In the Land of Demons, inside the dim and expansive cavern.
Accompanied by a tremendous roar, the entire cavern trembled restlessly, with large chunks of rock falling from above, crashing to the ground and causing a rumbling sound.
An enormous beetle-like beast was rapidly shrinking at a speed visible to the naked eye, as the brown-haired girl was enveloped by a red Chakra Feather Robe that gradually merged into her body and disappeared.
After integrating the Tailed Beast's power into her body, Lin's face was covered in sweat, and her body was utterly exhausted. The smile on her face was barely there as she stood up, panting heavily.
"Lin!"
Obito ran over from a distance, shouting Lin's name.
"Obito..."
Mumbling, Lin felt a darkness before her eyes, her head dizzy as her body toppled forward.
With quick reflexes, Obito lunged forward, catching Lin's falling body and allowing her to lean securely against him without collapsing.
"Don't worry. Judging by her appearance, she just passed out from extreme fatigue."
Uzumaki Fumiko, who was also responsible for guiding Lin's Perfect Jinchuriki training with Obito, walked over from nearby, forming seals and dispelling the powerful barrier that surrounded them.
"That situation just now was different from usual, wasn't it?"
Recalling the recent events, Obito noted that he and Fumiko had not officially taken action, yet Lin had proactively retracted the Tailed Beast's power, albeit with difficulty, and behaved differently than she usually did.
"Yes, she managed to retract the Tailed Beast's power on her own. It seems Lin has made great progress in her Jinchuriki training."
Previously, Lin couldn't retract the Tailed Beast's power alone. It required cooperation with Obito's Sharingan and her Sealing Technique.
Now, Lin could achieve this on her own, clearly taking another significant step on the path of becoming a Jinchuriki with remarkable results.
She had initially gained the means to freely control the Tailed Beast's power as a Perfect Jinchuriki.
Though still some distance away from being truly perfect and requiring significant exertion, overall, there was hope of becoming a Perfect Jinchuriki.
Originally, Hakushi estimated three years; now, Lin has been formally undergoing Perfect Jinchuriki training for two years. In the coming year, at this pace, becoming a Perfect Jinchuriki should not be a major issue.
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"As the Mizukage, you're certainly a busy person. Is there something particular that brought you here suddenly?"
In the reception room, Hakushi smiled at Yagura, who was seated opposite him.
Ever since the coup in Hidden Mist Village, Yagura devoted a lot of his time to work, primarily focused on swiftly restoring the strength of the village.
Unless it was something important, sending a trusted envoy should suffice, and there was no need to come personally.
For Yagura to take time out of his busy schedule, Hakushi thought there must be something significant at hand.
"I didn't want to disturb you at this time, but it's about the Akatsuki matter you mentioned, it's making me quite uneasy."
Although he hadn't yet interacted with anyone from Akatsuki, the organization's ability to bring together Sannin Orochimaru and Sasori of the Red Sand, the renowned Hidden Sand genius Puppet Master, made their leader particularly dangerous in Yagura's eyes.
S-Class Renegade Ninjas are notoriously defiant and hard to control, and each of them typically wields enough power to conquer a small country alone.
Especially figures like Orochimaru and Sasori.
"For now, we'll proceed cautiously and steadily. We can't restrict their movements."
Moreover, from the standpoint of the Land of Demons, there seems to be no need to interfere with Akatsuki's actions.
The threat of Akatsuki lies in the distant future and is fundamentally different from the immediate and future threats posed by the Five Great Nations.
It's only by slightly disrupting the monopoly of the Five Great Nations that he can have the luxury to deal with Akatsuki.
Becoming enemies with Akatsuki now would erect a massive obstacle, an obstacle that, in many cases, is more troublesome than the Five Great Nations.
So even knowing how significant a threat Akatsuki poses, Hakushi prefers not to engage with them, especially since Nagato has also engaged in a Yin-Yang Style trade with them out of precaution.
This also provides the Land of Demons with a relatively stable development environment.
"I'm not thinking about restricting them. I have a guess at your intentions; it's to wait until the final stage of the war, to resolve all threats in one fell swoop, isn't it?"
"Yes, if the original plan doesn't change. After all, in such an immense plan, a single mishap in any part can force us to change the plan, so we can't guarantee it will all go according to our route."
This plan was the result of discussions with Shikura.
To end the one-nation, one-village system, they could only think of war as a violent means to achieve this.
A bloodless reform, especially regarding national systems and existence forms, involves immense difficulty and time consumption, and it's often necessary to compromise with the vested interests. Once you compromise with the vested interests, it means the reform isn't thorough.
And neither Hakushi nor Yagura are people who like to compromise with others.
To make a change is to do it thoroughly; refusing now means paying an immense price to change it later.
This plan is already in motion.
The Hidden Star Village of the Land of Bear is the starting signal of this plan, also the silent first shot.