The Transformed Land of Rain

The Team 7, posing as ninjas on a routine mission, entered the Land of Rain. Their real mission, however, was to investigate the extent of Konoha's infiltration of the Land of Rain after the Ninja World regained peace. Additionally, Yichen had gathered some intelligence regarding rogue missing-nin from Iwagakure had recently appeared in the Land of Rain. If they encountered any, they could deal with them as well.

Since the death of White Fang, Konoha has been in constant turmoil. Its borders were ravaged by the Four Great Nations. Although things have stabilized now, its strength has undoubtedly been greatly diminished. Therefore, its infiltration into the Land of Rain will inevitably have to be reduced.

Yichen's mission is to reassess the village and determine whether the Land of Rain is suitable for Iwagakure to intervene.

Yichen did not want the Iwagakure to interfere in the Land of Rain. Rinnegan Nagato, would soon become the strongest force in the Ninja World, and Yichen did not want the Iwagakure to become enemies with Nagato. Therefore, Yichen came this time with the purpose of dissuading the village from interfering in the Land of Rain.

This mission will be difficult to complete. After all, Konoha's strength has been greatly weakened, and Hanzo has lost control of the Land of Rain. If they don't seize this opportunity, how can Iwa ninja expand their territory and try to take food from Konoha's plate?

To be honest, it was Yichen who informed the higher-ups about Hanzo's matter. Originally, the village had no designs on the Land of Rain; it was Yichen who stirred up those ideas. They had to deal with the trouble they had brought upon themselves.

Upon re-entering the Land of Rain, Yichen discovered that it had changed drastically since Land of Rain last visit. Large numbers of refugees were now rare, with only a small number heading towards Land of Rain. After inquiring, Yichen learned they were going to a refugee resettlement center.

The fear of uncertainty and the hopeless desolation that Yi Chen had witnessed before were gone. The common people of the Land of Rain that Yichen saw were still living in dire straits, but hope could be seen on their faces.

Although he didn't interact with these civilians, Yichen knew it was all thanks to the Akatsuki Organization, because he had heard the Akatsuki Organization name from these civilians more than once.

Phew, it seems Yahiko really did a good job.

Yichen was a thoughtful person. He carefully observed the details of the lives of ordinary people in the Land of Rain along the way, and he was also judging in his heart whether they could really live a good life without external interference.

However, the answer wasn't entirely certain, because Yichen gleaned from their conversation that even if everything went according to the best plan, the so-called good life they could live would only amount to basic sustenance. Considering factors such as the Daimyo's withdrawal of power and the instability of the Ninja World, even this basic sustenance would be difficult to achieve.

It's much better than when we were displaced before.

After gathering enough clues, Yichen began communicating with the civilians to inquire about the Akatsuki Organization. However, because Yichen was dressed as an Iwa ninja, the civilians of the Land of Rain were unwilling to get too close to him.

However, Yichen didn't expect them to give him any information. Instead, he wanted to deliberately expose himself in this way so that the Akatsuki Organization members would come looking for him.

The Akatsuki Organization's influence in the Land of Rain was greater than Yichen had imagined. The common people, needless to say, were given a new lease on life by the Akatsuki Organization, and naturally supported them. Even the ninjas, with their emotions and self-awareness, considered who was truly acting in the best interests of the country. Therefore, the Akatsuki Organization's growth was extremely rapid. Not only were they successful in recruiting and training children from the common people, but many other similar Akatsuki Organization, large and small, had also merged into them.

In addition, the Akatsuki Organization also had many supporters within Amegakure.

The reason why the Land of Rain can maintain its current status quo is mainly due to two factors. First, Hanzo's reputation as Hanzo still exists, and no one in the Land of Rain believes that anyone can Hanzo him. Even those who choose to join the Akatsuki Organization do not believe that anyone within the Akatsuki Organization can match Hanzo.

Another reason is that the three founders of Akatsuki Organization were not ambitious people; they were still in the ideal stage and had never thought about seizing control of Amegakure.

Therefore, the news of an Iwa ninja gathering intelligence on the Akatsuki Organization quickly reached the Akatsuki Organization's higher-ups, namely Yahiko and his two companions. It didn't take Yahiko and his companions long to confirm Yichen's identity from the scout's description of Yichen's appearance.

In the eyes of the three, Yichen was the only ninja from a major power who shared their ideals. So even though they hadn't seen Yichen for a long time, they would still mention Yichen from time to time when they chatted.

Therefore, upon learning of Yichen's whereabouts, the three of them immediately decided to go and see Yichen.

Yichen was both surprised and unsurprised by the arrival of the three. He was surprised because these three, as leaders of a large organization like Akatsuki Organization, showed no suspicion whatsoever when meeting an outsider like himself. He was unsurprised because Yichen knew these three were completely oblivious to the treacherous nature of human hearts.

Yichen gestured to his three subordinates to indicate that they were alright, and then walked up to Yahiko and the other two alone.

