...
More than a month later
During this period of more than a month, the alliance of the various ninja villages launched multiple operations against the members of the Akatsuki.
However, due to insufficient emphasis at the beginning, each acting independently, combined with the fact that Akatsuki members were all individually very strong and highly mobile, these encirclement and suppression operations repeatedly ended in failure.
Not only did they achieve no significant results, but quite a few participating ninjas died in the battles. Although for the major ninja villages this could not yet be called a heavy loss, it was enough to make them take the threat far more seriously.
And the emergence of one piece of intelligence greatly accelerated the process of taking it seriously.
"Is the information confirmed to be accurate? It really is the legendary Rinnegan? The same eyes as those of the Sage of Six Paths?"
At the conference table, representatives from the Five Great Ninja Villages and the general of the Land of Iron had gathered once again. This time, however, the atmosphere between them was noticeably much more harmonious, unlike the first meeting when they had merely been putting on a show of unity.
"I can guarantee that my intelligence is without error. It is indeed the legendary Rinnegan, and the person possessing these eyes is most likely the mysterious leader of the Akatsuki who has always remained hidden.
After all, aside from the Rinnegan, I can hardly think of anyone else capable of subduing that group of people in the Akatsuki. Moreover, you should have confirmed the matter of the Rinnegan through your own intelligence sources as well; otherwise, we wouldn't have called this meeting in such a hurry today."
As Tsunade finished speaking, the other Kage or their representatives all gave slight nods without denial. What Tsunade said aligned almost perfectly with their own thoughts.
It was foreseeable that the Rinnegan would likely become an enemy they would have to face in the future.
"Although it is the legendary Rinnegan, there's no need to worry excessively. If that person truly possessed power comparable to the legendary Sage of Six Paths, capturing the tailed beasts would be a trivial matter for him.
The fact that he hasn't done so proves that our current strength still makes him wary. He absolutely does not possess the overwhelming power of the legendary Sage of Six Paths."
After confirming the existence of the Rinnegan, the Fourth Raikage was the first to break the somewhat somber atmosphere at the table.
Although he also knew that no matter what, the Rinnegan was undoubtedly extremely powerful, for the sake of his village and his younger brother, he absolutely could not show weakness at a time like this.
"Heh, that's right. Even if it is the legendary Rinnegan, so what? If he intends to make a move against any of your villages, can we just sit idly by? We are all Kage of our respective villages, after all.
Moreover, this time I actually agree with the barbarian over there. His strength may be formidable, but it definitely hasn't reached the point where we cannot resist. With the Five Kage united, it's not impossible for us to fight him."
Following the Raikage, Ōnoki also quickly expressed a similar view.
Although the Hidden Rock Village and Hidden Cloud Village had previously been archenemies, after the appearance of the Rinnegan and confirming that the other party truly had the capability to unify the ninja world, Ōnoki instantly knew what he had to do.
Compared to the humiliation of defeat and submission, joining forces with former enemies didn't seem entirely unacceptable.
"Mm, that's indeed the case. However, even if we think this way, we still need to consider how exactly to deal with that leader of the Akatsuki."
"Heh, that's simple. At this point, there's no need for anyone to hold back. According to my latest intelligence, the Akatsuki members who have already shown themselves are still operating in pairs scattered across the ninja world,
and the last places they appeared were all very far from that organization leader. In other words, that leader doesn't have many helpers by his side—at most, perhaps only one member paired with him."