It was natural to make such a request.
"No! These are meant for other people. This is all we have this time."
Konan stepped back, protecting the supplies behind her to prevent the man from seizing them.
"What does it matter? Anyway, in this village, our family has the largest population. It's only right to take a little more."
"That's all there is."
Konan stood her ground.
The man frowned in anger, charging forward to snatch the supplies behind Konan.
"Don't come near me!"
Konan was also infuriated by the man's actions, as she had already humbled herself, yet he pushed further.
So she unceremoniously grabbed his arm and sent him tumbling back.
"What do you bastards think you're doing?"
The man rolled in the mud, hitting his head and becoming enraged with Konan.
"There's nothing planned. These are the supplies distributed this time, there's nothing extra."
Nagato said indifferently.
The man snorted, full of resentment, and walked into the house.
As he closed the wooden door, he left a very unpleasant comment:
"At a time like this, playing the philanthropist, huh? A bunch of idiots!"
"You—"
Konan couldn't hold back anymore and wanted to rush in to teach the man a lesson.
The man's words were really unpleasant.
If it weren't for Akatsuki's aid, this family would have starved long ago.
Nagato reached out to stop Konan, shaking his head, and said, "Forget it, Konan, even if you hit him, it's pointless."
Only then did Konan withdraw her hand, but her face was still filled with anger and grievance.
She always felt that their goodwill was being squandered by these people.
It was also Nagato's first time facing such a problem and didn't know how to deal with it, but he understood that even if he beat the man, it wouldn't change anything.
Even if they took the supplies, his family still needed to survive, among whom were two children.
After that, Nagato and Konan went on to distribute the supplies to others, fortunately not encountering similar unreasonable troubles.
"Finally, it's all distributed."
Konan let out a long sigh.
"But with the impending war, collecting supplies will become increasingly difficult. The organization's funds are also running low."
Nagato said.
"Yeah, that's definitely a big problem."
Konan couldn't help but feel troubled.
The members of Akatsuki had come so far with great difficulty, and none of them wanted to give up and start over.
Because they believed that under Leader Yahiko's guidance, Akatsuki's ideals would gain more recognition and eventually change this country.
However, it seemed now that this heavy responsibility, not to mention the future success, was hard to bear even in the initial steps, and peace was still a distant hope.
Akatsuki's work consisted of several parts.
Konan and Nagato were in charge of distributing supplies because their temperaments were the best in Akatsuki.
Although Leader Yahiko was also deeply trusted, he had more important matters to handle.
Whether it was negotiating with the Ninjas from Konoha and Hidden Sand or promoting Akatsuki's ideals in the Land of Rain, he, as the leader, had to be personally responsible, making everyone recognize Akatsuki, gathering more strength, to change the Land of Rain and the world.
Even knowing that this path was extremely difficult, where they might pay the price with their lives at any moment, Akatsuki's members walked on it without hesitation.
They all firmly believed that after the hardships, there would be sweetness, and the current troubles and setbacks were just training their will and bodies; the future would undoubtedly become better.
"Konan, where do we go next?"
Nagato asked.
"Next, we'll purchase medicine. Many of the villagers we saved earlier are severely injured. And we ourselves also need some. Hmm... the budget feels tighter and tighter."
Konan let out a bitter laugh.
Akatsuki's economic sources mainly came from missions; though many times, Akatsuki helped others without charge, there were enthusiastic villagers who would pay them or provide some supplies in return.
Additionally, when clearing bandits, the silver taels earned from them would also be converted into Akatsuki's funding.
In the past, Konan learned Ninja Techniques, thinking the world was vast, and she could go anywhere.
Money, being something external, was nothing essential to pursue excessively.
The will of a ninja lies in endurance.
This was a principle taught by their teacher, Jiraiya, one of the Sannin.
No matter how tough, with a ninja's ability, they could survive in the wild.
But after founding Akatsuki, they realized that many things in this world couldn't be changed by ninja power alone.
Ninjas are also a part of reality, and in reality, many places require money.
Without money, Akatsuki's activities couldn't proceed and couldn't help more people.
In short, it was one word: poor.
If Akatsuki's funding could increase a bit, the efficiency of their work would also rise significantly.
However, there were no entrepreneurial talents in Akatsuki, and it was impossible for wealthy merchants to sponsor their activities.
Overall, Akatsuki's various activities were like doing a losing business.
Extracting money from greedy merchants was like dreaming.
Nagato also sighed, realizing that it's a long and challenging journey ahead.
The two, dispirited for a while, then gathered themselves and set off towards the nearest prosperous town.
This place had never been touched by war; though affected economically by the war, it was still considered one of the few Pure Lands within the Land of Rain.