The sky over the Land of Rain still drizzled with fine rain, but the air no longer carried its usual gloom. Instead, it brimmed with vigorous vitality. In the square of some remote village, a gaunt farmer trembled as he formed the first hand seal of his life.
"I did it! I successfully extracted chakra!" he shouted excitedly, hot tears streaming down his weathered face. "Wonderful! I'm a ninja now!"
"Me too!" A headscarf-wearing woman beside him leaped up in excitement. She tried gathering chakra beneath her feet and actually staggered her way up a tree trunk.
Cheers erupted from the crowd. Scenes like this played out all across the Land of Rain, like a wave of awakening sweeping through the nation. Farmers, craftsmen, and peddlers who had once been oppressed at the very bottom now stood tall, their eyes shining with an unprecedented light.
"Haha, watch my Sharingan!" a young man cried excitedly. His eyes instantly turned scarlet, a single tomoe slowly spinning within them.
"From now on, my name is Uchiha Quanyan!"
"My name is Uchiha Quanxin!"
Cheers, laughter, and excited shouts echoed through every corner of the Land of Rain. The Infection Technique spread like wildfire, and citizens under fifty flocked to join Akatsuki. In just a few days, the small group that had once numbered only dozens had swelled to tens of thousands, and it was still growing at an astonishing pace.
"Once Akatsuki arrives, we can become ninja!"
"Once Akatsuki arrives, we won't have to suffer anymore!"
"Once Akatsuki arrives, there's hope!"
Such tales spread through every street and alley of the Land of Rain. Every village eagerly awaited the arrival of black uniforms embroidered with red clouds. Wherever Akatsuki went, oppressors were overthrown, food and land were redistributed, and the entire nation burst with