Compared to Konan, Nagato wasn't as deeply affected by the poverty of the children in Amegakure.
After becoming disabled, he had remained inside the Life Support Device, controlling the Six Paths of Pain and managing the Akatsuki.
He wasn't very interested in helping the shinobi and civilians of Amegakure and the Land of Rain escape poverty and prosper, but he cared a great deal about the Akatsuki's rate of growth.
After thinking it through, he decided that Xuan Yu's proposal made logical sense.
It was just that carrying it out might prove extremely difficult.
For example, would other small countries be willing to form an alliance with the Land of Rain?
And how would other nations, or even the Five Great Shinobi Nations, react to such an alliance?
There were many problems, but Nagato still decided to let Xuan Yu give it a try.
With that in mind, he controlled Deva Path Pain and said to Xuan Yu, "I'll let you try. How long will you need to form an alliance between the Land of Rain and a small country? And to ensure that the Land of Rain and the Akatsuki develop in the direction you described?"
Xuan Yu knew that Nagato's questioning of him had come to a complete end. Now it was time to discuss the mission.
Since there was no precedent for this, and he didn't have much experience with it, he couldn't say for sure how long it would take.
After giving it some thought, he simply told Deva Path Pain, "Of course, I'd like to complete something this beneficial to the organization as soon as possible. But there's no precedent for it, so it's really hard to predict how long the mission will take. Still, I can leave with Kakuzi right now and get started."
Kakuzu was aghast. He hurriedly spoke up. "I'm not going! I demand a new partner!"
For the past month, Xuan Yu had dragged him along on mission after mission, nearly driving him insane.
Although partnering with Xuan Yu meant making a fortune every day, it also meant risking death from exhaustion every day.
Once Xuan Yu started grinding through missions, he never took a break. Even Kakuzu's five hearts couldn't withstand that kind of workload.
Deva Path Pain didn't respond to Kakuzu's plea, while Konan looked conflicted.
Kakuzu had worked hard for the Akatsuki throughout its history.
Seeing him in this state, it was hard to make him keep carrying out missions alongside Xuan Yu at such an absurd pace.
But what Xuan Yu was about to do was extremely important to both Amegakure and the Akatsuki.
It really wasn't easy to decide whether to assign Xuan Yu a new partner.
Unlike Konan, Nagato had already made up his mind.
Inside the Life Support Device, Nagato sighed and thought, Let Kakuzu suffer a little longer. As long as the Akatsuki's plans are fully realized, the Ninja World will know everlasting peace!
Konan glanced at Xuan Yu and asked, "Do you need a new partner?"
Xuan Yu answered without hesitation, "No need at all, Big Sis Konan. Kakuzi and I work together perfectly!"
Then he looked at Deva Path Pain and said, "After this mission, I want a commission of 100 million ryo, plus any high-level ninjutsu of my choice. Ideally, I'd like at least three techniques to choose from based on my needs."
"Agreed," Deva Path Pain replied without hesitation.
As long as Xuan Yu could accomplish everything he'd described, the mission's value couldn't be measured in a 100-million-ryo commission and a single ninjutsu technique.
Once Deva Path Pain agreed, Xuan Yu wasted no time. He hoisted Kakuzu over his shoulder and left the Amegakure tower.
Seeing Kakuzu's agonized expression, Konan frowned. "Will anything happen if we keep partnering Kakuzu with Xuan Yu?"
"Those with ability should do more. Let Kakuzu work hard a little longer," Deva Path Pain replied calmly.
After leaving with Kakuzu slung over his shoulder, Xuan Yu headed straight to the Black Market in Amegakure, took an escort mission to the Land of Fire, and set off.
If all went as expected, Princess Gale from the Ninja Art Scroll: Princess Gale was currently filming in the Land of Fire.
Xuan Yu planned to find Kazahana Koyuki and Sandayū Asama and take a restoration mission from them.
Once Kazahana Koyuki became the Daimyo of the Land of Snow, he'd have her form a cooperative alliance with the Land of Rain.
That way, this wouldn't be a case of killing three birds with one stone. He'd win again and again, seven or eight times over, and come out way ahead!
After reaching the Black Market in the Land of Rain, it didn't take Xuan Yu long to find a caravan that was about to leave for the Land of Fire.
After he and Kakuzu accepted the escort mission, they climbed into the last carriage and set off for the Land of Fire.
Leaning against the carriage wall, Xuan Yu began thinking about how to spend his points to grow stronger.
He hadn't learned any new ninjutsu during this time, but he'd accumulated a great deal of money and greatly increased his four attributes.
After more than a month of grinding through missions nonstop with Kakuzu, his system panel had improved dramatically. Here was his updated panel.
[Name: Uchiha Genba] [Age: 18] Four Attributes: [Stamina 8000: Your stamina is like a mighty river, endless and terrifying! Your stamina is nearly 1.6 times Kakuzu's!] [Strength 8013: Your strength is frighteningly powerful! Kakuzu is no longer qualified to compete with you in pure strength. You're not even in the same league!] [Speed 16102: You're as fast as lightning, having surpassed the Super Kage realm! Use your speed advantage to snatch more bounty targets from mercenaries, hehehe!] [Spirit 7951: Your mental power is frightening! You're completely immune to genjutsu that doesn't involve Kekkei Genkai! Even against some Kekkei Genkai genjutsu, you have considerable resistance!] Talents: [Speed Force: After your speed and stamina increased further, your Speed Force ability improved as well. You're still a newbie among speedsters, but most shinobi are no longer capable of competing with you in pure speed.] Abilities: [Leaf Whirlwind lv15: Your Leaf Whirlwind Taijutsu has grown even stronger and gained a special effect, "Whirlwind Fierce Kick." Whirlwind Fierce Kick: When you use this move, you can unleash a powerful whirlwind strong enough to blow even Kakuzu away!] [Three Body Technique lv15: Your Three Body Technique has grown even stronger and gained a special effect, "Chakra Clone." Chakra Clone: You can create Chakra Clones that are living beings made of Chakra, like Tailed Beasts. A Chakra Clone's strength depends on the quantity and quality of its Chakra.] [Body Flicker Technique lv15: Your Body Flicker Technique has grown even stronger and gained a special effect, "Phantom Body Flicker." Phantom Body Flicker: Within a set range, you can create multiple Shadow Clones that exist between physical and illusory forms. Your real body can switch between them; the illusions are unaffected by attacks, and multiple illusions can attack at the same time. The ability's strength is affected by the Sharingan.] [Mystical Palm Technique lv8: Your skill with the Mystical Palm Technique is fairly advanced. Further improvement will bring a qualitative change and grant a special effect.] [Current Balance: 60,173,900 ryo!]
Through the system panel, Xuan Yu could see his current progress at a glance.
His nonstop work over the past month had clearly brought him tremendous gains.
If he hadn't improved this much, his good partner Kakuzu wouldn't have been worked like a dog.
His stamina, strength, and spirit were each just 2,000 points short of 10,000, which would earn him a Growth Gift Pack.
His Leaf Whirlwind Taijutsu, Three Body Technique, and Body Flicker Technique each needed another five levels to gain a second special effect.
The Mystical Palm Technique was even closer to gaining a special effect. It only needed two more levels.
Along with his improvements across the board, he also had a balance of over 60 million ryo in the Pay-to-Win System.
Xuan Yu planned to spend it on the way to the Land of Fire.
After finding Kazahana Koyuki in the Land of Fire and completing all the missions he'd planned, he'd earn an enormous commission and make an unprecedented leap in strength.
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