Upon learning that Allen's goal in collecting the Tailed Beasts was to resurrect the legendary "Ten-Tails," Mei Terumī quickly took her leave. Accompanied by her two guards, she raced back toward the Hidden Mist Village in the Land of Water at maximum speed.
Watching their retreating figures, a playful expression appeared on Allen's face. He let out a soft chuckle and said, "I'm counting on you to spread this news to the Cloud and the Leaf. Only then will they feel enough pressure to keep them from acting rashly. Then, I can focus on finding a place to study the true cause behind the Tailed Beasts' constant cycle of resurrection, and figure out exactly how to extract their core essence."
"You've finally made up your mind?" Vaelastrasz suddenly spoke.
Allen nodded slightly. "Yeah. Five Tailed Beasts, Yin-Yang Release, the Six Paths Power, plus the Sage Mode we obtained from the Ryūchi Cave... we've collected almost everything of value in this world. It's time to begin deeper research. Besides, two or three years might feel like an instant to people of this era, but for us, we can stretch that time into twenty or thirty years. Of course, before that, we still need to capture the Six-Tails Jinchūriki, Utakata."
"The weapon. Don't forget we still need to forge the weapon! If Kaguya can truly recover instantly from any injury, we must have a weapon capable of dealing a fatal wound. Only then can I attempt to devour her," Vaelastrasz reminded him in a low voice.
"I know. Regarding that, I've already asked Nagato to help find a solution. In this world, there are only two places with bladesmiths qualified to forge a god-tier artifact: the Land of Iron, which produces legendary samurai, and the Takumi Village, known for crafting all sorts of specialized ninja tools. With the Akatsuki's intelligence network, they should find a suitable candidate soon," Allen replied nonchalantly.
As his personal strength grew, Allen had long since cleared Naxxramas, the final raid of the Level 60 era. His gear had transitioned from Tier 2 to Tier 3.
While the damage per second and stats of many of these epic-quality weapons far exceeded those of the Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros, those epic-grade materials ultimately couldn't compare to the durability and essence of a legendary-grade weapon.
What was even more frustrating, perhaps due to a persistent "Bad Loot" aura, was that Allen only possessed the Sulfuras as his sole legendary weapon.
Otherwise, he would have preferred to use Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker or even a Corrupted Ashbringer as the base material to craft a specialized weapon for slaying Kaguya.
"Since you've considered everything, I have nothing more to say. Regardless, speed up the progress. I have a feeling that after devouring that being called Kaguya, I will fall into a deep slumber again to begin the next stage of my evolution."
After saying this, Vaelastrasz lapsed back into silence.
…
Meanwhile, in a remote town within the Land of Fire, a man in his thirties covered in scars was leading twenty comrades in a desperate struggle to repel an attack from Konoha.
From the black ribbon tied around his arm, it was easy to identify him as the supreme commander of this front-line Resistance. He was a quintessential Enhancer, capable of unleashing exaggerated destructive power with a single punch. Several times, he had successfully forced back Jonin who attempted to close in using the Body Flicker Technique.
"Damn it! We're surrounded! Captain! You have to go! Don't worry about the rest of us!" a squad member shouted, gritting his teeth against the agonizing pain of his wounds.
"No! I don't have the habit of abandoning my men to save my own skin! If we die, we die together!" the man called Captain replied with grim determination.
He wasn't afraid of death!
Every person who joined the Resistance was a radical who harbored extreme hatred for ninjas, hidden villages, the Daimyō, and the nobility.
Either they had lost family and friends to these old interest groups, or they were simply fed up with a life of oppression and exploitation.
"Fine! Then let's all die here together! At least we'll take one of them with us!"
"That's right! Ninjas aren't so special! They die at the hands of commoners like us just the same!"
"Even if we die, someone will fill our spots soon enough. We'll see who runs out first: these ninjas, or us commoners who grow like wild grass."
In an instant, inspired by their captain's death-defying resolve, the twenty-some members felt their morale soar, assuming a stance of defiant martyrdom.
Watching this from afar, Shikaku Nara, the commander of the operation, couldn't help but rub his temples in frustration. "Not again! Give me a break... are these guys all fearless lunatics? I can hardly believe they were just law-abiding commoners not long ago."
"Old man... are you sure we can actually win this war?"
Shikamaru glanced behind him at the Konoha shinobi. Though they were on the verge of victory, their morale was abnormally low.
The members of the Resistance were, without exception, ordinary people who lived on this very land.
The Konoha leadership had always indoctrinated their shinobi with the idea that they were protecting their nation's safety and interests. Thus, the ninjas had always firmly believed they were the side of justice, fighting off "evil invaders."
But now?
The commoners of the Land of Fire were effectively slapping them all in the face with their actions.
It turned out that the vast majority of the nation's commoners didn't like the ninjas of Konoha at all. In fact, they viewed them as attack dogs kept by the Daimyō and the nobles, and would gladly die just to kill one of them.
That naked, unshielded hatred and loathing had completely shattered the shinobi's original convictions.
Even though Konoha still possessed overwhelming high-end military power, the problem was that the shinobi no longer knew what they were fighting for, or if the battle even had meaning.
No matter how many Resistance cells they wiped out, more would spring up immediately, as if they could never be fully eradicated.
"Don't ask me, I don't know either. And frankly, that isn't a question we are supposed to think about," Shikaku sighed softly to his son.
Just as he was about to order the final assault to extinguish this Resistance force, a massive shadow suddenly swept over their heads. Immediately after, an incredibly arrogant voice shouted:
"Art is an explosion! Hah!"
In the next second...
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Countless clay bombs detonated over the Konoha forces. The blinding fire and shockwaves instantly killed nearly a third of the ninjas.
Clearly, Deidara, one half of the "Artist Duo," had arrived.
His mission was simple: use his superior aerial mobility to assist the Resistance throughout the Land of Fire and repel Konoha's suppression efforts.
"Bad news! New enemies! Stay alert! Everyone watch the skies!"
Shikaku, who had used a Substitution Jutsu to evade the blast, shouted at the top of his lungs to warn the others.
But it was too late.
Severely lacking anti-air capabilities, none of them could do anything to stop Deidara.
A few minutes later, the ninja army, whose morale was already flagging, began a full-scale retreat.
After several years of silence, the Akatsuki had finally stepped onto the stage and bared its fangs for the first time.