Inside the Land of Waves, roughly a week had passed since the great bridge was completed.
Although the sea route had been completely cut off by a chain of reefs that had appeared for unknown reasons, the new bridge had restored normal transportation to the Land of Waves. Its people had finally escaped the caged existence they had been forced to endure.
To thank the Konohagakure shinobi for their selfless aid, a group of craftsmen led by Tazuna named the bridge the Team 7 Great Bridge, both as tribute to and commemoration of that ninja team.
What puzzled the people of the Land of Waves most, however, was that the chief culprit, Gato, and his many henchmen had seemingly vanished into thin air. Tazuna and the others were surprised and delighted in equal measure. They had no intention of digging into the real reason behind Gato's disappearance; as long as the scoundrel was gone from the Land of Waves, that was good enough for them.
"Ah~ so this is the Land of Waves. Hmm. Looks... so-so, I guess."
Deidara mumbled his opinion around a skewer of dango. As one of the Figure factory's Senior Advisors, he had come here to teach the newly hired workers the production process for Clay Figures as thoroughly as possible.
"Easy for you to say. We spent more than a week working our asses off to get this country under control. You'd better make sure those Figures of yours bring in some money."
Across from him, Kakuzu folded his arms as he spoke. Deidara's assessment of the Land of Waves had clearly rubbed him the wrong way.
"Exactly~ We killed people and built reefs. It was exhausting, you know~ If you two art freaks can't turn a profit, don't blame us."
Hidan, sitting to one side, chimed in with Kakuzu almost in perfect sync. The people gathered here were, remarkably, the entire current roster of Akatsuki. Even more unusually, they were not meeting in some underground chamber, but in a private room at a hotel in the Capital of the Land of Waves.
Strictly speaking, this was probably Akatsuki's first proper company dinner with everyone in attendance.
"The two teams assigned to this operation have worked hard. But judging by the geography, the effort was worth it."
Pain (Deva Path), seated at the head of the room, spoke in a flat voice. Now that the Land of Waves had been chosen as the site of Akatsuki's Figure factory, it was only natural for the Leader to inspect it in person. The result satisfied him. Just as Kakuzu had reported, the region had little contact with any major power or Major Hidden Villages, its location was remote, and at present the Team 7 Great Bridge was its only link to the outside world. That made it extremely easy to control.
Ordinarily, a country like this would be too resource-poor to serve as an ideal base. But supplying a Figure factory was another matter entirely. The materials it needed were nothing more than readily available things like Clay, Bamboo, and Fish glue, all of which the Land of Waves itself could provide.
In other words, there could hardly be a more suitable country for a Figure factory.
"Indeed. Since there is so little contact with the great nations and Major Hidden Villages, even the factory's taxes can be kept at an acceptable level."
Hoshigaki Kisame lifted the Sake bowl in front of him and took a sip before adding his explanation at the right moment. As one of the people who had directly participated in the 'construction' of the Land of Waves, he certainly had the right to weigh in.
"Exactly. Then... where is Suigintou?"
Pain asked calmly. There was another reason he had come here: Zetsu's report that Kakuzu and the others had not carried out his orders without question as they usually did, and instead intended to wait for Suigintou's instructions.
There was no question that this was a challenge to his authority worth taking seriously. Pain did not believe Kakuzu and the others intended to betray Akatsuki, but the fact that they had only partially obeyed his orders forced him to take the matter into account.
After all, Akatsuki's membership was inherently loose-knit.
Sasori and Deidara hardly needed explaining; those two were here in pursuit of their personal art. Kakuzu and Hidan, meanwhile, were motivated by money and personal faith. As for Uchiha Itachi, no matter how obedient he appeared, the fact remained that his reason for joining Akatsuki was his younger brother.
The remaining Hoshigaki Kisame and Zetsu were both pieces directly subordinate to Uchiha Madara. And Orochimaru, who had defected long ago, was even less reliable.
Within Akatsuki, the only person Pain could truly trust was Konan.
That was why, even as Leader, Pain had to handle matters carefully. His strength was unrivaled within Akatsuki, but its current members were all exceptionally capable. Pain was not the kind of incompetent leader who executed a subordinate the moment they disagreed with him.
Besides, as Nagato's proxy, Pain was no petty man who envied the talented. Even though he himself had already fallen into darkness, he would not casually turn on allies who still stood on the same side.
"The message said she would meet us today. She should be here soon."
Konan answered Pain in her usual calm tone. She plainly had no concern about the meeting.
Meanwhile, Konohagakure was rather noisy that day.
The reason was simple. In a wooded area about half a kilometer outside Konohagakure, a tract of land roughly the size of a small market had already been cleared. Building the district had put considerable strain on the village's manpower and resources lately, but wages and benefits were generous. The villagers, hard at work, had no complaints. If anything, they were grateful for the initiative. Jobs were not exactly easy to come by.
This was, of course, the so-called Akihabara. Shimura Danzo's influence with Sarutobi Hiruzen (Third Hokage) had indeed proven useful. Construction had begun almost the very next day. Shinobi selected a site positioned so it could support Konohagakure from the flank, then the rush work began.
Ninjutsu rapidly reshaped the trees and terrain within the district, but ordinary buildings could not be treated so casually. They could hardly make everyone live in basements raised with Earth Release. The craftsmen of Konohagakure were therefore assigned the straightforward job of building houses, processing the available lumber and raising one marked structure after another on foundations sectioned out by Earth Release.
"The main streets and buildings intended for exhibitions are expected to be completed in five days. The residential structures that follow will be improved in stages over the next three months."
