Hey, Nagato, Do You Want to Stand Up?

"Um..." Uchiha An scratched his cheek and said with a grin, "As for manpower, that's easy. I can recommend someone."

"There's a man named Kakuzu in the black market. Supposedly, he once tried to assassinate the First Hokage. He's pretty capable."

"Most importantly, he loves making money but never spends it. He must have quite a bit of savings stashed away."

"If we recruit him, we can confiscate his savings and solve the organization's current funding shortage!"

Seeing that Uchiha An was not causing trouble this time and was instead genuinely offering advice for the organization, Pain finally breathed a sigh of relief and nodded in satisfaction.

"Both the man and his money, huh?"

"Very good. We can recruit that Kakuzu later."

"Since it was your suggestion, you'll be responsible for recruiting him."

"Do you have any other candidates to recommend?"

"Others..." Uchiha An tilted his head in thought. "Deidara should only be ten now, and Hidan should be around the same age. They both joined the Akatsuki Organization years later. Or we could check on Kisame Hoshigaki, though he hasn't killed Suikazan Fuguki yet, so that might be a little early too."

"Ah!" At the mention of Kirigakure, Uchiha An's eyes suddenly lit up. He turned to Obito with a toothy grin. "Chief, Obito can have Kirigakure declare war on Konoha. I can't reveal a comrade's information, so I won't explain why. But this would be hugely beneficial to the organization—far more important than recruiting comrades."

"Hm?" Pain froze for a moment, then immediately turned to glance at Obito.

Seeing that even such secret information had been discovered, Obito grew even more wary of Uchiha An's "prophecy" ability.

But both Kirigakure and Konoha were enemies he hated. Having the two villages fight each other to the death was also something he wished to see, so he nodded and said, "Once the war begins, I will have Kirigakure declare war on Konoha."

Pain nodded after hearing this and waved a hand.

"Very good. An, your prophecy ability is indeed powerful. If you've seen any other information beneficial to the organization, speak freely."

"Is that so?" Hearing Pain say that, Uchiha An immediately smiled.

His gaze circled over Pain, and that punchable expression appeared on his face again as he said with narrowed eyes, "Hey, Nagato, do you want to stand up?"

"Nani?" Everyone who knew of Nagato's existence felt their hearts skip a beat, their expressions changing in unison.

Pain was a Human Puppet, so no expression could be seen on his face. Obito wore a mask, revealing nothing. Zetsu was a plant to begin with. But Konan's expression was obvious; one glance was enough to tell that something was wrong.

Everyone present was sharp. Though they had no idea who this Nagato Uchiha An mentioned was, Konan's expression alone told them that "Nagato" had to be another important figure.

At once, no one spoke. They merely watched Uchiha An quietly, their faces full of eager curiosity.

"Hey, Nagato, you're so badly injured that you can't even stand. Maybe one day you'll just die. That's not something I want to see."

"But what a coincidence—my left eye's Dojutsu Ability happens to replenish Life Force using Yang Release. It's perfect for you!"

"So, want me to treat you and let you get out of that wheelchair again?"

Uchiha An smiled as he urged him on relentlessly.

"Think about it. If you could appear in your Full Power State, why would you even need to recruit comrades?"

"With you alone, you could completely crush all of Konoha!"

"Then, sweeping through the Five Great Shinobi Countries in one stroke and forcibly taking the Tailed Beasts might not be impossible, right?"

He said it lightly, but no one who heard it could take that information lightly.

Orochimaru and the others were deeply shaken. They looked at one another, all wanting to know who this so-called Nagato was, how powerful he was, and why Uchiha An held him in such high regard.

Konan rose to her feet nervously and looked toward Pain, waiting only for him to make the final decision.

Pain fell silent for a while before finally speaking.

"The power of prophecy truly is terrifying! Then... did you see peace arriving?"

"Hahaha..." Uchiha An burst into laughter. "No, I didn't see peace arrive. I saw the destruction of the Ninja World! Caused by my own hands!"

"Are you satisfied with that answer?"

"Has hatred consumed your reason?" Pain shook his head regretfully. "So be it. No matter what the future brings, I will not change the direction in which I move forward."

"However, your choice is correct. Once a god descends upon the world, mortals can only submit to its arrangements."

"Come with me. I'll take you to meet Nagato."

"Everyone else, meeting adjourned!"

Under the strange gazes of the others, Uchiha An skipped after Pain toward the top of the High Tower.

At the highest floor, there was only one enormous room. When the door opened, they saw Nagato sitting upright in a wheelchair, gaunt beyond recognition, with a chaotic mess of tubes inserted into his back. They had been left there by the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path when he had summoned it years ago.

At the time, he had been too young and too weak, and the Rinnegan had not originally belonged to him.

With so many negative factors stacked against him, his legs had first been blasted repeatedly by Explosive Tags. Then he had forcibly activated the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, which had drained him savagely and nearly turned him into a dried corpse.

Even with the Uzumaki Clan's powerful recovery ability, he had never fully recovered over the years and could only get around in a wheelchair.

But things were different now. Uchiha An had arrived—their savior was here!

Pain and Konan stood on either side of Nagato, staring intently at Uchiha An, afraid that he might do something dangerous.

Uchiha An did not take offense in the slightest. He sat down cross-legged on the ground and said with a grin:

"Hey, Leader, my Dojutsu can use Yang Release to replenish your Life Force. It can definitely restore you to your former state, but you can't expect me to work for nothing, right?"

When Uchiha An immediately asked for something in return, Nagato and Konan actually felt much more at ease. After all, no one rose early without profit, and they had long been scammed into having PTSD. They did not dare swallow any bait carelessly.

"Go on. What do you want?"

"Very simple. I want revenge! I want to destroy Konoha!" Uchiha An made no attempt to hide his hatred for Konoha. "That doesn't conflict with your goals in any way. Surely you won't refuse?"

"Fine, I can agree to that. The Akatsuki Organization intends to gather all the Tailed Beasts and revive the Ten-Tails. Konoha is a target that must be defeated."

"No, not defeated—destroyed!" Uchiha An cut Nagato off. "You aren't planning to wait for Konoha to come knocking, are you?"

"The Land of Rain has recovered rather well under the Akatsuki Organization's rule over the past few years, but one war would immediately knock it back to square one."

"Konoha can fail countless times, but if the Land of Rain fails even once, it will have no future!"

"You need to take the initiative and strike at Konoha, Nagato!"

"If you want them to feel pain, then you have to wage war on their own soil!"

"In all these Ninja World Wars, Konoha has never once let its enemies reach the village. That's why those ignorant Ordinary Villagers disregard everything our Uchiha Clan has contributed to the village, and why they take their own happiness for granted!"

"Nagato, I wholeheartedly agree with your ideals. Those who have never experienced pain will never understand how precious peace is!"

"Come on, let's go to Konoha and let those ignorant fools properly experience the pain of war!"

"After their village is destroyed this time, I'm sure they'll all begin to cherish peace!"