From under Tobi's whirlpool mask came a scornful snort.
"Young man, no, little kid, what you've experienced is still far too little. You are nowhere near able to understand what a man who has the money to open a huge shipyard is truly thinking."
"The reason they're giving you a better life right now is simply because they want you all to gather over there."
"Often, the more free something is, the more expensive it becomes. Once you can no longer live without them, that's when they'll bare their fangs, sucking dry all of your value."
"Remember this well, fate's gifts have already had their price secretly marked."
Before Makoto could speak, Yahiko at the side couldn't hold back and said, "Tobi, you think too darkly of people's hearts. In this world, there are still many who are willing to help others."
"Otherwise, I wouldn't have founded the Akatsuki organization."
Tobi thought of the money he currently had stored in his Kamui space, and the sources of most of that money. He shook his head and said, "Yahiko, you need to understand, throughout the entire ninja world, there's only one Akatsuki. And the reason Akatsuki can still hold onto its original intentions… is because you're still young."
"Akatsuki hasn't yet become a war machine, terrorists, not because Akatsuki's ideology has spread so widely. Perhaps it's only because… you're still alive."
Yahiko was stunned, but then he firmly said, "No. This world definitely doesn't have only one me. There must be millions of me. I never doubted the words that Teacher Jiraiya once said: people can understand one another."
Tobi's tone grew more disdainful, "Maybe there are millions of you in this world. But not all of you are fortunate enough to meet a ninja of Jiraiya's level, and… teammates like Nagato."
"In a situation where you have nothing, did you so easily forget your very first thoughts?"
Yahiko froze again. Then he remembered, his original dream wasn't to create a dawn at daybreak, but rather, from his difficult life he had realized one truth.
If a person doesn't climb upward, they'll be oppressed to death. So he would rather be the one doing the oppressing than ever be oppressed again.
He… would stand above everyone else, becoming the god of this world.
This was something he had once sworn passionately in front of Nagato and Konan.
For a moment, Yahiko felt ashamed. But even amidst the shame, his will still did not waver.
"Maybe I'm not that kind. But there are many who are kinder than me, for example, Nagato… and even you."
"You all, in the end, will shine with light and change the entire ninja world."
At this point Tobi had no way out. But then again, it made sense. If Yahiko didn't believe in the world so much, believing so deeply that his eyes were always shining with light, how could others possibly believe in him, and gather by his side?
Like with this boy and girl they met. If Yahiko hadn't stepped forward, if he had instea he said the exact same words as Yahiko, the boy probably wouldn't have trusted him so easily.
If Yahiko's conviction wasn't unshakable, then he wouldn't be Yahiko anymore.
In his past life, wasn't it precisely because he knew that as long as Yahiko didn't die, Nagato wouldn't fall, that he… watched the tragedy happen with his eyes wide open, even adding fuel to the fire.
Thinking of this, Tobi sighed.
"What you say isn't wrong. The birth of Akatsuki is a kind of inevitability. When anyone is still young, there are always some naïve thoughts in their heart."
"But… that being said, Akatsuki not being destroyed could be called a miracle. Because more often than not, the clearer and purer a fool is, once they're stained by filth, they'll become crazier than anyone."
Tobi pointed at Makoto, "He's actually the same. Of course, maybe he doesn't have your power, so he can't resist the world. He can only be slowly assimilated by it, until in the end he lives as the very thing he hates most."
At the side, Makoto listened to Nagato and Tobi's conversation. Though there were many parts he didn't understand, it didn't stop him from speaking his heart directly, "No. Maybe I don't have the great strength of you two, sirs, but I firmly believe, I will never live as something I hate!"
"I will resist to the very end! I will never be like my father, my relatives, swallowing humiliation, bearing the pressure of handing over half our income, bowing our heads and submitting!"
Yahiko immediately resonated with him. He gave Makoto a big smile, "Not bad! Let's fight together for our own dreams!"
Yahiko stepped forward, even raising his hand to bump fists with Makoto. The two of them, heart to heart, burst out with a powerful shared conviction.
Two against one, this time Tobi was utterly defeated.
At this moment, Tobi suddenly grasped a profound truth. Sure enough, Akatsuki might not be able to say it can lose anyone, since it still needs powerful force for protection.
But Akatsuki truly cannot go without Yahiko.
Yahiko was someone who had suffered hardship, yet still believed in the existence of light. Yahiko both carried Naruto's shadow, and fully understood the pain Nagato spoke of. That was true invincibility.
Perhaps Jiraiya, Teacher Minato, Uzumaki Naruto, and even the Sage of Six Paths had it wrong. The child of prophecy the ninja world needs, it's Yahiko.
So… Tobi spread his hands and said, "I… lost?"
However, just then, Hanami, standing beside Makoto, suddenly asked Yahiko a question.
"Ninja sir, I just heard a lot of your conversation. Even though I couldn't understand it all… you, and your companions, seem to want to make the world a better place?"
Yahiko nodded firmly, "Of course. If we had the means to open a shipyard on the other side of the sea, we would also provide plenty of welfare and guarantees for everyone."
Hanami suddenly looked at Makoto and said, "Makoto, since this ninja sir has such a lofty ideal, and you've already determined that he is a good man, then why cling to something far away, placing your hope on something unknown?"
Makoto was stunned. He couldn't help but ask, "Hanami, what do you mean?"
Hanami said, "If there is hope, why abandon your own family? Rather than running away, it's better to face it directly."
After saying this, Hanami suddenly turned to Yahiko, bowing deeply.
"Sir, if it's possible, could you save this country? Let everyone living on this land… have eyes that, like yours, shine with light?"
"I know this request may be even more unreasonable. But I believe, it is also what you hope to see."
At the side, Tobi couldn't help but grow excited.
Indeed, this request was even more unreasonable than asking to send the boy and girl across the sea.
But, just as the girl said, it truly was what Yahiko hoped for.
What's more, it was also something he had long wanted to do, and was already working on.
More importantly, he now had teammates.
He could… not give up.
His Talk-no-Jutsu record was clear, once he got serious, he had never lost. How could he easily admit defeat now?
He immediately came over to the girl's side, praising her, "Ah, yes, yes, that's absolutely right!"
"Instead of sending you across the sea to chase some uncertain future, why not stay here first, and see how we change this country, so that everyone can live good lives?"
After saying this, Tobi turned to the suddenly stunned Makoto, his voice filled with coercion.
"Young man, unless driven to a dead end, who would want to abandon their own homeland, leave all their loved ones, and wander in exile?"
"You don't want to disappoint the woman you love, do you?"
Now, it was two against two. Victory or defeat, still uncertain.
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