Chapter 198: King of War

The hidden purpose of capturing the Tailed Beasts was to realize the Moon Eye Plan, and Li Ang naturally knew this.

But he didn't know whether Changmen knew.

Even if he didn't know, this idealist should still be wary of Tobi—the moment all Tailed Beasts are captured will be when the two turn on each other.

Provided they can succeed.

Li Ang had a slight idea about the Moon Eye Plan.

After the failure with the Dragon Clan, he deduced that even if he truly needed to use this plan to complete his Immortal Ascension ritual, he himself would have to release Infinite Tsukuyomi.

This involved the Rinnegan eye of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.

It could be planned, but the risk was too great—he needed to be ready to abandon it at any moment.

After all, Kaguya might be weak in combat, but she was certainly no naive fool, otherwise she wouldn't have outwitted Ōtsutsuki Isshiki.

The main reason was that Li Ang now had an escape route; he didn't need to hang himself on this one tree.

He glanced at the 【???】 on his panel; though no name was displayed, it was definitely related to that Goddess of Rabbit.

He could even guess some of the subsequent class advancement requirements for this profession.

It would be nothing more than consuming the chakra fruits produced by the God Tree.

If so, he could very well release Infinite Tsukuyomi through his own power one day; when that time came, finding an unclaimed life planet in the main world would be as easy as he pleased.

'But if I want to get involved now, I still need to strengthen my power—my current strength is still too risky.'

Uzumaki Clan, Sharingan, Senju cells

Sealing Techniques, Barrier Techniques, Senjutsu

Thinking of this, Li Ang's gaze flickered slightly.

He could handle almost all of the above through one person alone.

Orochimaru.

'If I remember correctly, Kabuto is ostensibly a spy planted by Sasori in Orochimaru's camp, right?'

Li Ang covertly glanced at his partner beside him and formed a rough plan in his mind.

At that moment, the Pain controlled by Changmen spoke, drawing the attention of everyone present: "Sasori and Dragon have arrived—let's begin."

Sasori was a veteran of the organization; everyone present except Hidan knew this.

As for Dragon.

Those hidden in the shadows subtly sized up Li Ang, their thoughts unknown.

Ignoring what the organization members were thinking, Changmen continued: "First matter: the suggestion Dragon proposed, after deliberation, I and Konan believe it's worth attempting."

Saying this, he looked at a man wearing a black mask: "Kakuzu, you will oversee this after the fact."

Kakuzu clearly knew what Changmen meant—they had already discussed it before the meeting began.

He nodded and said: "Understood. If this succeeds, the organization's funds won't be a problem."

Kakuzu's tone showed no resistance whatsoever; instead, it brimmed with interest—he was clearly energized by the prospect of a lucrative opportunity.

Li Ang then asked: "So I'll just stay in the base and craft ninja tools from now on?"

"No," Changmen rejected his suggestion. "You continue operating with Sasori."

The leader of Akatsuki had already formed a rough estimate of Li Ang's strength through Sasori.

Someone of such power, staying in the base as support staff, would be a terrible waste.

"But during this time, I need you to craft a batch of ninja tools for internal organization use."

Upon hearing this, Li Ang nodded in agreement: "Understood."

If he couldn't outclass his competitors in quality, then he could simply eliminate them physically.

This suggested that his previous mission with Sasori was indeed connected to Akatsuki's transformation.

At this point, the Akatsuki members who overheard their conversation felt a flicker of curiosity.

From their leader's words, they deduced that this new member, Dragon, had some unique expertise in crafting ninja tools.

After resolving Li Ang's matters, Changmen scanned the room and said gravely: "If the plan proceeds smoothly, we can begin capturing the Tailed Beasts ahead of schedule."

"."

At these words, the expressions of everyone present finally shifted slightly.

Though they had mentally prepared for today's meeting's topic, hearing it spoken aloud still struck them.

Ignoring the silence among the members, Changmen said coldly: "Second matter: to avoid drawing the Five Great Nations' attention too early, we will first capture the rogue jinchūriki."

The order of Tailed Beast captures, aside from the Nine-Tails being captured last, has no other requirements.

Currently, there are two jinchūriki who are rogue ninja: the Four-Tails jinchūriki, Old Zui, and the Six-Tails jinchūriki, Haku.

The former is a rogue from Iwa Village; the latter is a rogue from Kirigakure.

"The Four-Tails jinchūriki is currently wandering within the Land of Fire—capture the Six-Tails jinchūriki first."

