Kapitel 114: Chapter 113: The Next Target is Konoha

Seeing Kakuzu's puzzled look, Byakuya patiently explained:

"Kakuzu-senpai, our Akatsuki organization is dedicated to peaceful development and promoting mutual exchange among the Five Great Shinobi Villages. To achieve this goal, we may have to employ some unconventional methods, both now and in the future."

"Unconventional methods?!" Kakuzu was somewhat confused but also a bit excited.

Byakuya nodded.

"Our specific goal is to develop quietly, incite conflicts among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, and when they are sufficiently weakened, seize the opportunity to capture the Tailed Beasts and use their power to dominate the entire Shinobi world."

"Isn't that a bit too crazy?"

Kakuzu's excitement didn't last long before he felt scared by Byakuya's plan. With his abilities, he could manage being a bounty hunter, but going up against the Five Great Shinobi Villages would likely cost him his life.

"High risk brings high reward. Even if you participate in the final operation, you can earn a lot of money along the way."

Hearing that he could make money, Kakuzu was very tempted. Any hesitation he had melted away. He agreed to their plan before quietly stepping out.

After Kakuzu left, Byakuya looked at Obito and Black Zetsu: "Black Zetsu-senpai, I've been surveying the Land of Fire recently and have recruited Kakuzu. How is your progress?"

Black Zetsu hesitated and looked towards Obito.

At this moment, Byakuya continued: "I heard that the Third Mizukage of Kirigakure is dead, and the Fourth Mizukage is a ninja named Yagura Karatachi. Is your operation related to this?"

Obito nodded and then said, "It does have some connection. The Third Mizukage was killed by Black Zetsu and me during his ninjutsu training. Otherwise, Yagura wouldn't have had the chance to rise."

Mentioning the Third Mizukage, Obito wasn't in a good mood.

He and Black Zetsu had found the Third Mizukage during his secluded training. They initially intended to control him with the Sharingan, but the genjutsu failed.

The two of them went through a fierce battle, even at the cost of losing half of their bodies.

Only then did they manage to deal with the Third Mizukage.

However, this also restored Obito's confidence. The Five Kage, who stood at the pinnacle of the Shinobi world, were nothing special. As long as he had Wood Release and the Sharingan, the Five Kage were merely defeated opponents.

The reason he lost to Byakuya during their sparring was simply because he was careless and underestimated his opponent.

If it were a fight to the death, he would never lose to Byakuya.

Byakuya, at the right moment, expressed his amazement and said incredulously, "Ooo! Mask Man-senpai, you really took down the Third Mizukage? He's one of the Five Kage! That's really impressive!"

The term 'senpai' made Obito a bit complacent.

But then he thought about it: Byakuya had also captured Hanzo of the Salamander. Even if Obito had dealt with the Third Mizukage, it didn't seem like he was much stronger than Byakuya.

It seemed like Byakuya was deliberately trying to undermine him.

However, although Obito and Byakuya couldn't determine a clear winner between them, he was sure he had surpassed Kakashi. Kakashi had lost his fighting spirit and was no longer worthy of being his opponent.

As the two teenagers argued, Black Zetsu, as an older individual, felt his head was about to explode.

When the confrontation between them seemed imminent, Black Zetsu hurriedly said, "Should we discuss the important matters first?"

Black Zetsu then sighed before praising both of them.

"You both did very well this time.

Byakuya recruited Kakuzu, adding another executor to the Moon's Eye Plan, and Mask Man, with my assistance, killed the Third Mizukage, successfully removing a rival and causing chaos in Kirigakure.

It is foreseeable that Kirigakure will be unable to recover its strength for at least ten years. During this time, we can wait for the resurrection of the Three-Tails and be ready to retrieve it.

Next, we need to find ways to weaken other Shinobi Villages, especially the most threatening one: Konoha."

Byakuya was the first to regain his serious demeanor, nodding and saying,

"Black Zetsu-senpai is right. Konoha is the most threatening Shinobi Village. Just like the Third Mizukage who was killed by Mask Man, Konoha has eight ninja of that level. We cannot be careless."

Obito felt quite displeased. Since when did Konoha have eight Kage-level ninja? As a Konoha native, he didn't even know about it.

At this point, Black Zetsu gently nodded in agreement and added, "Byakuya is correct. Konoha indeed has that many strong ninjas at present. However, Tsunade is currently away, and Jiraiya is traveling. Thus, the actual number of strong ninjas stationed in the village is at most half. Even with this number, they are still very formidable. If they become alert, capturing the Nine-Tails will become extremely difficult."

After a pause, Black Zetsu turned to Byakuya with a questioning look.

"Byakuya, since you've identified this issue, do you have any good ideas?"

"Of course…" Byakuya quickly proposed a feasible plan:

"Black Zetsu-senpai, I'm still young. By the time I reach Hanzo's age, the current Kage-level ninjas in Konoha will have all died of old age. We would win without fighting!"

Black Zetsu considered this for a moment and began to seriously evaluate its feasibility.

Byakuya's plan was indeed quite good. For an immortal being like him, a few decades passed in the blink of an eye, as long as the Rinnegan remained intact, time was not an issue.

Obito's expression changed unpredictably upon hearing this.

Several decades was too long. Even if he lived that long, Obito thought that Madara and Rin's remains would have long turned to dust.

Although he was determined to see the Moon's Eye Plan through, waiting for decades wasn't his way of doing things. He couldn't afford to wait that long.

With this in mind, Obito looked at Byakuya and Black Zetsu before asking,

"Decades are too long. Even if the older generation of strong ninjas dies off, with Konoha's foundation, it's just a matter of time before they cultivate a new generation of strong ninjas. Are we just going to keep waiting?"

"That was just the most conservative plan…" Byakuya said expressionlessly, then offered a bold suggestion: "If Mask Man wants a quicker solution, you could consider teaming up with Uchiha Madara and use your space-time abilities to create accidents.

Ninjas from Konoha will occasionally operate alone. That's the best time to hunt them. If each hunting operation goes smoothly, in less than six months, we could eliminate most of the powerful ninjas in the Shinobi world. Then capturing the Tailed Beasts would become much easier."

Black Zetsu considered the feasibility of this suggestion carefully before shaking his head.

"This plan isn't very reliable since the chances of success are too slim. Moreover, Konoha also has space-time ninjas. If we're surrounded by Konoha's Kage-level ninjas, we would all be dead. Unless we find a way to deal with the troublesome space-time ninjas…"

Byakuya also shook his head and sighed.

"Indeed, space-time ninjas are a problem in the neck. Even I can't be sure of defeating a space-time type ninja, so this plan is not very useful. We'll have to continue developing slowly."

Hearing the conversation between Black Zetsu and Byakuya, Obito fell into deep thought.

Only a space-time user could deal with another space-time user. This meant that the only ninja who could potentially kill Minato Namikaze, aside from the deceased Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, was himself.