Chapter 378: Army Advances, Not a Blade of Grass Left
After Rasa convinced his subordinates to pledge loyalty, he ran to Yasushi's side to ingratiate himself.
"Hokage-sama, please prioritize destroying Wind Country first. I'm willing to lead the vanguard!"
Yasushi glanced sideways at this self-volunteering "collaborator," snorting coldly:
"You're quite the eager turncoat!
"But the battlefield is closest to Lightning Country. Going to Wind Country requires backtracking. Give me a reason first!"
Rasa prostrated on the ground, pleading:
"This group of Sand Village shinobi has now rebelled. If news reaches the village, they'll likely prepare defenses, bringing many inconveniences to our forces.
"Moreover... if we strike Wind Country now, these rebel shinobi's families can still be saved. Go too late, and the village will likely purge them.
"Sand Village originally contained many opposition factions against our faction. Now that we've committed everything, they're the village's strongest force.
"Once they see the opportunity, they definitely won't miss the chance to slaughter our remaining families and divide up their property.
"That property... all belongs to our Konoha Village now!"
"Hmm, you make a good point." Yasushi was indeed swayed by Rasa's final statement.
Our Konoha Village's property—how could we let outsiders devour it?
"Fine then. We're heading to Rain Country anyway. You'll follow along, conveniently take over Rain Country, then proceed to Wind Country."
"Excellent! Thank you, Hokage-sama!"
Rasa rejoiced immediately. After expressing gratitude, he rushed to find his supporters, announcing this good news. Leading the troops, he departed first, charging toward Wind Country.
The group pushed straight through from Fire Country, clearing everything obstructive along the way.
Bandits, rogue shinobi, wealthy merchants, landlords—everyone got eliminated!
Previously, to give clan members more participation opportunities, they'd played slowly with these people. Now that unification war had begun, clan members were all eager to conquer a vast shinobi nation for the Uchiha. Who still cared about playing village games?
After establishing the nation, they'd confiscate wealth and redistribute land anyway. Might as well handle it along the way, avoiding future troubles.
Passing Grass Country, Yasushi specifically spent time taking it over.
This small place had been devastated once by Yasushi, then once by Itachi—already utterly ruined. Facing the roaring army's approach, it possessed not even half the capability to resist.
Every shinobi village contains those who fear death. Supporting collaborators isn't some profound technique.
Those who submit prosper; those who resist perish. Simple as that.
After leaving some people in Grass Country to consolidate territory, Yasushi led Nagato and others, finally returning to the long-absent Rain Country.
It still rained year-round here, but when Yasushi arrived, the weather was rarely clear—as though even heaven knew to welcome the royal army.
"Hahaha..."
Yasushi stood at the village entrance laughing loudly, pointing at the sky:
"See that?
"Master Yasushi arrives—clear skies appear!
"Whether Rain Village has chaos from now on, we Uchiha decide!"
Orochimaru and others had grown accustomed to Yasushi's intermittent bouts of madness. Ignoring him, they divided responsibilities and began taking over Rain Village.
With Nagato—Rain Village's "god"—supporting them, everything proceeded systematically. Though many shinobi felt dissatisfied, they only dared grumble, not actually resist.
"Leader, what's happening here?"
Kakuzu emerged from the central tower with a strange expression, his gaze constantly examining Nagato's face—highly suspicious this leader was someone using transformation technique.
Facing these former subordinates, Nagato felt somewhat embarrassed.
Previously he'd inflated his image so high. Now the boomerang struck him in the face—who knew how painful.
But Yasushi proved so understanding! Knowing Nagato wasn't good with words, he actively took over the conversation.
"Simply put—Nagato and I thoroughly discussed our views on the new shinobi world order. Nagato thinks I'm right, so he's decided to dissolve Akatsuki and work with me to eliminate all nations, establishing one unified country."
"Unify the shinobi world?" Kakuzu also jumped in shock. But considering both men's combat capabilities, he suddenly felt this wasn't impossible.
However, this had nothing to do with Kakuzu. He never cared about the shinobi world's future anyway. He only cared about money!
During these days in Akatsuki, he could only work without taking money. Even his savings were confiscated to subsidize Rain Village. Kakuzu had long grown tired of such days.
Now hearing Akatsuki was dissolving, Kakuzu felt happiest of all.
"However you operate has nothing to do with me. I only want to know—since Akatsuki is dissolved, can I return to being a bounty hunter?"
"Absolutely not!" Yasushi crossed his arms before his chest. "Domestic bounty stations will all be abolished going forward. Such underground black markets won't be permitted.
"But don't worry. Konoha Village has missions for you.
"The paid kind!"
Hearing about payment, Kakuzu's already raised foot lowered back down.
"What missions?"
"Abolishing bounty stations." Yasushi smiled at this premium worker who'd delivered himself. "No one knows better than you where bounty stations everywhere are hidden.
"I'll assign several squads to follow you, eliminating them one by one. You can take ten percent of the spoils obtained.
"How about it?"
Hearing about such lucrative work, Kakuzu's eyes immediately gleamed.
"Good, it's settled!"
Yasushi had Neji lead some clan members to accompany Kakuzu. With Byakugan support, there was no worry about escapees.
After recruiting other Akatsuki members as well, Yasushi finally came to the central tower again. The Ten-Tails' husk was hidden behind this tower.
Nagato tossed both jinchūriki to the ground, piling them with the other three.
Who knew what methods his people used—they'd actually beaten One-Tail back to original form, making Gaara re-emerge from the body.
"All nine tailed beasts have been collected. Finally, Ten-Tails can be revived."
Nagato's voice carried considerable relief.
Though he'd now decided to let Yasushi become the Ten-Tails jinchūriki, he'd struggled toward this for so many years. Now seeing results imminent, his heart overflowed with emotion.
After a long while, Nagato sighed, rapidly forming hand seals before slapping the ground.
Amid rumbling earth tremors, the Gedo Statue was summoned.
But Yasushi didn't urge him to immediately revive Ten-Tails. Instead, he turned to look behind.
Sure enough, there he saw Black Zetsu—appearing at some unknown time—staring at them with ghostly eyes.
"Hehehe..." Yasushi grinned at Black Zetsu, baring teeth. "What are you looking at?"
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