Chapter 86

Su Zhong looked at Zabuza with doubt.

"What happened?"

Zabuza took a deep breath and suppressed the shock in his heart: "The Sand Village's Kazekage has been kidnapped. It has been confirmed that although the Kazekage was successfully rescued, the One-Tail has been extracted from his body."

Su Zhong's eyebrows shot up. The One-Tail was extracted?

Others might not know, but he knew it all too well. This meant that the Akatsuki organization had started their operations again. It seemed that the Akatsuki had resolved their internal issues and were once again focusing on collecting the tailed beasts.

"Is there anything else?"

Zabuza shook his head. Seeing Su Zhong's lack of reaction, he couldn't help but ask, "Don't we need to make some preparations?"

Su Zhong thought for a moment and then gave instructions: "Gradually withdraw our people to the Land of Waves, and try to reduce the number of people going out. Slowly consolidate our strength, but don't draw attention from outsiders. Take your time, there's no need to rush."

A look of confusion flashed in Zabuza's eyes. At a time like this, shouldn't they increase their strength and pay attention to any signs of trouble? Why were they withdrawing their forces instead?

Just as he was about to ask, Su Zhong waved his hand to stop him.

"The ninja world is about to become unstable. All we can do is quickly enhance our strength. First, let's gather our people."

After saying this, Su Zhong's already furrowed brows tightened even more.

He suddenly realized something. If he couldn't leave this world soon, the great war that would sweep through the entire ninja world would inevitably affect him. The Infinite Tsukuyomi wouldn't spare him just because he was an Uchiha. Besides, in a certain sense, he was no longer an Uchiha. His body no longer had any traces of Uchiha blood.

Zabuza left as ordered, but a wave of shock surged in his heart. The ninja world was about to become unstable? How unstable? Was the Fourth Great Ninja War about to begin? Zabuza couldn't help but be startled.

Thinking about the disappearance of the One-Tail, Zabuza became even more shocked.

The disappearance of the tailed beasts would break the balance of power in the ninja world. Without the tailed beasts as a deterrent, the balance would be lost, and war was inevitable!

He didn't know that the true chaos would be even more terrifying than he imagined.

Su Zhong returned to his room and had to interrupt his long-term thinking. Activating the Boundary-Breaking Pearl wasn't something that could be done overnight. He needed to consider his own safety first. He didn't want to end up hanging from a tree.

Having made his decision, Su Zhong immediately stopped his two-year-long seclusion. The entire organization, under Su Zhong's deliberate interference, began to reduce its activity range and focus on enhancing individual strength.

Su Zhong knew about the Akatsuki's plans, but he didn't intend to stop them alone.

If he did, he would attract all of the Akatsuki's attention to himself. He wasn't that foolish. He would wait until the entire ninja world faced the situation together before taking action.

This wasn't just his thought.

Looking at the overall plot, the Akatsuki had been around for a long time. How could the major ninja villages not know anything about them? They didn't act to preserve their strength. Whoever acted first would have to face the entire Akatsuki alone.

In the end, a joint effort was the only way forward, and that time was drawing near.

Sure enough, he sat steadily in the base of the organization, while the entire ninja world began to be in turmoil.

The tailed beasts were captured one by one, and various major events kept happening.

...

"The information has been largely confirmed. Jiraiya has indeed been killed by the Akatsuki." Zabuza reported, his voice trembling slightly, based on the intelligence gathered over the past six months.

His hands couldn't help but tremble slightly. Jiraiya was dead? He was one of the Legendary Sannin!

Zabuza was a member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and had his own reputation in the ninja world. But the Seven Swordsmen was a fixed title, and its reputation didn't belong to any one person. It came from the continuous efforts of generation after generation of the Seven Swordsmen.

Most of the time, the swords were famous, not the people.

But Jiraiya was different. He had built his reputation step by step. To make a name for himself in a world full of talented ninjas showed his formidable strength. Yet, such a powerful Jiraiya had died for no apparent reason, and the killer couldn't even be found.

How could Zabuza not be shocked!

Seeing Su Zhong listening intently, Zabuza calmed himself and continued to read the next piece of intelligence. But after seeing the content, he stopped.

Su Zhong looked up, puzzled, at Zabuza: "Why did you stop?"

In his impression, Zabuza was cold and serious, acting swiftly and decisively. When he worked, he was more like a machine than a person. This was probably the result of his training in the Bloody Mist Village.

It was rare for Zabuza to hesitate over intelligence.

Zabuza looked at Su Zhong and, without hesitation, said: "According to the information from our agents, Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi fought at the Uchiha ancestral grounds. The battlefield was surrounded by black flames, which burned everything. The outcome of the battle... is unknown."

Haku glanced cautiously at Su Zhong, took the intelligence from Zabuza's hand, and looked at Su Zhong with concern.

"Lord, should we send some people to find Sasuke?"

