Konan felt puzzled. "Uncle, your genjutsu is indeed powerful, but didn't you say last time that you might not even be able to defeat Hanzo?"
Aizen gave a slight smile. "If I were alone, controlling him would be out of the question—defeating him would already be difficult. But with help, things would be different."
Yahiko suddenly realized. "I get it! We all team up, beat Hanzo within an inch of his life, and then let you, Uncle, take control of him!"
"Precisely," Aizen nodded. "Hanzo is very strong. For safety, I suggest all six of us take part in this!"
Obito twitched his mouth. This guy had just joined Akatsuki and was already making him do free work!
How impressive indeed!
"That's right! If we let him escape, we could face serious consequences!" Yahiko said, then turned to look at someone nearby. "Zetsu, Tobi, you two have no problem, right?"
Obito gave a forced grin. "No problem at all."
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"Excellent! The territory issue has been resolved satisfactorily!" Yahiko nodded with satisfaction before asking, "Speaking of funds, Konan, how much money do we have left right now?"
Aizen gave a strange look. Was it wise to let Konan handle the finances, considering she might divert funds to buy Explosive Tags?
Konan quickly responded, "Only thirty million ryō are left!"
"What?" Yahiko was shocked, as if struck by lightning. "Why so little?"
Earlier, he had boasted to Uncle about their organization being on the rise!
Konan sighed. "After the war ended, we lost many missions, cutting off our income, but the expenses haven't decreased. Cultivating monsters costs money, buying weapons costs money, and the compensation for comrades who died because of our last mistake was also a huge amount..."
Upon hearing this, Yahiko also became gloomy. "This is my fault as a leader. Compensation must not be shorted!"
Konan summarized, "In short, at this rate, we won't even have the last of our money left in two months."
Yahiko looked troubled. "We need to increase revenue and reduce expenditure. But under current circumstances, we can't reduce expenses, so we must find a way to increase revenue! Everyone, do you have any ideas on how to earn money?"
Deep down, Tobi felt speechless. An organization trying to overturn the shinobi world order discussing ways to make money—it just felt absurdly petty!
"Tobi, do you have any ideas?"
Tobi started whistling nonchalantly. "Leader Yahiko, don't count on me for making money—I only know how to spend it!"
"I'm good at that too!" Yahiko replied with a dark expression.
Black Zetsu egged on, "Isn't Angel Lady good at paper jutsu? Why not just print some counterfeit money?"
"Co-counterfeit money?" Konan panicked. "I can't possibly do that!"
Yahiko shook his head. "Counterfeit money, once circulated, only harms the common people. It goes against the organization's ideals!"
Black Zetsu chuckled. "Then I can't help."
Nagato remained silent for a moment. "I heard the Kazekage of Sunagakure made quite a fortune through part-time jobs. Maybe we should give something like that a try..."
Seeing that Akatsuki's prestige was plummeting faster than a stone in water, Aizen quickly jumped in. "I think we should bring in some more professional members."
"Professionals!" Yahiko nodded thoughtfully. "You're right. Matters like this should indeed be left to professionals."
Seizing the momentum, Aizen continued, "In my opinion, the organization's biggest problem right now is the lack of talent!"
"Talent?" Yahiko asked.
Aizen spoke solemnly, "In this new era of the shinobi world, what's most important? Talent!"
Yahiko nodded deeply. "That makes sense."
Aizen continued, "Besides business management talent, we also need experts in technology research, specialized combat experts, and intelligence gathering experts..."
Yahiko looked around the room. "Regarding this talent matter, does anyone have any recommendations?"
Konan softly spoke up. "For making money, I have one suggestion—Kakuzu, the Takumi Rogue Ninja. I've heard he has unique insights into wealth generation."
"Kakuzu, got it." Yahiko slightly nodded his head, then asked, "Anyone else?"
Aizen suggested, "For technology research, I recommend Sasori of the Red Sand from Sunagakure. If possible, Orochimaru from Konoha would also be a good choice."
"Orochimaru is the Third Hokage's disciple. It's unlikely he'd join us." Yahiko shook his head. "Let's focus on Sasori of the Red Sand first."
"Sasori of the Red Sand is a genius puppet master." Aizen smiled. "With his abilities, he might be able to create an entire puppet brigade. Yahiko, isn't that the kind of army you want—one that doesn't suffer casualties?"
"But creating puppets must be really expensive, right?" Yahiko frowned. "We can't afford to support a second force anymore!"
"Then let him research new puppet technology," Aizen replied. "We can keep the most advanced puppets and sell the outdated ones to cover some of the research costs."
Yahiko's eyes lit up. "That's not a bad idea!"
"I also have a combat expert recommendation." Black Zetsu said with a grin. "Raiga Kurosuki—the former member of the Seven Swords of the Bloody Mist, a Mist Rogue Ninja."
"Raiga Kurosuki? Is he really capable?" Yahiko looked doubtful. "I heard he ran away in fear when facing Seiki Shimaseki during the war!"
"Seiki Shimaseki..." Tobi frowned. They all knew that senior student, but he'd never heard Zetsu mention him before.
"There's no shame in fleeing from someone like Seiki Shimaseki." Black Zetsu chuckled. "How many people in the shinobi world dare to face such a monster directly? Besides, aren't combat experts basically just cannon fodder?"
"If they die, just replace them with fresh meat. The shinobi world has no shortage of specialized fighters. You can find them a dime a dozen."
"That works." Yahiko looked around. "Does anyone else have any recommendations?"
When no one spoke up, Yahiko nodded. "Then we'll tentatively go with these three. After dealing with Hanzo, we'll split up to 'invite' them. Konan and I will approach Kakuzu, uncle will handle Sasori, and Zetsu and Tobi will go for Raiga Kurosuki. Any objections?"
"No objections."
"I agree as well."
Yahiko nodded in satisfaction. "Then the meeting is adjourned. We'll meet at the base in the Rain Country in three days... Tobi, you've been there before, so I won't go into details."
The meeting ended deep beneath the Grass Country.
Obito's eyes snapped open as he stood up. "A spirit from another era? Hmph, interesting! Black Zetsu, what do you think?"
Black Zetsu remained silent for a moment. "Beyond comprehension!"
Obito turned around. "Beyond comprehension?"
"Although I'm not sure whether his words are true or false, Madara once researched this. It's possible that chakra originally didn't exist, and the Sage of Six Paths brought chakra into this world!"
"The Sage of Six Paths?" Obito's eyebrows furrowed beneath his mask. "Are you saying the one he mentioned who fell from godhood to demonic ruin is the Sage of Six Paths?"
After muttering a silent accusation at Hagoromo, Black Zetsu sighed, "I don't know. But this person's motives are shrouded in mystery. Before obtaining more information, it's better not to provoke him!"
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