Being a rogue ninja is worse than being Hokage.

According to the legends of Amegakure, Pain is the god who killed Hanzo the Salamander and resides there.

God's apostle, a beautiful angel with unforgettable blue hair, will bring everyone's blessings to God into the tower so that God may know.

But in the private legends of the people, the omnipotent God does not actually need to use angels to know the blessings of the people.

The country lives up to its name, the Land of Rain, where torrential rain pours down day after day.

This is the most common sight in the Rain Country, where it rains all year round.

But the rain in Amegakure is a blessing from the gods.

God knows everything in the rain.

At this very moment, in Amegakure, the highest tower of the gods, accessible only with the permission of an angel.

The God who dwells there also became aware of the uninvited third party, who was neither God nor the angels.

An orange spiral mask emerged from the shadows, and at the center of the hollowed-out spiral was a bright red three-tomoe Sharingan.

The long robe with red auspicious clouds, which is based on black, only becomes visible after the visitor has completely emerged from the shadows.

He is one of the few remaining members of the "Akatsuki" organization, which calls itself "Afei".

Uchiha...

"spot."

God whispered the masked man's name.

The god with short, orange-yellow hair was also wearing the "Akatsuki" uniform.

Is the being who leads "Akatsuki" actually a god?

However, Madara Uchiha showed no respect for the god, even addressing him by his name: "It seems I have returned just in time. You have completed your mission... Pain."

The three-tomoe Sharingan beneath Madara's mask gazed at the pair of purple eyes with several spiraling circles in the God Eye.

He continued, "Your successful capture of the Six-Tails is a rare piece of good news recently."

"But the current situation is completely different from what we initially expected! There are still four tailed beasts—the One-Tailed, Three-Tailed, Eight-Tailed, and Nine-Tailed—out of Akatsuki's control. The Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki, who disappeared for three years, has reappeared and severely injured Akatsuki in a short period of time!"

Faced with Madara Uchiha's praise, the angel beside Pain had a different opinion.

The angel, on behalf of God, expressed her dissatisfaction with Uchiha "Madara," and her tone made it seem as if... Uchiha "Madara" held a position above God.

"Xiao Nan..."

Payne called out the angel's name, stopping her: "It's pointless to assign blame for what's already happened. What's important is dealing with the remaining four tailed beasts..."

Pain looked at Uchiha "Madara" and explained the current situation:

"Once the Tailed Beast capture plan is launched, it must be completed in a short period of time. Otherwise, once the five great nations react, Akatsuki will become the target of everyone's attacks. Moreover, Akatsuki's combat strength has been severely reduced."

"Therefore, even though only a few of us are left in Akatsuki, capturing the remaining tailed beasts is even more urgent."

This is Payne's view of the current situation.

Only by gathering all the tailed beasts in the world together can he bring about change to this flawed ninja world.

"That's exactly why I came to find you."

Madara Uchiha shared the same thoughts as Pain.

But that wasn't the only reason he came to see Payne.

He has his own purpose.

Madara Uchiha looked at the strange-looking eyes in Pain's eyes.

Pain possesses the legendary Sage of Six Paths' Sage Eyes, the Rinnegan.

Given that he had such eyes, it's understandable that Payne would think he was a god.

But this eye... after Black Zetsu, who had been monitoring him, disappeared, it might have some other use for Uchiha "Madara"... no, it should be said that it might be Uchiha Obito.

However, Pain is still useful for now, as his assistance is still needed to capture the tailed beasts.

Moreover, Payne is indeed quite difficult to deal with these days.

Fortunately, the troublesome one was Pain, not Nagato, who controlled Pain.

The true "main body" that controls Pain and his companions, who are barely clinging to life, can be exhausted to death simply by making him work a little harder in capturing the tailed beasts.

Therefore, Madara Uchiha had already made his decision.

"Next, I'll trouble you to go to Sunagakure and bring back the One-Tailed Beast."

Madara Uchiha handed over the capture of the One-Tailed Beast to Pain.

As for him...

“I’m going to deal with the Three-Tails that was reborn after its Jinchuriki died. There’s a difference between a Jinchuriki and a Tailed Beast. If a sealed Tailed Beast is suppressed, you have plenty of ways to deal with it with your power… But it’s different with Tailed Beasts that don’t have a Jinchuriki. I will use my Sharingan to bring it back.”

"What about the remaining two tailed beasts?"

Pain had no objection to the capture and distribution of the One-Tailed and Three-Tailed, but he was curious about the Eight-Tailed and Nine-Tailed, which Madara Uchiha had not mentioned.

"They are both troublesome."

Madara Uchiha bluntly stated that Killer Bee, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, and Naruto Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, were troublesome.

"The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki is very strong, and he is also a perfect Jinchuriki who is in sync with the Tailed Beast's mind... He lives deep in the Hidden Cloud Village, and he is not an opponent that can be dealt with quickly. If a prolonged battle is fought with him, the Jonin of the Hidden Cloud Village can provide support... Moreover, as the brother of the current Raikage, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki may even attract the Raikage himself to join the battle."

Of the five Kage of the five great nations, the one who needs the most attention is not the Hokage of Konoha, the leader of the five great nations.

