During Ryun's final ten days in the ninja world, he planned to use half the time to handle all the matters that needed to be dealt with, including task arrangements for each of his direct subordinates, and so on.
"Boss, let me go with you too! I've gotten much stronger over the years, I can help you!"
At the final high-level meeting before Ryun's departure, Sasori of the Red Sand, Kisame Hoshigaki, and others clamored to join the expeditionary force. They had also cultivated Sage Arts quite well over the years, and their strength was not to be underestimated.
"You should stay behind, to watch over the Village of Heaven for me, and protect my family as well."
Ryun did not agree to their request. Instead, he planned to entrust his entire family to them. This was undoubtedly a great show of trust.
However, these two seemed somewhat unwilling to accept this. Seeing they couldn't persuade Ryun, they planned to go find Orochimaru and others, hoping Orochimaru could convince the boss to let them join. After all, staying in this peaceful world was indeed a bit boring.
"How has the Land of Heaven governed the world these years? Are the various nations at peace?" Ryun rarely asked about the state of the nation.
"It's acceptable. The Land of Heaven handles affairs fairly enough. Although there are conflicts and disagreements between nations, the Land of Heaven can mostly resolve them. Those they truly cannot handle are handed over to our Village of Heaven to intervene.
The world's population grows steadily every year, technology advances, natural disasters occasionally occur in various places, but large-scale man-made disasters are relatively rare."
Nagato gave a detailed account of the situation over these years, and Ryun actually listened attentively for once.
"Is power being abused?"
Ryun asked a very sensitive question. Although his words did not specify whether he meant the Land of Heaven or the Village of Heaven, Nagato knew these two places were the focus of Ryun's inquiry.
The world had only been peaceful for a few years, but Jiraiya, the 'imperial envoy' appointed by Ryun, had witnessed many injustices during his travels across the world. Moreover, quite a few of these major issues involved the Village of Heaven and the Land of Heaven.
Ryun carefully listened to Jiraiya's observations every year, and through Jiraiya's eyes, he could see some problems he normally wouldn't see.
As long as no major chaos erupted in the world, Ryun generally wouldn't personally involve himself in these trivial matters. But when he asked these questions, it proved that the Village of Heaven and the Land of Heaven had long turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to certain problems. His world was showing signs of instability.
"Yes, there is some."
Faced with Ryun's question, 'Is power being abused?', Nagato directly nodded in admission.
The conversation between the two instantly made the atmosphere in the meeting room oppressive.
"The Land of Heaven or the Village of Heaven?" Ryun calmly inquired, seemingly not angry, his tone still gentle.
"Both." Nagato answered with his head lowered.
"You are the Heaven Shadow of the Village of Heaven. Can even you not solve these problems?" Ryun asked, looking at him.
"It's my failure in supervision. I have failed the trust of the Shadow Lord and the First Generation." Nagato stood up and sincerely admitted his fault.
"No need for that. I'm not here to hold you accountable. Just explain the reasons clearly." Ryun waved his hand casually.
"Yes."
"The problems with the Land of Heaven mainly involve the Daimyo Emperor's lineage. He himself hasn't committed many major abuses of power. Rather, his family and offspring often commit misdeeds in the name of being descendants of the Heavenly Emperor."
"What nonsense Heavenly Emperor! Who allowed them to use that title?"
Ryun's previously gentle demeanor instantly changed. Hearing the title 'Heavenly Emperor' triggered an instinctive disgust in him. Nagato was startled by his sudden emotional shift.
Back when the Daimyo of the Land of Heaven used the honorific 'Daimyo Emperor', Orochimaru did not object. He felt the Daimyo was the leader of nations, and using such a title was acceptable.
Ryun knew about this but didn't say much, because he remembered the Daimyo of the Land of Rice's hard work serving him loyally in the past.
If they had just remained as the Daimyo Emperor, Ryun wouldn't have changed his expression now. He might even have been lenient with those people. After all, occasional abuse of power wasn't a big deal in his view. Which family doesn't have a few bad apples? Dealing with them would suffice.
But upon hearing the term 'Heavenly Emperor', Ryun rarely exploded.
Was that damn Daimyo Emperor thinking he was some Japanese emperor? Ryun couldn't bring himself to be lenient with him anymore.
A servant helping him manage the world dared to call himself Heavenly Emperor? How outrageous!
"Because they are people of the Land of Heaven's Daimyo Emperor, they refer to themselves externally as the Heavenly Emperor lineage. Since you said the Daimyo Emperor should not be moved lightly unless he commits major faults, so." Nagato said timidly, looking at the angry Ryun.
Ryun actually didn't want to enforce the principle that 'the law applies equally to the emperor and commoners'. On the contrary, he gave considerable privileges to the Land of Heaven and the Village of Heaven. But he didn't expect human hearts to be so insatiable. The speed at which some people's hearts inflated was too fast.
"I did say the Daimyo Emperor should not be moved lightly without major fault, but this does not include his offspring and family. A family has so many people. How many more will be born after ten generations? If every one of them could possess privileges, wouldn't the world fall into chaos?"
Ryun clearly defined the boundaries of power.
"Issue an order in my name, forbidding the Daimyo of the Land of Heaven from using the title 'Emperor'. As for his family, those guilty of heinous crimes should be executed if deserving. Wrongdoers should be punished and warned. Also, tell the Daimyo to restrain his family and offspring properly, and not to betray my trust in him."
Ryun's words were heavy enough. He believed that pragmatic Daimyo would rein in his ambitions and discipline the members of his clan.
"Yes. With your words, I know what to do." Nagato nodded seriously.
"What about the Village of Heaven?" Ryun moved to the next question without any hesitation.
Nagato then began describing the problems within the Village of Heaven. It was nothing more than those ninjas, holding a monopoly on power, beginning to look down upon people outside the Village of Heaven.
Evil deeds like oppressing the weak, committing crimes, murder, and arson were common. Some ninjas had connections to Orochimaru, or even to Ryun himself. Nagato found it difficult to deal with them harshly, which led to the frequent occurrence of恶性 events.
Ryun hadn't previously defined power and certain red lines too clearly. Additionally, the prestige of the Second Heaven Shadow was not as high as Orochimaru's. Some people obeyed him on the surface, but in their hearts, they only respected the two First Generation Shadows. This led to the emergence of many problems.
"Village of Heaven ninjas, as holders of power, are already considered a cut above others. But if some still think they are two cuts, or even three cuts above, then they cannot blame the Village of Heaven for being unsentimental." Ryun said expressionlessly.
"If you want wealth, then go perform missions. The mission rewards from the Village of Heaven are enough to let any ninja live a wealthy life if they just do them. But you cannot go outside and rob.
If you want women, then find them through legal channels. With mutual consent, even if you marry eighty or a hundred wives, the Village of Heaven will not oppose or interfere. But you cannot use force outside.
If you want power, dignity, status, then train well. The Village of Heaven never ignores any strong individual and respects every strong individual. But you cannot demonstrate your strength by oppressing ordinary people outside. A strong person's 'blade' should be swung at those stronger, not at the weak."
After Ryun finished speaking, everyone in the meeting room showed expressions of agreement.
As the leader of the Akatsuki, Ryun had always secretly monitored their behavior. Deidara did not go around bombing and destroying things to promote his art. Sasori of the Red Sand did not use ordinary people to make living puppets. He only went to Orochimaru for such things. Even when Hidan wanted offerings for Jashin, he could only use death row prisoners.
The former evil organization no longer committed evil acts. Instead, certain ninjas within the Village of Heaven began to commit wrongdoing.
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