His beloved Killer B was severely injured, and the Two-Tails Jinchūriki, in whom he had placed such high hopes, was nowhere to be found.
From the surviving ninja, he learned that Akatsuki had taken the Two-Tails Jinchūriki.
"Aaaaaah...!!!"
As A stared at everything before him, he felt as though a huge hand had clenched his heart, the pain leaving him unable to breathe.
This was not merely a loss for the village, but a merciless trampling of his dignity and the village's.
He threw back his head and howled.
He let out a roar of pain and fury, terrifying Lightning Release erupting uncontrollably from his body and scorching the ground around him.
With trembling hands, he took from his coat the letter from the Mizukage that he had crumpled into a ball and meant to throw away.
"A... ka... tsuki...!"
He cracked his back teeth, forcing each syllable out of his throat.
"Gather every ninja who can still move. We're going to Konoha!"
He roared at the survivors beside him.
Meanwhile.
Konoha.
The conference room.
The atmosphere was somewhat... cheerful?
Ōnoki held a teacup, slowly blowing on the hot steam as he listened to a ninja beside him deliver a report, a faint, gloating smile beginning to tug at his lips.
The Acting Kazekage and the Mizukage were discussing something, occasionally letting out a mocking chuckle or two at another's misfortune.
Minato held his forehead as he watched them gloat, shaking his head repeatedly and feeling that these Shinobi Villages really amounted to little more than this.
They had just received word that Akatsuki had invaded Kumogakure and abducted the Two-Tails Jinchūriki.
"Hmph, that brute!" Ōnoki slammed down his teacup, splashing a little tea.
He said sarcastically, "Who was it who banged on the table during our meeting, called us all useless, then put on airs and walked out halfway through? And now?"
"He's been thoroughly humiliated. He brought it on himself. He just wouldn't listen until he learned the hard way."
"Indeed." Karatachi Yagura nodded in agreement. Although he himself had suffered a crushing defeat at Akatsuki's hands, that did not stop him from mocking the hotheaded Raikage.
"I said long ago that Akatsuki was certainly not an organization a single village could deal with, but he refused to believe it."
"Well, now he's lost his Jinchūriki, and most of his village has been destroyed."
The Acting Kazekage, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly spoke.
"There's something I don't understand, though."
Hearing the Kazekage suddenly speak, everyone turned toward him.
"If Akatsuki is this powerful, why did they only abduct the Two-Tails Jinchūriki and not take the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki as well? Isn't their goal to collect the Tailed Beasts?"
"Why didn't they act?"
That question left everyone present deep in thought.
Indeed, wasn't Akatsuki's goal to collect the Tailed Beasts and ultimately rule the world through violence? Why did this operation seem less straightforward than it appeared?
"Perhaps..." Ōnoki stroked his beard, just about to offer his opinion.
Boom...!
The conference room door, repaired only a few days earlier, was once again forcibly dismantled from outside in a peculiar fashion.
The door panel flew in with a whistle, grazed Ōnoki's nose, and finally embedded itself in the opposite wall with a clang.
Everyone turned toward the doorway.
A figure came into view.
Oh, the same person. Never mind.
Raikage A stormed in, wreathed in violent lightning. He did not even glance at the unfortunate door panel on the wall.
He walked straight to his seat and plopped down.
The entire conference table shook.
"Everyone." The Raikage's face was expressionless, his eyes burning with anger, his voice as cold as ice floating on the Arctic Ocean.
"I'll join the alliance! But we must attack now! I'll personally twist the heads off those Akatsuki bastards and rescue our village's Jinchūriki."
Watching the Raikage's furious, flustered state, the others exchanged glances, each seeing a trace of an "as expected" smile in the others' eyes.
"Lord Raikage, please calm down." As Konoha's Hokage and the meeting's chair, Minato spoke gently.
"We all feel the same way, but attacking rashly without understanding our opponent's strength would be unwise."
Minato raised a finger. "We need to devise a foolproof strategy."
"Strategy?!" The Raikage punched a large hole in the table, making the corner of a nearby Konoha guard's eye twitch.
He roared, "What strategy do we need?! The best strategy is to take the initiative! You cowards, if you'd listened to me sooner, things wouldn't have come to this!"
Seeing that the meeting was about to turn into another pointless argument, Minato unhurriedly took a scroll of documents from his coat.
"Everyone, please take a look at this first." He spread the documents across the table.
"This is the latest intelligence my informant in Amegakure sent back, at the 'risk of their life.'"
After passing it around, the Kage all looked surprised.
"Akatsuki's most powerful central figure seems to have temporarily left Kumogakure for some reason, and won't be returning anytime soon."
The Raikage carefully read the documents several times, an ecstatic grin gradually spreading across his face.
"Hahaha! Isn't this the perfect opportunity to attack?! Without that person, don't we have a better chance of wiping out Akatsuki? What are we waiting for? Let's move!"
This time, no one contradicted him.
After confirming that Akatsuki's strongest fighter was absent, the Five Kage finally reached an agreement and began drawing up a plan to wipe out Akatsuki, based on the intelligence Minato had provided, "courtesy" of Pero.
In a dark, unnoticed corner of the conference room, Black Zetsu took everything in.
He watched these pathetic insects, who thought they were hunters without realizing they were merely intermediaries.
Once Mother is resurrected, all your so-called power will be a joke.
A moment later, Black Zetsu silently merged into the ground and vanished.
Beneath Mountain's Grave.
Black Zetsu emerged from underground and looked at the girl sleeping on the stone table in the center.
A girl with vivid red hair.
He let out a sinister cackle.
This girl was a wanderer with Uzumaki Clan blood whom she had gone to great lengths to find.
She was the perfect sacrifice for him to use Rinne Rebirth.
"The Five Kage Alliance, the Nine-Tails-all gathered together, and Pero is away too. Heaven truly favors me."
He stood there, stroking his own face in a morbid fashion.
"Mother, the day of your resurrection is almost here."
Before you continue