Remnants of Mist Shadow's Blood

At this moment, in the hidden base where Nagato was concealed, Konan and Deva Path Pain had already returned.

Though it was called a base, it was actually just a reasonably concealed cave, save for the fact that it contained some precision instruments.

The Deva Path currently lay quietly on a stone platform, with Nagato personally performing repair work on it, while Konan watched silently from the side.

Suddenly, she sensed a surge of memories flooding into her mind; it must have been the paper clone she had sent to communicate with Sigurd deactivating itself.

After organizing the memories, Konan confirmed this to be the case.

Noticing Konan's abnormality, Nagato asked with concern, "Konan, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, just my paper clone deactivating."

Konan shook her head and then relayed the contents of her conversation with Sigurd to Nagato.

Nagato listened silently, then pondered for a moment before asking, "Konan, what do you think of Suzaku? Is he trustworthy?"

Upon hearing this, Konan frowned and thought for a moment before replying, "That is currently unclear, but I feel he should be slightly more trustworthy than that fellow who calls himself Uchiha Madara."

Nagato nodded, indicating his agreement with Konan's assessment.

That fellow claiming to be Madara was indeed not to be trusted, but Sigurd did not seem much better.

Nagato took a deep breath and continued, "The appearance of Suzaku is indeed a mystery. Even that fellow Zetsu hasn't gathered any useful intelligence; it's as if he appeared out of thin air."

Having said this, Nagato furrowed his brows and asked again, "What arrangements have you made for his future movements?"

Konan replied immediately, "Since the organization is currently in its nascent stage, I had him go to the black market to take on missions and earn bounties."

Nagato nodded, "Hmm, that is indeed a good arrangement. With Suzaku's strength, there are few in this Ninja World who can do anything to him."

"Moreover, with Zetsu's existence, I imagine it will be quite easy to locate mission targets."

Konan nodded upon hearing this and did not continue to dwell on the topic, instead looking at Deva Path Pain and asking, "When do you intend to go and take revenge on Salamander Hanzō?"

Nagato looked at the Deva Path Pain on the stone platform with deep eyes and said softly, "Soon..."

He had already crafted five Paths of Pain; once he finished the final one, that would be the day he took his revenge on Salamander Hanzō.

Just as Nagato was buried in his work crafting the Six Paths of Pain, Sigurd had already left the Land of Rain.

He did not want to stay for even a second longer in that wretched country where it rained every single day.

He was currently flying toward the Land of Whirlpools, intending to secure the Death God Mask left behind in the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools first.

Furthermore, the geographical location of the Land of Whirlpools was quite unique, and coupled with the destruction of the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools during the Second Ninja War, it had long since become a lawless land occupied by pirates and bandits, making it very suitable for use as a temporary base.

As for the bounty hunting Konan mentioned?

Such an important job should be left to the future stingy miser Kakuzu; he would be happy to do it.

As for the issue of money, it was indeed very important, as there was a big spendthrift at home to support.

Although Tsunade could accept a job at Konoha Hospital upon returning to Konoha, it wouldn't be enough to keep her from starving.

But with the meager salary from the hospital, it was a drop in the bucket compared to her current debts.

To avoid being annoyed to death by debt collectors in the future, he decided to shoulder the heavy responsibility of making money.

Flying in the sky, Sigurd began to ponder slowly; for the current Ninja World, it was actually quite easy to make a fortune.

In fact, making money in the Ninja World was simple—one only needed to remember sixteen words: "When the enemy lacks, I have; when the enemy has, I excel; when the enemy excels, I am cheap; when the enemy is cheap, I am new."

However, before that, a large amount of startup capital was certainly indispensable.

This was simple for the current Sigurd; he only needed to sweep through the pirates and bandits occupying the Land of Whirlpools, and he would surely obtain a large sum of money.

With this money, he could start recruiting people, and he had already thought of his first business venture.

He would use the Land of Whirlpools as a base to capture high-end seafood from the surrounding waters—abalone, sea cucumber, lobster, and the like.

Then, he would transport these high-end goods to the inland countries, package them exquisitely, and sell them; he would surely make a killing.

To be honest, the people in the Naruto world generally didn't have high intelligence; just package the products casually and add a bit of marketing, and he wouldn't have to worry about no one falling for it.

Of course, once this business started making money, it would inevitably attract the jealousy of other merchants.

Therefore, upon entering the inland countries, he would first need to find a suitable backer, otherwise, the business would not last long.

And so, Sigurd began his money-making enterprise in full swing.

After about two days of flying through the air, Sigurd finally arrived at the borders of the Land of Whirlpools.

He planned to first visit the old site of the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools to see if the Death God Mask was still there.

Upon arriving, he saw that some simple, dilapidated tents and wooden huts cobbled together with planks had been set up there.

Sigurd flew in the sky, intending to first observe what was going on.

If it were just some refugees living here, Sigurd would enter in a friendly manner and give them some money to leave.

But if they were mountain bandits or the like, then he wouldn't blame Sigurd for being ruthless and preying on the predators.

Soon, Tokiju confirmed that the people here were indeed just refugees.

They were no ordinary refugees, but the remnants of a bloodline clan that had fled from the Land of Water.

In truth, the Fourth Mizukage had already been purging bloodline clans to consolidate his own power long before he fell under the control of Obito.

It was simply not as ruthless as it had become once Obito took command.

There were seven people living in the ruins of the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools: two women, four men, and one half-grown child.

Judging by their features, they all appeared to hail from the same lineage.

After a careful observation, Sigurd confirmed that two of them possessed chakra.

The older one was decent enough, at least at the level of a chunin.

The younger one, however, was quite pathetic, failing to even reach the level of a genin.

As for the child, he was still too young, and even with Sigurd's sensory perception, he could not gauge the boy's potential.

With this in mind, Sigurd quietly descended nearby and began to approach the ruins openly.

That was right; Sigurd intended to take them all under his wing.

Although he was not yet certain which bloodline clan from Kirigakure these people belonged to, since they came from the village, they were bound to have excellent affinity with water, and that was exactly the kind of talent Sigurd needed for his current business plans.