Yahiko still remembered what Zetsu had said about controlling monsters using the complete form of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. He hesitated before asking, "Then, should we continue capturing the Bijuu?"
Aizen remained thoughtful. "From certain information revealed when Tobi and others ambushed me, gathering all nine Bijuu seems to trigger a qualitative change..."
Then he questioned, "How many Jinchuriki have we captured in this operation so far?"
Yahiko replied, "We've captured all the Jinchuriki except for the Five-Tails, Eight-Tails, and Nine-Tails'!"
"The Nine-Tails' chakra can be substituted using the reincarnated Gold and Silver Brothers. In other words, we're only missing the Five-Tails and Eight-Tails!" Aizen nodded slowly. "Since we've already reached this final step, it's too late to back out now!"
"Yeah, after all, we're already this close..." Yahiko agreed, suddenly realizing something. "You mean using the Gold and Silver Brothers to replace the Nine-Tails?"
"Tobi and the others had already prepared to use the Gold and Silver Brothers as substitutes from the very beginning, which is why they didn't mind attacking me when capturing the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki!" Aizen explained.
"That pair of bastards really have sinister minds!" Konan vented her anger.
"Although we're only missing the last two Bijuu, the difficulty of capturing them..." Ruiga said hesitantly, suddenly realizing, "From the perspective of the Five Great Hidden Villages, they don't know we have the Impure World Reincarnation technique. From Seiki Shimaseki's position, he would definitely defend the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki fiercely — and that is exactly our opportunity!"
Konan's eyes lit up. "Exactly — without factoring in Seiki Shimaseki, capturing the Five-Tails and Eight-Tails wouldn't be difficult at all!"
However, Aizen shook his head slightly. "I'm afraid I have to disappoint you. Earlier when I escaped, I left a shadow clone inside Tobi's space, and he didn't realize it was a clone and dared not act against me out of fear of my power!"
"Just now, however, my clone was dispelled, and the one who destroyed it was none other than Seiki Shimaseki!"
Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions changed dramatically.
"What? Could it be that he's defected to Konoha?"
"He actually dared to return to Konoha!"
Although Tobi knew a lot of secret information about the organization and had betrayed it, they hadn't really worried about him leaking the intelligence.
After all, Tobi's other name was Obito Uchiha!
How could someone who betrayed Konoha dare to return there? And how could Konoha possibly trust him?
"Darn it! We underestimated that guy's audacity!" Konan cursed viciously.
Ruiga nodded in agreement. "Compared to him, even a traitor like me could be considered honorable!"
Yahiko's expression suddenly changed. "Wait a minute, if Tobi reveals all our secrets and the fact that we've obtained the Impure World Reincarnation technique to Konoha, they might use the Impure World Reincarnation technique first!"
Because Sasori had only a limited number of puppets ready for use, and the reincarnated bodies created using standard sacrifices as vessels could only remain in this world for a few days, he hadn't summoned the Impure World Reincarnation army in advance. He had postponed it, planning to use it as a surprise force at a critical moment!
But things had changed now. If they didn't summon souls soon, the enemy might strike first—it all depended on whether the shinobi of the Five Great Hidden Villages were still reluctant to use the remains of their predecessors!
When Yahiko spoke, everyone understood just how serious things had become.
Though it was unlikely that the traditionalist Five Great Hidden Villages would agree to desecrate their ancestors' remains,
what if they did?
What if those people suddenly changed their minds? Then all their careful preparations would be for nothing?
Their plan was to use the Impure World Reincarnation to close the gap. If the enemy used it first, that gap would only grow!
Realizing this, Yahiko quickly asked, "I told you all to collect the corpses before the attack began. How's that going?"
"Don't worry, we've gathered the remains of multiple Raikages!"
"And the Mist Hidden Village is the same!"
...
Seeing that the remains of powerful figures and Kage from the Five Great Hidden Villages had been collected, Yahiko breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Let's end this meeting now. I'll have Nagato summon you using the Kuchiyose no Jutsu. Oh, and Sasori, bring two prepared puppets with you!"
Sasori nodded calmly. "I understand."
"Thanks for the trouble," Yahiko acknowledged with a nod before turning to the others. "Remember, don't resist when the time comes."
As he spoke, the light within the space quickly faded!
Inside an abandoned building in Rain Country,
Konan opened her eyes and asked, "Given the time limit of the Impure World Reincarnation technique, are we launching the final offensive directly?"
Yahiko nodded. "We've been at a disadvantage from the start. We don't have time to hesitate anymore!"
Nagato then asked, "You had Sasori bring those prepared puppets for Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, right?"
Yahiko replied, "Although the Impure World Reincarnation allows for repeated summonings, souls sent back to the Underworld can't be summoned again within a short time. Ordinary souls just return and stay there, but for these two, I'd prefer to keep them here!"
"Indeed. Their strength likely rivals even Seiki Shimaseki. Even if the Impure World Reincarnation bodies can't display their full power, the two of them together should be close enough. Our only problem is..." Nagato took a deep breath. "I'm not sure if I can control them!"
Both Konan and Yahiko wore solemn expressions. They had researched the Impure World Reincarnation themselves and fully understood that a summoned soul with overwhelming power could possibly turn against the summoner.
Therefore, the only one capable of performing this technique was Nagato—who possessed the Rinnegan!
"If it's you, I'm sure you can do it!"
"I hope so. There's actually another problem..." Nagato said gravely. "If I leave their personalities intact without controlling them, they might use their strong will to break free on their own. But if I impose control over them, I won't have enough energy left to summon anyone else using the Kuchiyose no Jutsu if you're in danger!"
"There's no gain without sacrifice. We have no other choice!" Yahiko sighed. "Enough talking. Begin the summoning!"
"Hmph!" Nagato nodded, then instantly summoned everyone from across the shinobi world using the Kuchiyose no Jutsu.
In an instant, the figures materialized inside the abandoned building.
Ruiga exclaimed in awe, "No wonder it's the Rinnegan. It can even summon us without a contract!"
Nagato didn't reply, his face pale. The long-distance summon had left him drained of nearly all his chakra.
Kakuzu suddenly asked, "Can you summon those two traitors?"
"Only if they don't resist," Nagato said softly.
"If it were really that simple," Ruiga laughed, "this war would be easy! Just summon the strongest ninja from each village one by one and take them down together!"
Yahiko looked around at everyone. "Bring out the bones you've collected. It's time to summon!"
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