The Gedo Mazo's massive, grotesque head stared down at the empty, gloomy space below.
Its ten finger-like projections, as thick as tree trunks, stretched upwards. The corresponding characters appeared on the fingers in the next moment.
The "White" position was naturally occupied by Konan, whose face was deathly pale, clearly still shaken by her experience in Konoha.
"Summoning Jutsu!" Nagato, standing at the "Zero" position, formed hand seals.
Bang! Bang!
Seven plumes of white smoke erupted simultaneously on the Gedo Mazo's remaining seven fingers. The smoke billowed, gradually revealing the figures within, all in a sorry state.
The "North" position, which should have been Kakuzu's, was empty.
The "Azure" position was occupied by Mui, who had accompanied Kakuzu. Blood was seeping from the corner of his mouth, his breathing was ragged, and his face was extremely grim.
The "Jewel" position was occupied by Sasori. However, he did not hide within Hiruko as he usually did, appearing as his true self. Immediately upon appearing, he looked toward the adjacent position.
The "Three" position was occupied by Hanzō, whose face was so somber it looked like it could drip water. Seeing that Hanzō was still alive, Sasori withdrew his gaze.
The "South" position was occupied by Juzō Biwa, who carried the Kubikiribōchō (Severing Sword). He had injuries on his body but seemed relatively intact compared to the others, and he looked confused.
The "Void" position was occupied by Hiruko, who appeared to have the lightest injuries, and his eyes flickered as he looked at the figures around him.
The "Profound" position, which should have been Shinno's, was also empty.
And standing at the "Vermillion" position, originally belonging to En Oyashiro, was 'Kage' (Shadow).
Most of the people present were in disarray, with tattered clothing and injuries of varying degrees.
Even Nagato's White Zetsu cloak looked severely deflated, and his presence no longer carried the immense oppressive force it once did.
The entire space was permeated with a heavy silence and a sense of defeat, completely different from the cold, ruthless solemnity of previous gatherings.
"Hey."
Jūzō Biwa looked around, unable to resist breaking the silence first. He asked in confusion, "What's going on? Why are all of you in such a mess?"
"Where are Kakuzu and Shinno? And..."
His gaze landed on 'Kage' at the "Vermillion" position, and he continued, "Where did that guy En Oyashiro go?"
His questions were like stones thrown into stagnant water, immediately stirring up a deeper silence.
"Heh... hehe... does that even need asking?"
Hiruko let out a low, mocking laugh. "Jūzō, it seems now that, apart from the two of us who were lucky and barely completed our mission, the actions of the other teams were..."
"Quite unsuccessful."
His words made the atmosphere among the group even more awkward.
Especially for Konan; Shinno and En Oyashiro had been operating with her and Nagato.
Yet now...
"Tch." Sasori showed displeasure and was about to say something when Nagato interrupted him.
"Save your gloating for later."
Nagato's gaze swept across the room, taking in everyone's miserable state.
With a hint of suppressed anger, he said coldly, "Report your mission status, starting with Hiruko and Jūzō Biwa."
All eyes focused on the relatively less injured Hiruko and Jūzō Biwa.
"Hmph, I don't know why you all ended up like this, but our operation went very smoothly."
Hiruko spoke with poorly concealed triumph. "The Seven-Tails Jinchūriki has been successfully captured and is housed in our base in Amegakure (Rain Country), ready for Tailed Beast extraction at any time."
"Mui." Nagato's cold gaze turned to Mui. "What about you and Kakuzu?"
Mui's expression was extremely grim. He took a deep breath, suppressing the tightness and anger in his chest, and said with resentment, "The intelligence provided by En Oyashiro was completely wrong!"
"The Two-Tails Jinchūriki did not remain in Kumogakure (Cloud Village) but went with the Fourth Raikage to the Land of Iron for the Five Kage Summit."
"Kakuzu and I had to change our target and found Killer B, the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, training in the Valley of Clouds and Lightning. We were close to succeeding, but the Fourth Raikage suddenly rushed back!"
He paused here, his throat bobbing, and he continued in a low voice, "That guy's strength far exceeded our estimates."
"Not only did he severely wound Kakuzu with one blow, but he also displayed a previously unheard-of power, enduring a full-power attack from 'Satori'!"
"'I only had time to retrieve the dying Kakuzu and a severed tentacle of the Eight-Tails. But Kakuzu is currently unable to suppress the rampaging Earth Grudge Fear inside him."
