Because he had met Nagi once, Dalsy had been working even more diligently lately, afraid that he might expose himself.
Just as Dalsy was diligently finishing his day's work and preparing to go home, someone informed him that the leader wanted to see him.
Dalsy's sensitive nerves were instantly triggered.
Leader Yahiko wanted to see him. Why at this particular time? Could it be that he had already been exposed?
Should he just run away now? Once he went to Yahiko's side, he definitely would not be able to escape.
Dalsy thought of many things in an instant.
He had even thought of an excuse to shift the blame after returning. It was all Nagi's fault. That guy had suddenly come to him, and Yahiko had always been wary of him. (In reality, Yahiko had been considering whether to recruit Dalsy into the Akatsuki.)
In the end, Dalsy quietly loosened the fist he had been clenching behind his back, smiled, nodded, and followed the Light Ninja to Yahiko's office.
After infiltrating the village for more than a year, Dalsy was unwilling to run away just because of a mere suspicion. If he went back like that, he would never hear the end of it from Nagi.
'If I really have been exposed, there must already be ninjas stationed nearby. Whether I go or not makes no difference.' Dalsy consoled himself inwardly.
After entering the office, Dalsy discovered that besides Yahiko, the other two high-ranking officials of the Light Ninja Village were also there. Dalsy immediately became even more nervous.
However, Dalsy was very good at comforting himself.
'It's fine. If they really want to deal with me, Leader Yahiko alone would be more than enough. The other two higher-ups being here might actually mean I'm safe. Maybe there's some kind of meeting.'
When he saw Dalsy enter, Nagato nodded.
"Dalsy, I've been observing you for a long time," Nagato suddenly said.
Hearing Nagato's words, Dalsy's heart instantly began pounding. Sweat appeared on his forehead.
'I've been exposed after all?' Dalsy was extremely nervous.
Dalsy took a deep breath, wiped the sweat from his forehead with a slightly trembling hand, forced a faint smile onto his face, and tensed his body, ready to strike at any moment.
As the youngest organizational cadre, Dalsy had his own pride. If he had been discovered, then even if he died, he would at least cause Nagato and the others some trouble.
"You are a diligent and hardworking person, and you're highly capable of taking action. You've done a lot for the Light Ninja Village," Nagato continued.
Dalsy's tense body relaxed slightly. It seemed that he had misunderstood. If he had been exposed, Nagato probably would not be praising him.
"But your origins are unknown. There is also no information circulating in the Land of Rivers about a young expert named Dalsy."
Dalsy's heart, which had just settled down, instantly shot back up and hung in suspense.
Dalsy forced a smile and said, "I rarely compete with others, so I don't have much of a reputation."
"However, your strength is indeed quite impressive. Even the elites of the Five Great Ninja Villages might not necessarily be your match." Nagato nodded and continued.
Dalsy's heart relaxed again. It seemed there was no problem.
"You seem a little nervous." Hiruzen spoke to Dalsy with a friendly expression.
Dalsy waved his hand, indicating that he was fine.
"Join the Akatsuki. Together with the Akatsuki, we will overturn the shinobi world and bring down all those lofty great nations." Nagato extended an invitation.
Dalsy was dumbfounded. He had merely interacted with Hiruzen for a moment, so why did Nagato's words suddenly become so incomprehensible? Out of nowhere, he had brought up the Akatsuki and proposed overturning the entire shinobi world together.
Could it be that he had been waving his hand for more than ten minutes and had somehow missed a large part of the conversation?
Hiruzen, who was watching from the side, shook his head. He felt that Nagato was terrible at recruiting people. If not for his overwhelming strength, he definitely would not be able to recruit anyone.
Hiruzen also had his own faction, so he understood a little about the art of managing people.
When he recruited people, he specifically looked for ninjas with little talent who were usually looked down upon by others. As long as he drew them a sufficiently attractive picture of the future and provided them with something to strengthen their abilities, they would become completely devoted to him and willingly risk their lives for him.
Of course, Dalsy and his subordinates were clearly not the same type of people. A different method was needed.
"What kind of organization is the Akatsuki? Aren't we the Light Ninja Village?" Dalsy asked tentatively, putting on a confused expression.
"The Light Ninja Village is the Akatsuki, but the Akatsuki is not the Light Ninja Village," Nagato said calmly.
"The Akatsuki is an organization dedicated to peace. The existence of the Five Great Ninja Villages seriously obstructs peace. They possess the most resources and the strongest power, yet they are still not satisfied. They practically wish for a single ninja village to possess all the resources in the world..." Nagato seized the opportunity to forcefully push his own agenda.
