I Punch the Tailed Beast Ball-Chapter 396: Conspiracy

While the Chunin Exams in Konoha was in full swing, Akatsuki did not just sit idly.

Konoha, Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kumogakure, the Four Great Shinobi Countries were focused on the Chunin Exams, with even the village Kage present in Konoha.

Nagato saw it as an excellent opportunity.

He picked up the pace, sending even Pain and Konan to entice small villages to rely on Akatsuki.

This was the best opportunity to capture the Tailed Beasts, but Nagato believed it was too hasty as Akatsuki had just begun their operations and it was too early to take on the Five Great Shinobi Countries.

With the absence of the Kage and some of their Shinobi, this was the best chance they got.

For countries like the Land of Rice Field, which didn't have a shinobi village and suffered from political corruption, it was easy Zetsu to gather evidence of the higher brass' crimes, threaten them, and then manipulate them.

Against countries with shinobi villages, they could use Zetsu's abilities to gather information to instigate conflicts between the countries. In the end, the Akatsuki would step in with a tempting offer and monopolize all the shinobi missions.

With Akatsuki operating at full scale, the small nations would be quickly brought under their control.

On top of monopolizing the shinobi missions, they would take on any mission with a high pay, including but not limited to assassination, killing powerful Shinobi, and stealing confidential documents.

As long as the price was right and the mission did not involve suicidal mission like attacking the five Great Shinobi Countries, the Akatsuki were willing to take on any mission.

They would even throw villages like Kusagakure and Takigakure if the payment was sufficient.

Of course, most people couldn't afford it, but those who could wouldn't hire Akatsuki to do a such task on a whim.

Due to the quick completion of missions and rare failures, Akatsuki had gained quite a reputation in the underground market.

Everything was going according to Nagato's plan.

Accumulate money, monopolize wars among small countries, and toppled the balance that the Five Great Shinobi Countries had created.

In this process, he carefully avoided direct confrontations with the Five Great Shinobi Countries, refraining from assassinating important figures from those countries.

So, despite gaining notoriety in the shadows, the Akatsuki remained under the Five Great Shinobi Countries' radar.

Of course, this also had something to do with the Five Great Shinobi Countries' pride.

They never cared about organizations whether it was big or small; to them, all were on the same level.

Because no matter how powerful an organization might be, it was essentially on par with an ordinary small shinobi village, and in reality, most fell far short.

The Five Great Shinobi Countries could easily crush small shinobi villages. Thus, they had no reason to be concerned.

"If things go this smoothly, we should be ready for the next phase in the next few years," Pain said to Obito on the highest tower in Amegakure.

Obito nodded, and since he was wearing a mask, Nagato couldn't see his expression. Still, Nagato felt it should be one of satisfaction.

After all, this was their common goal.

"You should find a way to deal with Konoha. Konoha was too strong at the moment. If we don't figure out how to deal with them, the chaotic moment we desire may never come," Obito said with a serious tone.

He had already learned about everything that happened in Akatsuki through Zetsu, and he deliberately said this just to test Nagato's response.

"If Konoha gets too strong, the other villages will fear them, making it difficult to create chaos."

"Konoha is indeed a bit tricky..." When Pain heard the name Konoha, his expressionless face showed a hint of change, with his eyebrows furrowed.

"Because I've been too busy formulating plans, Konoha gets so powerful before I realize it."

"These Great Shinobi Countries are our biggest enemies. Despite possessing the finest and most resources, they are still unsatisfied and seek more. For this, they continuously instigate wars, causing countless tragedies and sorrows."

"The Five Great Shinobi Countriesare the greatest evil in this world! And Konoha is the epitome of evil!" Pain expressed his opinion of Konoha as he recalled what he and other people that suffered from war had to go through. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

Listening to Pain's somewhat naive words, Obito wasn't moved at all, and he even nearly laughed.

