"Chiba Kishu, I'm here to invite you to join Akatsuki," Pain said coldly.
Hyuga Kei looked intrigued. "Akatsuki? It does sound somewhat familiar... I investigated you before. Aren't you a mercenary organization made up of rogue ninja? And now you want to recruit the leader of a ninja village?"
"That is merely an outward appearance," Pain said. "Akatsuki's power can lead the ninja world toward peace."
Hyuga Kei sat atop the steps, his interest piqued. "Peace. I haven't heard that word in a long time. So, what is your price? And what gives you the right to make me join you?"
As expected, he had become interested as soon as he heard the word peace. The man before him was also a young man who shared Akatsuki's dream, Nagato thought.
Pain continued, "You want to establish a Sixth Great Nation and protect the civilians of one region, correct?"
Pain only needed one glance at the banquet to understand Hyuga Kei's intentions. The people Kei had stationed there were all jonin, yet none of them had detected Pain and Konan's infiltration.
Killing Intent erupted from Hyuga Kei's eyes. "You know my secret. Aren't you afraid I'll kill you right now?"
Pain curled his lips into a smile, utterly unaffected by that vast Killing Intent. "You will not. We share the same dream."
"The same dream." Hyuga Kei withdrew his Killing Intent and scoffed. "What a wonderful lie. How many people have fallen beneath the weight of their dreams?"
(The author understood this deeply as an online novelist. So many writers who loved words had fallen on the road to becoming gods. Sigh~)
Pain spoke unhurriedly. "Let me tell you a story... Perhaps you'll find your own reflection in it."
Alarm bells rang in Hyuga Kei's mind. Reason told him that the