Uchiha Obito walked into the room, slowly sat down in a chair, and leaned forward.
When the Deva Path of Pain and Konan saw him enter, the Deva Path spoke,
"Has the Eight-Tails jinchūriki been captured, Uchiha Madara?"
Uchiha Obito slowly shook his head.
"There was a bit of an accident. He escaped. I didn't want to reveal my true strength in front of Kakuzu, so he handled most of it this time."
Hearing this, Konan and the Deva Path exchanged a glance. Then the Deva Path asked softly,
"Then why have you returned?"
Uchiha Obito slowly raised his head and said calmly, "Regarding the Nine-Tails jinchūriki… I think it's time we make our move."
The Deva Path nodded slightly.
"Mm. We were just discussing a plan to attack the Hidden Leaf Village. Since Jiraiya was rescued, our intelligence has already been exposed, so we must speed things up."
"Good that you understand. For this attack on the Hidden Leaf Village, bring all members of the organization. After it's done, make a trip to the Land of Wind on the way," Uchiha Obito said flatly.
"It's just the Hidden Leaf Village. There's no need for that many people. The others have their own missions. Konan and I will go—that's enough," the Deva Path replied indifferently.
Uchiha Obito frowned, though hidden beneath his spiral mask, so neither Konan nor Pain could see it. He felt a trace of displeasure at the Deva Path's attitude.
Still, he said nothing more. As long as they helped him complete the task of collecting the tailed beasts, that was enough.
Uchiha Obito slowly stood up and walked toward the door. Glancing back, he said,
"I'll leave it to you. As for the Eight-Tails, I'll find another way."
The Deva Path watched Obito's departing figure expressionlessly.
Konan stepped forward, frowning slightly.
"He seems dissatisfied with us. And he didn't even take action against the Eight-Tails."
The Deva Path shook his head.
"There's no need to worry about his attitude. We only need to follow our own path. Between us, it's nothing more than mutual use."
"The new Pain bodies have already been completed. It's time to head to the Hidden Leaf Village," the Deva Path said as he turned and walked off.
Seeing this, Konan quietly followed behind him.
...
Mount Myōboku, evening.
Bang!
A breeze passed through. Rorin shook the iron powder in his hand and smiled slightly.
After a period of effort, Rorin had finally managed to break down the iron ball in his hand into powder.
Next would be to combine the previous three stages and create a new technique.
Seeing that Rorin had truly succeeded, Jiraiya was momentarily stunned before smiling. He hadn't expected the kid to actually pull it off.
"Rorin, congratulations! You did it!" Uzumaki Naruto ran up to him and said.
Rorin smiled. It had taken quite a bit of time—two full days.
"Alright, let's stop here for today. Time to head back and have dinner!" Fukasaku said.
The three of them and one toad returned home together. While eating dinner, Fukasaku glanced at Uzumaki Naruto and spoke.
"Little Naruto, there's something I need to explain to you—about the risks of Sage Mode."
Hearing this, Jiraiya also focused his attention on Naruto.
Naruto looked at Fukasaku in confusion. "Risks?"
Fukasaku exchanged a glance with Jiraiya before speaking.
"You should already know that Sage Mode can only be maintained for up to five minutes. And to sustain it, you need to gather natural energy. The prerequisite is staying completely still. Once battle begins, you can't use it freely—you need a quiet place to gather energy."
Naruto was shocked. Then he glanced at Rorin and asked, "Then why can Rorin stay in Sage Mode all the time?"
From Naruto's perspective, Rorin seemed to always be in Sage Mode, which confused him.
Jiraiya and Fukasaku looked at each other and shook their heads. Jiraiya said,
"He's different from you."
Fukasaku glanced at Rorin and said calmly,
"Rorin's Sage Mode is different. He doesn't need to remain still to absorb natural energy, so he doesn't have that risk."
Rorin simply smiled and continued eating. He believed Naruto would soon figure out the idea of using Shadow Clone Technique on his own, so he didn't say anything.
After that, Fukasaku explained that by merging with Naruto, the risk could be resolved. Only then did Naruto feel relieved.
"However, since the final state of Sage Mode requires me and my wife to stand on your shoulders, during battle, Naruto and Jiraiya—you two can only have one person reach the final state," Fukasaku added.
Naruto glanced at Jiraiya. "So that means when we fight together, only one of us can enter the final Sage Mode?"
Jiraiya waved his hand dismissively.
"That's a minor issue. What matters is defeating Pain."
Naruto nodded slightly.
After speaking, Jiraiya turned his head to glance at Rorin and smiled faintly, thinking: Besides, we've still got him.
Rorin didn't notice Jiraiya's gaze. He was busy thinking about his future path of development.
...
Uchiha Clan District.
Uchiha Itachi received a message from Pain and frowned slightly.
Soon, he entered a virtual meeting. Only three members attended: the Deva Path of Pain, Konan, and Uchiha Itachi.
The Deva Path's projection looked at Itachi and said, "Itachi, we're about to head to the Hidden Leaf Village to capture the Nine-Tails jinchūriki. You understand how to enter the village, correct?"
Itachi frowned slightly. So it's finally beginning.
He then told Pain a set of codes to pass through the Hidden Leaf Village's barrier—of course, they were false.
After receiving the answer, the Deva Path exited the meeting.
After the meeting ended, Itachi called Uchiha Sasuke over and informed him that the Akatsuki would soon head to the Hidden Leaf Village to capture Uzumaki Naruto.
Sasuke was stunned for a moment, then clenched his fists tightly.
"Sasuke, while Pain and the others attack the village, we'll take advantage of the chaos to eliminate Shimura Danzō," Itachi said calmly.
As soon as he finished speaking, Sasuke frowned and asked, "Brother… is this the opportunity you mentioned before?"
Itachi nodded slightly. "That's right."
"But—!" Sasuke shouted, agitated.
Itachi placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and said calmly,
"Sasuke, do what you believe is right."
Sasuke froze for a moment, then nodded and left the Uchiha clan district.
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