The scene shifts to the Rain Village as clouds gather and darkness envelops the village once more, swallowing the sun.
Obito, with his one-eyed mask, stood with Pain and Konan, lightning flashing behind them, illuminating their ominous silhouettes.
Konan broke the silence and asked, "What was that?"
Pain's face was impassive as he looked at the horizon, but he did not answer her directly. Instead, he turned his head slowly to face the masked man. "Madara," he said. "Do you know what that was?"
Obito was silent for a moment before speaking. "I don't know; I am as surprised as you are," he replied cryptically. "Don't worry, we will soon find out."
Pain simply nodded, his expression unchanging like the corpse he actually was. He then turned back to Konan. "Send someone and investigate what happened in the south."
Konan nodded and said, "We have now control over Rain Village, but now what? We cannot continue to just hunt bounties for money. It's too slow to achieve our goals."
"You are right," Obito agreed, his voice a dry rasp. "It is far too slow. And the ninjas of Rain Village are not very strong."
Two of the strongest Rain ninjas stood there, staring at Obito in response to his remark.
"Except you two, of course…" Obito added.
Konan ignored him and asked, "What's the fast method then?"
"We stop hunting for money," Obito stated plainly. "And we start taking it. We will acquire a nation for our own use, starting with a powerful ninja village."
Pain looked at the masked man, a hint of curiosity in his eyes, but his expression remained deadpan. "Which village are we targeting?"
"The Hidden Mist Village," Obito said, his voice laced with a chilling coldness. "We are going to turn it into the Bloody Mist Village."
Pain did not reply, but his impassive face showed no surprise. Konan, however, was not so reserved.
"It's not going to be easy," she stated, her wings of paper rustling slightly in the breeze. "Their Mizukage is a perfect jinchuriki, and a strong one."
Pain's question was direct. "Are we starting that phase of our plan? Are we killing the Mizukage?"
"No, not yet," Obito replied, his tone dismissive. "We are not killing the Mizukage. We are going to control him like a puppet. We need money to attract strong S-rank ninjas into our group."
"It will be difficult. Genjutsu doesn't work on a jinchuriki," Konan said, raising a valid point.
Obito paused, a brief, silent moment of anticipation. He then let out a low chuckle. "It's time for a history lesson, then."
Obito turned to face them fully, his voice taking on a professorial air. "In ancient times, the Uchiha clan had captured a few Tailed Beasts for themselves. We tried to capture all but failed and lost others we captured as well. There was a brutal fight, tailed beast versus tailed beast, quite a few times."
He continued, "We failed quite a few times and lost most of our captured Tailed Beasts. However, we successfully gathered information about most of the Tailed Beasts. Since our ultimate target is the Tailed Beasts, you must know about them."
Obito then began his lesson, outlining the unique abilities and weaknesses of each beast.
One-Tails. Its speciality is sand manipulation, fuinjutsu, and defence. It can manipulate sand with unparalleled skill, giving it a significant advantage in desert environments like the Land of Wind. It is the only Tailed Beast with a natural affinity for fuinjutsu and is immune to genjutsu due to its chaotic mind. It also has a weak form of magnet release. Its unique weakness is a Weak Tailed Beast Bomb that it can fire only a few times before requiring a lengthy recharge, but it can fire high-pressure, super-dense air bullets. It is currently in the possession of the Sand Village.
Two-Tails. Its speciality is Blue Fire. It is a being of pure, raw energy whose blue flames can burn too intensely. Its weakness is a vulnerability to water; a large enough quantity of water-style jutsu could suppress its flames, but only momentarily. It is also immune to genjutsu. It is in the possession of the Cloud Village.
Three-Tails. Its speciality is water and illusionary mist and its strong shell. Its real power is its mastery over water and its ability to produce a genjutsu-inducing mist, which confuses opponents. Its weakness is a susceptibility to Genjutsu. It is also slow on land. It had been caught under genjutsu before by the Uchiha clan in ancient times. It, along with the Six-Tails, is in the possession of the Mist Village.