In reality, the two sides had only been separated for about half a year, but in those six months, Yichen's strength had improved by leaps and bounds, making it feel like a long time had passed. As for Yahiko and the other two, time also seemed to fly by due to the rapid development of the Akatsuki Organization's power.

So the first reaction of the two main characters upon meeting was, "Everyone is still the same as before, that's great."

Yahiko, with his boisterous personality, was the first to speak, "Yichen, it's been a long time! You've finally come to see us in the Land of Rain."

Yichen smiled and said, "Yahiko, Nagato, Konan, you guys are amazing. This time when I entered the Land of Rain, the Land of Rain I saw was completely different from before. Everyone is talking about your achievements and thanking you for your contributions. Your efforts have been very successful, which has strengthened my confidence that peace will come one day."

Yahiko was very happy, and Nagato and Konan were also very happy. It was a very joyful thing to gain the approval of like-minded friends.

Then Yichen took out the silver he had prepared beforehand, amounting to over ten million taels, which was most of his accumulated wealth over the past few days. Yichen handed the silver to Yahiko and said, "Don't refuse. This is for our shared ideal. Although I can't participate directly, I want to do my part in this way."

Just as Yahiko and the other two were about to decline, Yichen cut them off. Their organization was expanding rapidly and was desperately short of money. In addition, the organization had increased its expenses to take care of civilians, which made them even more desperate for money. So Yahiko first scratched his head awkwardly, and then accepted the money.

After accepting the money, the atmosphere among the four became even more harmonious. They chatted as they followed behind the escorting caravan.

Listening to Yahiko recount the rapid development of Akatsuki Organization after their separation, Yichen was somewhat puzzled. In the original story, when Akatsuki Organization was targeted by Danzo and Hanzo, Yahiko and the other two had already grown up, which should have been around the time of the Third Shinobi War.

In other words, the Akatsuki Organization has been safe in recent years. That makes it strange that Hanzo has tolerated the Akatsuki Organization, which is so large and has the support of the common people, to grow so unchecked.

However, Yichen didn't remind Yahiko and the others, because there was still a long time before the two sides turned against each other. Considering his own butterfly effect, Yichen wasn't sure how the story would develop. What if Hanzo backed down? Wouldn't he then be seen as a villain who sowed discord?

Furthermore, his current persona is that of an idealist like Yahiko and the other two; if he were to spout off a bunch of conspiracies all the time, wouldn't that be self-destructive?

The four of them then mainly talked about the changes in the lives of ordinary people in the Land of Rain, and Yahiko's vision for the future.

As he listened, Yichen suddenly spoke up, "Yahiko, in your vision, what kind of life will the common people of the Land of Rain ultimately lead?"

Yahiko was taken aback, somewhat confused about what Yichen was talking about.

Looking at Yahiko's expression, and then at Nagato and Konan, Yichen slowly said, "I've been in the Land of Rain for a while now, and during that time, I've carefully calculated the possible future living conditions of the common people in the Land of Rain."

"The Land of Rain is developing very well right now, but its limits are also there; at most, it can only recover to its pre -Second Shinobi War state."

" In the Land of Rain before Second Shinobi War, people were able to survive, but they were not happy. They couldn't guarantee they would have enough to eat every day, nor could they guarantee they wouldn't freeze in the winter."

"If the Land of Rain doesn't forge a new path, then even if it stays away from war, it will only be barely surviving in this world."

"In fact, the common people of the Land of Rain all know this outcome. It's just that they have experienced war before and know that although their current life and future life are not ideal, they are still much, much better than the war."

"So they are all content now and don't have any excessive demands. But... if this status quo continues, what will they think once they get used to the current peaceful state? Or when their next generation grows up, will these children who have forgotten the pain of war still be dissatisfied with life?"

Yahiko's expression froze, and he began to ponder. He first considered what Yichen had said and realized it was true. Although the Akatsuki Organization had been trying to help the civilians, they hadn't fundamentally changed their way of life. Then Yahiko thought about whether there was any way to change this situation, but the result was disheartening. As an idealist, Yahiko couldn't bring himself to find a way out for the Land of Rain.

Then Yahiko looked at his two companions, only to see the same blankness on their faces, even though their experiences weren't enough for them to come up with any good solutions.

Then the three of them looked hopefully at Yichen.

Yichen smiled and said, "Don't be discouraged. Actually, you've already discovered the problem and are working on solving it, but the way you've solved it isn't quite right."

Yahiko and the other two looked completely innocent. They had discovered the problem themselves? They were working on solving it? How come they didn't know?

Yichen smiled and said, "Think about it, when you were resettling civilians before, didn't you encounter situations where some supplies were scarce and others were plentiful? And what did you do then?"

Without hesitation, Yahiko replied, "Yes, there have been many times. Actually, after settling the civilians, we teach them survival skills such as hunting and fishing. However, the resources vary from place to place, so the situation you described still occurs frequently. Our solution is to allow the resettlement sites in different locations to exchange goods, so that everyone can get what they need."