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Now that the Six-Tails' chakra had been secured, every single piece of tailed beast chakra was firmly within their grasp.
To be more specific, Nagato and Obito together now held all nine of the tailed beasts.
Obito's true objective, however, had never been aligned with Nagato's.
Using the Ten-Tails to develop a terrifyingly powerful jutsu? Exploiting warfare as a means to bring about an end to all warfare?
What did any of that have to do with him?
From the very beginning, both he and Madara Uchiha had merely been using Nagato and Konan as nothing more than pawns.
Now that all the tailed beasts had been acquired, his "cooperation" with Nagato was rapidly approaching its final conclusion. The next step was to seize the Rinnegan, summon the Divine Tree, and enact the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
That was his true plan.
At this very moment, three separate, intertwined conflicts were unfolding simultaneously. The first was the struggle between Nagato and the Allied Shinobi Forces. The second was the coming confrontation between himself and Nagato. And the final conflict would be the decisive battle between himself and the Allied Forces.
The first and the last of these battles were unavoidable. The second, however, was an operation he intended to initiate unilaterally. It was entirely possible that not even Zetsu was aware of his intentions.
"I must factor in every conceivable variable," Obito drew a deep breath and reflected silently.
The next step was to locate Nagato and Konan. He would wait until the Akatsuki and the Allied Shinobi Forces had mauled each other to the bitter end, and then he would claim the Rinnegan for himself.
Having mapped out the precise sequence of events in his mind, Obito, with Kabuto and the reanimated Utakata in tow, swiftly departed from the Hidden Mist Village.
...
The sea had been stained a deep, visceral crimson. The thick, cloying stench of blood mingled with the briny saltiness of the ocean and was carried ashore by the sea breeze.
Itachi gazed at the deep red spreading through the water, his expression a mask of unreadable complexity.
Pain had unleashed his Almighty Push upon the ocean, and the resulting cataclysm had caused the seawater to churn violently. A colossal, anomalous wave had surged from the coastline outward towards the deep sea. The violent agitation of the water had even driven monstrous leviathans up from the abyssal depths. By executing the Almighty Push several times in rapid succession, Pain had managed to forcibly generate a tsunami-like surge, sweeping both the water and the deep-sea creatures far out into the distance.
Afterward, Pain had been forced to rest for a full ten minutes or more before he could even begin to recover. What followed in the ensuing period was the most gruesomely bloody spectacle Itachi had ever personally witnessed. The Island Turtle, a creature the size of a small landmass, continued its slow, inexorable advance towards them. The deep-sea monstrosities that had been hurled against the turtle's shell by the colossal waves were systematically butchered by the shinobi stationed upon the island.
Against ordinary vessels, those marine creatures might have possessed an overwhelming, crushing advantage. But against shinobi—particularly the formidable, battle-hardened warriors mustered from each of the Great Shinobi Villages—gaining the upper hand was a far more daunting proposition. Furthermore, the vessel these shinobi were traveling upon was a turtle island. Short of slaughtering the colossal turtle itself from beneath the water, sinking this mobile island would be an exceedingly difficult feat. And the turtle's natural defenses were among the most formidable of any living creature. Destroying it outright was, for all practical purposes, nearly impossible.
Thus, all of the chakra Pain had so laboriously expended had only succeeded in marginally delaying the Allied Forces' inevitable landfall.
It appears Pain is not particularly eager to directly engage the Allied Shinobi Forces either...
Itachi swept his gaze discreetly across his surroundings out of the corners of his eyes.
Mui's complexion was decidedly unnatural. His hands were clenched into tight, white-knuckled fists, yet his attention was not focused on the sea.
It was obvious that his mind was preoccupied with other matters.
Itachi could understand Mui's state of mind. Though he had once been the warden of Hozuki Castle, the gap between Kusagakure and the Great Shinobi Villages remained a vast, unbridgeable chasm. Shinobi of Mui's caliber were a dime a dozen within the major hidden villages. Now, facing the prospect of being encircled and annihilated by the full might of the Allied Shinobi Forces, his only conceivable fate was death.
Was he afraid? That was only natural. Perhaps he was already frantically searching for an escape route.
As for Deidara, he was a carefree, reckless fool, currently patrolling overhead astride his giant clay bird.
