Chapter 36: Say, Nagato, Do You Want to Stand Up?
"Well..." Yasushi scratched his cheek, grinning cheerfully. "Leader, personnel is actually easy—I can recommend someone."
"There's someone in the black market called Kakuzu who reportedly once assassinated the First Hokage. His abilities are decent."
"Most importantly, he loves making money but never spends it—he definitely has quite a savings at home."
"If we recruit him, we can completely confiscate his savings and solve the organization's current funding gap!"
Seeing Yasushi wasn't continuing to cause trouble this time but instead thinking practically for the organization, Pain immediately breathed a sigh of relief, nodding with satisfaction.
"Two birds with one stone?"
"Very good. We can recruit this Kakuzu later."
"Since you proposed this, you'll be responsible for recruitment."
"Any other candidate recommendations?"
"Other people..." Yasushi tilted his head thinking. "Deidara should only be about ten now. Hidan's age should be similar—they both joined Akatsuki several years later. Or we could check on Kisame Hoshigaki, though he hasn't killed Fuguki Suikazan yet, so it's probably a bit early."
"Hey!" Thinking of Hidden Mist Village, Uchiha Yasushi's eyes suddenly brightened. He turned toward Obito with a grin. "Leader, Obito can make Hidden Mist Village declare war on Konoha Village. Since we can't leak comrade intelligence, I won't state the reason. But this is hugely beneficial to the organization—far more important than recruiting comrades."
"Hmm?" Pain was stunned upon hearing this, immediately turning to glance at Obito.
Seeing even such secretive intelligence known, Obito grew increasingly wary of Yasushi's "prophecy" ability internally.
But whether Hidden Mist Village or Konoha Village, both were enemies in his heart. Having the two villages fight each other to death was something he was willing to see, so he nodded:
"After war begins, I'll make Hidden Mist Village declare war on Konoha Village."
Upon hearing this, Pain nodded and waved his hand:
"Very good, Yasushi. Your prophetic ability is indeed powerful enough. If you've seen any other intelligence beneficial to the organization, speak freely."
"Is that so!" Hearing Pain say this, Yasushi immediately smiled.
His gaze circled around Pain's body before revealing that punchable expression again, grinning cheerfully:
"Say, Nagato, do you want to stand up?"
"What?" Everyone aware of Nagato's existence felt their hearts skip a beat, their expressions simultaneously changing.
Pain was a human puppet, showing no expression; Obito's face was masked, revealing nothing; Zetsu was originally a plant person; but Konan's expression was very obvious—one glance revealed a problem.
Everyone present was shrewd. Though they didn't know who this Nagato mentioned by Yasushi was, just watching Konan's expression, they knew this "Nagato" must be another important figure.
Immediately everyone fell silent, only quietly watching Yasushi, faces full of spectator expressions.
"Say, Nagato, you're injured so severely now that you can't even stand. Maybe one day you'll die—that's not what I want to see."
"But coincidentally, my left eye's ocular technique ability happens to be using Yang Release to replenish life force—most suitable for you!"
"Say, want me to help treat you so you can stand up again from that wheelchair?"
Yasushi grinned cheerfully, continuously instigating.
"Think about it—if you could appear in peak condition, what need for recruiting comrades?"
"With just yourself alone, you could completely dominate the entire Konoha Village!"
"Then sweeping away the Five Great Nations at once and forcibly seizing tailed beasts might not be impossible, right?"
His words were spoken lightly, but everyone who heard couldn't treat this intelligence as ordinary.
Orochimaru and others felt tremendous shock internally, glancing at each other, all wanting to know what kind of person this so-called Nagato was, how powerful, and why Yasushi praised him so highly.
Konan nervously stood up, looking toward Pain beside her, only waiting for Pain to make the final decision.
Pain remained silent for a while before finally speaking:
"Prophetic ability is indeed terrifying! Then... did you see peace arriving?"
"Hahaha..." Yasushi laughed loudly. "No, I didn't see peace arriving. I saw the shinobi world's destruction! Caused by my own hands!"
"Are you satisfied with this answer?"
"Already consumed by hatred to the point of losing reason?" Pain regretfully shook his head. "Forget it. Regardless of the future outcome, I won't change my forward direction."
"However, your choice is correct. Once the divine descends to the mortal world, mortals can only accept arrangements."
"Come with me. I'll take you to meet Nagato."
"Everyone else—dismissed!"
Under everyone's strange gazes, Yasushi bounced along behind Pain, heading toward the tower's top.
Reaching the highest floor, only one massive room existed here. Opening the door revealed the emaciated Nagato sitting upright in a wheelchair, back impaled with messy tubes—remnants left in his body by the Gedo Statue when summoning it years ago.
Back then he was too young, abilities insufficient, Rinnegan not his original equipment.
Under so many negative buffs, his legs were first blasted by explosive tags, then forcibly activating the Gedo Statue, getting violently drained, nearly becoming a mummy.
Even with the Uzumaki clan's powerful recovery ability, over the years he still couldn't fully heal, only able to move around in a wheelchair.
But now it was fine— Yasushi had arrived. The savior was here!
Pain and Konan stood on Nagato's left and right sides, staring intently at Uchiha Yasushi, afraid he might do something dangerous.
But Uchiha Yasushi didn't care at all. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, he grinned cheerfully:
"Say, Leader, my ocular technique can use Yang Release to replenish your life force. I can definitely restore you completely, but you can't let me work for free, right?"
Seeing Uchiha Yasushi immediately asking for benefits upon opening his mouth, Nagato and Konan actually felt much more reassured. After all, no profit, no action—they'd long been scammed into PTSD and didn't dare randomly take any bait.
"Speak. What do you want?"
"Very simple—I want revenge! I want to destroy Konoha!" Yasushi didn't hide his hatred for Konoha at all. "This doesn't conflict with your goals at all. Surely you won't refuse?"
"Acceptable. I can promise you this. Akatsuki must collect all tailed beasts and resurrect the Ten-Tails. Konoha is a target that must be defeated."
"No, not defeated—destroyed!" Yasushi interrupted Nagato's words. "You're not planning to wait for Konoha to attack, are you?"
"Under Akatsuki's governance these years, the Land of Rain has recovered well. But one war will immediately return it to original form."
"Konoha can fail countless times, but after the Land of Rain fails once, there's no future!"
"You must proactively attack Konoha Village, Nagato!"
"If you want them to feel pain, you must wage war on their soil!"
"Among these Great Ninja Wars, Konoha Village has never had enemies kill their way into the village. That's why those ignorant ordinary villagers disregard our Uchiha clan's contributions to the village, thinking their happiness is taken for granted!"
"Nagato, I strongly agree with your philosophy—those who haven't experienced pain won't appreciate peace's value!"
"Come, let's go to Konoha Village and let those ignorant fools properly experience war's suffering!"
"After this village destruction event, they'll definitely all begin loving peace!"
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