Kneeling respectfully before Hinata, a female ANBU with beautiful purple hair delivered the report. Hinata, resting her head on one hand with her eyes closed, replied calmly, "Good. What about the craftsmen's wages and meals?"
"Wages are settled at the end of each day. Meals are prepared by dedicated cooks according to the exact headcount, ensuring there are no oversights."
The purple-haired ANBU's voice was composed and upright. It was obvious, however, that she was not one of Shimura Danzo's Root shinobi, but an ANBU directly subordinate to the Hokage.
That made the arrangement rather interesting. Sarutobi Hiruzen (Third Hokage) had clearly handed Shimura Danzo the authority to operate Akihabara, yet he had also assigned his own ANBU to supervise and manage construction progress. Plainly, he intended to keep a close watch on everything happening in Akihabara in case Shimura Danzo tried anything behind his back.
"Good. Maintain the current standard. Akihabara will become an important pillar of Konohagakure's economy, and one day all of you will see that with your own eyes. So~ for now, I ask everyone to keep working hard."
Hinata straightened and picked up the teacup beside her. The purple-haired ANBU respectfully answered, "Hai," then withdrew without a sound.
"Honestly... two old fossils fighting a proxy war and using me as the buffer zone?"
Setting down her teacup, Hinata shook her head and opened a box beside her. She took out a set of clothes, picked up the needle and thread inside with practiced ease, and carefully began sewing the final portion.
Despite outwardly preferring peace and quiet, Hinata had several strange hobbies and talents. Sewing clothes was one of them.
Her mood was also clearly excellent, which was why she could indulge in that knowingly pointless bit of muttering. She had spent five days sewing this outfit. After attaching the final fabric flower, Hinata smiled, set down her needle and thread, and nodded in satisfaction. "Finished~ Then it's time to deliver the clothes to her."
Rising to her feet, Hinata instinctively activated her Byakugan. Once she had confirmed that everything around her was within her field of observation, she opened the hatch to the basement beneath her room and entered the sealed space that belonged to her alone.
"Sorry the clothes took a while. In a world crawling with spies and cursed with nothing but Japanese-style aesthetics, I had no choice but to make yours entirely by hand. Even someone noticing something unusual about the clothes could bring trouble down on me."
Holding the complete outfit in her arms, Hinata looked gently at the figure lying on the bed. Without question, this was the being she had 'made.'
Senju Hashirama's cells, Haku's body, and Hinata's own blood: through the forbidden Chimera Technique, those three things had fused into an entirely new and exquisitely refined form.
The original black hair had become pure silver-white, like moonlight. The body's proportions also seemed to have shrunk somewhat, perhaps because the cellular fusion had consumed part of its energy. The eyes, likely as a side effect of the forbidden technique, had turned an uncanny pinkish violet. Hinata could not yet be certain whether this body had inherited her Byakugan, but the vast, surging chakra inside it was undeniable. Without question, this was the overwhelming advantage granted by Senju Hashirama's Sage Body.
"All right, get up and get dressed. It's time for us to go to the Land of Waves and meet Pain."
Lying down beside the newborn body, Hinata lightly kissed its cheek, then closed her own eyes. The Soul Transfer Technique activated. The new body slowly opened its bewitching pink-violet eyes and sat up.
A black Gothic dress, knee-high boots, and a rose-shaped headband were placed onto the newborn body one piece at a time, looking almost as though they had been born with it. As Hinata felt the seemingly inexhaustible chakra within this body, her spirits soared with it. Such emotional extremes were exceedingly rare for her.
"Perfect... absolutely perfect. Just as I thought, the compatibility between this body and me is beyond imagination."
Flexing her fingers slightly, Hinata could clearly feel everything within this body. Perhaps because her own blood had been included, it lacked every trace of the sluggishness she had felt in the previous body. In both agility and sensory perception, it was even superior to Hinata's original body, as though she could sense the slightest movement around her.
"So this is what a Sage Body feels like? It really lives up to its name. Then... next should be..."
As Hinata drew a soft breath, the surrounding air abruptly began to cool. Crystalline snowflakes appeared rapidly in the air as though summoned by the body itself, then gathered into an Ice Mirror that reflected the image of 'Suigintou' with perfect clarity.
This was the power contained in Haku's body: Ice Release (Hyoton), the Kekkei Genkai capable of freely turning moisture into frost and ice, then controlling it at will.
And that was not all. The corners of Hinata's smooth eyes twitched. Veins bulged at her temples just as they did when the Byakugan activated, and her uncanny pink-violet eyes suddenly gained the Byakugan's field of vision. There was no doubt about it: the Byakugan Kekkei Genkai had been inherited as well. Her irises were no longer pure white, but its power undeniably remained.
Still, considering that little brat Uzumaki Boruto also had a blue-eyed Byakugan, this variation was perfectly acceptable.
"What a 3S jackpot~ Sage Body, Ice Release, Byakugan—I got all of them. Now this is the real Suigintou!"
Hinata stretched in the body that was currently hers and breathed softly. The chakra within obeyed her will with perfect docility. Snowflakes around her seemed to answer an invisible pull, rapidly gathering behind her back before forming a pair of broad, translucent Ice Wings.
This was the Byakugan bloodline's true aid to the human body: the ability to release and control chakra freely from every chakra point across the entire body.
"Then the finest formalwear is ready. We should head out as well and meet that precious partner of ours."
Facing her reflection in the mirror, Hinata dipped slightly and performed a graceful curtsy, holding the hem of her skirt. The pale-eyed girl's voice carried an emotion that was impossible to conceal, yet equally impossible to name.
"Do your best~ Suigintou."