Instead, it was A, the fourth Raikage who protected Kumogakure.

The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, is like a living fossil of the ninja world, witnessing and manipulating numerous conflicts, and even possessing the Kekkei Tota, which transcends Kekkei Genkai.

But he is no longer at his peak. Now, he can't end the fight immediately against anyone who is strong enough to fight him, and getting into a protracted battle is actually disadvantageous to him.

Although the Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi, possessed two bloodline limits, she was merely one of the more respectable ninjas among the generation of Kirigakure ninja who were in a period of transition after the end of Kirigakure's long-standing Blood Mist policy.

In addition, her ability to succeed as Mizukage may also be related to the fact that she is a bloodline limit ninja. In the Land of Water, bloodline limits, like the Blood Mist policy, contain profound political significance.

The Fifth Kazekage, Temari, was just a kid born in a peaceful era after the Third Shinobi World War.

The current ninja level in Sunagakure is probably much lower than that in Kirigakure. The reason Temari became the Fifth Kazekage was not because her strength or prestige was recognized, but because she was the only one who could control the One-Tailed Jinchuriki, and even then, her control over the One-Tailed Jinchuriki was not complete.

Her control over the One-Tailed Jinchuriki was less about the One-Tailed Jinchuriki actively suppressing himself for her sake.

Therefore, the Fifth Kazekage, Temari, can be said to be the least powerful of the five Kage, as her authority as Kage has long been replaced by the advisory group of Sunagakure.

As for Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage.

She has a distinguished political background, and her strength was recognized in the previous Ninja World War. Although her political methods are gentle, they should not be underestimated.

However, based on the information Zetsu had previously obtained, Tsunade is currently unable to fight for some reason.

Compared to Tsunade, Jiraiya, who is also one of the Legendary Sannin and is supported by Tsunade, is in a more troublesome position.

However, Jiraiya spends more time away from the village, so if Akatsuki's target is Konoha, there are many opportunities to take advantage of.

At that time, Shimura Danzo, who has a political stance opposite to that of the Hokage faction, might even use "Root" to plot some underhanded tactics against the Hokage faction.

Therefore, in Uchiha Madara's view, dealing with the above four Kage would not be too difficult.

Returning to the Fourth Raikage, he rose to fame alongside the Fourth Hokage during the Third Shinobi World War.

Compared to the prematurely deceased genius Minato Namikaze, A is now at his peak, and the strong aggressiveness of Kumogakure makes the Kumo ninja more energetic than the ninjas of the other four great nations.

"Therefore, the prerequisite for capturing the Eight-Tails is either to defeat the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki quickly before the Hidden Cloud Village can react, or we need to find a way to get the Raikage out of the Hidden Cloud Village so that we can take action against the Eight-Tails."

This is Madara Uchiha's opinion.

Regarding the capture of the Eight-Tails, we still need to wait for the right opportunity.

"And what about the Nine-Tails?"

Konan then intervened in Madara and Pain's conversation about the Tailed Beasts.

“That guy is even more troublesome. He has now disappeared from the ninja world again, and this time he has also cut off information about Uchiha Sasuke, making it impossible to obtain.”

Before Madara Uchiha arrived in Amegakure, Naruto Uzumaki had arranged for White Zetsu to conduct intelligence gathering.

However, Naruto was clearly wary of White Zetsu, and in the end, White Zetsu only gave Madara Uchiha the reply that the search had yielded no results.

"But that guy probably won't take any action anytime soon."

Madara Uchiha expressed his judgment.

White Zetsu had already told him that Sasuke was also on the verge of death during his battle with Itachi.

In his view, Naruto's disappearance at this time was to protect and treat Sasuke.

He would even be happy to see Naruto Uzumaki disappear for a while in the current situation.

"Although that guy... the Nine-Tails' Jinchūriki is the most difficult to deal with among the three Jinchūriki, his situation is actually the easiest for us to exploit."

That's right, Naruto Uzumaki is actually quite easy to deal with.

Of course, this "easy" does not refer to Naruto's strength, but rather to his situation.

"use?"

Pain responded in a low voice, expressing his doubt about Madara's words.

"Yes."

A glint of light flashed in Madara's single eye: "That guy is an out-and-out rogue ninja."

In the face of the nation, traitors are always isolated and helpless.

After the One-Tailed Beast and the Three-Tailed Beast were captured by Akatsuki.

Akatsuki's next target is the Eight-Tails.

"I will go with you to deal with the Eight-Tails."

Madara Uchiha instructed Pain: "I will hold off the Raikage, and you will take the opportunity to use the Six Paths to capture the Eight-Tails—at that time, the tailed beasts that originally belonged to the Five Great Nations will only be the Nine-Tails."

"You plan to use the Five Kage?"

Payne understood "Spot's" thoughts.

“That’s right! Once all eight tailed beasts have been collected, Akatsuki can lie low in the ninja world for a while. We can hand over the stage to the five great nations and the Nine-Tails.”

"The reason why the Five Kage are the Five Kage is not only due to their strength, prestige, or the circumstances, but more importantly, because they are not fools."