Chapter 298: Hidden Mist Village Operation
At first, Obito had seriously considered whether he should hide in the Kamui dimension again. But then a sudden impulse struck him, and he decided to test it for himself, to see whether he could feel the same sensation under a close range impact.
So he took the thermobaric bomb head on.
The result was that he nearly got himself killed. If Black Zetsu had not been nearby, Obito might not have escaped Tsunade's pursuit at all.
"So it really was him?" Black Zetsu looked at Obito. He already understood what Obito meant. Obito believed Amamiya Kenichi had done it, because the sensation was almost exactly the same.
"He definitely did it." Obito activated his Kamui Sharingan without hesitation, then entered the Kamui dimension again.
The place was now in utter disarray. Everything was charred black, and many of the items he had stored there were gone.
Obito's expression darkened.
The attack had come and gone too quickly. Even now, he still could not sense anything unusual inside the Kamui dimension. That violent explosion had lasted only for a brief instant.
"All the things I stored here are gone." Obito's face was grim as he stepped back out.
Although he had used Kamui again, he felt it had been worth it. If he had not entered, how could he have confirmed who was responsible?
"What are you planning to do?" Black Zetsu asked. He already knew there was no point trying to persuade Obito now. Obito had already decided that Amamiya Kenichi was the culprit.
In the battle earlier, Black Zetsu had already concluded that if Obito truly fought Amamiya Kenichi head on, Obito might very well suffer a loss. The other side was powerful, and that strange technique that summoned the dead was especially troublesome.
"I'm going to teach him a painful lesson." Obito's face darkened as he put on a fresh mask.
At that same moment, in Amegakure, Amamiya Kenichi was righteously filing a complaint before Nagato.
"This mission was far too dangerous, Leader. I strongly demand reimbursement from Kirigakure for the extra expenses!"
Nagato's eye twitched, though fortunately Pain, as a puppet body, showed no outward emotional reaction. His expression remained cold and aloof, which only reinforced the impression many Akatsuki members had that their leader was a heartless man.
"Reimbursement? How much are you asking for?" Nagato asked flatly.
Inside, however, he was not calm at all. If this man had not at least brought some income to the organization, Nagato would not have wanted to see him in the first place.
Especially after what Amamiya Kenichi had said to him earlier, even Nagato's normally steady heart had begun to waver.
Although much of what Kenichi had said seemed flawed, the more Nagato thought about it, the more he felt the man was not entirely wrong.
If true peace was to be achieved...
Every time Nagato thought of those words, he could not help but question whether his own method could truly fulfill Yahiko's dream. Could the peace his friend had longed for really be reached that way?
Because of that, Nagato really was not in the mood to deal with Amamiya Kenichi right now.
"Four hundred million ryo." Kenichi raised four fingers without a trace of shame.
Nagato nearly lost his composure on the spot.
Four hundred million?
He really dared to say it.
Kirigakure had only paid around that much for the original mission in the first place. Asking them to pay the same amount again was outrageous. The Mizukage would probably be furious enough to cut off cooperation with Akatsuki entirely.
"If Kirigakure refuses, I don't mind paying their village a few visits myself," Kenichi added with a smile.
He knew very well that Obito had arranged this. He also knew that any extra expenses he had incurred in Konoha would likely be like tossing meat buns to a dog, gone forever with no chance of recovery.
But silence was not an option either.
By making this demand now, he could at least temporarily paralyze Obito and buy some time for his next move. As for actually bombing Kirigakure, Kenichi had no real intention of doing that.
After all, Obito only controlled the Mizukage. If Kenichi really bombed Kirigakure, Obito would probably be delighted. He might even create opportunities for Kenichi to kill more Kirigakure ninja and thereby avenge Rin.
"All I can do is ask. But I doubt they'll agree," Nagato said casually.
He had no expectations. In his eyes, there was simply no way Kirigakure would accept a demand like that.
Kenichi shrugged, unconcerned. He had never expected Kirigakure, or rather Obito, to agree anyway. The point of saying it was to throw Obito off balance while he prepared another plan.
Obito was still suspicious of him. Kenichi was certain of that.
And after what had happened in Konoha, Kenichi felt the hatred Obito held toward him had basically reached its peak.
Considering Obito's role as the most devoted lover in the entire ninja world, Kenichi had no doubt at all how much malice the man was harboring now. After all, Kenichi had desecrated Rin's body right in front of him.
The only pity was that Obito still had not gone into Kamui to look at the special gift Kenichi had prepared. If he had, he would probably have gone completely insane on the spot.
"If they won't agree, then fine. But if they do, the organization gets more income, doesn't it?" Kenichi said with a grin as he draped an arm over Pain's shoulder.
Nagato looked at the arm hanging casually over Yahiko's body and fell silent for a moment.
He really wanted to blast this bastard away with Shinra Tensei.
But for some reason, he restrained himself.
"I'll ask," Nagato finally said with a sigh.
He truly could not get along with this man. At moments like this, he wanted nothing more than to go back in time and slap his past self for ever agreeing to let Amamiya Kenichi join Akatsuki.
"Then I'll leave it in your hands." Kenichi cheerfully turned and left.
His next destination had already been decided: Kirigakure.
Not for one second did he feel bad about troubling Nagato. Instead, he moved immediately to the next phase of his plan.
Although he did not know whether the people of Kirigakure had realized their Mizukage had a problem, Kenichi intended to go there personally, burst that bubble, lure Obito into making another move, and if possible kill him outright.
Only then would he be able to feel at ease.