"I had to use a sealing jutsu to temporarily suppress his chakra, barely keeping him alive and preventing those black threads from bursting out, but this method won't last long."
Mui's report caused everyone's heart to sink again.
This meant the Akatsuki not only lost a high-level fighter, but the Eight-Tails chakra they obtained might be minimal.
"It's the same on our side."
Following him, Sasori also spoke coldly. "That old man Ōnoki suddenly returned, completely disrupting Hanzō's and my operation."
"We only had time to kill the Four-Tails Jinchūriki and bring the Four-Tails back."
As Sasori's words fell, almost everyone's eyes involuntarily turned to the "Vermillion" position, which originally belonged to En Oyashiro.
Jūzō Biwa, with the most direct temper, pointed the Kubikiribōchō at 'Kage' unceremoniously, demanding, "So, where is that bastard En Oyashiro?"
'Kage' let out an ambiguous chuckle and said, "I think that question would be more suitable for your leader to answer."
Everyone's gaze instantly focused on Nagato.
Nagato's Rinnegan eyes grew colder. He snorted and said, "En Oyashiro is dead."
"His erroneous intelligence not only led to the failure of your missions, seriously affecting the organization's plan, but it also killed him."
"Hyūga Kawa, who returned to Konoha, not only killed him but also slaughtered most of Shinno's Sky Ninja Corps. Shinno was severely injured as a result."
"To save his life, he used the forbidden jutsu 'Flesh Reanimation,' exhausting most of his life force. His current strength is less than one-tenth of its peak, and he will require a long time to recover."
"Therefore, I did not have him attend this meeting."
He paused here and continued, "However, I did manage to bring back the One-Tail from Sunagakure (Sand Village)."
"Furthermore, the Six-Tails Jinchūriki, who was traveling outside Kirigakure (Mist Village), was also successfully captured by my two puppets."
The 'puppets' Nagato referred to were naturally the Human Path and Asura Path, but apart from Hanzō, no one knew his true identity. They only knew him as "Pain."
They only thought the six Pains were his "puppets."
However, these "successes" sounded so pale and powerless against the backdrop of the massive losses, like heavy hammers slamming into everyone's hearts.
In other words, they only obtained the One-Tail, Four-Tails, Six-Tails, Seven-Tails, and a small fraction of the Eight-Tails' chakra?
And the price they paid was the complete death of En Oyashiro, the near-annihilation of the Sky Ninja Corps, and the near-fatal injuries of Shinno and Kakuzu, with other members barely escaping...
This Tailed Beast capture operation targeting Konoha and the major Hidden Villages not only suffered a severe setback in its plan but also resulted in the loss of three core members and important peripheral forces.
The cost was too high!
This was a vast difference from their initial blueprint of swiftly collecting Tailed Beasts and sweeping through the ninja world!
"How could this happen?"
Sasori was the first to lose his patience, his tone irritated. "Pain, why did that puppet you sent to support us suddenly lose contact at a crucial moment?"
"Moreover, with you present, how could En Oyashiro and Shinno end up one dead and one severely injured? Why was the Sky Ninja Corps practically massacred?"
"Having paid such a heavy price, why couldn't you even bring back the most important Nine-Tails?"
Sasori's question voiced the confusion in the hearts of almost everyone present.
They had all personally felt Nagato's overwhelming power, like that of a god. Apart from a fully unleashed Hanzō, no one could directly contend with him.
With a leader of such strength taking action personally, why did things turn out so poorly?
Was it because of the old man Hiruzen Sarutobi?
Or was it because of the Sannin, Jiraiya and Tsunade?
"..." Nagato fell into a long silence.
Konan, whose face was grim on the side, moved her lips slightly, seemingly wanting to explain for Nagato, but Nagato raised his hand to stop her.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Nagato slowly spoke, revealing a name that greatly surprised everyone.
"It was Hyūga Kawa."
Nagato's voice was still calm, but the gravity within it tightened everyone's hearts. "His strength far exceeded my previous expectations."
"I was forced to use a certain degree of my true power, which is why the puppet I sent out lost control."
He paused here and continued, "That is the power of a god. Legend says the Sage of Six Paths used a similar technique to create the moon hanging in the sky."
"Though I am far from the Sage of Six Paths' level, that power was enough to completely erase all of Konoha from the map of the ninja world."
The moon was created by the Sage of Six Paths?
