Cloud Village.
Listening to Dodai's report, A's expression darkened. "What the hell does the Akatsuki want? Are they really trying to fight the entire ninja world?"
Dodai analyzed, "Though Akatsuki is powerful, it's still not enough to take on the Five Great Hidden Villages. The reason they're acting this way is likely to scatter our forces and destroy us one by one!"
"One by one?" A leaned back, resting one hand under his chin while the other tapped the table. "Although Akatsuki isn't a match for all the Five Great Hidden Villages combined, they're stronger than each village individually!"
"If we send ninja out on rescue missions, it'll just give them a chance to hit us when we're weak!"
Dodai nodded gravely. "If we ignore this situation, the entire world outside the Five Great Hidden Villages will fall into Akatsuki's hands. But if we make the first move, we'll fall into their trap!"
"Maybe we can strengthen the barrier defenses!" Yugito suggested. "Detect the enemy in advance and buy more time to recall everyone!"
"It won't help much!" Dodai refuted. "If they're truly determined to invade, they'll definitely use those monsters to keep our people occupied!"
A slammed the table and said, "Then let's bring everyone from the Land of Lightning into Cloud Village! We can always squeeze together somehow!"
Dodai shook his head slightly. "However, the fundamental problem still won't be solved. If Akatsuki concentrates all its strength, the current power of our village will struggle to resist!"
A frowned. "Then what do you suggest we should do?"
Dodai fell silent for a moment and sighed. "Actually, the safest method would be for the Five Great Hidden Villages to gather together and protect each other!"
At this, everyone in the room fell silent.
They naturally understood the benefits of uniting, but the issue was—where exactly should they gather?
Looking at the map, the Land of Fire was clearly the central location.
But the Demon Disaster wouldn't be resolved in a day or two. If they stayed there for a long time, they feared their villagers would eventually become part of the Land of Fire!
They worried that by the time the war ended, they'd have no home left at all!
...
Iwagakure.
"What should we do? Should we take the initiative to move toward Konoha and form a united front of the Five Great Hidden Villages?" Kitsuchi hesitated. "But we're not Sunagakure after all. Everyone's probably pretty resistant to this idea!"
Everyone in the room nodded with complicated expressions. Although they no longer held grudges against Konoha, groveling and flattering them was beyond their psychological capacity.
"You guys don't have to be too nervous," Onoki said with a smile. "While you're worrying, Akatsuki is also afraid!"
"Afraid?" Kitsuchi furrowed his brows but quickly understood. "I see. By concentrating their forces, they indeed possess the strength to conquer any hidden village. But by gathering together, they also give Seiki Shimaseki the opportunity to wipe them all out at once!"
Beside him, Han also suddenly realized, "No wonder they've only sent out those monsters so far. Not a single one of their high-level members has appeared yet!"
Onoki chuckled, "Let the tall man hold up the sky when it collapses. Since Seiki Shimaseki wants to play hero, let him take the responsibility!"
...
Within the Illusory Space, ten figures stood encircling the area.
Everyone cast curious glances at Obito and his companion, clearly aware of the meeting's purpose.
In the midst of the silent atmosphere, Yahiko spoke up, "Tobi, Zetsu, why did the Monster Army suddenly riot?"
Black Zetsu sighed, "Sorry, we overestimated the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path's control. Once the number of monsters passed the tipping point, they suddenly went out of control!"
"Out of control?" Yahiko's voice turned grim. "You never mentioned that the monsters could lose control before!"
Black Zetsu explained, "The ancient texts we found didn't mention anything about losing control either. Thinking back now, maybe the Demonic Statue described in those texts was in a fully charged state, so such concerns never arose!"
"Fully charged state?" Konan asked, puzzled.
"It means the state when all the Bijuu are sealed inside," Black Zetsu shrugged. "Didn't I say before? The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path was the Sage of Six Paths' Bijuu Cage, used for taming the Bijuu and drawing power from them!"
Yahiko mused, "Are you saying we need to capture all nine Bijuu to regain control over those monsters?"
"I'm not sure myself," Black Zetsu pretended to be indifferent. "But according to Madara's research, that's probably how it works."
However, naturally no one would easily believe him just because he said so.
Yahiko asked, "Do you have any evidence?"
"As for proving the Demonic Statue being a Bijuu cage, that's easy. Its nine sealed eyes correspond exactly to the nine Bijuu. Once you seal a Bijuu inside, the corresponding eye will open!"
Black Zetsu scratched his head, "As for whether sealing Bijuu can strengthen the Demonic Statue's control over the monsters, I don't know how to prove that. How about we just capture one Bijuu and test it?"
Yahiko pondered, "So we need to capture a Bijuu first for experimentation?"
"There's no need to trouble the leader with this," Black Zetsu smiled. "Obito and I just happened to capture the revived Three-Tails a couple of days ago!"
Yahiko narrowed his eyes, staring intently at him, "In that case, I'll leave it to you then!"
As they finished discussing, Raiga spoke up, "Shouldn't we consider our fallback options now? Controlling the monsters requires the power of the Bijuu. Without mentioning whether the Five Great Hidden Villages would believe this or not, even if they did, they would definitely never allow such immense power to remain in our hands! Therefore, regardless of whether we can turn the situation around or not, war has already become inevitable!"
Nagato nodded in agreement, "Once this fragile balance is broken, the world will never be the same again! Now might not be the absolute best time to start a war, but the longer we wait, the worse the timing will get!"
"Yeah, if we're going to act, we need to do it now!" Aizen agreed. "Right now, the entire shinobi world believes the monster revolt is our doing. We should use their fear and suspicion to push forward with our plans!"
"If they discover that even we cannot control those monsters, our deterrence power will surely drop dramatically!"
"Talking like this, hesitation indeed seems unnecessary!"
"Kisame asked, 'However, how should we start the war? Should we first concentrate our forces to attack a shinobi village?'
Ruiga hesitated, 'If we shift from the shadows into the open, won't that give Seiki an opportunity?'
Nagato declared, 'To achieve the organization's goal, we'll eventually have to step into the spotlight!'
Seeing the focus of the war discussion go off track, Black Zetsu interrupted quickly, 'Actually, the key to breaking this stalemate still lies with the Bijuu! Only by re-controlling the Monster Army can we become a truly feared force in the shinobi world, rather than just an empty shell of a ten-member organization!'
'Furthermore, after the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path absorbs the Nine Tailed Beasts, its strength will multiply exponentially. Even Seiki Shimaseki may not stand a chance against it! Therefore, to accomplish the organization's goal, in the end, it still comes down to the Bijuu!'
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