Seeing Jiraiya shake his head, Tsunade couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. She had thought that with all his years of traveling, he might have stumbled across something useful—but it turned out he knew just as little as they did.
"Fire Shadow, the thing you mentioned earlier... what was it?"Shikaku stepped forward, his tone curious.
Tsunade shook her head. "It's nothing. Just a theory. Years ago, there was another organization that tried to capture Tailed Beasts... but they eventually gave up."
She had briefly wondered whether Nagato might still be pursuing that ridiculous 'peace through pain' plan.
After all, over the past few years, she hadn't seen Nagato much. No one really knew what he had been up to.
But after thinking it through, she dismissed the idea.With Ryo around, there was no way Nagato would continue with something so foolish. He simply didn't need to anymore.
Shikaku's eyes flickered with surprise but he kept pushing, "Could it possibly be that same group again?"
"Impossible," Jiraiya interrupted before Tsunade could respond. "Nagato has no reason to continue that path. Besides, the members of Akatsuki are all busy running the Pokémon Houses across the different villages. They don't even have the time to go chasing after Tailed Beasts."
Tsunade nodded in agreement.
Hearing that, Shikaku nodded thoughtfully as well, but then suggested, "Then... why not just ask them directly? Maybe they know something we don't."
Both Tsunade and Jiraiya's eyes lit up at the idea.
Right.Since this was about Tailed Beasts, Nagato might indeed have valuable information.
Realizing they had overlooked something so simple made both of them feel a little embarrassed.
Without wasting another moment, the group left the Hokage's office and headed straight for the Pokémon Stadium.
At the same time, tensions were rising in other parts of Konoha.
After leaving the VIP room, Mabu'i and the others hurried toward the gathering points where their own village's shinobi were staying.
Quite a few ninjas from various villages had come to Konoha for the tournament.None of them had expected a disaster like this.
Their faces turned grim, each more anxious than the last.
Of course, Mabu'i's group wasn't the only one feeling the pressure.
Gaara too, having received the news, was shaken to his core.
As a Jinchūriki himself, the message hit far closer to home.
For ordinary people, this intelligence was shocking and anger-inducing.For Gaara, it was terrifying.It was a clear warning: he was now being targeted.
Meanwhile, Tsunade remained unaware—and uninterested—in how the other villages were dealing with the situation.All that mattered now was finding Ryo.
Together with Jiraiya, she soon arrived at the entrance to the stadium.
"Fire Shadow, Jiraiya," a Konoha shinobi on security duty greeted them respectfully as they approached.
Tsunade and Jiraiya nodded back lightly and made their way inside without pausing.
"This place is packed... I should've just agreed to come with Naruto yesterday," Jiraiya muttered regretfully as he looked at the crowds filling the stadium.
Tsunade shot him a sidelong glance—and immediately caught the lecherous gleam in his eye as he scanned the rows of young, beautiful women in the audience.
Her mouth twitched.
Wham!
Without hesitation, she punched Jiraiya hard on the head.
"Focus," she said coldly. "We're here to find Ryo."
Deep down, she was seriously tempted to beat him senseless.They were dealing with an urgent crisis—and here he was ogling girls?
Jiraiya rubbed his sore head, but at least had the sense to drop the pervy grin and behave.
It didn't take them long to find Ryo's group sitting on the second floor.
"You're here," Ryo greeted calmly as they approached, as if he had been expecting them all along.
Tsunade blinked in surprise."You knew we'd come?"
Ryo nodded. "It wasn't hard to guess. With the Jinchūriki being captured, and Naruto potentially at risk, of course you'd show up."
Hearing that, both Tsunade and Jiraiya were visibly taken aback.
Nearby, Shirona, Nagato, and Konan also glanced at Ryo in astonishment.They hadn't really believed him when he said earlier that Tsunade would come to them.They had even planned to seek her out after the tournament.
And yet, here she was—with a bonus Jiraiya in tow.
After a moment of shock, Tsunade got straight to the point."Ryo, do you know who's behind the Tailed Beast captures?"
Jiraiya's expression turned serious as he also waited for the answer.
Ryo shifted his gaze from the battlefield below and looked at them both.
"I know a little," he said.
"Who is it?" Jiraiya asked quickly.
Despite his usual carefree attitude, when it came to Naruto's safety, he was no less worried than anyone else.
"You've heard the name before," Ryo said casually. "I've mentioned him to you before."
"Huh?"Both Tsunade and Jiraiya frowned, puzzled.
"It's Uchiha Madara," Ryo said calmly.
"The one who tried to manipulate Nagato?" Tsunade asked, a little uncertain.
Ryo nodded. "Exactly. That man who calls himself Uchiha Madara."
Jiraiya frowned even deeper."But... isn't Akatsuki working for you now? Even if that so-called Madara is strong, capturing six Jinchūriki overnight is way beyond what he could do alone."
Ryo smiled faintly and turned his head."Nagato, you explain it."
After all, most of the information had come from Nagato himself.
Jiraiya and Tsunade both looked toward Nagato expectantly.
Nagato's expression darkened slightly as he spoke.
"That Uchiha Madara... has gathered a new set of followers. All of them have reached Kage-level strength."
Tsunade immediately interrupted, her voice rising in disbelief."Hold on. How many?"
"According to our intelligence, at least ten," Nagato said grimly."There may be more we haven't seen yet."
"This is absurd!"Jiraiya couldn't help but shout. "Ten Kage-level shinobi? That's impossible!"
He had traveled across the world for years and had never seen ten Kage-level fighters gathered in one place.Now this so-called Madara had casually pulled together an army of them in just a few years?
It defied common sense.
Nagato nodded slowly, a bitter expression on his face."I don't know where he found them. But it's real."
Inwardly, he felt a painful stab of frustration.
He had struggled for years to gather a handful of powerful members for Akatsuki—working endlessly, carefully, dealing with betrayals and setbacks.
And now Madara... had somehow built a force of Kage-level monsters as if it was nothing.Without even stirring the surface of the shinobi world.
The more Nagato thought about it, the worse he felt.
It was like all his past struggles had been a cruel joke.
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