After several hours of rushing nonstop, Uchiha Itachi and the others finally reached the border of the Hidden Grass Village. Beyond the curtain of endless rain lay the Land of Rain—just a few more steps and they'd be out.
But at that exact moment, they stopped.
Two figures stood silently ahead of them, blocking the way.
The Deva Path of Pain glanced over the Akatsuki members, his gaze finally settling on Itachi as he spoke in a low, emotionless voice:
"How did the investigation of the Hidden Grass Village go?"
Itachi stepped forward and calmly reported everything that had happened.
What was supposed to be a simple mission had turned into a complete mess. They ran into Naruto, the leader of Uzushio Village, and the Konoha Sannin. On top of that, they'd been screwed over by the Hidden Grass Village itself.
Naturally, no one looked happy.
After hearing the report, the Deva Path nodded slightly.
"You've done well. It's time to move to the next phase—taking control of the Hidden Grass Village."
Kakuzu and Hidan exchanged confused looks. Itachi and Kisame, however, glanced at each other, realization flashing in their eyes.
So that was it.
The "commission" from the Hidden Grass Village had been fake from the start. The investigation was just a cover. The real goal was to create a reason to take over the village—and even they hadn't been told the full plan.
Still…
Wasn't Akatsuki supposed to be collecting Tailed Beasts? Wouldn't attacking a village this openly attract unwanted attention?
Itachi, secretly working as a spy, felt the opposite.
The louder Akatsuki became, the more attention they drew—and the safer Konoha would be.
A few hours later, the Deva Path led the group into the Hidden Grass Village.
The place was in chaos.
Most of the ninjas and civilians were busy dealing with the destruction caused by Satori. No one noticed Akatsuki slipping in like ghosts.
Before long, the Deva Path arrived at the Grass Village's main building and pushed open the meeting room door.
Inside, no one was discussing reconstruction.
No one was planning how to deal with the Iwagakure forces on the border.
Instead, they were arguing like idiots—fighting over responsibility, desperately trying to dump the blame for opening the Box of Ultimate Bliss onto someone else.
With the hawkish elder dead, all the pressure had fallen onto the village leader.
He glanced at the arguing jōnin, then looked up at the dark sky with empty eyes.
The future of the Hidden Grass Village… was gone.
Unless they found more "medical tools" like Karin, the village was doomed to decline.
Then—
The door slammed open.
Several dark figures stepped inside.
"Who are you?! How dare you break into—"
A jōnin tried to shout, but the moment he met those ripple-patterned Rinnegan eyes, his voice died in his throat.
Fear hit him like a brick.
The Deva Path raised his hand, expression unchanged.
"Shinra Tensei."
…
A few minutes later, every jōnin in the room lay sprawled on the ground.
Some were unconscious.
Some had fainted out of sheer terror.
To them, this wasn't a jutsu—it was straight-up ghost shit.
The Human Path casually grabbed one jōnin by the collar and activated his ability, ripping through the man's memories.
Soon, Pain finished reviewing everything.
Among those memories… was a girl named Karin.
Behind the scenes, Nagato clenched his fist.
Same bloodline.
Same kind of fate.
It dragged up memories he hadn't touched in years.
His mother—an Uzumaki who fled to the Land of Rain—just wanted a peaceful life. But Konoha shinobi broke into their home… and his parents died protecting him.
War was cruel.
The killers were long dead—killed by his own hands.
But even now… he couldn't let it go.
Why?
Why did shinobi kill unarmed civilians?
Dropping the jōnin's body, Pain didn't kill the rest.
His goal wasn't slaughter.
It was control.
After leaving the Land of Whirlpools, he realized isolation wasn't the answer. Sure, the Land of Rain had peace—but it was also dirt poor and cut off from the world.
But opening the borders came with risks.
Spies. Secrets exposed. The truth about Hanzo's death leaking out.
So instead… he chose the Hidden Grass Village.
Use their internal chaos.
Turn them into a puppet.
Let them handle foreign trade while the Hidden Rain stayed hidden.
Even if the truth leaked, it would just shift the balance—from five great villages… to seven.
And beyond that—
Akatsuki and the Hidden Rain would cut ties publicly, even stage fake opposition, allowing Akatsuki to keep operating in the shadows and continue collecting Tailed Beasts.
Naruto was right.
Bringing peace to the ninja world wasn't something you rushed.
You had to play the long game.
At that moment, Konan appeared beside Pain.
"Pain, I found a strange scroll in their secret chamber. Want to take a look?"
He followed her inside.
The room had been completely looted.
Most of the jutsu scrolls were gone. Even the storage of precious metals had been emptied out like someone robbed the place blind.
Pain picked up the remaining scroll, his expression darkening.
It was sealed with a basic Uzumaki sealing technique.
He broke it open casually.
Inside… was a message.
From Naruto.
The gist of it was simple:
Naruto had already guessed Akatsuki would attack the Hidden Grass Village. So he had kindly taken all the valuable jutsu and money in advance.
Oh—and he'd also taken Karin with him.
But hey, Uzumaki stick together, right?
So he generously left behind the "real treasures"—the land and population—for the Hidden Rain Village.
No need to thank him.
Konan leaned over, read it, and went speechless.
"…Nagato, your guy's got a weird sense of humor."
Pain replied flatly,
"This isn't a joke."
Konan's expression changed slightly.
"Nagato, calm down. We still gained control of the Hidden Grass Village. The plan worked."
Pain shook his head slowly.
Then, surprisingly… he smiled.
"Mianma is right."
"The real wealth is land and people."
"The Hidden Rain already has land. What we lack… is talent."
"Even as enemies… we are also competitors."
"He's reminding me—not to neglect nurturing people while developing the village. Otherwise, no amount of money will matter."
Konan's lips twitched.
After meeting Naruto…
Did Nagato just get smarter… or completely lose it?
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