Rebuilding Akatsuki

The Land of Rain.

At the top of the Central Tower, a wall was abruptly smashed from the inside, and scattered fragments flew everywhere, attracting the attention of many Rain Ninja.

Everyone drew their weapons and gathered towards the Central Tower, preparing to fight the unknown enemy.

But before he even arrived, Pain's voice rang in everyone's ears.

"It's nothing, I was just testing Ninjutsu. Go back to your own business."

The Rain Ninja looked at each other, then silently put away their weapons and returned to their posts.

Although the Land of Rain is currently "peaceful and tranquil," none of them can forget the atrocities Pain committed to achieve this peace and tranquility.

Anyone connected to Hanzo, whether man, woman, old or child, was exterminated; even houses were burned to the ground.

Such cruelty terrified even these ninjas.

Therefore, they feared Pain more than they respected him, and they didn't even have the courage to question his orders.

Inside the tower.

The initial tension had subsided. Watching the retreating Rain Ninja beneath the tower, the masked man nonchalantly turned his back to the enemy.

"It seems they're all afraid of you; not a single person has raised any questions?"

Whether these words were sarcastic or complimentary, Konan felt an urge to launch another attack.

But Pain's hand was already on Konan's shoulder, stopping Konan from taking any further action.

The previous probing has proven that ordinary attacks are ineffective against the masked man before them.

Besides, this is Amegakure, and it's not appropriate to make too much of a commotion before we understand the other party's intentions.

It's not worth it!

Pain stepped forward, shielding Konan behind him, his indifferent gaze sweeping over the masked man.

Sharingan? Uchiha? You're not from Konoha, are you?

"Konoha— " the masked man uttered a hoarse, mocking voice, "You can call me Madara Uchiha, but I am not Konoha ninja."

"Uchiha Madara?"

Pain's frozen face revealed little emotion, but Konan's face was filled with astonishment.

Madara Uchiha's reputation remains legendary even after so many years.

But----

"Wasn't Madara Uchiha long ago? You're pretending to be a dead man to deceive us, is this your sincerity?"

"Death? That's just an illusion. The Sharingan has countless secret techniques; this is merely one of them."

Obito spoke with considerable pride. Unlike the real Madara, he had never personally experienced the Rinnegan, yet he was still inexplicably proud of Sharingan.

"Whether you are Madara Uchiha or not, we should have never met before. What brings you here uninvited?"

"Of course I'm here for your ideals."

Obito took a step forward, ignoring Pain and Konan's wary stance, and opened his arms to state his purpose.

"World peace is not only your ideal, but also mine."

"I once joined forces with Hashirama because of it, ending the Warring States Period and establishing the current system of One Country, One Village. But I later discovered that this system is not perfect, so I left Konoha."

"The current reality has proven my judgment. The war has not only not stopped, but has intensified. Every now and then, a major war involving the entire Ninja World breaks out."

Pain raised his hand, directly interrupting Obito's narration.

"You're right, and facts have proven that your ideas are wrong. So, as a loser, what right do you have to talk to me about ideals now?"

Pain was extremely blunt, showing no mercy to the masked man, practically saying that losers were not worthy of cooperating with him.

"Don't think I can't do anything to you just because you dodged our attack. That was just to minimize the losses for Amegakure."

"That's Space-Time Ninjutsu, isn't it? Your main body hides in another dimension, leaving a phantom image in place, but that can't escape my eyes."

Obito paused, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu. He glanced at the purple Rinnegan, unsure whether Pain was bluffing him.

But oh my god, those should have been his eyes!

"Strength is only one part of cooperation; my true sincerity lies in how to achieve a peace plan."

"Oh!"

This was unexpected for Pain. He was not lacking in strength; having the Rinnegan, he knew the true potential of those eyes.

But he really didn't have any concrete plans on how to achieve peace.

His experience governing Amegakure had already made him realize the difficulties involved; if this were extended to the entire Ninja World, the difficulty would increase exponentially.

"Pain, be careful of their deception," Konan whispered in Pain's ear.

Pain nodded almost imperceptibly, and his hostility lessened somewhat when he looked at the masked man.

"I'm interested in your plan. Tell me about it. If it's feasible, cooperation is not out of the question."

Iwagakure's lips curled slightly beneath his mask as he thought to himself, "I've been tricked."

He straightened his unwrinkled robes, pointed at Pain's Rinnegan, and began the pre-prepared rhetoric.

"How much do you know about the Rinnegan?"

