HTP: Ch. 80

Nagato closed his eyes, pondering the feasibility, surprisingly, it didn't seem like a bad idea.

If he could take this opportunity to defeat or even capture the Allied Forces' leader, Hiruzen, the alliance would fall apart on its own.

By then, no matter what terms he proposed, Konoha would have to accept them.

As for sending Kakuzu, definitely not. Though he was competent, expecting him to take down the Hokage was just wishful thinking.

Akatsuki really were full of talent. They used to be treated like ordinary henchmen, what a waste, all misled by the traitors Obito and Black Zetsu.

"Kakuzu's plan isn't bad. Let's go with this for now."

"I'll personally lead the assault on Konoha's main camp. Now, who will attract the Allied Forces' attention from the front?"

Kakuzu secretly let out a sigh of relief, he was the strategist, leave the fighting to the muscle.

Then Hidan spoke, "Within the organization, Pain is the strongest. So wouldn't Kakuzu, who once fought the First Hokage to a draw, be the second strongest?"

He turned to look at Kakuzu. "Isn't that right?"

Kakuzu had no choice but to respond seriously, "Then let this most dangerous mission be mine."

Seeing someone volunteer, Nagato tapped his fingers on the armrest of his wheelchair and said, "Alright. Kakuzu will lead the battle. Deidara and Hidan, you two will support him."

"Sasori, starting today, you'll help Ame upgrade its defense systems."

Sasori was a technical genius, much like Orochimaru.

Next came various logistical details.

After everything was settled, the Akatsuki members dispersed. Only Konan and Nagato remained in the room.

With everyone working together, Konan felt a joy she hadn't experienced since the Yahiko days. She said with a trace of happiness, "It seems those four aren't emotionless monsters after all. They're not like traitors or schemers."

Nagato nodded slightly. He stood up from his wheelchair and spoke gently to Konan, "That's how it seems now. We misjudged them before."

Originally, the plan was for Pain to personally eliminate these dangerous individuals after collecting the Ten-Tails. Thinking back now, perhaps he had been too extreme at the time.

In the broader sense, after absorbing the tailed beast chakra, Nagato's yang energy, once suppressed by the Rinnegan, had started to rebound. Though yin and yang were still not truly balanced, it was far less extreme than before.

The most direct effect of this was that Nagato's emotions had become noticeably more stable.

Looking at Nagato's now gentle face, Konan was brought back to the past. She couldn't help but say, "This time, we will definitely succeed."

Nagato walked to the window, the rain-swept village reflected in his Rinnegan eyes.

Outside, the sound of rain mixed with the occasional rumble of thunder.

Lightning lit up the sharp lines of his thin face.

"Yes, Konan."

At this point, Konan couldn't help but ask, "Your legs have already healed. Why do you still sit in a wheelchair?"

Nagato smiled at her and replied softly, "Gods shouldn't have weaknesses. But humans do."

Konan tilted her head, clearly not understanding what he was getting at.

---

In the Konoha division tent, in the center was a burning charcoal fire, with skewered saury grilling over it, a fireside barbecue.

Kakashi, Guy, and Yamato were sitting around a low table in conversation. As they were currently at war, they refrained from alcohol and drank tea instead.

"The battlefield feels off."

Guy sipped his tea, speaking in a strange tone. "We still haven't fought yet."

Though he wasn't the most perceptive, he had risen from genin to jonin and seen many battles, none of them had ever felt as eerie as this.

And this time, the Hokage had only brought elite forces, not a single ordinary ninja. Aside from the ANBU directly under the Hokage, everyone here was a known name in Konoha.

Rather than a typical battlefield deployment, it felt more like preparations for a decapitation strike. In contrast, the other four nations in the Allied Forces had deployed their ninjas in a traditional three-tier structure: upper, middle, and lower ranks.

"The reason for this setup is because that Pain had too outstanding a record in the battle at Kumo."

Kakashi, who had always had a Hokage's way of thinking since youth, poured himself some tea and explained, "Against such unconventional enemies, the Hokage has no choice but to hold back strategically. If you have doubts, Guy, you can look at the reports from the Kumo incident."

Yamato spoke up wearily, "That's fine by me. If I get another day of rest, the chances of victory when we three fight together will be a bit higher."

He truly was exhausted. Yamato had played a major role in getting the Allied Forces' camp constructed so quickly.

Guy patted Yamato on the shoulder to comfort him. "You've really worked hard this time."

Yamato waved him off, not wanting to talk about construction anymore. As a warrior, he shifted the subject and said, "I have new intel, came from Jiraiya-sama. It seems like there's been a split within Akatsuki in Ame."

Kakashi and Guy both turned their eyes toward him.

Yamato continued, "Looks like Obito got kicked out of Akatsuki."

"Huh? Wasn't he claiming to be the mastermind behind Akatsuki?" Guy was a bit surprised. After thinking a moment, he said, "That dead-last was bluffing again, huh."

Kakashi, clearly more informed than the others, refilled their tea and said, "They probably got fed up with him. He's not even good at being a villain, sloppy and careless."

Since the most valuable target was now off the battlefield for the time being...

Kakashi had less interest in the upcoming battle. "Yamato, whoever you say we're going after, we'll go after."

Guy didn't mind either. An enemy's an enemy, made no difference to him. He grabbed one of the grilled saury from the fire, bit off a chunk, and pulled out the fishbone in one smooth motion.

Yamato pulled out a scroll of intel from his chest and unrolled it on the table. Pointing to a portrait, he said, "At the last Allied meeting, Chiyo and Ōnoki both said this man is extremely dangerous."

"Supposedly, he fought the First Hokage to a draw back in the day."

"He's my new target."

Kakashi and Guy exchanged glances and both said, "Alright."

---

In the main tent of the Allied Forces' leadership, at this moment, Hiruzen was casually browsing videos of pretty women on the net while speaking to Itachi, who wore a crow-patterned ANBU mask and uniform. "Take it easy. Giving Nagato and the others a little more prep time is fine."

The fact that no real fighting had started yet showed just how much of a soft spot Ame had in Nagato's heart. The situation was much better than Hiruzen initially expected, so he was quite relaxed.

"When the battle begins, let Kumo take the brunt first. If they can't hold, the Mizukage and Chiyo can step in. If they still can't, then there's always Ōnoki."

What he said wasn't exactly noble, so it was something he could only share with his closest strategist.

Now that Shikaku was guarding the home front, the role of advising the commander naturally fell to Itachi.

Defeating the enemy while conveniently weakening allies, this was standard behavior for the leader of an alliance. As long as food rations were delivered on time, he was already considered a very conscientious ally.

Itachi paced around the detailed 3D sand-table map in the center of the tent. After some thought, he occasionally placed colored kunai on different locations of the map.

Finally, he stabbed a black kunai into the Allied Forces' main headquarters.

"From Nagato's perspective, if he wants to preserve Ame and defeat the Five-Nation Alliance at the same time, there's only one viable strategy, to go straight for the main HQ."

To catch the bandits, first capture their leader.

"I advise you to stay on alert. I recommend assigning two Hyūga clan members to this tent for security."

Seeing the Hokage frequently distracted in his seat, Itachi couldn't help but offer a reminder.

Hiruzen simply laughed.

Still...

"You make a good point."