Chapter 372: The Akatsuki Organization's Gathering
"Leader, did you need something from me?"
The moment he sensed Nagato calling for him, Kenichi entered the familiar illusionary projection space and spoke at once.
But as soon as he arrived, he realized something was different.
There were far more people here than usual.
He turned and looked around.
Well then.
Most of the Akatsuki members were present. Even Obito had shown up. Only his teacher, Orochimaru, was absent, which immediately made Kenichi curious about what Nagato intended to do.
"I called all of you here today to announce a change to the Akatsuki Organization's plan."
Nagato swept a glance over Kenichi, and there was a faint trace of disdain in his eyes.
Although he had already formed a partnership with Kenichi, he knew very well that one or two people with ulterior motives were still hiding inside the organization. Because of that, he showed no unusual reaction and spoke to Kenichi with the same cold attitude as always.
Kenichi only shrugged and stood there waiting for Nagato to continue.
At the same time, he spotted Sasori and Deidara. Sasori gave him a small nod, while Deidara waved enthusiastically. Kenichi smiled and waved back.
"Leader, not everyone in the organization is here. Are you sure something this important should be discussed now?"
A somewhat mocking voice rang out.
Kenichi turned and looked over. As expected, it was Uchiha Shin. His tone was odd, and while he spoke, he deliberately flicked a glance toward Kenichi.
He never said it outright, but anyone with a brain could tell he was talking about Orochimaru, who was indeed absent.
Kakuzu watched the scene with obvious interest.
He had always had strong feelings about Orochimaru.
Not that kind of feeling, of course. It was entirely about the bounty on Orochimaru's head.
As one of the Sannin, Orochimaru's price at the bounty station was outrageously high.
The problem was that Orochimaru's strength was also very real, and not something easy to challenge.
Still, who was Kakuzu?
He was a man who had once attacked the God of Shinobi himself.
That was his confidence.
Of course, how to actually collect Orochimaru's bounty was still something that required careful thought.
"Shin, weren't you having a great time in my teacher's lab before? You seem to have gained quite a bit recently. How about we exchange pointers? Maybe I can help you rediscover that old feeling."
Kenichi glanced at Uchiha Shin.
Truthfully, he had no interest in talking to this man. It was obvious Shin had thrown in his lot with Obito and had even changed his name to Uchiha. Kenichi was honestly curious what identity Obito had used to fool him. Had he really pulled out the old Madara act again?
Madara had been buried for ages by now. Still, it was possible Obito had already brought him back with Edo Tensei. But if that had really happened, Madara should have already come charging straight at them. With his personality, there was no way he would wait quietly.
"You...!"
Uchiha Shin's face twisted with fury at once.
Being experimented on by Orochimaru was a scar he never wanted touched, and Kenichi had just stomped on it without hesitation.
"Enough. I did not give you permission to speak."
A cold voice cut through the tension before it could erupt into open conflict.
It also silenced Sasori and Deidara, who had already started to step forward in support of Kenichi.
Nagato was furious.
To be fair, with the Rinnegan in his eyes and the Gedo Statue trembling faintly beneath everyone's feet, he was intimidating enough to make even the calmest person uneasy.
As for Kenichi, he naturally knew what lay beneath them. That thing was the Gedo Statue, the Ten-Tails' empty shell. But Nagato was his ally now, so there was no reason for him to say anything.
Uchiha Shin, however, seemed to have received a signal from Obito. Though the resentment was still plain on his face, he shut his mouth in the end.
Obito, still wrapped in his Tobi persona, let out a foolish little laugh and continued acting like an idiot, though his mind was clearly elsewhere.
Once the space fell quiet again, Nagato took a slow breath, glanced once more at Kenichi, and spoke in a frosty tone.
"From this point on, the Akatsuki Organization's base will be moved to the Land of Waterfalls. All future mission handovers will be carried out there."
That was the first announcement of the gathering.
