The Land of Rain, Amegakure. The base of the Akatsuki.
"Pain-sama, this is an invitation just delivered by the Konoha's envoy. It states that the Chunin Exams will be held in Konoha Village one month from now. If Amegakure wishes to send representatives, they request we submit our examinees' information to them as soon as possible."
An Amegakure's Ninja, wearing his village's forehead protector, knelt on one knee at the entrance of the iron tower, reporting inside.
At the top of the tower, through his shared visual perception with the Six Paths of Pain, Nagato, his body emaciated and riddled with black rods, responded indifferently:
"Such a trivial matter... handle it as you see fit..."
"Hey, hey~ Wait a minute. This might be a good opportunity."
Before Nagato could finish, another figure standing nearby, clad in the Akatsuki's signature black cloak with red clouds, spoke up.
The venus flytrap-like collar was prominent, and from within it emerged a head with interchanging black and white halves… Zetsu.
"The Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails are in Konoha, aren't they? Don't you think this is a perfect chance, Nagato? We can use the Chunin Exams as a legitimate excuse to enter Konoha Village."
The Akatsuki was confident about capturing the One-Tail through the Seven-Tails. But the Eight and Nine-Tails were different.
Simply entering Konoha Village wasn't an easy task. If they tried a forceful assault using the Six Paths of Pain like in the original work, they'd probably be crushed before even stepping foot in the village.
But with the Chunin Exams as a cover, they could waltz right through the front gate. They just needed to disguise Akatsuki's members as examinees.
Nagato frowned, the skin on his gaunt face tightening as he considered this. After some thought, it did seem like a viable plan.
"What is your plan, Zetsu?"
Due to his body's severe deterioration from forcibly summoning the Gedo Statue, Nagato could barely move on his own.
In the original work, Konan used her Paper Ninjutsu to assist him. Now, with Konan gone, Zetsu had taken over the helper role.
By enveloping Nagato in a White Zetsu's body, they could move freely through the earth and relocate him.
"Have Tobi infiltrate the examinees. You, Nagato, will lead the Six Paths of Pain and wait outside. Tobi will find an opportunity to break the seal on the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Kushina. Once the Nine-Tails is unleashed, you will storm into Konoha Village and seize it." Black Zetsu strategized in his raspy voice.
Nagato pondered for a moment, not refuting the idea, then raised another issue:
"...And who will handle the Eight-Tails?"
"Kisame. His abilities are well-suited for dealing with the Eight-Tails," White Zetsu chimed in.
Nagato fell silent again, pondering carefully for several minutes before finally speaking:
"Konoha has quite a few troublesome individuals. I can barely handle Uchiha Jin, but there's also Konan, Nohara Rin, Charlotte Katakuri, and others. We'd probably need to mobilize the entire Akatsuki to have a chance..."
Upon hearing this, Black Zetsu internally scoffed, 'Damn, the audacity. The Amegakure gave you the title [God], and you actually believe it? You've wasted the potential of the Rinnegan, a tool of such power. At best, you're at the peak of Kage-level. How dare you compare yourself to Uchiha Jin, who is beyond Kage-level?'
In Black Zetsu's estimation, Jin's strength was firmly in the 'Beyond Kage-level'.
Since Jin hadn't taken action personally in the Ninja world for a long time, delegating even minor tasks to his subordinates, Black Zetsu's assessment was based on Jin's last known display of power.
He believed Jin had plateaued at Beyond Kage-level. After all, Jin wasn't an Indra's Chakra Reincarnation nor had he transplanted Hashirama's cells. He couldn't possibly awaken the Rinnegan, so beyond Kage-level was his ceiling.
After convincing Nagato, Zetsu relayed the plan to the current Akatsuki member, 'Tobi', who is actually Obito.
"Can Nagato really hold off Uchiha Jin?" Obito's voice was cold through his mask. Every time that name was mentioned, he couldn't help but recall that night, the sound of his goddess's passionate cries echoing in his memory.
Infiltration during the Chunin Exams to seize the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails... Obito had to admit the plan seemed more reliable than a direct assault. But its success hinged on one critical condition: the Six Paths of Pain had to be able to stall Jin long enough for them to capture the Tailed Beasts.
"Don't worry. I have a plan," Black Zetsu declared with confidence, sounding like a master strategist.
'So what if Uchiha Jin is Beyond Kage-level? If I, the son of Kaguya, bring out the power of the Six Paths-level, how will he possibly respond?'
…
One month later, Konoha Village.
A large number of foreign Ninjas began pouring into Konoha. Not just from small villages in the Land of Fire's vicinity like the Land of Hot Water, Land of Grass, and Land of Waterfall, but also Ninjas from the Sunagakure of the Land of Wind, one of the Five Great Nations, which had signed a peace treaty with Konoha after the Second Great Ninja War.
There were also members from the [Onigakure], which had replaced Kumogakure a decade ago and renamed the Land of Lightning the [Land of Oni]. They were distinguished by the horns on their heads.