The only one who seemed truly troubled was Zetsu. After all, he and Madara were aligned.
Itachi felt a gnawing sense of urgency. If this continued, the Akatsuki would soon be locked in direct combat with the Allied Forces. Although he had personally killed Kimimaro and the Fourth Kazekage with his own hands and knew there was no path of redemption left for him, there was still something he desperately needed to accomplish before his own death. Uchiha Madara... No, perhaps it was another member of the Uchiha clan. What was his true purpose in aligning himself with the Akatsuki?!
"Pain."
Itachi stepped forward.
Instantly, all Six Paths of Pain, and even Zetsu, turned their sharp, collective gazes upon him.
"What is it?" the Deva Path asked.
"I..." Itachi flicked a brief, meaningful glance at Zetsu. "I am somewhat concerned about Madara."
"Him? There is no need for concern. He is not weak," Pain replied, turning his attention back towards the ocean.
"No, that was not my meaning. My point is, why is he not acting in concert with the rest of us? This is the Akatsuki's final and most critical operation. All of us could potentially... No, it is almost a certainty that we will all perish here. Zetsu is here, ready to fight to the death against the Allied Forces. And yet, Madara has not come. Do you not find that the slightest bit peculiar?" Itachi pointed out.
Mui, whose nerves had already been stretched to the breaking point, felt his anxiety ratchet up to unbearable levels upon hearing Itachi's words. His mind descended into complete, muddled chaos.
Zetsu waved a dismissive hand. "Madara is responsible for maintaining surveillance over the Hidden Mist Village. Do not forget, our ultimate target remains Midorima. The moment that man shows himself, he must be captured immediately. That is precisely why Madara has remained there."
"There is some logic to that. But there is one point I fail to understand. Is he truly capable of defeating Midorima in single combat?" Itachi pressed, his voice laced with skepticism. "I have heard that he has clashed with Midorima on more than one occasion, and each time he has been forced to withdraw without accomplishing anything. To be perfectly frank, I harbor some doubts regarding his capabilities."
"He is Madara," Zetsu countered flatly.
"Yet, has anyone ever actually laid eyes upon his true face?" Itachi retorted with a cold, mirthless smile.
"Compared to you, Pain places far greater trust in Madara. Do you believe otherwise?" Zetsu deftly sidestepped the question.
Itachi's brow twitched almost imperceptibly. His gaze drifted towards Pain, only to see the man staring fixedly out at the sea. It was clear as day—compared to Madara, he was ultimately nothing more than an outsider.
But what was Madara's true identity, truly?
If he ever had the opportunity, he desperately wished to meet Midorima face to face. Perhaps Midorima was the only one who could unravel the tangled knots of suspicion festering within his heart.
"I am fully aware that many among us do not fully comprehend Madara's decisions. However, we stand united against a common, monumental foe. I believe that once we have weathered this immediate crisis, Madara will provide you with a satisfactory explanation. After all, by that point, the Akatsuki's ultimate objective should have been realized as well," Zetsu explained placatingly.
"Do you genuinely believe we can achieve victory against the Allied Shinobi Forces?" Itachi asked bluntly.
"There is no need to defeat them outright. We only need to stall for time until Midorima finally shows himself. Once the Six-Tails is in our possession, the Allied Forces will no longer be a match for us," Zetsu replied with a confident smirk.
Itachi was just about to voice a further retort when Deidara swept overhead upon his giant clay bird.
"Hey, esteemed seniors! The Island Turtle is now less than five nautical miles out! They also appear to be preparing to dispatch another unit to force a breakthrough. Make your preparations!"
Having delivered his report, Deidara banked his clay bird sharply and vanished once more into the dense, swirling fog.
Mui tightened his grip on the massive scroll strapped across his back. He was merely a shinobi from the Hidden Grass Village. In terms of raw combat prowess, he could not possibly compare to the elite fighters of the Great Shinobi Villages. However, unlike them, he possessed a trump card: a legendary treasure left behind by the Sage of Six Paths himself—the Box of Ultimate Bliss. During his last joint mission with Madara to the Land of Grass, they had retrieved the box together. And he had received Madara's solemn assurance: "Activating it will require an immense quantity of chakra. However, Pain can provide that chakra."
Now, it seemed, was the most opportune moment of all.