Pain and Konan exchanged a glance but remained silent. Although they possessed the Rinnegan, their understanding of him was truly limited to a few scraps of information.

Obito clearly knew about the other party's situation, so he didn't keep them in suspense and spoke directly.

"To talk about the Rinnegan, we must first mention the founder of the Ninja World and the ninja era, the Sage of Six Paths."

"The Sage of Six Paths inherited two kinds of power, one of which is the Sage Eye, also known as the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan."

Pain and Konan were both shocked. Konan couldn't help but ask, "Sharingan? Isn't it the Rinnegan?"

Obito didn't answer Konan's question, but continued at his own pace.

"The Sage of Six Paths had two descendants. His eldest son, Indra, inherited the Sage of Six Paths's Sage Eye, also known as the Sharingan."

"The second son Asura, and he inherited the Sage of Sage of Six Paths' Sage Body."

"The Uchiha Clan are descendants of Indra, while the Senju and Uzumaki Clan are descendants of Asura."

"Nagato's red hair is the symbol of the Uzumaki Clan, and only the Uzumaki Clan's vast Chakra can withstand the terrifying consumption of the Rinnegan."

Obito stared directly into Pain's eyes, as if he could see Nagato behind him through the Rinnegan reflected in those eyes.

"What do you mean by all this, and what does it have to do with the Rinnegan? Are you just trying to show off the Uchiha's history?"

Pain was clearly annoyed by Obito's blatant gaze and couldn't help but make a sarcastic remark.

"Of course not, the important part comes next."

"Our Uchiha Clan has guarded a stone tablet for generations, a stone tablet left by the Sage of Six Paths, whose contents can only be deciphered by the Sharingan."

"The higher the level of the Sharingan, the more it can decipher. When my Sharingan reached the Eternal Mangekyo level, I also obtained a huge secret from it."

"That's the Rinnegan and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path."

"The Rinnegan possesses the immense power to create and destroy worlds, and it can also manipulate and control the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path."

"The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path can contain the Nine Tailed Beasts, eventually becoming an ultimate weapon. Using it, one can cast Infinite Tsukuyomi, unleash an ultimate Genjutsu, and control the entire world."

"At that time, everyone will live in happiness, and there will be no more wars in the world."

At this point, Obito was already somewhat fanatical, as if he could see the world with Rin in his eyes.

Pain's eyes also blazed with a burning light, the very power he desired—a power that transcended everything, a power that could inflict pain on everyone.

Only when everyone experiences enough pain can the Ninja World achieve true peace.

The three people in the room were all lost in their own thoughts, until----

Pain clapped his hands, his cold face expressionless, but his excitement was evident in his words.

"A very detailed explanation, and a very perfect plan, but it seems there's nothing in this plan that needs your help?"

Pain's questioning pulled Obito back to reality from his fantasy, but he didn't panic; he had anticipated all of this.

"Collecting the Tailed Beast isn't something one person can do alone; you'll need my help."

More importantly, only I know how to seal the Tailed Beast into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, and only I know how to properly activate this complete ultimate weapon.

"Your Rinnegan won't give you the answers to these questions."

Obito spoke with great confidence, which was precisely why he wasn't worried about Nagato abandoning him after using him.

The ultimate key to victory was shared equally between him and Nagato; without either of them, this great feat could not have been accomplished alone.

Pain and Obito stared at each other, remaining silent for a long time.

Konan stood quietly behind Pain, watching Pain with concern.

Having experienced Hanzo's betrayal and the painful lessons of Yahiko's death, she was unwilling to trust someone like Madara Uchiha who lurked in the shadows.

But if Nagato makes a decision, she will definitely support him.

"Alright!" Nagato finally made his decision. "I do need someone's help."

Konan opened her mouth behind her back, but ultimately said nothing, choosing to offer her silent support.

The atmosphere in the room immediately Matsushita, and the tense atmosphere from before was gone.

"As a gesture of goodwill for our cooperation, I will first tell you about the uses and methods of using the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path."

Obito spoke in a didactic tone, but the information he conveyed caused Konan and Nagato behind him to tremble with excitement.

"Nagato's body must be quite weak already. This news will greatly alleviate your condition."

"Is it true? The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path can heal Nagato's body?"

Konan stepped forward excitedly. In her opinion, nothing was more important than Nagato's health than world peace.

A smug smile crept across Obito's lips. He had grasped the other party's most pressing need and wasn't worried about the other party not taking the bait.

