Chapter 67 — "Yujiro: From Today On, Amegakure Belongs to the Uchiha!"
Uchiha Yujiro's declaration was equal parts heroic, arrogant, and utterly ridiculous.
Nagato-bro nearly snapped right then and there.
"Since when were you the second leader of Akatsuki?! Get a grip already!"
But even his exasperation couldn't compete with the unease rising in Jiraiya's heart.
"Hold on, Yujiro-kun!"
Jiraiya stepped forward, frowning deeply.
Yahiko's death had hurt him too; in truth, he hadn't minded Yujiro avenging that by killing Hanzō.
But Danzo? That was different.
As vile, scheming, and power-hungry as the man was… he was still Konoha's scheming, power-hungry bastard.
Could they really kill a Konoha elder—for someone else's revenge?
Wasn't that crossing a line?
Yujiro smiled faintly, his tone smooth and cutting.
"What are you talking about, Jiraiya-sensei? The order to eliminate Danzo… came straight from your precious student, the Fourth Hokage himself."
The words hit Jiraiya like a lightning strike.
"What? Minato?! That's impossible—"
"Don't rush to deny it," Yujiro interrupted, voice soft but sharp.
"Go ask your 'righteous' shadow of the Leaf what he's really done in that darkness of his. This isn't about power or politics, Sensei. This… is justice."
With that, Yujiro summoned a ninja cat.
He unrolled a small scroll, scrawled a message across it—
'Minato, I'm craving fish.'
—then handed it to the cat.
"Deliver this to the Fourth."
The cat nodded and sprinted off into the rain, vanishing in a blur.
That was the code.
When Minato received that message, he'd know it was time to reel in the catch.
And the "big fish" was none other than Shimura Danzo himself.
Yujiro clapped his hands.
"Okay, that's taken care of. Minato will handle the cleanup.
Now, let's talk about our own operations."
He turned to Jiraiya and Tsunade.
"You two will be heading back to Konoha. That leaves us shorthanded here.
Nagato, you'll need to stabilize Amegakure—find out if this place has anyone useful.
If not, at least hire a few heavy lifters. Start a shipping business, sell supplements, I don't care—just get the economy running."
He paused, then smirked.
"As for high-level talent… I've already got that covered."
Yujiro reached into his cloak and handed Nagato a small book.
Nagato opened it—and froze.
"...This is a bounty list."
"Exactly!" Yujiro said, proud of himself.
"Most of the strong shinobi have already been scooped up by the villages.
If we want Akatsuki to thrive, we have to find a new niche, create a new market, and target untapped potential."
He leaned closer, eyes gleaming.
"No one's born worthless.
A 'missing-nin' is just a misplaced asset."
"Those S-rank rogues?
With the right training, they'll become top-tier fighters loyal to us.
Your third mission, Nagato-bro, is to find them—and recruit them.
Tell them this: follow me, and there'll always be meat on the table."
---
Nagato was numb.
He didn't want to admit it, but he had to—
right now, Yujiro felt more like Akatsuki's true leader than he ever did.
That charisma, that confidence, that wild conviction—
for a fleeting moment, Nagato almost felt like Yahiko had been reborn.
Only this time… with a screw loose.
"From today on," Yujiro declared, lightning cracking in the sky above,
"Amegakure belongs to the Uchiha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
His laughter echoed through the rain-soaked village—
and as it did, his strange "system" quietly triggered several new missions.
---
[Permanent Quest: Friend of the Senju]
Befriend or form a bond with a member of the Uzumaki clan.
Reward: Sealing Technique — Four Symbols Seal.
Yujiro hadn't bothered with that one before.
After all, the Uzumaki clan had been wiped out long ago.
The only survivor close enough to count was his sister-in-law, Kushina.
But with Minato still alive, chasing his sister-in-law daily would've been…
a little too unethical.
So his plan was simple—wait until Kushina gave birth,
become Naruto's godfather, and complete the quest indirectly.
A godfather's bond was still a kind of friendship, right?
But now, the system marked the quest completed.
"Four Symbols Seal, huh?" Yujiro mused.
"Perfect. If I ever decide to double-summon a few tailed beasts for a ride, this'll come in handy."
---
Yet even more enticing were the two boss-level rewards:
[Boss Quest: Akatsuki's Twilight]
Defeat Uzumaki Nagato.
(Nagato: "Forgive me, Yahiko… I can't go on.")
Reward: +1 Free Attribute Point.
[Boss Quest: Rise of Akatsuki]
Join Akatsuki and become its new leader.
(Face the god directly, mortal.)
Reward: +1 Free Attribute Point.
If the system had any real intelligence, it would've complained by now:
"Bro, you're literally cheating."
---
Still, free attribute points were gold.
Yujiro immediately dumped both into Strength,
boosting it from 9 to 11.
Last time, against Nagato-bro, he'd barely won by risking his life
with the devastating 25x Lightning–Fire Sword Dance.