Otherwise, Obito lurking in the shadows every day meant trouble could come at any time. Besides, cooperating with Kirigakure offered another advantage. It might allow Kenichi to begin drawing them into his nation building plan ahead of schedule.
Nagato silently watched Kenichi's departing back, his brow furrowing slightly. He touched the tubes connected to his body and said nothing.
"You still haven't asked?" Konan walked over with a medical device in hand. As she began another examination, she glanced at him and spoke softly.
She knew her friend had been troubled lately, though she did not know exactly why. She only knew it had something to do with Amamiya Kenichi. That alone made her curious, because it had been a long time since she had seen Nagato like this.
"No. I don't know how to ask." Nagato shook his head and allowed Konan to continue the examination, his eyes fixed blankly on the stone ceiling above.
After a while, Konan finished checking the instrument and looked down at the report in her hand. Her expression was not good.
"How much longer can I... cough... hold on?" Nagato asked weakly after a brief coughing fit.
Konan fell silent for a moment, then handed the report to him.
"Your body is still deteriorating, but your vital signs are stable, Nagato. Do you want to..." She hesitated, her eyes full of pain.
Her friend was still so young, yet he had already withered into this frail state. His body was breaking down more and more each day. Konan truly did not know how much longer he could last.
"No." Nagato rejected the idea immediately.
He knew exactly what she wanted to say, but he could not do it. He would not do it.
Yahiko's dream was his burden now. He had to carry it. He had to keep walking until he created that peace.
Peace...
Nagato's eyes clouded with confusion.
Could that world without war, the world where people could finally understand one another, really exist?
Yahiko...
Kenichi, of course, knew nothing about the changes his earlier words had caused in Nagato's heart. At that moment, he was already piloting his airship toward Kirigakure.
"What does Kirigakure have?" Kenichi licked his lips thoughtfully. "Ao's Byakugan, and a rather well endowed Mei Terumi."
To be honest, he had no particular issue with Kirigakure or the Land of Water.
Compared to the other four great nations, the Land of Water did not have much presence. But compared to the small countries, it was still undeniably powerful.
Kenichi was somewhat interested in Mei Terumi as well. At this point, she should still be relatively young, not yet the unfortunate older woman who would later struggle to marry.
In his view, Mei Terumi's failure to marry was probably also tied to the Hidden Mist elders. Under normal circumstances, with looks like hers and a figure like that, there was no reason she should have ended up alone.
"But this time I'm only going there to see whether Kirigakure has noticed Obito, and to negotiate a bit along the way." Kenichi poured himself a cup of hot tea and looked thoughtfully out the window at the forest below.
He had never been to Kirigakure before. It was simply too far from the Land of Fire, and before he had the airship, transport had been inconvenient. Traveling to the Land of Water by ship would have made him a giant living target.
With the airship, however, that problem no longer mattered.
He had briefly considered bringing Sasori and Deidara with him. But Sasori was too eager to return and improve Unit One, while Deidara was still in a sulk over the damage to the War Scorpion, so neither of them had any interest in coming.
Kenichi gave up on the idea.
Besides, if he had brought them, their only role would have been to attract the attention of the Kirigakure ninja while he searched for what he wanted.
"I'll use the travel time to read." Kenichi took out one of his nuclear physics books, created ten Shadow Clones, and set them all to studying.
After many attempts, he had found that ten Shadow Clones was the most suitable number. Any more than that and the return of memories would make his head feel like it was splitting apart. Ten was just right. The only annoyance was that they had to be dispelled one at a time.
Still, this way, the flow of knowledge stayed orderly, and he had already mapped out a rough study sequence for himself.
Although reading still made him feel sleepy sometimes, the thought that all this would one day let him build nuclear bombs gave him plenty of motivation.
Science had already proven in his past life that when a person was deeply focused, time passed incredibly quickly.
That was exactly how Kenichi felt right now.
By the time the Shadow Clone controlling the airship came to inform him they had arrived near the Land of Water, he had only managed to finish a small portion of the book. Most of it still remained unread.
"So the Land of Water really is like an island nation made of scattered archipelagos..." Kenichi narrowed his eyes as he looked down at the country below. "But its shipping network is quite developed."
As he looked, he suddenly remembered something he had done years ago when he had once been short on money.
Back in the Land of Waves, he had directly robbed Gato and planted a restriction on him. So much time had passed since then that Kenichi had practically forgotten the man.
Now, though, he suddenly remembered. This might be a good time to check in on Gato and see how he was doing. If he was doing well, perhaps Kenichi could fleece him again and refill his rather pitiful personal treasury.
As for whether robbing Gato again would be immoral, Kenichi did not care in the least. Gato later proved himself to be exactly the kind of unscrupulous merchant who deserved to be hanged from a lamppost, so Kenichi felt no moral burden whatsoever.
At most, it should be described more elegantly as:
"Mr. Gato, whose generous support for scientific progress in the ninja world has made remarkable contributions to the development of ninja science."
"The real problem is where to park the airship..." Kenichi muttered with a slight headache as he looked over the Land of Water below.
The country's territory was not especially large, and because it was broken up into so many islands, there were few good hiding spots. In the end, he could only hide the airship on one of the nearby outer islands.
After leaving one Shadow Clone behind to park the airship and the rest behind to continue studying nuclear physics, Kenichi fastened a parachute to himself and jumped.
At the same time, in Kirigakure...
"Mei Terumi, don't you think the Mizukage sama has seemed a little strange lately?"
.....
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