They had collected four Tailed Beasts so far, with five still to go.
Sasori, who knew information on practically all the Tailed Beasts, said, "Kurotsuchi, let's split up. I know where Roshi, the Four-Tails Jinchūriki, is. Getting Tailed Beast cells from him won't be hard. The Two-Tails is Kakuzu's target. He and Hidan should be on their way to Kumogakure right now. The Six-Tails is in Kirigakure. The Five-Tails, though, has already been sealed by Akatsuki. Getting cells will be troublesome."
"Not hard at all," Orochimaru volunteered. "The Five-Tails used to be Iwagakure's Tailed Beast. The village must have a vessel for sealing Tailed Beasts. Bring it here, and I have a way to extract Tailed Beast cells from it. Even if that method fails, giving me the Five-Tails Jinchuriki's corpse will work too."
Sasori looked at the calm-faced Orochimaru and could feel the powerful confidence in his words. Though he deeply loathed the man, he also understood why Anyo valued him so highly.
"Since we need to act before Akatsuki does, I'll leave now."
Once Sasori made his decision, he was quite decisive.
Anyo nodded. "Go. I'll leave the Four-Tails to you. I'll handle the rest myself."
"All right."
After Sasori left, Orochimaru couldn't help saying, "From the beginning until now, you seem to have left out one Tailed Beast."
"I'll leave that one for last. I'll find it."
Orochimaru realized. "I almost forgot. You founded an organization too. You've never lacked intelligence. After developing quietly for so many years, its scale must rival Akatsuki's by now."
Anyo asked tentatively, "What, Uncle, interested in joining?"
Orochimaru laughed. "Will you hunt me down if I betray the organization?"
Anyo changed the subject. "Uh, I'm heading to Kumogakure. Coming?"
Orochimaru wasted no more words. His entire body began to twist, and