What level of power was that?
It had completely surpassed their conceptual understanding of "power"!
Jūzō Biwa swallowed, his voice somewhat dry as he pressed, "Having used that level of power, why did things still end up like this?"
Nagato slowly closed his eyes, then opened them. A complex, hard-to-read light flashed in his Rinnegan, eventually turning into a brief sigh:
"I underestimated him."
"I did not anticipate that Hyūga Kawa also possesses a pair of powerful eyes."
"I do not know if those eyes have other abilities, but the power they demonstrated is already comparable to my eyes."
"With just one strike, he not only split the miniature celestial body I used to seal him but instantly destroyed the Sky Fortress, killed most of the Sky Ninjas, and severely wounded Shinno to the brink of death."
What?
Eyes with power comparable to the Rinnegan?
When this was said, everyone's pupils contracted instantly. The hall fell into a deathly silence. Everyone's minds were intensely shaken by this information.
How is this possible?
The Hyūga clan's Byakugan, in their perception, was primarily a support-type Kekkei Genkai used for reconnaissance. How could it possess such power?
Before the operation, they had indeed not viewed Hyūga Kawa as a major threat.
Hyūga Kawa was too young. His truly brilliant combat record seemed to be only the one on the Land of Hot Water battlefield, where he used a natural phenomenon to blast the Cloud Village forces.
But that battle also exposed the obvious flaws of his technique and its dependence on specific environments.
Even if Hyūga Kawa was an anomaly within the Hyūga clan.
The Byakugan and Gentle Fist would be largely countered when facing them, ninjas possessing unique skills and bizarre abilities. His threat level was far below that of the long-established Five Kage or the Sannin.
However, reality gave them a resounding slap in the face.
They never expected that it was this individual, whom they all unanimously ignored, who forced the organization's strongest member, Pain, to use his "Power of God" yet still return empty-handed, even suffering heavy losses!
Just as everyone was processing this information, Konan's cold voice rang out again.
"There's another point I think we should be concerned about." Konan's gaze was directed towards 'Kage' standing at the "Vermillion" position.
"In Sunagakure, after we successfully extracted the One-Tail from the Jinchūriki's body, the deceased One-Tail Jinchūriki transformed into an 'Arrancar' of the Espada level."
Konan said coldly, "Not only that, when we later arrived at Konoha, a similar anomaly occurred within the Hyūga clan, giving birth to another Arrancar of the Espada level."
"These consecutive incidents are far too coincidental."
No sooner had Konan finished speaking than the long-silent Hanzō suddenly raised his head and said hoarsely, "It was the same on our side."
"The corpse of the Four-Tails Jinchūriki, Rōshi, whom we killed, also underwent an anomaly, becoming an Arrancar of the Espada level!"
At this, Nagato and Konan exchanged a surprised glance, and everyone else's eyes focused sharply on 'Kage'.
Coldness, suspicion, scrutiny, hostility...
It was too much of a coincidence!
So coincidental that it was impossible not to be suspicious!
Who present didn't know that 'Kage' controlled a mysterious force called the "Hollow Realm (Hueco Mundo)"?
Who wasn't aware that those monsters called "Hollows" were largely considered 'Kage's' creations or were at least closely related to him?
Who didn't understand that whenever an Arrancar of the Espada level was born, it almost always attracted the attention or recruitment of the Espada members or 'Kage' himself?
And for a high-level Hollow of the Espada level to be born, it requires the consumption of a large number of freshly deceased souls filled with negative emotions.
Their massive Tailed Beast capture plan this time resulted in heavy casualties in the major Hidden Villages and significant losses for their own Akatsuki. The battlefields had no shortage of fresh departed souls...
Conversely, 'Kage' and his Hollow Realm forces seemed to have been in a state of "observation" and "following" throughout the entire operation.
And what was the final result?
Their Akatsuki suffered heavy losses, the mission was severely curtailed, yet 'Kage' inexplicably received the benefit, almost "reaping the harvest," gaining three newly born subordinates of the Espada level!
The feeling was as if their Akatsuki had fought desperately, shedding blood and sweat, only to end up working as a wedding dress for 'Kage', being used by him to collect souls and strengthen his forces!
"Heh, so you're saying..."
Hiruko let out an undisguised sneer, saying sarcastically, "We've been busy for a long time, but the biggest winner, in the end, is the person who's been outside the organization?"
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