"For Akatsuki's first Tailed Beast capture, it will be me and Konan—"

Here, Changmen paused briefly for no apparent reason, then changed his words: "All members must deploy."

Hearing this, those present reacted differently.

Akatsuki had always operated in pairs; this was their first time facing a full-group deployment.

But.

For the first Tailed Beast capture, caution was warranted—no one raised objections.

But what they truly thought inside remained unknown.

"We will decide the timing after seeing the results of Dragon's plan."

After uttering this, Changmen and Konan vanished from everyone's sight.

Seeing this, the Akatsuki members each used their own methods to disappear—only Hidan and Kakuzu walked up to Li Ang.

The former can't use Body Flicker Technique; the latter has something to ask Li Ang.

"Dragon?" Kaku used his green pupils to stare fixedly at the man before him. "You've given the organization a good idea."

As a money addict, Kaku had already keenly sensed the scent of vast wealth.

Although he had indeed saved up a fair amount of money by completing missions, how could that compare to making money selling ninja tools? After all, most ninja in this world can't do without them.

Unfortunately, before this, he had no connections and could only rely on the Clumsy method to earn money.

Who would have thought that just two days ago, Changmen suddenly found him and showed him her skill in crafting explosive tags?

At first, Kaku was confused, but he quickly realized the implication under Changmen's prompting.

The organization wants to transform.

From a mercenary group, it will become an organization selling ninja tools, with explosive tags as its flagship product.

Hmm. Perhaps also the high-quality ninja tools made by the Dragon before you—but Kaku hasn't seen the actual items yet, so he can't judge.

As for whether this transformation can make money—

At worst, the organization can just go back to being mercenaries.

Recalling how those clients could casually pull out millions of ryō for bounties, Kaku's heart grew increasingly excited.

All of this is money!

"I was just speaking offhand; I never expected the leader would actually take it."

At this moment, Li Ang had also realized it.

The Akatsuki's mid-term goal was to incite wars and monopolize war contracts, ultimately achieving monopoly over all wars in the world.

But clearly, this goal was absurdly difficult—even in the original timeline, the Akatsuki abandoned this plan and switched directly to collecting the Tailed Beasts.

But now, transforming into an arms dealer gave Changmen a glimmer of hope for success.

After all, in this world, most ninja are like tigers without claws or fangs once deprived of ninja tools—helpless.

At that point, the Akatsuki, as an arms dealer, could easily manipulate the pace of war while simultaneously amassing vast sums of money.

A two-for-one deal.

Although Li Ang said that, Kaku didn't care about any of that.

He now looked at this new member of the organization as if he were a money tree.

After all, before this man arrived, the entire organization was a bunch of oddballs who could only kill.

A pervert who loved hiding to study corpses; a lunatic who slaughtered his own family at the drop of a hat.

How could you expect these people to use their brains to make money?

Thinking of this, Kaku spoke with grave seriousness: "If you have any more good ideas, remember to tell me."

With that, he walked toward the cave entrance with Hidan.

"Kaku, your attitude is way too nice. Why haven't you ever treated me like this?"

"Shut up. If you could make money like the Dragon, I'd put you on a pedestal."

"Tch. Old money-grubber."

"At least you're better than this self-harming maniac."

After watching the immortal duo leave, Li Ang's expression grew cold.

During the meeting, he had sensed three pairs of eyes watching him.

One was Kaku's.

The other two—

'Zetsu? Uchiha Sasuke?'

He wasn't surprised that the former was observing him—it was the latter.

'Sharingan'

Recalling the materials he needed, his gaze flickered slightly.

Right now, Uchiha Sasuke should possess three Mangekyō Sharingan.

Yes, three.

Aside from his own pair, there was the one entrusted to him by Uchiha Shisui before his death.

Very tempting. But also very dangerous.

Thinking of this, Li Ang caught up with Sasori, who had left earlier when Kaku first approached him, and asked: "Sasori, can you find Orochimaru?"

Sasori abruptly stopped, and a hoarse voice emerged from his Hiruko: "How do you know that?"

As he spoke, a chilling coldness seeped from beneath his wide robes.

On the matter of planting spies, Sasori believed he had acted with perfect secrecy—yet who could have imagined someone would expose it so bluntly?

Facing the threat, Li Ang said only with deep implication: "Could it be that everything you know is exactly what Orochimaru wants you to know?"

"If you help me find his hiding place, I can help you deal with him."

No matter whose Sharingan he obtained, he needed to first add some leverage for himself.

What kind of leverage—