As Team J transported the three giants back to the Leaf Village, the remaining members of Akatsuki were joining together to discuss their next move. Pain looked around and saw that there were only a handful of members left. Zetsu, Tobi, Konan, Kisame, Kakuzu, and himself were all that were left. Deidara, Sasori, and Itachi had been killed by the Leaf ninja while Hidan's head had been stolen and his body sold for cash. Things were looking grim indeed for the organization. Pain sighed and said, "Perhaps we have underestimated the tenacity of the Leaf shinobi. I think it would be best if we didn't try to convert them with the scroll. We have to think of a way to gain more power without worrying about losing that power to the Leaf village."

"Well, the obvious choice is to make one of us giants." Kakuzu said. "That way we can guarantee that no one will go rouge on us or get converted back to the Leaf village."

Kisame laughed and said, "Yeah, good luck finding one of us who will be willing to stick our necks out taking on all the Leaf giants single handedly."

Tobi laughed with Kisame and said, "Besides do you know how big their biggest giant is? At least 1000 feet tall! How could we possibly stop that?"

"Maybe we could try a surprise attack." Zetsu said. "Something the Leaf village won't expect or be able to retaliate with."

"A human shield," Konan said, "Or a bargaining chip would be best."

"Yeah, someone who's close to the Leaf shinobi. Someone who would cause the whole village to mobilize to save."

"Hmmm...I still think there are far too many giants of the Leaf village. We should focus our efforts on finding a way to shrink them." Pain said.

Tobi straightened up suddenly and raised a hand into the air. "Ooh! Ooh! Leader-sama! Call on me! Oh please!"

Pain sighed and said, "What is it Tobi?"

Tobi excitedly said, "I did some spying in the Leaf village while Itachi was creating giants and I overheard people talking about when Orochimaru was attacking. Orochimaru had made a scroll that forced the giants to fight and the loser would shrink while the winner would steal their size! Maybe we can do something like that?"

The suggestions kept coming from all sides, each one with its own pros and cons. While the Akatsuki discussed their next move, Tsunade was finishing healing Kankuro, Kiba, and Choji returning them to their normal size and sending them back to the hospital. All in all, the Leaf village was once again prospering. Tsunade and Shizune had been healing the bonds of the village all the while Team J was going after the three rouge giants and their efforts had not been in vain. It had been easy to convince the giants to stick together and not make trouble for the village. The real challenge had been in convincing the villagers that the giants were an invaluable asset to the village. She had done this by showing how helpful Naruto could be. Just by going along with whatever Tsunade told him to do was a big help in convincing the villagers. If Naruto could be kept under control, his strength channeled to help and heal the village, then anyone could. Tsunade also set certain laws into effect specifically concerning the giants, namely that they could only be a certain size when they were in the village proper and that they were responsible for any damage caused to the village that was directly connected to them. Things like this helped the village accept the giants as good and helpful rather than evil and damaging. There were still those who bore grudges but not all healing can be done in a single day. The village was on its way at least.