Working Off Debt, I! Became Real Wine?

Looking at the string of numbers on the scroll, Aoike could no longer remain calm; he forced himself to sit up and lean against the headboard.

His finger trembled as he pointed at one of the debt items.

"You want me to pay three hundred million ryo for a small hill?!!"

Is your hill made of gold and silver?

"The hill itself was worth twenty million ryo, but it contained many precious materials that you smashed to pieces, worth two hundred and eighty million."

"I don't believe it. I want to see proof..." Aoike's pale face flushed with a hint of red upon hearing this.

"They were smashed by you. They're gone."

Pain's face remained expressionless, his flat tone making it impossible to tell if he was lying.

Aoike's face cycled through shades of green, red, and white as he listened. Looking at Pain's serious expression, he began to fall into self-doubt.

No way, did I really smash something that expensive?

"I am a god. I would not resort to extortion to deceive you..." Pain was open and aboveboard, sounding exceptionally confident, especially when referring to himself as a god.

"Fine~" Aoike let out a long sigh. Although he wasn't sure about the debt amount, the fact that Pain had saved him was undeniable. Furthermore, he didn't look like he had much money, so it was obvious they had other motives.

After a moment of silence, the socially inept Pain finally raised his hand slightly...

At the critical moment, Konan stepped forward and stood between the two of them.

After a brief exchange of glances, Pain maintained his deadpan expression and exited the room. If it weren't for the fact that Aoike had value and was still injured—making a victory feel like an unfair advantage—he would have already used his strength to subdue him.

Konan was much better at dealing with people.

Once the hard-headed character left, the atmosphere in the small room finally relaxed a little.

"We investigated your background." Konan said, secretly observing Aoike's expression.

Seeing Aoike's indifferent reaction, she breathed a sigh of relief. So far, he was the most cooperative target member she had ever encountered.

As the Aoike who had been the Cloud Hokage, he still had impressions of some important intelligence.

For instance, the Akatsuki member Zetsu was an old-timer among the group, and gathering intelligence was his specialty.

It was only natural that he, as an unknown individual, would be investigated.

Although Zetsu only had a face to go on, it had taken some effort to track him down, but thanks to the Mayfly Technique, which allowed for free movement, he had managed to obtain detailed information on Aoike.

"Let me introduce myself formally. I am a member of the Akatsuki, codenamed White Tiger."

"Nice to meet you, Konan."

"..."

"The technique you used when you fell from the sky was Susanoo, wasn't it?"

Her cold tone carried a note of certainty.

A flash of perfectly measured surprise crossed Aoike's eyes.

Konan continued her analysis, unperturbed.

"As a genius, you were forced to join Root. After defecting, you disappeared for several months, only to reappear by falling from the sky..."

"Have your eyes mutated? The Caged Bird Seal has also been removed, along with the Susanoo."

Konan looked at Aoike, who was much younger than her. With the two of them alone, her cold demeanor finally showed a hint of softening.

She had been lucky when she was his age; she had met Master Jiraiya, escaped hunger and misery, learned ninjutsu, and discussed ideals with Yahiko and Nagato.

Later, the first generation of Akatsuki failed, and Yahiko revealed the truth of the world in the most cruel way possible.

She didn't know how to move forward, so she could only accompany her former partner and join the plan formulated by the man who called himself Uchiha Madara.

All she could do was protect Nagato and prepare the means to deal with "Madara."

She did not fear death; she simply felt suffocated by the arrangements of fate, much like the rain in the Land of Rain.

That was until yesterday, when the intelligence report on Aoike was handed to her. The ten-year-old boy who had experienced the death of his parents, suppression by his clan, defection from Root, and finally, the act of falling from the sky to break the Caged Bird Seal, had piqued her interest.

Konan was curious how such a young child had managed to break free from the whirlpool time and time again instead of being swallowed by the darkness.

Listening to her questions, Aoike's mind raced. He had only spent ten years in this world—a mere blink of an eye—yet his experiences were more thrilling than his entire previous life combined.

Without the talent of this body and his crucial intelligence, escaping the whirlpool of the Leaf Village would have been incredibly difficult, let alone what was to come.

In the end, he smiled calmly and met Konan's gaze.

"It was nothing more than a bit of luck."

No one knew what else the two discussed afterward, but a month later, Aoike joined the Akatsuki.

Before his official debut, the three of them met at a secret base.

For the two who had witnessed his Susanoo, the fact that he could use both the Byakugan and the Sharingan was no longer a secret.

To show his sincerity, Aoike revealed a portion of his strength. Aside from his Mangekyo ocular techniques and the Tenseigan mode, he did not hide his ninjutsu or the gravitational control of the Tenseigan.

The existence of the Tenseigan, which stood apart from the Rinnegan, truly gave Nagato and Konan a shock.

But what truly concerned them was the intelligence regarding the Mangekyo Sharingan.

Watching Aoike's gray eyes, Pain sorted through the information in his mind.

"So you're saying that overuse of the Mangekyo Sharingan leads to blindness?"

Aoike's eyes instantly shifted back into the blue Tenseigan.

"That's correct. Aside from the legendary Eternal Mangekyo, ordinary Mangekyo have a limit to their usage."

"Does that mean that person is truly Madara?"

"Pain, his identity isn't what's important, but he definitely has a conspiracy in motion."

"Furthermore," Aoike took a deep breath, "at the cost of a Three-Tomoe Sharingan, one can use the Uchiha forbidden technique, Izanagi, to gain the power to rewrite reality."

After revealing some of the secrets regarding the Uchiha, the atmosphere grew heavy.

Even for Nagato, who now stood nearly at the pinnacle of the world, a "Madara" who potentially possessed the Eternal Mangekyo, the ability to turn intangible, and the use of Izanagi was undoubtedly troublesome.

Aoike's candor successfully drew them closer, laying a solid foundation for his future acceptance.

In this murky Second Generation Akatsuki, most members were merely using one another; the only member who could truly be considered "one of their own" was the newly joining Aoike.

After all, the bond between them was maintained by the grace of a life-saving favor, and given his young age, immense potential, and "clean" background, he was of great value to Nagato.

Nagato even considered having Aoike take over for him once the plan succeeded.

But before that, he needed to choose a reliable teammate to guide him.