Chapter 49: The Ninja World's Version of Las Vegas
Kakuzu blinked hard. A hint of confusion flickered in his emerald pupils, but it was quickly replaced by a sense of clarity and fanaticism.
He looked at Konan before him, his previous disdain and defensiveness completely gone. He could feel a strong sense of belonging surging from deep within his heart, as if this was the end of his century-long wandering.
"Are the onboarding procedures finished?"
Kakuzu lowered his head and solemnly placed the "North" ring on his left middle finger. "I like the rules here. Rest assured, since I've taken the salary, I will make sure every penny of the organization is spent where it counts."
His greed remained, but this time, his greed would become the sharpest fangs of the Akatsuki.
Konan watched him quietly and nodded slightly. "Go out. The leader is waiting for you."
...Hidden Rain Village, Central Business District.
This place was no longer the lifeless slum it had been during Hanzou's reign.
Neon lights flickered in the rain, shuttling between buildings where casinos, taverns, and black market exchanges stood in rows. Wandering Ninjas from the Five Great Nations, Rogue Ninjas, and even nobles in disguise were pouring into this "lawless land" like schools of carp crossing a river.
"Listen up! You bunch of stupid pigs!"
A full-throated roar echoed over the commercial street.
A fat man dressed in luxurious silk robes, his body as round as a ball, was eerily floating in mid-air. A thick gold chain hung around his neck, and his ten fingers were covered in gemstone rings, making him look like a mobile treasure vault.
The current Business President of the Hidden Rain Village—Maeda.
"Do you see all this?"
Maeda spread his arms. At this moment, he was using his Stand to levitate himself, creating the illusion of a "miracle."
"Every brick, every tile, and every single gold coin here is a gift from the great god—Lord Yahiko!"
"Without Lord Yahiko, you would still be fighting over moldy bread in the mud! You would still be risking your lives for a few dozen Ryo in bounties!"
"Praise the God! Now get to work for me! Squeeze every last penny out of those fat sheep!"
"Long live Lord Yahiko!"
"President Maeda is mighty!"
Below, hundreds of subordinates in Rain Ninja uniforms and vendors cheered in unison, their voices shaking the sky. In this chaotic era, the person who could give them food and money to earn was a True God.
Maeda nodded with satisfaction, wiped the greasy sweat from his forehead, and descended into his magnificent office mansion amidst a flurry of compliments.
"Hmph, these paupers. Give them a little sweetness and they'll call you father."
He grumbled as he pushed open the gold-and-jade-inlaid office door. "If today's turnover hasn't increased by ten percent, I'll..."
His voice stopped abruptly.
Maeda's fat flesh shuddered. His originally overbearing expression instantly collapsed, turning into a face of extreme flattery and terror.
Because he saw an orange-haired man sitting in his tiger-skin boss chair, which had been specially customized from the Land of Fire.
"Ya... Lord Yahiko?!"
Thump!
Without the slightest hesitation, Maeda displayed an agility completely at odds with his body size. He rolled across the carpet like a meatball and performed a precise sliding kneel at Yahiko's feet, prostrating himself.
"Why didn't you notify me of your return! This lowly one should have gone to the village entrance to welcome you on my knees! These blind servants actually let you sit in this broken chair. Did it hurt you?"
Yahiko flipped through the account books on the desk without even lifting his eyelids.
"Maeda, it seems you've been sitting very comfortably in this position. You were quite imposing outside just now?"
"I wouldn't dare! Absolutely wouldn't dare!"
Maeda's cold sweat flowed like a waterfall, and his head banged against the floor with a series of thuds. "That was to help establish your prestige! In front of you, I, Maeda, am just a dog on standby! I'll bite whoever you tell me to bite!"
He knew all too well the horror of the man before him.
His Stand, Money for Nothing, was nothing more than a baby's toy in front of the other party.
"Fine, don't get the carpet dirty."
Yahiko closed the account book and tossed it casually in front of Maeda. "Stand up and speak."
"Yes! Yes!" Maeda stood up as if granted a grand pardon, scrambling to his feet, yet he kept his body bowed, not daring to be even half a head taller than Yahiko.
"Report on the recent earnings of the Hidden Rain Village."
Maeda immediately adopted the tone of a shrewd businessman, speaking rapidly: "Master, according to your instructions, we have turned the Hidden Rain Village into the 'Las Vegas' of the Ninja World. Currently, the daily turnover from casinos, Red-light districts, and black market trades has exceeded double what the Hidden Rain Village used to earn solely from assassination missions!"
"The Daimyos and nobles of various countries condemn us for harboring rogue Ninjas on the surface, but privately they spend money like water in our casinos. Especially those fat pigs from the Land of Fire; some lose so much they even pawn their underwear."
"Well done. I have a task for you. Befriend the officials of the Five Great Nations who have the ear of the Daimyos. They will be useful in the future."
Maeda immediately bowed and said, "I shall follow your command!"
Just then, in the rain outside the window, an exquisitely folded paper crane flew in wobbling.
It landed precisely on Yahiko's shoulder, then unfolded itself, turning into a thin sheet of letter paper.
This was Konan's unique method of communication.
Yahiko glanced at the contents of the letter, his pupils slightly contracting.
There was only a short line of text:
[Border of the Land of Wind, discovered the Puppet remains of Sasori of the Red Sand.]
"Sasori, huh..."
Yahiko let out the cold laugh of a hunter who had found his prey.
The second core member of the Akatsuki was about to appear.
Hidden Rain Village, the Highest Tower.
This was the place where God resided.
Heavy metal doors blocked out the noisy sound of rain from the outside world.
"It seems progress is good."
Yahiko pushed the door open and entered, his gaze sweeping across the center of the room.
Three "corpses" wearing black robes with red clouds stood quietly in the shadows.
Standing on the far left was a middle-aged man with silver hair and a resolute face. That Grass Ninja Jonin, who had once tried to give his students a final lesson in the canyon, now had his eyes wide open, the purple ripples of the Rinnegan pupils lacking any focus.
He was the one in charge of Souls and intelligence—the Human Path.
The tall fellow in the middle was the high priest who had previously tricked refugees into a hunger strike. Even though he had been made into a Puppet, his face seemed to retain some of the cunning and charlatan temperament of his former life, and the faint, terrifying silhouette of the King of Hell could be seen under the black robe behind him.
The master of life, death, and resurrection—the Naraka Path.
The somewhat rounded figure on the far right was the Grass Ninja Guide who had died because of greed. His hands hung low, and his fingertips even twitched slightly, as if ready to devour all Chakra at any moment.
The one capable of absorbing Ninjutsu—the Preta Path.
"Cough, cough..."
A suppressed cough came from deep within the room.
Nagato sat on a massive mechanical Puppet chair, with a dozen black signal-receiving rods pierced directly into his back, connecting him to these new six paths of pain.
He had grown thin.
The originally well-fitting red cloud robe now looked somewhat empty, and his signature red hair had lost some of its luster.
Controlling five corpses was an incredibly heavy burden for the current Nagato. The vast life force of the Uzumaki Clan was being greedily devoured by these Rinnegan eyes like fuel.
Nagato looked up, a hint of fatigue in those Rinnegan eyes, but more so a sense of fanaticism. "Human Path, Naraka Path, Preta Path, along with Heavenly Dao and Animal Path, five of the six paths of pain have been assembled."
Yahiko walked up to Nagato. He didn't immediately check the new creations, but instead stared at Nagato's pale face.
"Can your body hold up?"
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