By now, Konan and Deva Path Pain had already returned to Nagato's hidden base.
But calling it a base was a bit much. It was just a fairly secluded cave, though it did contain some sophisticated equipment.
Deva Path Pain lay motionless on a stone platform. Nagato was personally repairing him while Konan watched in silence from the side.
Suddenly, Konan sensed a flood of memories entering her mind. It must have been the Paper Clone she'd sent to speak with Sigurd, dismissing itself.
After sorting through the memories, Konan confirmed that was what had happened.
Noticing something was off, Nagato asked with concern, "Konan, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. My Paper Clone just dismissed itself."
Konan shook her head, then told Nagato everything she and Sigurd had discussed.
Nagato listened in silence. After mulling it over for a moment, he asked, "Konan, what do you think of Suzaku? Is he trustworthy?"
Konan furrowed her brow and thought it over before answering, "I can't say for sure yet, but I think he's a little more trustworthy than the man who calls himself Uchiha Madara."
Nagato nodded, agreeing with her assessment.
The man who called himself Madara certainly wasn't trustworthy, but Sigurd didn't seem much better.
Nagato drew a deep breath and continued, "Suzaku's appearance really is a mystery. Even Zetsu hasn't managed to gather any useful information about him. It's as if he appeared out of nowhere."
He frowned, then asked, "What have you arranged for him to do next?"
Konan answered at once, "The organization is still in its early stages, so I sent him to the black market to take jobs and earn bounties."
Nagato nodded. "That's a good plan. With Suzaku's strength, there aren't many people in the Ninja World who can handle him."
"And with Zetsu around, finding the targets should be easy enough."
Konan nodded and didn't pursue the subject. Instead, she looked toward Deva Path Pain and asked, "When are you planning to go after Salamander Hanzō for revenge?"
Nagato gazed deep into Deva Path Pain's eyes on the stone platform and replied softly, "Soon..."
He had already made five bodies for Pain. Once he finished the last one, the day of his revenge against Salamander Hanzō would come.
While Nagato worked away on the Six Paths of Pain, Sigurd had already left the Land of Rain.
He couldn't stand another moment in that miserable country where it rained every day.
He was flying toward the Land of Whirlpools. First, he wanted to claim the Death God Mask left behind in the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools.
The Land of Whirlpools also occupied a uniquely strategic location. On top of that, the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools had been destroyed during the Second Ninja War.
As a result, the Land of Whirlpools had become ownerless territory, with pirates and bandits holding sway. It was an ideal place for a temporary base.
As for Konan's suggestion that he earn money through bounty jobs?
He'd leave that important work to Kakuzu, the stingy black-faced miser of the future. He was welcome to it.
Money was important, all right. He still had a big spender to support back home.
Once they returned to Konoha, Tsunade could take a job at Konoha Hospital, so she wouldn't starve.
But the hospital's paltry salary would be a drop in the bucket—or scarcely more than a cup of water in a dry riverbed—compared to her current debts.
To avoid being harassed by debt collectors, he decided he'd have to take on the burden of making money.
As Sigurd flew through the sky, he began to think things over. In the Ninja World as it stood, making a fortune was easy.
Making money in the Ninja World was simple. All you had to remember were these sixteen words: "What others lack, we have; what others have, we improve; what others improve, we undercut; what others undercut, we innovate."
Of course, he'd still need a substantial amount of startup capital first.
That would be easy enough. He just had to sweep through the pirates and bandits occupying the Land of Whirlpools. He was sure to come away with a fortune.
With that money, he could start hiring people. He already had his first business venture in mind.
He'd use the Land of Whirlpools as his base and harvest premium seafood from the surrounding waters—abalone, sea cucumber, lobster, and the like.
Then he'd ship it all to the inland countries, package it beautifully, and sell it at a hefty profit.
Honestly, people in the Naruto world weren't very smart in general. A little fancy packaging and a couple of ads would be enough to fool plenty of them.
Of course, once the business started making money, other merchants would get jealous.
So once he entered the inland countries, he'd need to find a suitable patron first. Otherwise, the business wouldn't last.
And so, Sigurd threw himself into his ambitious moneymaking venture.
After about two days of flying, Sigurd finally reached the Land of Whirlpools.
He planned to check the ruins of the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools first and see whether the Death God Mask was still there.
When he arrived, he was surprised to find a few shabby tents and some wooden huts hastily pieced together from planks.
Sigurd hovered overhead, planning to see what was going on.
If the people living there were just refugees, he'd approach them peacefully, give them some money, and ask them to leave.
But if they were bandits or the like, he'd show no mercy and rob them blind.
Tokiju quickly confirmed that the people there were indeed refugees.
But they weren't ordinary refugees. They were survivors of a bloodline clan who had fled the Land of Water.
Even before the Fourth Mizukage was controlled by Obito, he had already been purging bloodline clans to consolidate his position.
He just hadn't been as ruthless as he became after Obito took control of him.
Seven people lived at the old site of the Village Hidden in the Whirlpools: two women, four men, and a child who was a little older.
Judging by their appearances, they all seemed to be from the same family.
After watching them carefully, Sigurd confirmed that two of them had chakra.
One was an older person with decent abilities, at least at the level of a Chunin.
The other was younger and rather pathetic, not even reaching the level of a Genin.
As for the child, they were still too young for Sigurd to gauge their abilities with his sensory skills.
With that in mind, Sigurd quietly landed some distance away and approached the ruins.
That's right. He planned to recruit all of them.
He still wasn't sure which bloodline clan from Kirigakure they belonged to.
But since they came from Kirigakure, they were probably all good swimmers. That was exactly the kind of talent his business plan needed.
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