"Shigure, where exactly is Itachi?"
After Naruto and the others left, Sasuke finally spoke inside the Mizukage Building, his voice tight with impatience.
Shigure merely waved a hand.
"Don't rush. Wait a bit."
"It won't take long for me to confirm Itachi's location."
"I'll arrange a place for you to stay first. At most, one day."
Sasuke frowned. He clearly didn't want to waste even a single moment—but in the end, he could only nod.
As for Itachi's whereabouts, Shigure already had a fairly clear idea.
The intelligence sent back by the cloud pigeon had already revealed Itachi's movements.
However, Shigure had something more important to deal with right now.
Completely mastering the Nine-Tails' chakra.
He descended directly into the underground chamber beneath the Mizukage Building.
There, Shigure placed the Nine-Tails' chakra into his passive skill slot.
At the same time, all seven skill slots were filled with Nine-Tails' Chakra (150).
Under the Great Sage's guidance, the chakra of the other Tailed Beasts within him was drawn out, refined, and converted—bit by bit—into pure Nine-Tails' chakra.
[Great Sage: Estimated time — 16 hours]
Even with all seven slots occupied by Nine-Tails' chakra, supplemented by the chakra of the other Tailed Beasts…
It still required this much time.
As expected of the Nine-Tails—the strongest of all Tailed Beasts.
But the greater the difficulty, the greater the reward.
Once the Nine-Tails' chakra was fully completed, he would obtain a portion of the Nine-Tails' Six Paths power.
And that portion alone would be terrifying.
After this… only the Two-Tails will remain.
The thought alone made Shigure feel a trace of excitement.
With a complete Six Paths foundation, his strength would rise to an entirely new level.
He closed his eyes and fully immersed himself in assisting the Great Sage with the chakra conversion.
At the same time—
Inside a cave deep within the Land of Lightning, the members of the Akatsuki slowly opened their eyes.
"The Eight-Tails' sealing is complete."
Pain gazed at the Gedo Statue, which had now opened both eyes.
At present, only two Tailed Beasts were in their possession—
The One-Tail and the Eight-Tails.
He turned his attention to Zetsu.
"Have you found the Four-Tails and the Five-Tails?"
Zetsu smiled.
"Coincidentally, I've obtained some information."
"What is it?" Pain asked.
Zetsu looked around at the remaining Akatsuki members.
"The Four-Tails has been located—but the Tailed Beast inside its Jinchūriki is gone."
Silence fell.
The Tailed Beast… was gone?
The Four-Tails had been extracted, yet the Jinchūriki was still alive?
That alone was shocking.
Obito narrowed his eyes.
"Was it done by the Mizukage of the Hidden Mist Village?"
In the entire ninja world, only one person had demonstrated the ability to extract a Tailed Beast without killing its host.
"Most likely," Zetsu replied.
Pain's voice grew colder.
"In that case, the Four-Tails is now also in the Hidden Mist Village."
Zetsu didn't deny it.
"The Hidden Mist Village was where I made another disturbing discovery."
If Black Zetsu weren't black, his expression would have looked extremely grim.
"I found traces of the Five-Tails' Jinchūriki—Han. The Tailed Beast is still inside him."
"But he's wearing a Hidden Mist forehead protector."
The Five-Tails' Jinchūriki… defected to the Hidden Mist?
Impossible.
Han was an Iwagakure ninja. For him to abandon his village and join the Hidden Mist made no sense.
Recruiting ordinary ninja was one thing—but recruiting a Jinchūriki?
If Iwagakure found out, they would never let it go.
And now, the Four-Tails was likely already in the Mizukage's hands as well.
Obito felt a growing sense of unease.
Why is Shigure collecting Tailed Beasts?
The answer was obvious.
Kisame.
That traitor must have revealed the Eye of the Moon Plan, forcing Shigure to begin collecting Tailed Beasts ahead of time.
Damn it.
Kisame had betrayed him completely.
"There are two more things," Zetsu continued.
"First, Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchūriki appeared in the Hidden Mist Village and fought the Mizukage. He seemed to be trying to persuade the Mizukage to return to Konoha."
The Nine-Tails.
Pain's gaze sharpened instantly.
The other Tailed Beasts could wait—but the Nine-Tails was different.
The strongest of them all.
If they could seize it, they would gain a decisive advantage against the Hidden Mist Village—and reclaim the other Tailed Beasts as well.
"Second," Zetsu said slowly, "Uchiha Sasuke has gone to the Hidden Mist Village… and met the Sixth Mizukage."
At that moment—
A figure who had remained silent in the shadows lifted his head.
Itachi's eyes opened.
Sasuke…
Went to see Shigure.
That's right.
The two of them had once been comrades.
But why had Sasuke gone to find Shigure?
Itachi suddenly paused.
Is he… seeking revenge on me?
At the same moment, Obito's gaze shifted subtly toward Itachi.
After everyone left the cave,
Obito found Nagato alone.
"There aren't many Tailed Beasts left," Nagato said calmly. "It seems our only option is to capture the Nine-Tails first."
Obito didn't argue.
Instead, he spoke slowly, "Perhaps… we can still capture more Tailed Beasts."
Nagato frowned slightly. "What do you mean?"
A smile appeared beneath Obito's mask.
"Uchiha Sasuke went to find the Mizukage. As former comrades, his reason for seeking that man is most likely related to Itachi."
Nagato immediately understood what Obito was implying.
"You plan to use Itachi to lure the Mizukage out of the Hidden Mist Village," Nagato said, "and then seize the Five-Tails."
Obito nodded.
"Exactly. There are very few Tailed Beasts left. If we have the opportunity to take the Five-Tails, we can't afford to miss it."
Nagato considered this briefly before speaking again.
"The Nine-Tails has already returned to Konoha. This is also an ideal time to move against it."
"If it leaves Konoha again, tracking it won't be easy."
Obito nodded. "Then we'll split up."
"I'll go to the Hidden Mist Village."
"You head to Konoha."
Dividing their forces was the most efficient choice.
Nagato agreed. "There's still the Two-Tails."
Obito was about to dismiss it as a minor matter—something that could be handled later—
When Zetsu suddenly rose from the ground.
"How about you leave that to me?" he said with a grin. "I'll be responsible for capturing the Two-Tails."
Obito was briefly stunned.
Zetsu's intelligence-gathering abilities were unquestionable, but his combat strength was… questionable.
"Fine," Nagato said indifferently. "If you think you can manage it."
Zetsu smiled wider.
"Don't worry. Besides, the Hidden Cloud Village is heavily guarded. Among us, I'm the only one who can move there easily."
With that, Zetsu slowly sank back into the earth.
At the edge of the forest,
Itachi stopped walking.
He turned his head slightly and looked at the white pigeon perched quietly on a branch, staring straight at him.
I've seen this thing many times this month…
This isn't an ordinary pigeon.
A faint smile touched Itachi's lips.
He needed to prepare.
If his intuition was correct, then this creature was likely a reconnaissance summon belonging to the Mizukage.
Meanwhile—
Deep beneath the Mizukage Building.
Shigure's expression was filled with unmistakable excitement.
As the Nine-Tails' chakra continued to be refined and absorbed, he could clearly feel it—
The Six Paths power, already far stronger than before, was steadily increasing at an astonishing rate.
As expected of the Nine-Tails, Shigure thought.
The amount of Six Paths power it contains surpasses the combined total of all the other Tailed Beasts…
And this—
Was only the beginning.
(End of Chapter)
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