[Akatsuki Hideout]
In the cramped space, a deathly silence hung heavy.
No one spoke. No one moved. You couldn't even hear anyone breathing.
Everyone's eyes were fixed on the person sitting at the far end.
Pain.
No—they should call him Nagato now.
"So…"
Deidara swallowed hard.
"The leader in front of us… is just a puppet?"
No one answered him. Apart from Obito and Zetsu, everyone was still processing this information.
If the person before them was just a puppet, then where was the real leader?
How strong was the real leader?
If they couldn't defeat him, could they run?
If they couldn't run, could they negotiate?
If they couldn't negotiate, could they…
Forget it. They couldn't win.
Hidan tightened his grip on his crimson three-bladed scythe. He stared at Tendō Pain, his eyes gleaming with a strange excitement.
"So…"
Hidan licked his lips.
"If I kill this puppet, will the real leader come out?"
Again no one answered him.
But everyone looked at him as if he was an idiot.
The meaning in their eyes was clear: If you want to die, don't drag us down with you.
"You want to know the truth?"
The voice came from the deepest part of the room. Shadows obscured Tendō Pain's face, hiding his features. Only those purple Rinnegans glowed with a cold, eerie light in the darkness.
The hideout fell deathly silent once more.
Deidara's hand instinctively moved toward the clay at his waist, Sasori's puppet joints let out faint clicking sounds, Kakuzu's tendrils extended stealthily from his back, and Hidan tightened his grip on his scythe.
But no one made a move. Not because they didn't want to, but because they didn't dare.
Those eyes were watching every single one of them.
"Everything the Sky Screen said is true."
Tendō Pain's voice continued.
"You all joined the Akatsuki for your own reasons, and I don't care whether you believe me, nor do I care how you view me. As long as you are still willing to work towards the organization's goals, you are a member of Akatsuki."
Deidara looked at Sasori, Sasori looked at Kakuzu, Kakuzu looked at Hidan, and Hidan looked at Tobi, who just shrugged, as if to say, 'Don't look at me.'
Finally, it was Kakuzu who broke the silence.
"So… Pain."
"Or should I call you Nagato now? Whatever. I don't care what your name is. Let me just ask you one thing—"
He paused, his gaze turning sharp.
"Are the bounties still being paid?"
"Everything continues as usual."
Tendō Pain answered clearly and decisively.
Kakuzu let out a sigh of relief and patted his chest.
"That's good, then. I don't care what your name is—as long as there's money to be made!"
The others: "...."
'Is that really the only thing you care about?'
Of course it was the only thing Kakuzu cared about.
Over ninety years of experience had taught him one truth: no matter who the boss was, as long as they paid on time, they were a good boss.
As for where the boss's real body was, whether he was a puppet, or whether he had multiple personalities—what did that have to do with him?
With Kakuzu taking the lead, the others soon followed suit.
Even though the leader's true identity had been exposed, his Rinnegan was still real. His power was still real. And with Konan around, no one wanted to provoke him.
Hidan put away his scythe and muttered.
"Tch. Boring."
Soon, the atmosphere in the Akatsuki hideout gradually returned to normal.
Or at least, normal on the surface.
---
[After Nagato succeeded as leader, he reached a cooperation agreement with the Shinobi World's most famous troublemaker, Mr. Simp, and began their plan for world peace.]
[That's right, who would have thought that the Akatsuki—a mercenary military organization whose members were all notorious S-rank rogue shinobis from various villages—had world peace as their ultimate goal?]
[It had quite an ironic sense of contrast.]
Inside the Akatsuki hideout, everyone exchanged bewildered glances.
Peace?
Them?
Deidara scratched his head: "Peace? Us?"
Hidan rolled his eyes: "I kill people… for peace?"
Kakuzu counted on his fingers: "I make money… for peace?"
Sasori said flatly: "I pursue eternal life… for peace?"
Kisame grinned: "I betrayed my village… for peace?"
Everyone was silent for two seconds, then all eyes turned in unison to Tendō Pain.
The look in their eyes said: 'Boss, do you have some kind of misunderstanding about us?'
Tendō Pain did not explain.
He simply watched the Sky Screen in silence, his Rinnegan devoid of any ripple of emotion.
[Nagato divided the development of the Akatsuki into three stages. The first stage was accumulating funds to lay the foundation for future actions. The second stage was capturing the Tailed Beasts, using their power to enhance combat strength. The third stage was waging war—using the Tailed Beasts to conquer the world and achieve peace.]
Capturing Tailed Beasts.
Waging war.
Conquering the world.
Achieving peace.
These words strung together made the entire world fall silent for a long while.
---
[Konoha, Year One]
Hearing the Sky Screen's description, Madara's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
"Hashirama, did you hear that?!"
Madara turned around, grabbed Hashirama by the shoulders, his eyes burning with an unprecedented fire.
"Using the Tailed Beasts, conquering the world, achieving peace! My thoughts align perfectly! And we don't even need to capture the Tailed Beasts—just the two of us are enough!"
"No, that's not right. We still need to capture them. After all, human life has an end, but Tailed Beasts do not."
Hashirama was shaken until he felt dizzy: "Madara, calm down—"
"Calm down? How can I be calm?!"
Madara released him and spread his arms wide, as if embracing the entire world.
"The one-nation-one-village system has already failed! The Sky Screen said that after you die, the First Great Ninja War breaks out! And then there's a Second, and a Third! How many people die in those wars?! Is this the peace you wanted?!"
Hashirama fell silent. He couldn't argue. He couldn't bring himself to say the Sky Screen was fake. After all, everything it said was detailed and logically coherent.
"But Madara…"
"What's the difference between using Tailed Beasts to conquer the world and simple military suppression?"
Madara paused.
"Think about it."
Hashirama looked at him.
"If peace is maintained through fear, then what's the difference between that and the one-nation-one-village system?"
"It's the same as when we're alive—using our power to suppress the other nations so they don't dare to move. But after we die—"
He paused, his tone growing heavier.
"Won't all that suppressed hatred and ambition erupt like a volcano?
And then, fighting over the Tailed Beasts—how much bigger a war would that ignite?"
Madara's brow furrowed deeply.
"Besides."
Hashirama continued.
"Conquering the world to achieve peace means countless people will be killed, countless families will be destroyed, and countless seeds of hatred will be planted."
He walked up to Madara and looked into his eyes.
"Is that kind of peace truly what you want?"
"Let's keep watching… Maybe the Sky Screen will reveal the true path to peace."
On the side, Tobirama watched their argument with cold eyes, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly.
'Here we go again.'
'Brother is using his usual rhetoric to persuade Madara again.'
'And the thing is… it works every single time.'
Tobirama couldn't understand it. How could someone as arrogant as Uchiha Madara be rendered speechless by a few words from his brother every time?
Could this be the legendary…
Bromance?
Tobirama shivered and decided not to think about it anymore.
His thoughts quickly returned to the business at hand.
Madara's idea was far too dangerous. No one had ever unified the world before, and such an act would be met with extremely fierce resistance.
Even if his brother and Madara had the power to do it, it would only make the nations fearful, not genuinely convinced.
After they died, the world would still be a fractured, chaotic mess.
Besides, didn't the Sky Screen say that Konoha's legacy was doing quite well in the future? The Hokage had always come from his own lineage, and there was even a junior who was more powerful than his brother.
Instead of thinking about achieving peace through conquest, it would be better to think about how to ensure Konoha's continued thriving existence.
*****
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