Four-Tails. Its speciality is Lava Release, Physical Prowess. It is also immune to genjutsu and gets angry very easily. Its primary ability is a unique combination of Earth and Fire nature transformations to produce Lava Release, which he uses for immense physical power. I won't call it a weakness, but it is slightly vulnerable to water due to its fire and earth nature. It dislikes water and prefers to stay in dry, arid regions. It is in the possession of the Rock Village.
Five-Tails. Its speciality is Boil Release and speed. It uses Boil Release to heat its chakra to a boiling point, which it can use to strengthen its body and increase its physical power. It is also the fastest of them all. The Uchiha never encountered it. It is in the possession of the Rock Village.
Six-Tails. Its speciality is Corrosive Bubbles and Genjutsu Immunity. Its body can secrete a corrosive fluid that can dissolve almost anything. It does not have simple eyes, so it is immune to genjutsu. Its weakness is that it is the slowest of them all. It is in the possession of the Mist Village.
Seven-Tails. Its speciality is flight, speed, and genjutsu immunity. Its speed and ability to create sonic booms and wind tunnels by flying at immense speeds are its greatest weapons. Its constant movement and flight make it an incredibly difficult target to lock a genjutsu onto. The Uchiha never encountered it. It is currently with the Waterfall Village.
Eight-Tails. Its speciality is intellect, strategy, and genjutsu immunity. The Eight-Tails is the most intelligent and tactical of all the Tailed Beasts. Its mind is too sharp and too well-guarded to be affected by genjutsu. It is also slow, like six tails, but the second strongest. It is in the possession of the Cloud Village.
Nine-Tails. Its speciality is monstrous chakra and raw power. The Nine-Tails' speciality is its nearly limitless chakra reserves and the raw power of its Tailed Beast Bomb. It is the undisputed powerhouse of the group. Its weakness is a susceptibility to Genjutsu. The Nine-Tails is overwhelmingly arrogant and has deep-seated hatred towards humans. An Uchiha with Mangekyo doesn't need to overpower its chakra, only its will. It was in my possession a long time ago. It is now in the possession of the Leaf Village inside a child.
After Obito's extensive explanation, Konan's eyes widened in understanding. "So, it means Tailed Beasts can be susceptible to genjutsu?"
"Yes," Obito confirmed. "The Nine-Tails is a prime example of that. You remember the incident in Leaf Village a few years ago… It was me."
Both Pain and Konan showed no emotion, as if they had guessed the truth behind the incident without needing Obito's confirmation.
"Even if some of them are susceptible to genjutsu, that doesn't mean its host is also," Konan countered, thinking. "As long as the host and its beast work together, genjutsu won't work."
"You are right," Obito conceded. "But that can be managed by a dual-layered genjutsu—one enforcing the other."
He continued, "If we both put them under genjutsu together with your Rinnegan and my Mangekyo Sharingan, we can control the Mizukage and the Tailed Beast inside him like puppets. But we would need to knock them out first."
Pain, his mind already racing with the implications, spoke. "When are we leaving?"
"Soon," Obito replied. "I have already put a plan in motion; the Mizukage will be alone."
"There is also one more intriguing thing," Obito added, his voice low. "One of the legendary Sannin, Orochimaru, has been looking into Rain Village internal matters."
Obito looked at Pain and said, "Rumours about you have started to reach him."
Konan glanced at Pain. They have a history together with the legendary Sannin. Konan looked back at Obito and asked, "He is also on the list too?"
"That depends on his intentions," Obito said. "Like others on the list, he is powerful and resourceful. He is at the top of S-Rank, and on top of it, he is a Fuinjutsu grandmaster and a researcher of the highest level when it comes to human biology."
Pain asked, "Are we setting out to gather them now?"
"Yes, after we have the Mizukage in our grasp," Obito concluded. "The first two from the list we are targeting are Sasori of the Red Sand and Kakuzu. Both are somewhat immortal. They will make a wonderful pair."
This was the start of the organisation that would be later known as Akatsuki.
##PoWeR StOnEs##
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