Chapter 2: The Economic God Has Arrived
[Pain-sama, after you and Angel-sama left, Amegakure no longer had any right to speak with the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
The Seventh Hokage's promise to develop Amegakure was never fulfilled.
He merely mentioned it in passing, and the Five Great Shinobi Villages instead gave us a so-called "opportunity to make money", to handle the waste generated by their development. All kinds of toxic, harmful, and unmanageable waste were dumped here.
The Land of Rain is now filled with poisonous gas; even the rainwater itself is corrosive.
Some of our people tried to question Konoha, but were immediately driven away.
Konoha never considered Amegakure a friend. In their eyes, it was the Seventh Hokage who saved and resurrected their elders and families, and it had nothing to do with Pain-sama.
Pain-sama, to them, you are merely the defeated party…]
Nagato was completely confused by much of the letter's contents.
For example, who exactly was the Seventh Hokage? And why would he cooperate with them?
Yet despite the confusion, Nagato understood what had happened.
One keyword stood out above all others: [Resurrection].
If there was resurrection, then it could only be his Rinne Rebirth Technique.
The idea was almost unbelievable, that he would sacrifice his own life in the future to revive the people of Konoha.
That he would choose to believe someone from Konoha and entrust them with the future development of Amegakure.
Nagato looked again at the photographs Shiromo had brought, images of Amegakure's future.
In the end, he chose to believe.
"Did we fail…?" Nagato murmured. "Or is it that, as long as I'm not influenced by that Konoha ninja, I can still succeed…?"
He clutched his head, struggling with his thoughts. After a long moment, he finally looked up at Shiromo.
"What is your purpose?"
Nagato's personality had always been somewhat peculiar. He could make decisions for himself, but the options placed before him were always given by others.
First, it was Yahiko.
Then Jiraiya.
Then Naruto.
Like Fang Xuanling, one could not say that Du Ruhui had no opinions of his own. Yet when faced with an unavoidable defeat and no clear path forward, Nagato, uncertain how to change the situation, chose to consult Shiromo, the future leader of Amegakure.
"I want to become Akatsuki's strategist and advisor," Shiromo said bluntly. "I want to decide the direction of both the organization and Amegakure."
"…Letting you make decisions regarding Amegakure is fine," Konan said calmly, pouring cold water on his ambition. "As long as your decisions convince both of us. But Akatsuki… Akatsuki members are unlikely to follow your commands."
"Has Akatsuki held any meetings recently?" Shiromo asked with a faint smile.
"What?"
Konan frowned.
---
A few days later.
Inside a cave outside Amegakure, sealed with a powerful barrier, the major members of Akatsuki gathered.
Two people were missing.
Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki.
Shiromo had told Nagato that Uchiha Itachi was a spy sent by Konoha. He instructed Nagato that, whether he believed this or not, Itachi should not attend this meeting. Any consequences could be handled later.
Excluding Itachi alone would have been too obvious, so Nagato simply assigned both Itachi and Kisame a mission to gather intelligence on Konoha.
This gave Itachi a legitimate reason to return and check on things, something he likely wouldn't refuse.
"Where are Itachi and Kisame?" Hidan asked lazily, "Were they killed? And who's this guy? A new member?"
Hidan pointed casually at the only unfamiliar face, Shiromo.
"Shu and Nan are on other missions," Pain said from the high platform at the center of the cave, "This is Shiromo. He is here to apply for the position of Akatsuki's strategist."
"What?!"
"I don't need some strategist telling me what to do!"
Hidan immediately shouted. He pulled the scythe from his back and pointed it at Shiromo.
"Hey, kid, believe it or not, I'll sacrifice you to Jashin-sama right now!"
The other Akatsuki members watched coldly, remaining silent.
They shared the same thought.
They didn't want anyone commanding them.
Just as Konan had said, every member of Akatsuki was a prodigy, and a rogue ninja. None of them were the type to obey someone else's orders.
"Who's in charge of Akatsuki's finances?" Shiromo asked calmly, ignoring Hidan entirely.
He set up a small blackboard and pinned a sheet of white paper onto it.
"What's 'finances'?" Hidan asked, confused.
"It means money, you idiot." Kakuzu replied in a low voice, glancing at his foolish partner.
Then Kakuzu's gaze shifted to the contents written on the paper.
"Under the leadership of the former ruler, Hanzo of the Salamander, Amegakure achieved significant development in steam-powered mechanization. Although Amegakure's ninjas aren't particularly strong, these machines can fully replace human labor, constructing infrastructure and producing light industrial goods. These products can be sold to the Five Great Shinobi Nations, generating enormous profits."
Shiromo continued, pointing to another section of the paper.
"If there's an issue with initial capital, I also have some hidden intelligence."
"In the Land of Waves, a wealthy man named Gato has seized a bridge built using funds raised by the local population. The people want to hire ninjas to deal with him, but they lack the money. So they devised a workaround, they plan to lower the official difficulty rating of the mission to reduce the bounty."
"Akatsuki could easily accept this mission," Shiromo said evenly. "We could take it for a symbolic payment of one or two ryo. If possible, we could even establish a long-term partnership with the Land of Waves."
"The Land of Waves lies between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water. It's a strategic location, bridging land and sea. If the Land of Water wants to develop in the future, it must pass through the Land of Waves to reach the mainland, otherwise, it would require an enormous detour. Controlling this area would generate a steady and significant income."
As Shiromo spoke, Kakuzu's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
The plan was completely feasible.
And more importantly, the terminology Shiromo used was precise and professional, proof that he truly understood what he was talking about.
"Hey, Kakuzu! Hey!"
Hidan noticed Kakuzu was completely absorbed and hurried over, waving his hand in front of his face.
"Don't be fooled by him!"
Receiving no response, Hidan turned and glared fiercely at Shiromo.
"So what if you can make money? What right do you have to command us in other matters?"
"The leader's policy is to gather the nine tailed beasts," Shiromo replied calmly, once again ignoring Hidan. "To create a deterrent and establish peace through fear. This approach is fundamentally correct. It's far more reliable than trying to maintain peace through love. However, it does have flaws. We can discuss those flaws later."
"Based on the same deterrence theory," Shiromo continued, "I have a plan that is countless times easier than collecting the tailed beasts, yet the effect won't be much different."
"Oh?"
This time, even Pain was intrigued.
"What plan?"
Over the past few days, Shiromo had only told Nagato and Konan about Amegakure's future. He hadn't mentioned anything else.
In return, they had told Shiromo the current year.
According to Konoha's calendar, it was Year 78, the most critical year in the original timeline.
The theft of the Scroll of Seals.
The Land of Waves incident.
The Land of Snow.
The Chunin Exams.
Sasuke's defection.
All of these events occurred around this time.
"For this plan to work," Shiromo said calmly, "San must be sent out, he must not know the details."
"What?!"
Hidan exploded instantly.
"Why should I be sent out?! You're getting revenge on me, aren't you?!"
He had finally become curious about Shiromo's plan, and now he was being excluded?
Whoosh!
Hidan's scythe flew toward Shiromo.
Shiromo caught the handle mid-air and casually tossed it back.
"Hm?"
Kakuzu glanced sideways.
Catching a rapidly spinning scythe and throwing it back so effortlessly meant Shiromo's reaction speed and taijutsu had reached a considerable level.
Shiromo dusted off his sleeves.
"This isn't personal revenge," he said calmly. "It's also for your own good, San. You should train your taijutsu, and your brain, a little more."
"Otherwise, you might end up getting taken down by a Chunin."
"You Bastard!"
(End of this chapter)