The Five Great Shinobi Countries are the worst, and you're the god who will save the world? You were nothing but a puppet. Even after experiencing so much, you're still so naive. It was amusing.

Although Obito looked down on Pain deep down, he wouldn't say it out loud. Pain was a useful pawn, after all.

"While Konoha is evil, the problem is we don't have effective means to deal with such evil," Obito said in his hoarse voice.

"We need to test their strength. The intel about Konoha is too vague. Although we know they are strong, we don't have a clear picture of their specific capabilities," Pain said after thinking for a moment.

White Zetsu knew a lot of information and was one of the few people capable of infiltrating Konoha, Obito didn't want Zetsu to tell Nagato about those information. Obito didn't want Nagato to know about his previous failure in Konoha.

As Madara Uchiha, he needed to maintain his air of mystery.

"If we're just testing their strength, I have something useful. I happened to capture an ultimate summoning beast during my visit to the Land of the Sea," Obito suddenly remembered the ultimate summoning beast they accidentally captured.

Although those small nations aren't strong militarily, occasionally they gave rise to talented individuals and interesting things.

That ultimate summoning beast, for example, which could devour other summoning beasts, gaining their abilities on top of enhancing its own strength.

It was somewhat similar to Hiruko's Chimera Technique, which absorbed other people's Kekkei Genkai. However, the ultimate summoning beast could devour various summoning beasts, making it even more terrifying.

In terms of practicality, the ultimate summoning beast was more frightening because Chimera Technique couldn't just randomly absorb any Kekkei Genkai, whereas the ultimate summoning beast could devour all sorts of summoning beasts without exception.

Obito no longer actively captured summoning beasts to feed the ultimate summoning beast. The creature was growing too rapidly, doing nothing but constantly eating. It had already reached the level of a Kage in terms of strength.

Moreover, it was extremely challenging to deal with even among the Kage. This was because it had mastered numerous abilities. After devouring a bird summoning beast, it gained wings for flight. After consuming a bat summoning beast capable of releasing Genjutsu through its cries, it gained the ability to cast Genjutsu through sound.

If he let it eat more summoning beast, who knew what might happen next.

So far, Obito could restrain the ultimate summoning beast due to the fact that he possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan and Hashirama cells, allowing him to keep the ultimate summoning beast in rein through Genjutsu.

Obito felt that releasing the ultimate summoning beast might be a scary idea. After all, the ultimate summoning beast had only the most basic instincts and focused solely on eating. It might even devour the entire planet.

Obito collected the Tailed Beasts for the Infinite Tsukuyomi, and the purpose of activating the Infinite Tsukuyomi was to resurrect Rin, to reach a world without war and suffering.

Destruction of the world was not something he wanted, so he wouldn't allow the ultimate summoning beast to wreak havoc.

"I once obtained a terrifying monster capable of destroying countries and even this world. Now, Konoha is holding a Chunin Exam. If I set it free in Konoha, you should be able to see how strong Konoha is at the moment," Obito explained the situation with the ultimate summoning beast to Nagato briefly.

"A summoning beast that lacks reason and can devour and grow infinitely... If what you say is true, then it is indeed a monster that could potentially destroy the world," Pain said with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

Although he had guessed to a certain that the person he talked to might not be the legendary Madara Uchiha, he didn't really care as they shared a common goal and Obito helped him eliminate his arch-enemy Hanzo.

To his surprise, this 'Madara Uchiha ' was hiding such a terrifying creature.

'Just who is this guy? I wonder how many tricks he still has up his sleeve. Even if he's not the real Madara Uchiha, he's a strong guy for sure,' Pain thought to himself.

"I'll feed it a bit more, then throw it into Konoha. Let's see how Konoha deals with it," Obito informed Nagato of his plan.

Pain nodded lightly.

Konoha now had a large population, including many individuals with important statuses. Information would eventually spread across the world and even if the Akatsuki didn't send anyone to investigate.