Su Zhong, upon hearing this news, was stunned and then laughed. Zabuza and Haku were puzzled by his reaction. What did this mean?

"Finally, they've started fighting. So, Orochimaru is dead?" Su Zhong asked, ignoring the questions in their eyes.

Zabuza was taken aback for a moment but then understood. After spending time with Su Zhong, he realized that the other party seemed to always know some secret information.

"Indeed, he died a month ago." Zabuza nodded.

"A month?" Su Zhong asked reflexively.

Haku stepped forward quickly and explained, "Orochimaru's base was too hidden, making it difficult to find. Moreover, after his death, there were no significant changes in his organization, making it hard to detect any changes. We only discovered something was wrong because of a problem in our intelligence exchange."

Su Zhong nodded, indicating that he understood. The stability of Orochimaru's organization was likely due to it being perfectly taken over by Kabuto, which prevented any turmoil.

Haku, seeing that Su Zhong didn't blame Zabuza for the delayed intelligence, breathed a sigh of relief.

He then became worried about Sasuke. Although he hadn't lived in Konoha for long, he had developed a good impression of Sasuke, who always acted with restraint. Moreover, in his view, Sasuke was the only remaining member of Su Zhong's clan, so he naturally considered Sasuke very important.

"Lord, do we really not need to send people to find Sasuke?"

Su Zhong, lost in thought, finally came to his senses.

"No, he has his own place to go."

In fact, since leaving Konoha, Su Zhong had no longer had much connection with the Uchiha clan.

He trained Sasuke and laid the foundation for him. After doing this, Su Zhong felt he had a good understanding of most of the causal relationships. As for what Sasuke would do in the future, he didn't care. After all, Sasuke wouldn't die so easily.

Su Zhong exhaled deeply. This period had been filled with major events, one after another.

"Continue to intensify the training and remain on standby."

Zabuza nodded and, with Haku still somewhat hesitant, left Su Zhong's room.

He had already seen that Su Zhong was waiting for something, though he didn't know what.

Su Zhong was indeed waiting. He was waiting for the world to undergo a significant change. Only then would it be the right time for him to act.

...

In the high tower of the Rain Village.

"Uchiha Sasuke has agreed to join the Akatsuki?" Pain asked expressionlessly.

Kakashi nodded: "Yes, he has decided to join the Akatsuki. As a test, he will bring back the Eight-Tails."

"Very good, then only the Nine-Tails remains."

"Who will capture the Nine-Tails?" Kakashi asked, feeling a surge of excitement. With only two tailed beasts left, the plan was about to be implemented.

Pain still had that stiff expression.

"To ensure everything goes smoothly, I will go personally."

Kakashi looked at Pain in surprise.

"You will go?"

"Yes, it's time for Pain to appear before the world."

Kakashi understood and withdrew his gaze.

"Since you've decided to go personally, I don't need to worry. However, it's strange that Zetsu hasn't found the Nine-Tails yet. It seems Konoha is hiding it. You will have to wait a while longer."

"No need to search anymore. It's too troublesome. I will go directly to Konoha and demand the Nine-Tails."

Pain's voice was cold and rigid.

Kakashi stared at Pain for a moment, then laughed and disappeared from the top of the tower.

A bolt of lightning flashed in the sky, and the Rain Village fell into a murmur.

...

"Lord, the Eight-Tails jinchūriki from the Cloud Village has disappeared. According to the intelligence, he was captured by Uchiha Sasuke." The ANBU with a cat mask bowed and reported.

Tsunade's expression changed: "Uchiha Sasuke captured the Eight-Tails?"

The cat-masked ninja nodded to confirm.

"To be able to defeat a jinchūriki? Even with help from others, this growth rate is terrifying." Tsunade glanced at her right arm, marveling again at the Uchiha clan's talent.

She had already experienced the power of the Sharingan and knew its strength.

"Lord, now only Konoha's Nine-Tails remains in the entire ninja world. Should we take some measures?"

Tsunade pondered in silence.

"Is the Nine-Tails jinchūriki still at Mount Myōboku?"

"Yes, Lord. According to the intelligence, he has been training there."

"Stay low for now. You may leave."

Tsunade waved for the Root member to leave and stood there, deep in thought.

She could already sense the turmoil in the ninja world.

This was an opportunity, a chance to reshuffle the ninja world. Regardless of the Akatsuki's motives for capturing the tailed beasts, the five major ninja villages, without the tailed beasts, would inevitably face conflicts.

"Seize the opportunity, and there's a chance to lead Konoha to the peak of the ninja world." Tsunade's long-dormant ambition stirred.

She had waited her entire life for such an opportunity.

Heroes emerge in times of chaos. The Fourth Hokage gained his reputation on the battlefield, which led to his selection as Hokage. If she could seize the opportunity in this great turmoil, her face would be carved into the mountain!

Looking up at the top floor, Tsunade smiled coldly.

The opportunity has come, let's see who can seize it!

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