Chapter 16: Rain Shinobi Village
As night fell, within the Land of Fire, a poor village.
This village was located on the edge of the Land of Fire. Due to its location in a forest, transportation was inconvenient, and most people here made a living by hunting.
The village had a shop that served as a restaurant, tavern, and general store. Every night, there would be drunkards here.
In a corner of the restaurant, three men sat around a wooden table, on which simple food was placed.
"How much further?"
Su Xiao spoke. The atmosphere among the three was somewhat strange at this moment.
Kisame sat beside Su Xiao, his ninja sword Samehada placed within arm's reach, ready to swing it at Su Xiao at any moment. Itachi sat farther away from Su Xiao.
Kisame coughed dryly. He finally understood why Pain had invited Su Xiao to join. At this moment, he was less than half a meter away from Su Xiao, and that sharp sensation made him quite uncomfortable. The man beside him was like a blade that could sever his head at any moment, sharp and aggressive.
"Very soon. If we travel through the night, we'll arrive in at most eight hours."
Itachi's expression remained unchanged, but inwardly he began to suspect Su Xiao. The other party seemed very eager to join the Akatsuki. Considering his own identity as a spy, Itachi didn't bring this up.
"You seem very eager to join us?"
Kisame spoke. Although he was a rogue ninja, he was a very competent and loyal ninja. In the subsequent storyline, when Kisame was captured, the enemy wanted a perception-type ninja to extract information from his mind.
Kisame's choice at that time was admirable. He broke free from his restraints, and judging that escape was impossible, he trapped himself in a Water Prison Technique and summoned sharks to devour himself, all to avoid leaking intelligence. This kind of ruthlessness and loyalty was admirable even to his enemies.
As long as Kisame joined a certain organization and identified with it, he would never betray that organization.
"The Mist Ninja's Anbu are hunting me. Otherwise, why do you think I would go to join the Land of Iron?"
"Oh? So it seems you're joining us to avoid the pursuit of the Mist Shinobi Village."
"Yes. I have some grudges with the current Mizukage of the Mist Shinobi Village. If I have the chance, I'd very much like to kill that woman. She wants to kill me too. The Mist Ninja's Anbu have already chased me to the Land of Fire."
Hearing this information, Kisame nodded. Previously, others had also joined the Akatsuki to avoid disaster. In the eyes of outsiders, the Akatsuki organization was a war profiteer.
The Akatsuki was a mercenary organization that didn't belong to any country. They instigated small wars, then monopolized the war commissions of small countries at low prices, expanding the scale of the wars. Next, they broke the major countries' ninja system (destroying the economy) and monopolized all wars.
They had several goals in total.
First, to amass a large amount of money for future preparations.
Second, to instigate small-scale wars, gradually expanding the scale of the wars, and breaking the current system.
Third, to capture the tailed beasts, using the tailed beast weapons to conquer and unify the world, thereby bringing peace.
This was the purpose of the Akatsuki during Nagato's reign. Nagato deeply abhorred war. He knew that to end war, an even greater war needed to erupt. Only by breaking the ninja village system could there be true peace.
Nagato's ideals were quite good, but unfortunately, as long as humans exist, war will never cease.
Jealousy, hatred, discrimination, arrogance, interests—too many things are enough to provoke war.
Although war is cruel, it is an indispensable point for the progress of human civilization.
Upon learning that Su Xiao was being hunted by the Mist Ninja Anbu, Itachi and Kisame showed nothing. Over 50% of the members within the Akatsuki were being hunted by various ninja villages.
After resting for a while after the meal, the three continued their journey. Their destination was the Rain Shinobi Village in the Land of Rain, located on the border of the Land of Fire.
Although the Land of Rain and the Land of Water have similar names, they are far apart. The Rain Shinobi Village and the Mist Shinobi Village are also unrelated.
The Land of Rain was a small country where it rained all year round, said to never stop.
Of course, the rain there wouldn't stop, because it was a large-scale ninjutsu barrier. After an enemy entered the Land of Rain, once they got wet by the rain, they would be sensed.
Now, the Rain Shinobi Village was the headquarters of the Akatsuki organization. The leader of the Akatsuki, Nagato, was also the true leader of the Rain Shinobi Village.
The Akatsuki of this era was ambiguous in terms of good and evil. If one had to define it, the Akatsuki of this period was an organization that used extreme means to create future peace.
In the future, after Nagato's death, the Akatsuki fell into the hands of Uchiha Obito. The Akatsuki at that time was a true terrorist organization, acting for the will of one person.
Therefore, the Akatsuki of this period was different from the later Akatsuki. If it were the later Akatsuki organization, Su Xiao would never join.
The three traveled through the night. Because they were traveling too fast, the Mist Ninja Anbu pursuing Su Xiao could only sigh in frustration.
As for after arriving in the Land of Rain, no matter how many Mist Ninja Anbu came, they would all die.
After eight hours of travel, the sky was beginning to lighten.
Unlike the usual early morning, this morning was particularly gloomy. The sky was a mass of gray, indicating that they had already arrived within the Land of Rain.
Sporadic raindrops began to fall. As the few continued forward, the rain grew heavier and heavier.
The rain fell on Su Xiao. Pale blue electric sparks flickered, and the chakra mixed in the rain was instantly devoured.
Itachi, running ahead, turned his head. After looking at Su Xiao, he frowned. He clearly perceived that feeling of energy being devoured.
In Itachi's perception, Su Xiao had changed. It wasn't just the previous sharpness; there was now an added, inexplicable threat. The other party had a special energy within his body.
Crackle, crackle, crackle~
The ninja sword Samehada on Kisame's back vibrated, causing Kisame's expression to change.
"What's wrong?"
Itachi thought Kisame had sensed an enemy.
"It's nothing. Samehada just sensed some kind of energy. Isn't that right, Bai Ye?"
"Who knows."
Su Xiao withdrew his Cyan Steel Shadow Energy. It was just an instinctive reaction.
The barrier rain of the Rain Shinobi Village was called the "Rain Tiger at Will Technique," a jutsu of Nagato's used to sense enemies.
Now that Su Xiao was near the Rain Shinobi Village, Nagato must have sensed something.
The Rain Shinobi Village was not large in area. The buildings here were very tall, with thin, pointed tops. This was a result of the constant rainfall.
The spire-like roofs could minimize roof leakage and noise to the greatest extent, reducing maintenance costs.
The entire Rain Shinobi Village was filled with a network of metal pipes, similar to heating pipes, their specific function unknown.
"We're here. I'll take you to see the leader."
Kisame spoke. Itachi turned and walked away, his pace very slow.
"It seems your partner's health isn't very good."
Su Xiao looked at the departing Itachi. The other party's life force fluctuated between strong and weak, as if he had been overdrawing his physical energy for a long time.
"What do you mean?"
Kisame had a good relationship with Itachi; the two had similar experiences.
"Nothing. Aren't we going to see the leader?"
"Follow me."
……
In a top-floor room of a metal building dozens of meters high in the Rain Shinobi Village, the room was pitch black, with only faint breathing sounds.
"Konan."
A hoarse and weary voice called out.
The door pushed open, and a blue-haired woman entered the room.
As the woman opened the door, a sliver of light entered the room. Inside the room was an iron machine, on which stood a gaunt, pale man. The man's hands were connected to the machinery, which seemed to be a crude control device.
The man had dull red hair. Because he was so thin, his ribs were clearly visible. The most eye-catching thing was the man's back. Dozens of black iron rods were inserted into his back, with connection points behind the rods.