"Considering the time, Kakuzu and Hidan should have already captured the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki. Why haven't they contacted us yet?"
At the Akatsuki base in the Village Hidden in the Rain.
Both Black Zetsu and Nagato planned to take advantage of the Five Kage Summit to seal the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki into "Gedo Statue."
Once the Seven-Tails is handled, the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails will be much easier to manage.
It's not that the Jinchuriki are easy to capture, but Zetsu has alternative methods.
For example: Orochimaru's collection of the Eight-Tails' severed horn, or the brothers Ginkaku and Kinkaku who possess Nine-Tails chakra.
Still, as always, Zetsu doesn't want to resort to these alternatives unless absolutely necessary, because it would affect the strength of Kaguya Otsutsuki once she is freed.
Konan: "The mere Hidden Waterfall Village should be no match for those two immortals, right?"
Pain: "The Hidden Waterfall Village can't stop them, but I'm more concerned that someone might go to the Land of Waterfall and protect the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki."
Konan and Nagato's exchange made Zetsu somewhat puzzled.
"Who would be bored enough to go protect a Jinchuriki from another village?"
Nagato glanced at Zetsu and said, "Konoha."
"Konoha? Hmm, now that you mention it, it's quite possible."
Zetsu thought for a moment. Even though the Fifth Hokage Jiraiya had taken Minato Namikaze and Hatake Sakumo away, Konoha still had Kage-level ninjas like Kushina Uzumaki, Orochimaru, Mito Uzumaki, and the Second Hokage.
Zetsu still didn't know that Mito and Tobirama weren't from this timeline. It had always thought they were resurrected by Konoha.
It was precisely because Konoha had so many strong shinobi that Zetsu had started capturing the Tailed Beasts over a year earlier than planned.
To force Nagato into agreeing to start the plan earlier, Zetsu even manipulated Kisame into capturing the One-Tail Jinchuriki, putting Nagato under pressure.
This caused a rift between the two of them.
But for Zetsu, it didn't matter.
What was a mere pawn meant to cultivate the Rinnegan?
As long as he can revive Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, Black Zetsu is willing to oppose the entire world.
At this moment, Nagato, who was about to say something, suddenly sensed Kakuzu's chakra.
"Hmm, Kakuzu is back, but I can't sense Hidan's chakra. Looks like they encountered some serious trouble on their mission."
The Land of Rain is constantly shrouded by rain.
Using the power of his Rinnegan, Pain infused chakra into the raindrops. Anyone who gets drenched by the rain will be detected by him.
This technique is called: Rain Tiger at Will Technique.
In the original story, Jiraiya seemed to easily infiltrate the Hidden Rain Village.
What he didn't know, however, was that as soon as he appeared in the village and got soaked by the rain, Nagato had already sensed his presence.
Both Zetsu and Konan were aware of this technique, so they didn't doubt what Nagato had said.
"Let's wait until Kakuzu arrives."
"Ha~"
"Finally, safe."
After escaping Tsunade's pursuit, Kakuzu made his way straight to the Land of Rain.
While passing through the Land of Grass, he casually killed two ninjas who fit his destroyed hearts chakra attributes and replenished his five hearts.
At this point, he wasn't careless. Who knew if there were still people from Konoha waiting for him in the Land of Grass?
So even though his hearts were fully replenished, Kakuzu didn't stop for a second and rushed at full speed back to the Hidden Rain Village.
For him, returning here meant safety.
Nagato's Rinnegan gave him a sense of security like no other.
"Kakuzu, what happened?"
Seeing Kakuzu return, Black Zetsu hurriedly approached him.
"Don't ask. Hidan and I were intercepted by Konoha."
"Intercepted? How many people did Konoha send?"
"Ugh."
Kakuzu awkwardly replied, "There was only one person."
"One person?"
Upon hearing this answer, Pain and Konan didn't show much reaction, but it was Zetsu who became excited.
"Who has the ability to fight both you and Hidan at the same time? Don't tell me it was the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama? Also, where's Hidan? He didn't get killed, did he?"
"It wasn't Senju Hashirama."
Kakuzu, being a seasoned survivor of several battles, was only awkward for a moment before returning to his usual composure.
"The person who stopped me and Hidan was Senju Hashirama's granddaughter, Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannins. As for Hidan, I think Tsunade must have taken him back to Konoha."
"That shouldn't be possible."
Upon hearing that it wasn't Senju Hashirama who stopped Kakuzu, Black Zetsu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
What it feared most was that Konoha had somehow revived Hashirama.
If that happened, it would be forced to revive Uchiha Madara before it was ready.
In its eyes, only Madara was a worthy opponent for Hashirama.
"With your and Hidan's abilities, how could Tsunade defeat both of you alone?"
"Hmm."
"Stop stuttering, tell us exactly what happened."
Kakuzu didn't immediately speak. Instead, he glanced at Pain.
After seeing Pain nod, he began explaining the details of their battle with Tsunade.
Rather than saying the zombie duo fought Tsunade together, it was more accurate to say that Kakuzu fought Tsunade alone.
The battle was extremely frustrating for Kakuzu.
Hidan, that fool, was decapitated by Tsunade right at the beginning, losing all combat ability.
And Kakuzu, too, was deceived by Tsunade and, underestimating her, had half his body destroyed by her attack.
"If it wasn't for me being careless and Tsunade taking advantage of the opening, there's no way Tsunade would have been able to defeat me."
After telling Konan, Pain, and Zetsu the details of the battle, Kakuzu made sure to cover for himself.
"Alright, we already know about this. You can go rest now."
"Okay, I've been traveling for a long time, so I'm really tired."
After nodding at the three of them, Kakuzu turned and headed toward the inn in the Hidden Rain Village.
"Something feels off. Why do I feel like Tsunade is so familiar with Hidan and Kakuzu's abilities? First, she used Hidan's overconfidence and arrogance about his immortality to sever his head, rendering him useless in battle. Then, she ambushed Kakuzu and destroyed both of his hearts. Normally, in ninja battles, this kind of thing doesn't happen."
Pain shook his head, not responding to Zetsu's words.
Zetsu didn't understand. Did he still not realize it?
When he went to Konoha to ask Jiraiya-sensei to revive Yahiko, Jiraiya almost told him directly that Konoha had all the information about the Akatsuki.
Nagato had been half-skeptical at first, but after Tsunade's handling of the "zombie duo" in battle, he understood.
Konoha indeed had intel on the Akatsuki.
Now, things might be heading toward the worst possible outcome.
"What should we do? Do we need to send someone else to capture the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki?"
Seeing that Pain didn't respond to his words, Zetsu didn't think much more about it.
What he cared most about was still the Jinchuriki matter.
"We're running out of time. Prepare for the Five Great Shinobi Countries to come after us together."
*********
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