The sky was a heavy lead-gray, and there were no paper cranes fluttering outside the window.
Hong Zhong, however, had a gift, and it was for Uchiha Madara.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Hong Zhong moved quickly through the iron jungle of Amegakure, a blur of motion that was the only sign of his presence. After a few more leaps, he arrived at his final destination.
Even for Amegakure, the building was an eerie, black structure. The top of the building was decorated with grotesque stone carvings of human-faced asuras and strange beasts, giving it a profound sense of religious ritual.
Hong Zhong gave it a passing glance before his focus settled on the large door directly below the asura carvings.
In the small, empty space in front of the door, six figures were already waiting.
They were the same six with Rinnegan and black robes with red clouds.
The old guy really has backups!
Muttering this to himself, Hong Zhong vanished in a flash and reappeared directly in front of the six of them. His Mangekyō Sharingan was already deactivated, and his black and white eyes inscrutably swept over them.
"Don't tell me? I'm already here, and you're still blocking the door, not letting me in to talk?"
Just as he finished speaking, the Pains paused for a moment before moving in unison, stepping aside to fully reveal the open door behind them.
Six pairs of eerie, purple Rinnegan all focused on Hong Zhong, watching his every move.
It was as if they were saying: Do you dare to enter? The pressure was immense.
Why are a bunch of losers so proud?
Without a moment's hesitation, Hong Zhong strode forward and entered the door.
The light from behind stretched his shadow, synchronizing with the door and casting it at the feet of the two figures inside.
The room was dimly lit. Hong Zhong narrowed his eyes, peering at the two figures. One was Konan, whom he had fought before, and the other…
Huh?
This… this isn't right, is it?
Where was the old man, Uchiha Madara, as promised? Why was it a young man with red hair?
With that red hair, he was clearly not an Uchiha. So where did he get the Rinnegan from?
Could he be a hybrid?
At that moment, the red-haired Nagato lifted his head and opened his eyes.
Even in the shadows, Hong Zhong could see clearly: a pair of Rinnegan were glowing with a purple light in his eye sockets.
This is indeed the master behind the puppets!
"What, are you surprised to see me?" Nagato asked, noticing Hong Zhong's look of surprise.
Hong Zhong was very confused. "Which clan are you from?"
"Uzumaki!"
The Uzumaki clan with red hair? That made sense.
But it only confused Hong Zhong more.
Under normal circumstances, the Rinnegan evolves from the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan under certain conditions.
So, the question was: where did this Uzumaki clan member get the Sharingan from, and how did he evolve it?
Or…
There was one more exception for the Rinnegan: being born with it.
In the ninja world, there was a guy named 'Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki' who also had a pair of Rinnegan. But he wasn't an Uchiha and didn't have the Sharingan, so he was probably born with it.
Later, Hong Zhong had asked about Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki many times in the real world but had never heard of him in the ninja world. He was probably an unknown figure lost to the river of history.
That left only one possible answer for the person in front of him.
"Where… did your Rinnegan come from?" Hong Zhong asked for confirmation.
"I was born with it!"
Is that really true? Hong Zhong wanted to ask. But seeing Nagato's certain expression, it seemed to be the truth. At least in his own understanding, it was.
He would believe 80% for now. Believe first, then question.
But if it were true…
How can someone be born with the Rinnegan? You were born with such powerful eyes? Dude, are you a cheater?
If he didn't already know he was the protagonist, Hong Zhong would start to question his life!
Wait a minute,
If this guy from the Uzumaki clan can have the Rinnegan, then wouldn't I—no, wouldn't the main body—also have a chance to directly evolve a pair of Rinnegan? After all, there's a precedent, and that makes it plausible!
"Hong Zhong… or should I call you Uchiha Hong Zhong?" Nagato narrowed his eyes, looking at the silhouetted figure. Even with the backlight, his every expression was perfectly clear under the Rinnegan.
"It doesn't matter; it's just a code name."
Now that he knew the person wasn't Uchiha Madara, Hong Zhong was actually indifferent to the 'Uchiha' surname.
Seeing that they were too far apart, he walked toward them step by step, stopping when he was two or three meters away.
With the two of them so close, Hong Zhong noticed more details. For example, Nagato had many black rods sticking out of his back, like router antennas, probably signal transmitters.
But that wasn't the main point.
It was now confirmed that Uchiha Madara was not behind the Akatsuki, and that raised even more questions. With so many questions, Hong Zhong decided to first get a better understanding of the Akatsuki.
He refocused his gaze on Nagato's face. "Alright, we're face-to-face. Let's talk properly. How exactly does the Akatsuki plan to achieve world peace?"
"Do you believe a world of mutual understanding can exist?" Nagato didn't answer directly, instead asking a question of his own.
Huh?
This question…
The Akatsuki was made up entirely of rogue ninjas, every one of whom had blood on their hands. And now he was talking about creating a world of mutual understanding?
Hong Zhong could see that Nagato wasn't asking a rhetorical question but was looking for affirmation. The expected answer would definitely not be a "yes."
"It doesn't exist."
"Good!"