"But doesn't the shinobi world seem pretty peaceful right now?" Dalsy subconsciously replied.
Aside from their own organization causing trouble, the shinobi world seemed quite calm.
Sasori's eyes lit up as he began examining Dalsy's limbs, wondering how he would turn Dalsy's corpse into a human puppet if he got his hands on it.
Dalsy felt somewhat creeped out under Sasori's gaze. He had a bad feeling that he had said something wrong.
However, contrary to what Sasori had imagined, Nagato did not make a move. Instead, he explained with a stern expression, "It's merely a temporary false peace. Hasn't it always been like this? Whenever they want war, they wage war. When they get tired of fighting, they make peace. It repeats endlessly."
This time, Dalsy did not argue. He was not here to debate. He was here as a spy. Now that he had discovered the hidden secret of the Light Ninja Village, he could not ruin everything just because he ran his mouth.
"Lord Yahiko, you're right. We should overthrow the great ninja villages!" Dalsy expressed his position.
Nagato nodded. Hiruzen then handed Dalsy the uniform and ring required for Akatsuki members. The Akatsuki once again had ten members.
During this process, Dalsy also learned from Hiruzen's explanation what kind of organization the Akatsuki was.
It was a great organization determined to bring down the great ninja villages and achieve world peace. Of course, this was not what Dalsy thought at all.
After listening to Hiruzen's explanation, Dalsy could only feel that the Akatsuki was an organization full of lunatics, while Nagato, as the leader of the Akatsuki, was even more insane.
How much alcohol had he drunk, or what kind of serious illness had he suffered, to come up with an organization like this? His mouth was full of peace and righteousness, while everything he actually did was aimed at throwing the world into chaos.
After becoming an Akatsuki member, Dalsy also learned that the recently established ninja villages, as well as some small ninja villages that had begun rebuilding their ninja forces, were all the work of the Akatsuki. Their goal was to accumulate strength and directly confront the Five Great Nations.
If the Akatsuki really led so many small ninja villages into a confrontation with the Five Great Nations, Dalsy dared to guarantee that it would be a war on a scale far beyond any previous shinobi world war.
Almost the entire shinobi world would be mobilized. The intensity of the war could easily be imagined.
"By the way, do you know about the Chakra Technology Company?" Nagato suddenly asked.
Dalsy nodded. The Chakra Technology Company was now famous throughout the shinobi world, and he had heard quite a bit of information about it.
"The Akatsuki will cooperate with the Chakra Technology Company. I plan to send you and Sasori there. Do your best to gather information from that side," Nagato said.
Sasori was mainly going there to study the Chakra Technology Company's technology and upgrade his human puppets, while Nagato wanted Dalsy to become a nail planted by the Akatsuki inside the Chakra Technology Company.
"I'll do my best to gather intelligence." Dalsy nodded. Being a spy was something he was familiar with.
Afterward, Dalsy returned home and quickly reported the latest information he had obtained to Isshiki.
"If the Akatsuki wants to develop a war and destroy the Five Great Ninja Villages, then let the Akatsuki help us test their strength." The corners of Isshiki's mouth lifted. He wished for nothing more than for the shinobi world to descend into chaos, as that would make it easier for his Kara organization to operate.
Therefore, Isshiki not only would not oppose the Akatsuki, he would even provide it with a certain degree of support, such as the cooperation Nagato had requested.
Isshiki's plan was already showing its initial results. More and more people were working for him. Isshiki believed that he would soon find a suitable "vessel" capable of bearing his Kāma, allowing him to recover his strength and finally complete the work he had failed to accomplish a thousand years ago.
"By the way, Lord Jigen, does the organization have any information on the Chakra Technology Company? The Akatsuki has reached a cooperation agreement with that Chakra Technology Company. They're sending me and another Akatsuki member to the Chakra Technology Company and want me to investigate their intelligence," Dalsy asked.
However, after Dalsy said this, the faint smile that had been on Jigen's face disappeared. He did not answer the question.
Dalsy went over what he had just said and felt that he had not said anything wrong. Why did Jigen suddenly seem unhappy?
After a while, Isshiki finally spoke slowly.
"The Chakra Technology Company was established by our organization. Its core members are all members of our Kara organization."
Hearing Isshiki's words, Dalsy was instantly dumbfounded. The Chakra Technology Company had actually been established by their organization. If he went to the Chakra Technology Company as a spy, wouldn't that mean he was infiltrating his own organization?
