Akatsuki hideout.
"...The Three-Tails' revival location has been locked down. Kakuzu, Hidan, Itachi, Kisame, you guys go and capture it."
The ninja world is unstable, and Pain doesn't want any other changes to happen in the middle. He sent four Akatsuki members in one go, hoping to fire the first shot in the Tailed Beast Capture Plan well.
Uchiha Itachi and Kisame nodded, accepting the mission. Pain looked at Kakuzu, only to see him raise his hand.
"Pain, send someone else this time. I have other requests."
As soon as this was said, the eyes of all Akatsuki members turned to him, with different expressions.
Other requests?
Pain had made it clear some time ago, asking everyone to put down all their work.
Akatsuki will no longer accept war requests, and they personally should not take on side jobs. Money will be supported by the financial groups of the Five Great Nations. All of Akatsuki's focus is on the "Tailed Beast Capture Plan."
"Don't look at me like that."
Feeling everyone's gaze, Kakuzu said calmly, "It's a financial group contacting me privately with a request."
Don't think Kakuzu is all business with everyone, looking like a zombie with no emotions. In fact, he's the oldest one here. He understands the world and people better than anyone.
The financial group gave Akatsuki a lot of money to fund their Tailed Beast Capture Plan.
Now that the client has a small problem and is asking them for help privately, Kakuzu can't say "Sorry, that's not in the contract, we don't care," right?
Pain gave Kakuzu a deep look:
"I understand. Deidara, Sasori, you replace Kakuzu and Hidan to carry out this Three-Tails capture operation."
With the arrangements made, the projections of the Akatsuki members disappeared.
Konan came behind Pain: "I found out that it's the financial groups of the Land of Water and the Land of Fire contacting Kakuzu. But why don't they contact you directly, and instead contact Kakuzu privately?"
"Because of you."
"Me?"
"That's right, because you listened to Linto's beliefs. Do you know? Now the outside world is saying that Linto is not human at all. He's a devil from hell with the ability to tempt people."
Konan chuckled: "This is just a rumor—"
She stopped suddenly.
She realized, "Are you saying that the financial groups of the Land of Water and the Land of Fire are asking Kakuzu and Hidan to deal with Linto?!"
Pain walked step by step to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, looking up at this frozen monster.
"Who knows, it's just my guess."
Linto's ideas are spreading to major countries. The Land of Water and the Land of Fire are spreading the fastest. "Followers" of Linto are gradually appearing in various regions.
In the companies subordinate to the financial groups of these two countries, workers are demanding rest, asking for wage increases, and even small-scale strikes broke out some time ago.
Currently, these are only small individual cases, but anyone who isn't blind can see that this is a storm about to sweep the country. A tempting ghost is wandering the world.
Pain stood with his hands behind his back: "They probably can't hold back anymore."
Konan naturally understood who Pain was talking about.
"Then you're still letting Kakuzu and Hidan go... to die?"
"Kakuzu has close ties with the financial groups, and Hidan has a blood feud with Linto. If I don't let them go, will they not go?"
Akatsuki can bring together a group of villains not only because it can become a shelter for everyone, but more importantly, joining Akatsuki allows them to better "be themselves" than acting alone.
"Also, it's not necessarily a death wish. Don't underestimate the power of 'money,' and don't underestimate the families and financial groups that have existed for hundreds of years. And..."
Pain remembered the Daimyo's head held high in Kirigakure.
"I also want to see if Linto's fantasy can compete with the cruelty of reality."
...
There weren't many people leaving for Kyoto this time. Leaving aside some Kirigakure administrative staff who needed to connect with Kyoto officials, the core members were only four and a half people:
Linto, Terumi Mei, Kambara Hayato, and Zabuza.
As for the remaining "half person," it was Chojuro, who had just graduated from the ninja academy.
Originally, Sasuke and Little Momo also wanted to go and see what a big city was like.
However, after the Sunagakure Village teaching team left, there weren't enough people left in Kirigakure. After discussion, Sasuke and Little Momo decided to stay and help with the evening small classes and take care of Amber, who was undergoing rehabilitation.
"Brother Shou! Be sure to bring back good food and interesting things for us!"
Sasuke and Little Momo said eagerly.
Linto agreed readily, waved goodbye to everyone, and set off on the journey.
With Linto and the others' speed, they could reach Kyoto in less than three days if they ran at full speed.
But they also had to consider dozens of administrative staff and a large number of documents and items that couldn't even fit in the ghost's room.
They could only travel slowly by carriage and boat.
Fortunately, the Water Garden Festival was a month away, so even if they were slow, they could arrive in Kyoto before the festival started.
As for food, clothing, and living expenses along the way... a wooden box printed with the Oda family's Aoi crest was the best pass, and the towns and villages they passed through would fully cooperate with their progress.
"This is 'absolute power.'"
Linto rode on his horse, hooves clattering.
Terumi Mei turned her head and looked at him: "Don't like it?"
Linto shook his head: "I just thought of someone."
Terumi Mei was stunned for half a second before realizing: "Are you talking about... County Chief Morimura?"
"Yes."
Back then, County Chief Morimura squeezed the people for their wealth, imposing heavy taxes everywhere. Everything he did was to please the Daimyo. He was like a mountain, pressing down on the heads of the civilians in his jurisdiction.
Now, a small wooden box is enough to make countless County Chief Morimuras bow and scrape.
This contrast made Linto feel absurd.
When absolute power is in the hands of a wise ruler, it is a peaceful and prosperous age.
When it's in the hands of a foolish ruler, it's a living hell.
While thinking, a can of iced green tea was pressed against Linto's face. He turned his head to see Terumi Mei grinning, tilting her head slightly, and leaning over to whisper:
"So, we're going to change it together."
"Since the world's evil has no infinity, we will ProtectInfinity for the world."
Linto met her gaze. Terumi Mei's bright eyes flashed with an unpredictable light, like the bright moon gently swaying in the bottom of a well.
He quietly watched the moonlight until he was interrupted by an exclamation.
"Lord Linto! Mizukage-sama! Something's not right, we..."
Chojuro jumped off the carriage, holding a map and jogging over:
"We seem to be lost!"
Lost?
Linto looked around.
Indeed, the fog around them had been gradually increasing since about ten minutes ago, and the current visibility was less than ten meters.
But what kind of fog could make a group of ninjas who lived in Kirigakure year-round get lost?
Linto flew into the sky, escaping the range of the fog, and looked down from above.
He saw a large area of thick fog covering a range of several kilometers, with a misty vapor pervading the air, and the sunlight falling on it, with constantly changing seven-color hues, like a dream.
A town was buried in the fog, and only an outline could be vaguely seen.
Linto returned to the ground.
"Something's not right. Let's go to the county town and take a look."
"But... how do we get there?" Chojuro took out a compass and said, "This fog seems to have the ability to confuse directions."
"Then we don't need a sense of direction... hold on tight."
"Huh?"
Linto waved his hand, and ripples rolled with natural power, gathering into a straight gale, sweeping from behind, tearing through the fog, rushing forward like thousands of troops.
The carriages and ninjas shook constantly in the gale. After a few seconds, the gale dissipated, and a prosperous county town was at the end of the line of sight.
Chojuro's mouth was half-open, understanding—
Since they could see it, a sense of direction was naturally not needed.
"Let's go."
Linto reminded, shaking the reins, and riding his horse towards the county town.
---
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