Incidentally, the name Onigakure was chosen by Kaido. Jin always felt their group should be called the Yajugakure, given they were all, well, beasts. (T/N: Yaju means Beast in Japanese.)
Sunagakure sent the Kazekage's three children: Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara.
Onigakure sent the trio of Karui, Omoi, and Atsui.
Yes, after Kaido conquered Kumogakure, he didn't expel its inhabitants like the former Konoha's residents.
Instead, he absorbed most of them into his forces, letting them to reside in the Land of Oni as citizens of Onigakure.
The only difference from the original work was swapping their hideous leather armor for horned headpieces and equally unattractive animal-skin cloaks.
"Pity those four old fools died too early. I was kind of looking forward to the Konoha Crush Plan," Jin mused as he watched the examinees from various countries fill the streets.
His regret stemmed from a simple, petty desire: he just wanted to see Hiruzen die.
During this period in the original work, Konoha, once the strongest village in the Ninja World, was left with only one aging, nearly-decrepit Kage-level Ninja: Hiruzen.
The thought was almost laughable. If not for Naruto's plot armor stopping Gaara, Orochimaru might have actually succeeded in destroying Konoha.
'Well, maybe not. Kakashi and Guy hadn't revealed their trump cards, the Mangekyo Sharingan and the Eighth Gate, during the Konoha Crush. But still, one had to admit the sheer incompetence required for Hiruzen and his group of old bastards to squander such an advantageous starting position.'
"Hey, you savages from Onigakure! This spot was clearly reserved by us!"
"Hah? What nonsense! First come, first served, don't you know that?"
A commotion from ahead caught Jin's attention. He looked over to see one of the Konoha 12, Ino, arguing with a dark-skinned girl about her age near a barbecue restaurant.
Though both had tanned skin, this girl's looks were worlds apart from beauties like Harribel or Yoruichi.
Jin remembered, 'Ah, right, this is Choji's future wife, isn't she? What was her name...?'
He thought for a moment but drew a blank, 'Oh well. Can't be helped if you're not a beauty.'
"Hmm?" Jin's gaze then fell on the square-jawed boy standing behind the girl, wearing an exasperated expression similar to Shikamaru's.
"Hey there, young man. What's the argument about?" Jin walked over and clapped the boy on the shoulder.
At the sight of Jin, both parties immediately fell silent, as if scolded by a teacher.
The boy Jin had addressed, Atsui, stood frozen for a good thirty seconds before stammering, "J-Jin-sama... w-well... the barbecue place only has one table left... K-Karui was trying to claim it..."
The reason Jin remembered Atsui was because of his sister, Kumogakure's [J-cup Battleship], arguably the only one in the original Naruto who could rival Tsunade in that department.
"Honestly, I leave for a moment, and you're already picking fights?" A tall, striking woman with prominent white hair, standing over two meters tall, hurried over. A spiked club was tucked at her waist.
"So tall!" Ino and the others gasped internally.
After the meat pie incident, ninety percent of Konoha's original population had been replaced by refugees from the One Piece World, so large, muscular new villagers weren't uncommon.
But it was rare to see a woman with such an imposing stature, especially one who was also beautiful.
"So you're their instructor, Yamato," Jin chuckled upon seeing the white-haired woman approach.
"Ah~ Long time no see, Jin," Yamato greeted him cheerfully, hands on her hips. Her appearance hadn't changed much.
"How are Kaido and Momoko?" After Pudding erased Yamato's memories of his idol, Oden, Jin was quite happy to interact with her.
Now that he was an adult and stood at 190 cm, he rarely got to relive the childhood experience of a 'small horse pulling a large cart'.
But Yamato, towering at 260 cm, could certainly provide that feeling.
"They're doing well. Aunt Momoko is pregnant recently. It's hard to believe Dad can still have kids in his seventies..." Yamato's reply struck Jin as absurd.
'Giving birth to a child with your former enemy... Even in the world of doujins, that plot was pretty wild. But it seemed Kaido's love for the feminized Momonosuke was genuine. So, best to just wish them happiness.'
"Ara~ Yamato-san, long time no see." Rin, having just finished handling the exam registration for Team 10, returned.
"Oh ho~ Rin! It's been a while!" Yamato scooped Rin up into a hug. The over one-meter height difference made the scene look like an adult holding a baby… quite exaggerated.
Nearby, an 'examinee' wearing a spiraling mask and an Amegakure's forehead protector silently observed this scene.
"Want to go say hello, Obito?" Tobi, the White Zetsu enveloping Obito's body, teased.
"No need!" Obito snapped, turning on his heel and striding away.
'Don't get angry, don't get angry. Once the Infinite Tsukuyomi is complete, once the Eye of the Moon Plan is realized, everyone will find happiness... and I will find mine. The Rin in this world isn't the real Rin! Only the Rin in the Infinite Tsukuyomi is the real Rin!'