What was this supposed to be? A spy within a spy?
And their organization actually had a name? Kara organization? This was the first time he had heard of it.
Because Dalsy had been undercover for so long, he had no idea that Isshiki had already changed his strategy. In his mind, the organization was still a deeply hidden ninja organization with a long history in the Land of Rivers. He did not know that the organization had already moved to the Land of Frost and had even established the famous Chakra Technology Company.
"Then, Jigen, what should I do?" Dalsy did not know what to do for a moment. Was he really supposed to spy on his own organization? What would be the point?
"Don't make any unusual moves for now. Follow the Akatsuki's arrangements," Isshiki said calmly.
He had not expected Nagato to pull something like this, and even Isshiki could not tell whether Nagato had discovered that Dalsy was a spy.
If Nagato knew, Dalsy had indeed brought back information about the Akatsuki.
But if he did not know, this was far too coincidental. It seemed very much like Nagato knew the truth but had deliberately chosen not to expose Dalsy, instead sending him back.
The only reason Isshiki was so troubled was that he did not understand Nagato's personality.
Nagato hated traitors. If someone betrayed him, he would kill them directly, regardless of where they came from.
Dalsy also helplessly nodded. He had never expected to return to the organization in such a bizarre manner. It was simply absurd.
...
Today was a relatively significant day for Konoha, because Konoha had opened a new school. It was not a ninja school, but an ordinary school for everyone.
This school did not teach how to kill enemies as quickly as possible, nor did it teach ninjutsu, taijutsu, or anything of the sort. It taught ordinary subjects such as mathematics and history.
In order to establish a good school, Nagasawa made full use of Konoha's advantages and recruited people aggressively. Since Konoha lacked teachers for ordinary academic subjects, he previously spent money recruiting teachers from outside. He even recruited students. Anyone willing to immigrate to Konoha was directly provided with housing and relocation expenses.
Before Nagasawa carried out his various reforms, Konoha's permanent population was 300,000. Compared to Konoha's enormous territory, this was pitifully small.
Now, Konoha's population had surged to more than 400,000.
It was not because a huge number of people had suddenly been born, but because many people had chosen to settle in Konoha.
This was still the result of Nagasawa deliberately controlling the pace. Otherwise, the number could have been even higher. If too many people arrived at once, Nagasawa was worried that it would place too much pressure on Konoha, so he brought them in gradually.
Naturally, such a meaningful occasion could not be without Minato, the Hokage.
In fact, ever since the Second Hokage established the Ninja Academy, the position of school principal had carried special significance.
The first principal was Tobirama himself, while the second principal was the Third Hokage, Hiruzen.
The foundation of a ninja village was its ninjas, and the principal of the Ninja Academy, which continuously trained ninjas, was naturally an important position as well.
However, after Nagasawa established the Department of Education, the importance of the principal's position was somewhat diminished.
Minato had already been Hokage for more than four years, yet he had still not forgotten his original intentions. When he said he would give a few words, he really did give only a few words.
Watching from the side, Koharu sighed.
"If Teacher Tobirama saw what the village has become, I wonder how angry he would be. A perfectly good ninja village has been changed into this. Letting so many ordinary people in, who knows how many spies from other villages are among them? And now they've even established a school for ordinary people. What's the point?"
Beside her, Homura nodded in agreement.
"Those ninja school reforms and medical-specialist students are one thing. You could at least say they're intended to strengthen the ninja village. But going to such lengths to establish an ordinary school, I don't know what they're trying to accomplish. They even built it larger than the Ninja Academy."
"You two are simply overthinking things." Seeing his two stubborn old friends, the Third Hokage shook his head and said with a smile, "Isn't Konoha doing very well now? It's also much livelier. As far as I remember, even when the village was first established, it wasn't this lively."
"Is the Konoha of today still Konoha?" Koharu did not change her mind because of the Third Hokage's words.
The Third Hokage took a puff of his cigarette and calmly asked, "Then, in your eyes, what counts as the true Konoha?
"No ordinary people, only ninjas? If so, I'm afraid there has never truly been a Konoha. Even among ninja clans, not every clan member can become a ninja."
Koharu did not know how to refute the Third Hokage, so she could only say, "I'm not good with words, so I can't argue with you, Hiruzen. I just feel that Konoha shouldn't be like this."
"Then you can defeat Nagasawa and Minato at the meetings with your 'should,'" the Third Hokage said with a smile.
"At least, I think Konoha is very good right now."