Nagato had killed Danzo, one of Konoha's elders, and there was no way Konoha would simply let that pass. Retaliation was inevitable, so he needed to move first.
If this had happened before, he would have already begun preparations to collect the nine Tailed Beasts. Although the Akatsuki's foundation still was not stable enough, once Konoha's attention had already been drawn, he might as well have chosen open rebellion.
But after reaching an agreement with Kenichi, Nagato now had other thoughts.
Kenichi had already given him the rough outline of his plan, and Nagato intended to draw Konoha's full attention onto himself. That way, while Konoha was fixated on the Akatsuki, Kenichi could move against the Hidden Mist Village much more smoothly.
"The Land of Rivers would be more convenient, wouldn't it?" Kakuzu asked with a frown.
He did not like the Land of Waterfalls.
"It's closer to the major nations. It will make accepting high-bounty missions faster," Nagato replied.
Kakuzu clicked his tongue, but said nothing more.
Being from the Land of Waterfalls did not mean he felt any attachment to it. His only real attachment in this world was money.
As long as there was enough of it, he would not mind slaughtering the Hidden Waterfall Village itself.
"And the second matter..."
Nagato continued through the agenda.
Kenichi listened quietly. Most of it was still about relocating the base and pulling Konoha's attention toward the organization. But the final item truly surprised him.
"...And the last matter. In the absence of large bounty missions, the organization is permitted to raid wealthy merchants and daimyō."
Nagato narrowed his eyes as he delivered the order, and the entire space fell silent.
Kenichi raised a brow.
What exactly was Nagato thinking?
In Kenichi's view, the ninja world had always had a very odd problem. The status of the wealthy was far too high.
This was not to say merchants and daimyō did not deserve some status, but rather that Kenichi could not understand why, in a world where ninjas existed, people who held power far beyond conventional warfare still allowed ordinary nobles and merchants to sit so high.
Did they really think money could control everything?
The ninja world was strange in that way. Someone like Hashirama or Madara did not need merchants or daimyō to fund them. If they wanted to, they could sack the Land of Fire in the morning and spend the night sleeping in the daimyō's palace in the Land of Water.
Their power was contained entirely within themselves. They did not need money to become stronger.
That was very different from Kenichi's own technological path, where every major leap required massive funding.
Scientists needed capital.
Ninjas did not.
All a ninja really needed was food, water, and enough time to train chakra.
From that perspective, the wealthy and the daimyō of the ninja world should have long since become little more than ornaments in front of powerful ninjas, much like certain merchants in Kenichi's previous life who had all the money in the world but no real political power.
And yet, from the Sengoku Era until now, the position of merchants and daimyō had remained oddly stable. Even now, the appointment of a Kage still required a daimyō's signature.
Even if that signature was just for show, it still said something about the daimyō's status.
"Wouldn't that make the entire ninja world hunt us down?" Kakuzu asked, frowning even more deeply.
For a man obsessed with money, Kakuzu had certainly killed and robbed his share of targets, but even he had never been brazen enough to directly raid wealthy merchants and daimyō like this.
Kenichi could not help glancing at Nagato.
See? Even the money fanatic knows there are lines you do not casually cross.
What in the world are you thinking?
"Then make sure you do it cleanly."
Nagato sounded utterly unconcerned, and that only made the rest of the room grow even quieter.
"The last person who dared to do that got killed by an elite squad from five hidden villages," Kakuzu added.
He had lived a very long time, and he knew many things. The last madman who tried that had been Kage-level, proficient in both Wind and Lightning Release, and he had still died in the end.
The bounty on that man had been so absurdly high that Kakuzu himself had wanted to rush over and claim it. In the end, however, the Five Great Nations had sent elites, and the Raikage of the Hidden Cloud had shamelessly taken the bounty in the end, with Killer B at his side.
"Whether you do it or not is your business. But if you do, turn over a share of the funds to the organization. In exchange, the organization will provide protection."
Nagato glanced at Kakuzu.