Nagato looked at Hong Zhong with satisfaction. "Since you agree with that, we can continue our discussion."
He continued, "This boring world is sick. It's always a cycle of war, followed by brief peace, then war again. The so-called Tailed Beasts, which are supposed to balance the great nations, are completely useless! They even become weapons on the battlefield and a fuse for conflicts between nations! Look, a new war will definitely break out because of the missing Two-Tails from the Cloud Village. It will happen in the near future!"
Here, he paused, perhaps thinking of the past plight of the Land of Rain. He said with emotion, "The first to suffer from this war won't be a great nation like the Land of Lightning, or any other great nation, but the small countries surrounding the Land of Lightning. Heh, the great nations start the wars, but the small countries bear all the consequences!"
He seemed to be reminiscing. "I couldn't see these things clearly before the wars, but many people have died since, and that has helped me grow! I am no longer human! I have evolved into something beyond human in my endless pain—a god!"
Hearing this, Hong Zhong raised an eyebrow. Has he really become this chuunibyou?
"After becoming a god, I can see things that humans cannot. And only as a god can I do many things that humans cannot!"
"Therefore!"
Nagato took a deep breath. "I can finally bring a permanent end to this world full of war! This is the miracle of a god!"
"Oh?" Finally, to the point! Hong Zhong asked, "So, how are you going to do it?"
"I will create a new forbidden jutsu. This jutsu will become the most powerful forbidden weapon, capable of destroying a great nation in an instant."
Destroy a great nation in an instant?
Hong Zhong started to understand. This guy wanted to build a nuclear bomb… no, a hydrogen bomb? He recalled his previous life, where the world's superpowers, fearing each other's nuclear capabilities, never started a world war, only engaging in constant friction.
Hong Zhong was very familiar with that situation! It was a great idea, but…
Could their current technology and financial resources achieve that?
It had to be some other way!
"How exactly will you do it?" Hong Zhong asked again.
Nagato didn't hide his intentions from Hong Zhong's curiosity. He answered directly, "The Tailed Beasts are very powerful, and there are nine of them in the ninja world. By gathering them, we will create a new and even more powerful weapon!"
Gathering all nine Tailed Beasts? A more powerful weapon? For some reason, this immediately made Hong Zhong think of the Ten-Tails in the shop!
The Ten-Tails didn't seem to exist in the ninja world, but it was available for purchase in the shop. Therefore, the conclusion was that the Ten-Tails had to be created in some other way, and judging by the price, it was likely formed by gathering all nine Tailed Beasts.
So, the Akatsuki's ultimate goal was to create the Ten-Tails? And then use it as a weapon?
Tsk, tsk, this was a brilliant plan!
But…
"I have another question."
Hong Zhong asked curiously, "What will you do after you have this weapon? How will you bring peace to the world?"
What's the point if only they have a nuclear weapon?
"I will give the weapon to two nations at war! When they get the weapon, the two warring nations will inevitably use it. Countless lives will be instantly annihilated. The remaining people will be filled with fear. They will understand pain, which will create a deterrent to end all wars and make them long for peace. Those who do not know pain cannot understand what peace is!"
Hiss—
If Nagato hadn't been standing right there, Hong Zhong would have gasped.
You are a truly ruthless man! You're on par with Thanos, the head of the universe's population control department!
To think he would try to achieve peace through the death of hundreds of millions of people?
Hong Zhong was now completely certain: this guy, and the entire Akatsuki organization, were probably the biggest villains in Naruto. Even if not the biggest, they were one of them!
Hong Zhong couldn't help but think: Coming to Amegakure was the right choice! He would have never known about the Akatsuki's astonishing plan if he hadn't come!
However, this plan seemed to have a flaw now: the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails had both been "recycled" by the main body.
No big deal.
He could always buy them back, couldn't he? And with that, he could completely control the Akatsuki's progress in gathering the Tailed Beasts.
"So? After hearing my plan, do you want to join the Akatsuki?" Nagato asked, his eyes intensely focused on Hong Zhong.
There were only two possibilities after hearing the plan: either agree and join the Akatsuki, or die!
"The plan is good. It's very feasible, and it's much better than my aimless searching! But…"
Hong Zhong frowned, asking a serious question, "What about the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki? I've read the newspapers and know he's a powerful being. How do you plan to collect the Nine-Tails?"
"The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki? Naruto Uzumaki?" Nagato clearly remembered the newspaper reports and the powerful blonde kid. That Naruto was the one who had defeated the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju. His strength was indeed great, but… that was it!
He was a god! A god with the Rinnegan! The gap between a human and a god was utterly despairing.
Besides, he had a powerful helper right in front of him!
"In the face of overwhelming power, everything is meaningless!" Nagato said coldly, answering Hong Zhong's question.
This answer greatly pleased Hong Zhong: Excellent!
He thought his main body was already too powerful for anyone to challenge, but it turned out there was still a hero!
This is great!
He had been wondering when he would have a chance to be Konoha's savior again. Now was his chance!
This trip to Amegakure was truly a multi-purpose trip!
"Alright then, I'll join!"