Iwagakure.
Unlike the other shinobi villages that knew nothing about the Akatsuki, Iwagakure had actually cooperated with the Akatsuki before and had even funded them.
In return, the Akatsuki had helped Iwagakure resolve some small issues within the Land of Earth.
"The ones who attacked Han were indeed members of the Akatsuki."
"Could the Akatsuki really be cooperating with Konoha?"
"The information from Sunagakure is not fake either. Our Iwa shinobi planted there sent back confirmation. It's true."
"The ones who attacked Sunagakure included the Nine-Tails, and also an Uchiha."
"Konoha was actually hiding itself this deeply?"
Previously, Onoki had been extremely wary of Sunagakure.
At first, it had been because of the Sun Disk.
Something Sunagakure had invested so many resources into—no one knew what effect it had, and that made Onoki deeply uneasy.
Onoki tried everything he could to learn the Sun Disk's function.
Not long after, Onoki learned it.
But the process of learning it had not been pleasant for Iwagakure. A large number of Iwagakure shinobi had died, and even Onoki's son, Kitsuchi, had perished under the Sun Disk.
It had also triggered the later rumors.
Onoki's reputation had been affected as well.
That left Onoki suffering bitterly.
Even after obtaining intelligence on the Sun Disk, Onoki's mood did not improve much.
After all, the Sun Disk really was powerful.
Aside from its lack of mobility, in large-scale warfare, its killing power was far too abnormal.
After that, Roshi died at Rasa's hands.
Onoki regarded Sunagakure as his number one enemy.
As for Konoha, Onoki coveted Konoha's resources, but did not feel that the current Konoha was especially strong.
It was already impossible for Konoha to be Iwagakure's opponent.
But now, the situation was different.
"Or perhaps the ones cooperating with the Akatsuki are only Hiruzen Sarutobi and Shimura Danzo?"
"And part of the Uchiha?"
"But why would they get so many people from their own village killed?"
Onoki felt there were countless suspicious points. No matter how he thought about it, he could not make sense of them.
"Was it because someone discovered their secret?"
"They are collecting Tailed Beasts and jinchuriki. What exactly do they want to do?"
"If the power of all nine Tailed Beasts were obtained by them and gathered together, how powerful would that force be?"
Onoki's expression turned solemn.
"That is a power even Sunagakure—even Rasa—cannot compare to."
"Rasa could repel one Nine-Tails plus one Uchiha, but that should basically be his limit."
Kumogakure.
At this time, Kumogakure's situation could only be described as disastrous.
Nearly half the village had been destroyed.
Half had already become ruins, and beneath those ruins were an unknown number of corpses.
Furthermore, the Fourth Raikage was gravely injured and unconscious, having lost the ability to move.
Killer B and Yugito Nii had both been taken away by members of the Akatsuki.
No one knew what they should do next.
Putting aside revenge against the Akatsuki, they still had to worry about whether they would be attacked by other shinobi villages. After all, over the years, Kumogakure had indeed done some excessive things.
Would Kumogakure fall into an even more miserable state than Kirigakure?
"Damn it!"
"Where the hell did this Akatsuki come from?"
"Why do they have such terrifying strength?"
When some people recalled the scene from that day, they could not stop trembling with fear.
With just a handful of people, they had crushed Kumogakure.
What these people did not know was that it had not truly been a handful of people at all. From beginning to end, the one who had attacked Kumogakure was only a single person. The others were merely Nagato's puppets.
Nagato had relied on his own power alone to completely defeat Kumogakure.
At that moment, the rumor about the Akatsuki cooperating with Konoha reached Kumogakure.
Immediately, countless Kumogakure people began cursing Konoha aloud.
Their curses were especially concentrated on Konoha's current Acting Hokage, Shimura Danzo.
Countless people denounced the Akatsuki verbally and in writing while also dispatching large numbers of shinobi to investigate information about the organization, hoping to obtain as much intelligence as possible.
Even if they did not take revenge, they had to prepare for future countermeasures.
But the Akatsuki's leader, Nagato, was not in a very good mood at this moment.
"Uchiha Madara failed."
Nagato sat in his wheelchair, his brows tightly furrowed.
"He lost to Rasa. Even using Susanoo was useless. The Nine-Tails' whereabouts are unknown. In the worst-case scenario, the Nine-Tails was also killed and will need three years to revive."
Konan's expression was also not good.
"I didn't expect Uchiha Madara to lose to Rasa. Looking at it now, that person truly was not the real Uchiha Madara."
The two of them did not particularly care about Uchiha Obito's defeat.
From the beginning, they had not trusted Uchiha Obito much, and they had been skeptical of his claim to be Uchiha Madara.
What they were worried about was Rasa.
With Rasa being this powerful, could the Akatsuki still accomplish what it wanted to do?
Konan looked at Nagato with concern.
The Rinnegan was indeed powerful.
But Nagato had to pay an enormous price to use it.
Each use damaged his body further.
Judging from Nagato's current condition, Konan felt that Nagato could not use it many more times.
"And the existence of the Akatsuki has been exposed. Someone is deliberately spreading our information from the shadows. Next, the entire shinobi world will definitely start searching for us everywhere."
"Our actions will be greatly restricted."
Nagato's dream was peace in the shinobi world.
And his method of achieving peace was to make the shinobi world understand pain.
The current Akatsuki was not yet capable of reaching that level.
These few Tailed Beasts alone were not enough.
"Nagato, what do you plan to do next?"
Nagato fell silent for a while.
"How about pushing the matter onto Konoha?"
"Since the circulating rumors have already dragged Konoha into this, and the Nine-Tails attacking Sunagakure is even ironclad proof, we can simply push everything onto Konoha."
"Let Konoha draw the fire while we temporarily hide ourselves."
"That would also be a good thing for Teacher Jiraiya."
"If Konoha no longer exists, then in the future, we won't have to worry about becoming enemies with Teacher Jiraiya."
"For the sake of peace in the shinobi world, even if I had to become enemies with Teacher Jiraiya—even if I had to kill Teacher Jiraiya—I would not mind."
"But since there is a better choice, there is no need for us to insist on opposing Teacher Jiraiya."
"Teacher Jiraiya is a good person."
Konan nodded.
"That works."
The successive waves of news shook the shinobi world.
At first, everyone paid attention to the damage the attacks had caused to the various shinobi villages. Then they began paying attention to the Akatsuki mentioned in the rumors, as well as the relationship between Konoha and that organization.
Afterward, everyone finally noticed another point.
How exactly had Rasa defeated both the Nine-Tails and Susanoo?
How had Rasa done it?
"Rasa also used Susanoo!"
"Not only did he use Susanoo, he also used Wood Release!"