After discussing how to deal with Konoha, Obito left shortly afterward. He walked out and used Kamui to teleport away.

After the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's attack, he knew how strong Konoha was and how terrifying Nagasawa was.

However, a mere Kage-level ultimate summoning beast wouldn't be a threat to Konoha. They could easily send a couple of skilled Shinobi to handle it. If that happened, they wouldn't have any idea about Konoha's true strength.

Therefore, Obito intended to feed all the summoning beasts he had prepared earlier to the ultimate summoning beast. He wanted this creature to become a true monster, a genuine ultimate summoning beast.

At that time, the ultimate summoning beast would possess the abilities of all the summoning beasts in the world, making it truly "ultimate." However, at that point, the ultimate summoning beast would likely be exceptionally terrifying, and even Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan might not be able to control it anymore.

However, he wasn't Madara's successor for nothing! Obito had some other means besides sheer strength. He could make some adjustments inside the ultimate summoning beast's body before it fully matured.

While this wouldn't give him control over the ultimate summoning beast, it would keep it in check until it was sent to Konoha, preventing it from drooling over Obito and swallowing him whole.

Once it was sent to Konoha, even if Obito didn't control it, Obito didn't think that mindless monster would be able to control its desires in the face of so many 'food.'

"Nagato, will this guy eventually stand with us? I feel like he just wants to use us, and he's very dangerous," Konan, who had been standing silently next to Pain, spoke up after Obito left.

Like Nagato and Yahiko, Konan was also a war orphan with similar experiences. They stumbled upon each other by chance and worked together to survive.

Like Nagato and Yahiko, Konan yearned for peace, but her desire wasn't as strong as Yahiko, and most of the time, she silently stood behind Nagato and Yahiko.

Perhaps it was female intuition or the arrival of this man who called himself Madara Uchiha was too convenient, Konan never liked him. She felt that this 'Madara' guy had ulterior motives and was up to no good.

"If he dares to call himself 'Madara Uchiha' and possesses such power, it's natural for him to be dangerous. However, for our goal to make this world feel pain and, through that, achieve peace, we need such a dangerous person. Are they any different from our members? Most of them are extremely dangerous S-rank Missing-nin, but they are now earning a lot of money for Akatsuki and helping our plans progress smoothly."

Pain spoke more than usual this time, explaining things for Konan, as she was the only precious person he had now.

"They are not the same. This 'Madara Uchiha,' he is more dangerous than anyone else," Konan shook her head. The Missing-nin within their organization might be dangerous to ordinary Shinobi, but for her, they were just that.

However, this 'Madara Uchiha' gave her a completely different vibe. He was truly dangerous in every sense of word.

"I know. I'm also wary of him, Konan. Just rest assured. With these eyes, I won't lose to anyone," Pain pointed confidently at his Rinnegan.

Rinnegan, the eye that granted Nagato various powerful abilities, was Nagato's greatest weapon. Rinnegan possessed many incredible abilities, a power that most Shinobi could never hope to learn even if they spent their entire lives trying.

Unfortunately, during his initial battle with Hanzo, Nagato's legs were injured by Hanzo's attack. Additionally, due to the excessive Chakra consumption of the Rinnegan, let alone agile movements in battle, Nagato couldn't even walk.

Hence, Nagato created the Six Paths of Pain, allowing each of the Paths to use one of the Rinnegan's abilities. With such a powerful eye, Nagato wasn't afraid of some unknown person who claimed himself to be 'Madara Uchiha.'

Once he collected all the Tailed Beasts and developed a new Forbidden Technique, along with an unprecedented Tailed Beast weapon capable of annihilating a country in one strike, the first person he might deal with was this dangerous individual called 'Madara Uchiha.'

"Well, as long as you remain cautious. I'm afraid that you might be deceived by that guy," seeing Nagato's confidence, Konan didn't say another word.

She wasn't an assertive person. If Nagato wanted to do something, she would assist him.