Mastermind of the Akatsuki

Byakuya noticed the confusion on everyone's faces but didn't explain too much. He could reveal some information, but if he knew everything, the Five Great Shinobi Nations' fear of Madara Uchiha would turn into suspicion of himself. Besides, he always believed that ninjas trust their own assumptions more than the so-called truth. He only needed to ensure that 90 percent of the information he provided was true; the remaining 10 percent would eventually become fact.

After a brief pause, Byakuya continued, "I have told you all the intelligence about Madara Uchiha. Kages of the Five Nations, when will your troops be mobilized?"

Onoki thought for a moment and replied, "There are too many ninjas involved in the Allied Shinobi Forces. The Iwagakure side will need two more days to gather and reach the vicinity of the Land of Iron."

The other Kage also agreed, saying their troops required two to three days to assemble.

Byakuya nodded slightly, quite satisfied with the speed of the Five Great Nations' troop mobilization. Being able to gather forces over hundreds or thousands of kilometers within a few days demonstrated the terrifying speed of ninjas.

At that moment, Onoki suddenly remembered something and said to Byakuya, "By the way, Supreme Commander Byakuya, it's easy to gather the troops, but we can't have them stay in the Land of Iron indefinitely, and we still don't know the whereabouts of the Masked Man and Madara Uchiha."

Byakuya smiled and said, "We still have several jinchūriki. The Masked Man and Madara Uchiha will definitely come for them. We just need to wait quietly for Madara's attack. The urgent task is to protect the remaining jinchūriki, so the war doesn't end before it even begins."

Byakuya raised a brow, "Do you have any good recommendations for where to hide the jinchūriki?"

Faced with Byakuya's question, everyone fell into deep thought, considering suitable places to hide the jinchūriki.

After some pondering, Jiraiya seemed to have an idea and said, "Naruto and I have a summoning contract with Mount Myōboku. We can take Naruto there to lie low. Even if Madara Uchiha knows we're at Mount Myōboku, he can't reach it quickly."

At these words, Tsunade's eyes lit up immediately.

If Naruto could be sent to Mount Myōboku, it would indeed evade Madara's attacks. Besides Mount Myōboku, the Shikkotsu Forest, home of the Slug Sage, was also a good place.

Thinking of this, Tsunade turned to the Fourth Kazekage, Sasori of the Red Sand, and said, "Kazekage, how about having your Gaara go to Mount Myōboku with Naruto? Mount Myōboku is very safe."

Sasori shook his head gently and said, "The jinchūriki of Sunagakure don't need Konoha's protection. Also, I don't trust the sages of the three major holy lands—they're not human. I can't fully trust them."

Sasori's response was supported by the Fourth Raikage. "Well said. Kumogakure also doesn't trust the sages of the three great holy lands. After all, they're just some weird beings. If they can sign contracts with the Three Legendary Sannin, they could also make deals with Madara Uchiha. For summoning beasts, ninjas aren't that important."

Sasori and the Fourth Raikage's words displeased Jiraiya and Tsunade, who looked at the two and said, "If you won't go to Mount Myōboku, then where else in the shinobi world can we hide the jinchūriki?"

The Fourth Raikage folded his arms and said, "The shinobi world's holy places are not just limited to the three major ones. Kumogakure controls a movable holy place that is extremely remote from the mainland, and it can be used for special training to enhance the jinchūriki's strength. To prevent jinchūriki from being captured, the most important thing is to strengthen their power. That way, when they are attacked, they won't be defenseless and kidnapped easily."

"A training holy site for jinchūriki…" Onoki murmured and said, "Raikage, you don't mean Turtle Island, right? Iwagakure has been scouting for years but never found it. Now you want Gaara and Naruto to voluntarily go there?"

"Now that it's a matter of life and death for the shinobi world, Kumogakure naturally won't be so stingy."

The Fourth Raikage crossed his arms confidently and said, "So, what do you think of my proposal? Have the three jinchūriki train together on Turtle Island. That way, they won't be found by Madara Uchiha and can also improve their strength."

Faced with the Raikage's suggestion, both Tsunade and Sasori hesitated.