It's not a cure, it can only alleviate the symptoms.

Obito offered an explanation, not wanting to cause too much misunderstanding.

"Nagato, you yourself must understand how terrifying the consumption of the Rinnegan is. As long as you continue to use the Rinnegan, physical weakness is unavoidable."

Pain nodded; as a user of the Rinnegan, he understood this deeply.

Even without using the Rinnegan, it constantly drains his Chakra, let alone using him in battle.

Those powerful techniques all require a massive amount of Chakra to activate.

"The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path has one function: it can extract Natural Energy from the surrounding space and transform it into pure life force to alleviate the depletion of your life force. The method of use is—"

After a long while, only Pain and Konan remained in the Central Tower.

"Are we really going to cooperate with him? He's hiding his true colors; I don't believe he's Madara Uchiha!"

Konan looked at Nagato, making no attempt to hide her distrust of the masked man.

"It doesn't matter, it's just mutual exploitation. What does it matter whether it's really Madara Uchiha or not?"

Pain said calmly, "As long as the information he provides is true, what's wrong with cooperating with him for our ultimate goal?"

"That Infinite Tsukuyomi? Controlling the world with Genjutsu? Who would like such a fake world?"

Konan curled her lip in disdain. No normal person would like to be controlled.

"Heh, that's just his world peace, not mine."

Pain walked to the hole created by his Shinra Tensei and looked at the gloomy, rainy sky.

"All I want is that ultimate weapon that contains the power of the Nine Tailed Beasts. Only with it can the whole world feel pain. Those who do not understand pain cannot understand true world peace."

Konan watched Pain's retreating figure, she seemed to see through him Nagato's pained expression hidden behind the scenes, her eyes filled with worry.

All she could do was contribute her own strength, just as she had unconditionally supported Yahiko before, and now she was unconditionally supporting Nagato.

In a dense forest outside Amegakure.

The air distorted, and Obito's voice squeezed out from within.

The moment his foot touched the ground, Black Zetsu's half-black, half-white form rose from the soil beside him.

"Lord Madara, how did the talks go? Is Nagato willing to cooperate?"

Black Zetsu stared intently at Obito, making no attempt to hide his eagerness.

"Ha, pointless worry."

Obito said dismissively, his words brimming with confidence.

"If I personally take charge, how could I possibly fail?"

"Of course, congratulations on your resounding victory, Lord Madara."

Black Zetsu was also quite pleased, and he flattered her without hesitation. The plan could move forward, and the day to rescue his mother would be getting closer and closer.

"I didn't expect the plan to go so smoothly. I thought Nagato wouldn't believe us."

"Then you're absolutely right, he only believed half of what we said at most."

"Ah, then why is he still willing to cooperate with us?" Black Zetsu feigned surprise, maximizing his emotional appeal.

"Although he hid it well, I could still tell that he wanted the final Ten-Tails, but he had no interest in our 'Eye of the Moon' plan."

"What should we do then? The Ten-Tails is an essential part of the plan; we can't give up on it."

Obito's only remaining right eye gleamed with a look as if he were looking at an idiot.

"Idiot, just because he wants it doesn't mean I have to give it to him. We can cooperate in the early stages because we have the same goal, but later we'll definitely fight for the spoils of victory. Besides, the Rinnegan needs to be retrieved."

The two groups hadn't even officially cooperated yet, but they were already scheming against each other. In the original story, it was only because both sides were powerful and lurking in the shadows that such destruction occurred.

"By the way, what's the current situation in the Ninja World? Could we take advantage of the chaos to capture a few Tailed Beast?"

Obito turned to look at Black Zetsu; he had great faith in Zetsu's intelligence capabilities.

"Well----"

"You might be disappointed, but the situation in the Ninja World has been largely stabilized, with only two battles still taking place."

One was Konoha and Mist Village, but there were only small-scale conflicts left there.

One of them is Iwagakure and Cloud Village. Because of the death of the Third Raikage, these two ninja villages will probably have to fight for a while longer.

"Bang!"

Obito his fist into the tree trunk in front of him, the powerful force creating a dent in the trunk.

"Damn Iwagakure, I should have recovered sooner. Now that the Ninja World is gradually stabilizing, we've missed our best chance to strike."

Black Zetsu remained silent, simply watching Obito.

One must eat one bite at a time. Obito's Mangekyo had only recently awakened. Although his space-time Dōjutsu were strange, Obito foundation was still lacking, and he needed more time to develop.