He honestly had not known that story before now. What he did know was that the bounty station itself had actually been jointly funded by the Five Great Nations and the Five Great Hidden Villages.
Yes, jointly funded.
It sounded ridiculous at first. After all, the ninjas of the Five Great Nations were practically all on one wanted list or another, yet they had still cooperated to establish the thing.
Kenichi licked his lips.
He was short on money himself these days, but he generally did not resort to outright robbery like this. Not anymore, at least. This time he had an entire country behind him. The Land of Snow was, for all practical purposes, already his.
The gathering ended there.
Nagato did not say anything more to Kenichi privately. Clearly, he was still wary of Obito and Black Zetsu. But if that was the case, then what had been the real purpose of calling this meeting today?
"Could he be trying to draw the ninja world's attention onto the Akatsuki for my sake?"
Kenichi considered the possibility.
Nagato's new orders did fit the Akatsuki's current position. At the same time, they would absolutely make the whole world focus on the organization.
Once enough merchants and nobles were robbed, every nation would naturally turn its eyes toward the Akatsuki. And once that happened, it would become much easier for Kenichi to make his own moves without attracting attention.
"Forget it. I'd better focus on speeding up my research."
Kenichi shook his head, then went looking for Koyuki. From her, he selected a sealing specialist who had already been implanted with a parasite and handed that person the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.
"Can you learn this?" Kenichi asked the anonymous Land of Snow ninja standing before him.
He could sense the parasite inside the man clearly. He could also see the worship in the man's eyes.
"I will do my best!" the sealing ninja answered at once, pounding a fist against his chest.
Kenichi was not in a hurry. He told the man to study first and report back once he had learned it. After that, Kenichi went off to check on Naruto and Hikari.
When he found them, the two were practicing tree climbing.
Kenichi's mouth twitched.
Had children in the current era become this intense about training? Naruto had only just started learning how to refine chakra, and he was already attempting tree climbing?
As expected, Naruto lost his footing and tumbled down.
"Why did you start tree climbing already?" Kenichi asked, stepping forward and catching Naruto neatly out of the air.
"Brother Amamiya!"
Hikari came down from the tree, almost jogging across the bark itself, which showed just how good her chakra control already was.
"Teacher, I wanted to learn from Sister Hikari how to get stronger." Naruto scratched his head sheepishly. He had not really climbed at all. He had mostly just relied on momentum to launch himself upward.
Kenichi flicked Naruto on the forehead, then handed Hikari a skewer of candied hawthorn he had made earlier.
"Little Naruto, you don't have much chakra yet. But learning control now is still a good thing," Kenichi said with a smile.
He had very little experience teaching students, but he at least knew how Orochimaru had trained him.
"Brother Amamiya, what are we having for lunch?" Hikari asked happily as she nibbled on her candied hawthorn.
Kenichi smiled. The two little troublemakers really did help calm his nerves.
"Hot pot. It's freezing today," he said, scratching his head.
This cursed Land of Snow was always cold. At this rate, they were going to end up eating hot pot every single day.
Fortunately, Naruto did not mind, and Hikari never cared much what she ate. She cheerfully ate her share while telling Kenichi all about how she and Naruto had been training.
Kenichi listened with an easy smile.
Naruto seemed much livelier now. The grief from learning about his parents' deaths had clearly lessened on the surface. But seeing the determination in the boy's eyes, Kenichi knew Naruto had not forgotten it.
Kenichi picked up a slice of beef and dropped it into Naruto's bowl.
"I wonder what path Naruto will choose once his parents are revived," Kenichi thought to himself, licking his lips in anticipation.
Elsewhere, Konan spoke softly.
"Your teacher has arrived. And he brought Tsunade of Konoha with him."
The paper butterflies she had set throughout the village had already picked up a faint disturbance.
"...Teacher?" Nagato coughed, then slowly rose to his feet.
So then...
How exactly was he supposed to treat his teacher now?
.....
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