Chapter 88 — Nagato: I Finally Understand the Truth of This World!
And so, the Akatsuki began their operation.
As usual, Konan stayed behind to hold down the fort, while the rest moved out—
excluding Orochimaru, of course.
Not because Yujiro was heartless and abandoned the guy,
but because that lunatic had barricaded himself inside his lab, declaring:
"My experiment has reached its most critical juncture.
Unless the world ends right now,
I absolutely will not leave this room!"
His eyes burned with cult-leader madness.
Anyone who met his gaze felt their soul freeze.
Yujiro was pretty sure that the next time they saw him, Orochimaru would have gone off the deep end—
possibly evolving from Orochimaru into Lady Orochi.
Come to think of it, Orochimaru's future "human vessel" form was quite pretty…
(Not that Yujiro would ever lay a finger on it.)
But Jiraiya? He was always single.
Maybe pairing him with future Orochimaru could serve as a deluxe substitution for that NaruSasu dynamic.
The thought alone made Yujiro's lips curl in amusement.
---
Meanwhile, Nagato couldn't smile at all.
"I still don't understand," he muttered.
They were walking from Amegakure toward the capital of the Land of Rain.
Thanks to Yujiro's recent "rain of money," the road was no longer mud but proper asphalt—
common in the Land of Fire,
but practically a luxury artifact for a tiny, impoverished place like the Land of Rain.
On Earth, even children know the phrase:
"If you want to get rich, build roads first."
But expecting a group of ninja—most of whom had never finished basic schooling—to intuitively grasp the importance of infrastructure?
That was asking too much.
"Why target the Daimyō?" Nagato asked.
"They have no real power.
Once we control all the shinobi villages, forcing the Daimyō to cooperate should be trivial."
Yujiro gave him a sideways glance.
"Do you really think things will continue smoothly forever?
That the roads will keep expanding,
the wealth will keep flowing,
and supplies will always arrive,
making this land prosperous?
Is that your assumption?"
"…Isn't that how it works?"
"If the Daimyō and nobles were satisfied with the current state—sure.
But tell me…
will they be satisfied?"
"Why wouldn't they be?
Haven't they already received more than enough?"
Nagato looked genuinely baffled.
"We gave the Daimyō and the nobles a fair share—
in fact, in some cases, we took the loss!"
Yujiro chuckled.
"Yes. And yet they feel they are the ones losing out.
Because in their minds,
the entire world belongs to them.
The rivers? Their property.
If peasants catch fish, they're stealing.
The forests? Their property.
Gathering wood is stealing.
The common people are 'their' labor.
All farms are 'their' land.
So by that logic,
your hardworking merchants?
Also thieves.
You think splitting profits 50–50 is fair.
But they think you're being presumptuous and disrespectful.
Right now, that Daimyō is probably screaming at his advisors:
'My money!
Why are they taking two million while I only get one?!
And they expect me to thank them?!'"
Nagato had begun shocked,
but soon, the truth sank in.
Yujiro was right.
This world was full of parasites—
big nations, small nations,
Daimyō, nobles—
all sorts of "saints" and "wolves" masquerading as leaders.
Though the shinobi world's technology had advanced to something resembling the second or even third industrial revolution,
its politics remained medieval—
barbaric, stagnant, and absurd.
After a moment of silence…
Nagato smiled confidently.
"No.
They wouldn't dare."
The Daimyō and nobles used shinobi,
looked down on them,
but also feared them.
Unless pushed to desperation,
they would never dare openly defy a shinobi village.
Shinobi struggled to extract more profit from the aristocracy,
but the aristocracy—greedy as they were—
didn't dare forcibly take what belonged to shinobi.
Yujiro nodded.
"Maybe.
But what about everyone else?"
Nagato blinked.
"…Everyone else?"
Yujiro folded his arms.
"Sure, the Daimyō and nobles don't dare touch Amegakure.
But what about the common people?"
Because of the new trade routes, the Land of Rain was finally breathing again—
even the livelier villagers could earn a few coins selling iced tea by the roadside.
The trickle-down effect had genuinely improved the nation's entire economy.
Yujiro continued:
"Tell me, Nagato—
what kind of 'peaceful world' are you imagining?
A world where Daimyō and nobles bleed the commoners dry,
where civilians have no power to resist,
and live every day in misery?
Is that the peace you want?
Is the justice of Akatsuki only justice for shinobi,
while everyone else is ignored?
Are we supposed to let Daimyō and nobles trample the world at will?"
Nagato lowered his head.
"…I think… I understand what you mean."
After that, he walked quietly, asking no further questions.
Soon, they reached the capital of the Land of Rain.
Using the spyglass technique Danzō once infamously taught, they peeked into the Daimyō's council chamber.
And—exactly as Yujiro predicted—the Daimyō was furiously ranting at his cabinet of nobles.
The exact wording wasn't identical to what Yujiro joked earlier,
but the spirit was perfectly aligned:
"MY MONEY!"
"That silver—pure, shining silver—wasted on filthy plebeians! Outrageous!"
"Peasants are like sesame seeds—the harder you press, the more they yield!"
"They can eat dirt! Why feed them grain?!"
"Starting today—raise the taxes!
A tax for eating!
A tax for walking!
A tax for talking!
And yes—even a tax for paying taxes!"
Nagato's pupils trembled violently.
His fists tightened.
He looked like he might punch through the wall.
What made him even angrier was what came next—
The nobles all dropped to their knees simultaneously:
"Lord Daimyō is wise!"
Not a single voice of dissent.
Not even a halfhearted question.
Their eyes glittered with greed—
obviously planning to add their own "little extra fees"
on top of the Daimyō's tax hike.
Of course, they wouldn't collect it personally—
nobles had their pride.
Their underlings would compete for the privilege of extorting the people,
collecting an "honest little bonus" for themselves too.
A little extra here,
a little extra there,
and then another "little extra"—
soon enough, the common folk of the Land of Rain would enjoy real "prosperity":
Selling their children, their rice, their homes, their land,
and eventually even themselves.
Forget benefiting from the new trade routes—
they wouldn't even be able to survive.
And what if the peasants rebelled?
Laughable.
There were shinobi.
One Fire Release: Great Fireball,
and the entire revolt would vanish in smoke.
Nagato stared at the scene…
And then—
A slow, bitter smile spread across his face.
"So that's it.
I finally understand the truth of this world."
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