Tsunade directly asked, "It would be good if you can open Turtle Island, Raikage, but if so many jinchūriki stay together, if Madara Uchiha finds them, won't they all be captured at once?"

The Fourth Raikage looked at Tsunade and bluntly replied, "Lady Tsunade, if we keep worrying like this, we might as well just surrender. Jinchūriki are not greenhouse flowers. The only ones who can truly protect them are themselves."

Tsunade didn't answer the Raikage but looked at Byakuya, who noticed everyone's gaze and slowly said, "I agree with the Raikage. Jinchūriki can't always be protected by us. They must grow up quickly. But their safety can't be completely ignored either; after all, this concerns the life and death of the shinobi world."

After a pause, he continued, "Here's what we'll do. During the days it takes for all the troops to gather, I will personally take the jinchūriki to Turtle Island. Even if Madara Uchiha really discovers Turtle Island, I can lead them to move. But if that happens, I might not be able to participate on the front lines..."

Upon hearing this, the Five Kage all patted their chests and said, "We can handle the frontline battle. Madara Uchiha may be strong, but we're not pushovers. As long as we prepare well, we'll definitely be able to defeat Madara."

Byakuya thought to himself, 'You all just think so…'

They knew the strength of the Five Kage. Together, they might threaten Madara at the Valley of the End, but Edo Madara was another story.

Edo Madara's raw strength might not be top tier among the strongest, but his ability to dominate weaker opponents was unparalleled.

Despite his complaints, Byakuya nodded seriously and said, "Then it's settled. The frontline battle is up to you. If you really can't handle Madara, remember to protect your lives—that's more important than anything."

After discussing the jinchūriki's placement, Tsunade seemed to recall something and said to Byakuya, "By the way, I just remembered something very important. Besides protecting the jinchūriki, we also have to protect the Daimyo. In previous ninja wars, the Daimyo were never targeted, but the Masked Man might make a move on them."

At this, everyone frowned.

The safety of the Daimyo was indeed a serious concern. Although under the one-country, one-village system, the Daimyo were nominal superiors of the ninja villages, they still held considerable influence over the villages.

If the Masked Man were to take a Daimyo hostage and order a ninja village to surrender, the village might not actually surrender but their morale would take a big hit. Also, after defeating Madara Uchiha, it could spark conflicts between the ninja villages and the Daimyo.

But who should be sent to protect the Daimyo? No one had a good candidate, and everyone looked toward Byakuya.

Byakuya seemed to guess their thoughts and turned to say, "In the Akatsuki organization, there is no such thing as Daimyo. If you want to protect them, then go ahead. Just make sure it doesn't affect the overall plan."

Before he finished speaking, Byakuya and Yahiko turned and left.

Tsunade and the others left behind felt a bit awkward. They suddenly realized that Amegakure didn't have a Daimyō, or rather, the system of one country, one village was something only the Five Great Shinobi Countries enjoyed.

In many smaller countries, the Daimyō and the head of the shinobi village were the same person.

In those countries aligned with Akatsuki, even if they had the one country-one village system, the Daimyō and the village leader were both under Akatsuki's command, leaving no room for any independent action.

Tsunade looked at Sasori and asked, "Fifth Kazekage, what do you think?"

Sasori thought for a moment and said, "I think Byakuya's point has some merit. We don't really need to protect the Daimyō. If the Daimyō is attacked, we can just declare him dead. If absolutely necessary, we can have shinobi use transformation techniques to disguise themselves."

Tsunade fell silent. She had forgotten that the relationship between Sunagakure and the Kazekage was strained. Ever since Rasa's assassination attempt on the Kazekage of the Land of Wind, the Daimyō had been under Sasori's protection.

The Kazekage of the Land of Wind was unhappy about this and even wrote a letter to the Fire Country's Daimyō. However, Rasa's threat was genuine. If the Land of Wind's Daimyō rejected the house arrest, Sasori would withdraw his protection.

Sasori's original words were: "Many want to become Daimyō, but life is only one."