Now, with his new power level,
he could one-hand a 5x Lightning Cloak Sword Dance and still reduce Nagato to confetti.
"He'll be back for revenge," Yujiro murmured with a grin.
"When he does, I'll give him… a big surprise."
---
The system notifications kept rolling in.
[Boss Quest: Death of Hanzō the Salamander]
Defeat Hanzō of the Salamander.
Reward: Hanzō-Style Chain Scythe Technique.
[Conquest Quest: Amegakure — Land of Rain]
Bring Amegakure under Akatsuki control.
Reward: Salamander Poison Sacs ×10.
Yujiro raised a brow.
"Hmm… not bad."
The chain-scythe technique was a bit off-brand for a swordsman,
but knowledge was knowledge—it'd sharpen his skillset.
As for the poison sacs?
Old, but effective. Perfect for… quietly cleaning up problems.
He was satisfied.
---
A month passed...
During this period, as the new head of Akatsuki,
Uchiha Yujiro began his "reform" of Amegakure.
He purged Hanzō's old loyalists,
secured total control of the city,
and then discovered—disappointingly—that the village
had virtually no competent shinobi left.
Small villages were like that:
produce one "semi-god" like Hanzō,
and it drained their luck for a century.
So Yujiro set new priorities:
"Rebuild the roads. Expand the warehouses.
Improve drainage.
We'll turn this place into Konoha's logistics hub."
If the Ame-nin couldn't fight,
they could at least drive trucks for the shipping company.
---
To his surprise, running a ninja village turned out to be easy.
Ninja, as a class, were broke and desperate.
Promise them fair pay and stable work, and they'd worship you as a god.
The "Will of Fire" might've taken root across the nations,
but the "Tool of the Village" mindset was still thriving.
Compared to that, Yujiro's rule was almost benevolent.
"I came here for three things!" he declared before a crowd of rain-soaked ninja.
"Fairness! Fairness! And more damn fairness!"
And he meant it.
He paid them.
He fed them.
He gave them a life worth living.
And just like that—
the rain-nin abandoned Hanzō's ghost,
and pledged themselves to Uchiha Yujiro, Lord of the Rain.
---
As for Nagato-bro…
well, the people now called him Akatsuki's "Deputy Leader."
Others jokingly nicknamed him "Danzo of the Rain."
And for the first time in his life,
Uchiha Yujiro looked around his new domain—
and realized running a ninja organization…
was actually kind of fun.
The shinobi of Amegakure had all but started worshipping Uchiha Yujiro.
One by one, they began calling him the Sun of the Rain Village.
They would've gladly offered up their hearts for him—
and, for a few daring kunoichi, that wasn't just a metaphor.
Those bold girls tried to sneak into his bed at night,
but Tsunade and Konan kept too sharp an eye on him,
so none of them ever made it past the door.
Of course, the real reason was simpler—
they weren't nearly pretty enough.
"Sorry, ladies. Conquering the world's way more fun than a one-night stand."
---
A well-organized, well-funded, and utterly obedient Amegakure
was the perfect playground for Yujiro's inner empire-builder.
It satisfied every inch of his craving to play god—
part Harvest Moon, part SimCity, and part RollerCoaster Tycoon.
Orochimaru had his new laboratory.
Taverns and shopping districts were opening up.
Public works were underway—drainage systems, paved roads, reinforced canals.
And at the top of his personal agenda:
a secret "Final Solution" to permanently erase the Daimyō and nobles of the Land of Rain.
Every project went straight into motion.
Yujiro was having the time of his life—so much fun, in fact,
that he briefly considered never going back to Konoha.
But no. He would have to return someday.
---
He leaned back, thinking it through carefully.
"If ruling a tiny third-rate village like Amegakure feels this good…
then being Hokage must be ecstasy."
For a moment, ambition flared in his eyes.
But then he caught himself.
"No, no, that won't do. Minato's my friend—my beloved comrade!"
"How could I possibly betray him like those famous leaders who took power by force or trickery?!"
He shook his head dramatically.
"That'd be wrong. Morally wrong."
"My hero is Cleopatra, not Julius Caesar—though, well…"
His eyes drifted, and you could almost see the scheming gears begin to turn.
---
And that was when the message came.
A small toad from Mount Myōboku hopped into his office,
scroll clutched in its mouth, and croaked,
"Message from the Fourth Hokage."
Yujiro took it, unrolled it, and scanned the first few lines—
then slammed his fist down on the table hard enough to crack the wood.
"SON OF A—!" he roared.
"Minato, you useless bastard! You've brought shame upon the Leaf!"
Tsunade leaned over and skimmed the scroll herself.
Beneath all the diplomatic pleasantries and formal fluff,
the message boiled down to one sentence written in Minato's neat, polite hand:
"Yujiro, it's bad. Danzo—the old bastard—escaped!!!"
---