Land of Waterfalls experimental base.
Yahiko's bare head glowed with a pale light under the light. He was squatting in the corner of the training ground, holding his arms with both hands, with a look of obsession on his face.
"Nagato, look, this body is really fun."
Nagato took half a step back warily. "What do you want to change again? Hanzō II?"
"No, no." Yahiko chuckled, and yanked his arm suddenly, lengthening it by one meter, and then retracted it back to its original shape, "I found that this thing is like plasticine, it can be stretched and contracted, and it is more flexible than those Chakra chains of our Amegakure."
Konan stood aside with his arms crossed and a hint of defensiveness in his tone. "Last time you said you wanted to be more normal, but in the end you put a cockscomb on your forehead."
"I was distracted that time!" Yahiko immediately retorted, "This time is different, look at my serious fighting form."
He closed his eyes, and the white body all over his body began to squirm. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes and proudly showed off his right hand - all five fingers turned into slender hook-shaped blades, shining with cold light.
"How is it? Are you handsome?"
Konan casually commented. "It's handsome, it's similar to the shell-opening knife used by the lady who sells squid in the vegetable market."
Yahiko froze. "Konan Can you say something nice?"
"The truth is the best." Konan went to the side to get a cup of tea, "If you want to get into combat form, why not learn from your senior Hanzō's Puppet Technique, which has some technical content. I don't see any other use for your hook hand except opening cans."
Nagato almost laughed out loud, but just kept his expression tight.
Yahiko was not convinced, so he struggled again. This time he focused on his back, trying to grow a pair of wings. The white body bulged out with two bags at the shoulder blades, and then with a "pop", two pieces of membrane-like things unfolded - as thin as cicada wings, with a few holes, looking more like dead leaves that had been chewed by insects, rather than wings.
Konan really couldn't hold it back. "Yahiko, are you a bat or a cicada?"
"..."
Yahiko finally stopped and sat on a chair, unconsciously touching his newly grown nose with his fingers. His smile gradually faded, "Nagato, Konan... How many people did we die this time?"
Nagato was silent for a moment. "Thirty-seven. Including Lao Zhangtou's family."
Yahiko closed his eyes, and a tiredness that was incompatible with his puppet body appeared on his newly pinched face.
"Where is Hanzō?" he asked again.
"Dead." Nagato's voice was very calm, so calm that it made people feel cold, "Killed by a half-black and half-white monster."
Yahiko was stunned. He did not expect that "Demigod" who had been weighing on Land of Rain and their Akatsuki for more than ten years would actually die.
"Hanzō is dead, I don't know how Land of Rain is doing now?" Konan murmured and repeated, suddenly raised his head,
"There is no leader." Nagato said directly.
"Yahiko, this is our chance."
Yahiko was stunned. "Opportunity?"
"Yes, Land of Rain has been in chaos for so long, and the people have long been tired of fighting. Once the news of Hanzō's death spreads, people's hearts will inevitably fluctuate. Whoever can be the first to stand up and give them a 'stable' promise can take away those things that originally belonged to Hanzō People's hearts." Nagato said word by word, "We, Akatsuki, still have the reputation we have accumulated in the past few years. If we don't rebuild it now, we will never have this chance again after Amegakure's internal struggle is over, and when the spies of the great powers set up new puppets."
Konan looked at him, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes - was this the same Nagato who even hesitated to speak for a long time?
"But we..." Yahiko spread his hands with a wry smile and looked at his borrowed body, "I have borrowed my life. More than half of the organization's personnel were killed or injured, and there are problems with supplies and manpower. Why should we rebuild Land of Rain?"
The three fell into silence.
"What are you talking about?" a voice came from the door.
Senju Chen I don't know when I was standing there again, holding a cup of tea in my hand.
"Minister." Kabuto Yakushi saw Senju Chen coming in and greeted him immediately.
"Chen-kun." When the three Yahiko saw Senju Chen coming in, they quickly said hello.
"Sit down, Yahiko. Are you still used to this body? You are in a special situation and need to stay in this puppet body for a few more days."
"Hehehe, it's okay, this body is quite fun, I'm a little addicted to it." Yahiko said with a smile, looking careless, as if he had never worried that he would never be able to change back.
"Let's talk about Land of Rain's situation. I don't know what's going on now." Konan then repeated what they just said to Senju Chen.
"Supplies? I have them here. Information, I have more. As for manpower..." He glanced at Yahiko
"Then it won't be a problem. We still have a lot of people at the base, and we can help you stabilize Land of Rain by then."
Hearing Senju Chen say this, Konan looked surprised.
Nagato and Yahiko looked at each other and did not speak immediately. They had been on the line of life and death in the past few years, and they were no longer the innocent young people they were. Senju Chen's attitude of "giving you what you asked for" was definitely not pure generosity.
"Chen-kun." Nagato said slowly, "What do you want?"
Hearing Nagato's words, Konan glanced at Senju Chen subconsciously. There was no guard in his eyes, only a kind of trust that was almost expectant. She could no longer remember when her trust in this person became so complete. Maybe it was the paper rose. Maybe it was the white cocoon that pulled her out of despair. Maybe it was at this moment that he was so open and open without any cover.
Senju Chen put down the teacup, his smile unchanged.
"I can continuously supply resources, intelligence, and even personnel to help you quickly stabilize Land of Rain. Also, you Akatsuki can recruit and train troops in the future, and you can also bring them to my base for training."
"My request is very simple. From now on, my people can move around Land of Rain at will. And the people on my side can use the name of 'Xiao' when needed in the future."
Yahiko was stunned. "In the name of borrowing?"
"To put it bluntly," Senju Chen smiled, his smile was the same as usual, but it made people feel an inexplicable chill down the back, "You are responsible for winning people's hearts and setting up a banner in the open, and I will back you up and hand you a knife in the dark. From now on Shinobi World, whoever mentions 'dawn' will think of 'hope for peace'; but when it comes to actually doing things, I, the entire base, is still standing behind you."
Nagato stared at Senju Chen, not knowing what expression to use to face it for a moment - it sounded like a huge gift, but if you think about it carefully, it seemed like the entire bones of Akatsuki were stuffed into Senju Chen's hands.
"This deal," Yahiko breathed out slowly and said with a smile, "It sounds like we made a lot of money."
"You saved my life, I'm really grateful"
"But Akatsuki does not belong to me alone, but to all of us. So, I'm sorry Chen-kun, but I cannot agree to your conditions."