The relationship with the Daimyō was similarly bad in Kirigakure, but the Mizukage and Daimyō had made some efforts in recent years, so it wasn't completely hostile. "Lord Hokage, why not gather all the Daimyō together and protect them? They aren't the main target of Madara Uchiha's attack, so the intensity of any assault won't be too severe."

In response to Terumi's suggestion, Tsunade, Sasori, and the Fourth Raikage all nodded.

They all had decent relationships with their respective Daimyō and understood that managing a country with a population in the hundreds of millions wasn't easy. If something happened to the Daimyō, the shinobi village would ultimately suffer.

Though Sasori was somewhat dissatisfied due to the numbers disadvantage, he still nodded.

---

After leaving the meeting room, Byakuya found an excuse to leave Yahiko's side.

He went to a secluded corner, confirmed no one was sensing chakra nearby, and opened the system panel to check the system reward interface. "Tsunade Senju joined Akatsuki, you have gained Senju bloodline, super strength, Yin seal, advanced medical ninjutsu..."

[The Tuchikage joined Akatsuki. You have gained Dust Release, the complete set of Earth Release ninjutsu.]

[The Fourth Raikage joined Akatsuki, you have gained Lightning Chakra Mode, complete Lightning Release ninjutsu, Cloud Village taijutsu techniques...]

[Admiral Mifune joined Akatsuki, you have gained swordsmanship mastery...]

[Jiraiya joined Akatsuki, you have gained Sage Mode (unstable)…]

"Oh boy, things are getting hefty."

Seeing the system rewards, Byakuya couldn't help but laugh out loud.

The rewards from attending the Five Kage Summit were even greater than those from conquering Sunagakure and Kirigakure. After all, now that he was the allied army leader, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and others had automatically become his subordinates.

With these people joining Akatsuki, the organization's strength had significantly increased.

The only regret was that the system only counted the ninja who participated in the Five Kage Summit. Konohagakure, Kumogakure, and Iwagakure had not yet joined Akatsuki.

Byakuya guessed that he would have to wait until those three villages' troops arrived nearby before getting the full reward and a massive chakra boost all at once.

Snapping back to focus, Byakuya clicked to claim the rewards.

Moments later, a vast amount of chakra surged into Byakuya's body. He could clearly feel his bloodline concentration rise and his chakra reserves further increase. Unfortunately, he still couldn't break through the final limit to evolve his life level.

He accepted this with some relief. Although there were many super-strong shinobi in the world, none had transcended their life level to reach the Ōtsutsuki tier.

The reason was simple: they didn't have enough chakra.

Gathering the nine tailed beasts to revive the Ten-Tails seemed invincible, but it was still an incomplete state. Only after casting Infinite Tsukuyomi and absorbing planetary chakra could the Chakra Fruit be born.

To reach the Ōtsutsuki level, one would need a similar scale of chakra.

Realizing this, Byakuya was not discouraged. His spirit remained strong. As long as he could bring the entire shinobi world under his control, he would definitely reach the Ōtsutsuki level.

After absorbing the base attributes, Byakuya focused on the ninjutsu.

The techniques gained from Tsunade were quite good. Yin sealing, a small technique to store chakra, was useful, and the medical ninjutsu knowledge was a major missing skill for him.

As for Onoki's Dust Release, although he had the ability to use it, mastering it would take time. The practical use of this bloodline was limited.

Despite its tremendous destructive power, Dust Release was not enough against the enemies Byakuya faced.

Any chakra-based jutsu could be absorbed by the Rinnegan, Dust Release was no exception, making it little more than a novelty against an Ōtsutsuki. More useful to him were the taijutsu techniques from the Fourth Raikage and Admiral Mifune.

The Raikage excelled at close combat. His Lightning Chakra Mode significantly enhanced speed, strength, and reflexes, comparable to the Eight Gates. Mifune was a swordmaster with rich experience in swordsmanship.

Finally, the greatest gain was from Jiraiya's Sage Mode (unstable), more accurately the Myōboku Mountain Sage Mode.

As a Sage Mode, it utilized natural energy.

Natural energy was also chakra, but it had not been altered by the God Tree and belonged to the planet itself. This power was, in some ways, even stronger than the God Tree or Ten-Tails.