Pain scanned everyone present with his Rinnegan in an tone that brooked no refusal, meaning that they must make a choice. Now, capturing the Tailed Beasts was many times more difficult for their Akatsuki than in the original storyline.
Therefore, they had to go all out to capture Konoha's Nine-Tails and Kumogakure's Two-Tails and Eight-Tails, especially after Sasuke's failed attempt to capture the Eight-Tails, which made it even more challenging. So, Pain decided to split the remaining Akatsuki forces in half: one led by him to capture the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki in Konoha, and the other to capture the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails Jinchuriki in the Kumogakure. Clearly, this time, Pain planned to act on both fronts simultaneously.
"The Eight-Tails? Let me go." Kisame grinned, showing his sharp teeth.
"Then, I have to accompany you, right? I was planning to go find the strongest Jinchuriki." Deidara looked extremely frustrated.
"Tsk, you can go with the leader. This time, it's a free choice, not a rule for a small team to go together." Kisame clicked his tongue. Deidara immediately looked at Pain, who nodded, clearly agreeing with Kisame.
"I'm not interested in the not-so-difficult Kumogakure. What suits me is a challenge. Now that Raikage and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki are already quite injured, I'm not interested. I'll go to Konoha." Deidara chose to go to Konoha without further ado.
"In that case, Taka Team, Tobi, and Kisame, go find the Eight-Tails together. As for me, Konan, and Deidara, we'll go to Konoha." Pain saw that almost everyone had made their choice. As for the Taka, they needed to rise from their previous failure. To cooperate with the Akatsuki, they had to show enough strength. Otherwise, Pain didn't mind either kicking Taka out or eliminating them on the spot, considering that Taka had learned quite a few secrets after joining the Akatsuki.
Although Sasuke's face looked as if he had eaten a fly, he also knew that winning was the only option in this battle. Otherwise, not to mention using the Akatsuki, it was possible that the Akatsuki would wipe them out.
Although he was arrogant, he wasn't arrogant enough to think that his Taka could contend with the Akatsuki. Pain aside, after being beaten by Ryoha and Tsunade in the past, he had become even more powerful. Sasuke didn't have the courage and strength to challenge Pain.
Moreover, even without Pain, just Deidara alone was enough to give them a headache. After all, he hadn't figured out how to counter or resist Dust Release until now. Forget about his Mangekyo Sharingan; even Susanoo activated by Madara's Rinnegan couldn't withstand the disintegration ability of Dust Release. Therefore, with just him, resisting Dust Release was simply impossible.
"Tsunade, are you planning to deal with Pain?" Behind the Land of Snow Palace, Ryoha looked somewhat surprised at Tsunade's surprising statement. However, he quickly understood. Tsunade had defeated Pain back then, but she pretended to "die" under his Chibaku Tensei for the sake of activating Wood Release. This made Tsunade very unhappy, even though she did it for Wood Release. Of course, she had to calculate this account properly now.
"Is it not okay? Do you want to compete with me for opponents? Besides Pain, leave the rest to you. If I don't crush him to pieces this time, Senju Tsunade will write her name backwards." Tsunade raised her head slightly, clearly feeling quite frustrated about what she did back then, even though she did it for Wood Release.
"Of course, no problem. It's just a bit surprising that you suddenly mentioned this. If you want to kill him, then go ahead. But in this case, it's a good thing for Konoha."
Ryoha thought of the scene in the original story where Pain was swayed and couldn't help but be a little speechless. Was the will of a Kage-level powerhouse really so weak? He was swayed by a few words? Or was Naruto's Mouth Release becoming more incisive?
"A good thing for Konoha?" Tsunade flashed a hint of doubt and looked at Ryoha with a pair of noble yet slightly charming and gentle eyes. She hadn't gone out before, so she didn't know that the Akatsuki had already begun to move against the Eight-Tails. The Nine-Tails' capture would start soon too.
So Ryoha immediately informed Tsunade of the upcoming actions of the Akatsuki. Now, Tsunade hesitated a bit. Wouldn't it be benefiting Konoha if she killed Pain? In that case, it wouldn't be very cost-effective.
"Why are you so foolish? Anyway, we have enmity with Konoha. Little Ryoha had previously made such a mess in Kumogakure, so it's fine to deal with Konoha's high-level personnel along the way."
Bulma appeared out of nowhere, surprising everyone. What was even more astonishing was that Bulma could fly, or more accurately, float. Needless to say, it was another new invention by Bulma. It turned out that inventing various items was one of Bulma's hobbies.
"What interesting thing have you made again?" Byakko floated over as well, staring at Bulma with bright eyes. Clearly, she was most interested in Bulma's little gadgets. They were just too much fun.
"It's very simple. It can utilize various energies, including chakra. As long as there is sufficient chakra, the person wearing it can fly. The height is about a hundred meters at most. As for the speed, it's probably about seventy to eighty kilometers per hour. It can be considered a simple flying device. It might not be much use in peacetime, but it can be very useful in some emergencies."
It had to be said that every invention by Bulma had its important uses and wasn't randomly invented. If it appeared, it had its moments of usefulness.
"This thing is quite useful. But Bulma, I agree with what you said earlier. If we kill Pain, won't it be benefiting Konoha? In that case, it's not very cost-effective."
Ryoha's mouth twitched slightly. "You are so stupid. Anyway, we have enmity with Konoha. Ryoha had previously made such a mess in Kumogakure. So, while we're at it, we should also deal with the higher-ups of Konoha."
He didn't know when Bulma appeared, so he found it hard to adapt to her sudden appearance. But since she was here, they could just go with the flow.
"So be it, let's go. Since Pain is going to Konoha, and our target is both Konoha and the Akatsuki, then let's wait for them in Konoha."
Tsunade made a decision and immediately stood up, grabbing Ryoha, who was taken aback. This made Ryoha remember what they did to Bulma. There was no other way. Back then, Konoha wanted to capture Bulma to blackmail him, so he was bringing Bulma along for this visit. At the same time, it was also a way to establish authority. Anyone in the entire ninja world who dared to harm Bulma or have such intentions, no matter who they were, even if they were the first great ninja village, would have to die.