"How do we go about it?"
Nagato, who was standing nearby, rarely offered his opinion,
but he too seemed drawn to the future Mukai had envisioned, and he couldn't help asking.
Mukai looked at the boy whose long hair covered his eyes. Naturally, he knew that the eyes hidden behind that red hair were the Rinnegan.
Since those eyes belonged to Madara Uchiha, White Zetsu was surely hiding nearby with the Mayfly Technique, keeping watch on Nagato at all times.
But Mukai had a clear path for his own growth and had never coveted those eyes.
That power did not belong to him.
Nor did he care to rely on that kind of power.
He would grow stronger in his own way!
Mukai's electromagnetic sensing could detect a faint nonhuman life form nearby,
but he paid it no mind and smiled faintly. "Now that we've formally allied, my plan has three steps:
"First, stabilize order in Moon Sake Town.
Sasori and I will deal with the sources of instability around the town
and establish its most basic laws.
Yahiko and Nagato will buy enough food and other tools to get farming and brewing started in the town.
Of course, I'll pay for it.
Only when the town can provide for itself can we give its people hope of survival.
Second, we'll distribute food through a work-for-relief program.
I'll leave that to Yahiko.
You need to let these ordinary people truly experience the credibility of your Akatsuki
and see how you're different from other wandering ninja.
Third, once the town is back on track, we'll establish an orphanage and take in the orphans displaced by war!
After that, we'll begin working together on a major plan!"
As Mukai spoke, he pointed to the map on the table and traced a line from Moon Sake Village to the oasis where their workshop was located.
"We'll pool our efforts and dig an underground channel from Moon Sake Town to the Land of Wind,
diverting water from the river outside town, which frequently floods, to the dry, water-starved desert!"
Mukai's words left everyone, Sasori included, staring in astonishment.
Divert water across a national border?
Was that even possible?
If they could actually pull off such a feat, then whether for Moon Sake Town, where rain was abundant enough to cause floods,
or for the dry, rain-starved desert of the Land of Wind, it would be a good thing with no drawbacks!
But the difficulties involved were no small matter!
Sasori couldn't help pouring cold water on Mukai's idea.
"Mukai, that's no short distance!
The mountains on the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain block all the moisture from the Land of Rain.
How are you going to get the water past those mountains?
Besides, there's a long stretch of desert on the Land of Wind's side. Even if the water gets through, most of it will evaporate. It won't be worth the trouble!
Compared to those difficulties, the disputes and problems involved in crossing the border hardly amount to anything."
Mukai naturally knew about the problems Sasori had mentioned.
His plan wasn't baseless.
Back in his original country, in the sixties, before it had evolved into an infrastructure fanatic,
the people had relied on themselves to carve the Red Flag Canal through the Taihang Mountains, with a total length of over a thousand kilometers!
Over ten years, they leveled mountaintops, dug culverts, and built waterways.
The power of those people had truly transformed that water-starved land.
Although Mukai couldn't yet mobilize so many people, this was a world with Chakra and Ninjutsu!
If he had the power of Six Paths Naruto and Sasuke, he could simply blow apart the mountain range blocking the way between the Land of Wind and the Land of Rain!
Wouldn't it be better to change the terrain and climate of both countries?
Wouldn't that be more meaningful than fighting at the Valley of the End over some so-called bond?
Although he wasn't strong enough yet,
he would still bring together what little power he had and use it to accomplish this feat.
It was just a mountain range seven kilometers across in a straight line. Could a living person really be held back by the need to piss?
To the infrastructure fanatics of his previous life, this would be nothing more than a small project!
Mukai called over Konan, who was busy preparing food, and Pakura, who was keeping her company.
He explained his plan in detail.
The plan was extremely thorough, with every detail carefully considered.
It was as if... as if the plan had already been tried and tested!
It seemed the plan really could work!
At that thought, everyone's eyes began to shine. They knew all too well the difficulties facing their respective countries.
It was worth a try!
The plan did, of course, have a real-world example. Mukai had simply copied the construction concept of the Motuo Hydropower Station.
The scale of the mountains and the elevation difference here made construction countless orders of magnitude less difficult than at the Motuo Hydropower Station.
The Shinobi World's marvelous Ninjutsu gave the idea a basis for becoming reality.
This world had Earth Release Ninjutsu!
Mukai took out a scroll and placed it in front of Nagato.
"Nagato, Yahiko is good at reassuring people, so he'll organize the civilians for the work-for-relief program.
Besides using paper cranes to communicate, Konan's paper jutsu produces Chakra paper that's also an important material for this project.
Out of all of us, you have the most Chakra.
And you and I are the only ones with earth-nature Chakra.
Learn this Ninjutsu, and let's create something magnificent together.
What do you say?"
Yahiko, the one in charge of their little group, had already agreed, so Nagato naturally wouldn't refuse.
He picked up the Earth Release Ninjutsu scroll and rubbed his fingers over the words written on it: Opening Earth Rising Excavation.
Now that they had formed an alliance, Mukai assigned the specific tasks for carrying out the plan.
Even Pakura, who had been watching from the sidelines, was given a task.
"I have a task too? You want me to handle the tedious job of firing the water channels?
My not-at-all-lovable disciple, is your head starting to itch again?"
Pakura threatened him, clenching her fists.
Unmoved, Mukai pointed at the White Phoenix Mecha Pakura was wearing.
"My dear teacher, the White Phoenix Mecha can still be upgraded, you know!
Don't you want to make it stronger?
Besides, spending Chakra in a planned way like this is part of training too.
Your Extremely Steaming Murder still has room for improvement, teacher.
Don't tell me you're afraid of a little trouble, Teacher Pakura?"
Pakura immediately switched from a fist to pointing her thumb at herself.
"Are you kidding? How could I, Pakura the Scorch Release user, be afraid of a little trouble?
No problem!
Leave it to me!"
Tsk, tsk. I thought my teacher was a mature beauty,
but it turns out she has a goofy side too!
Mukai took out silver notes worth three hundred thousand ryō and gave them to Yahiko and Nagato to buy food.
The rain outside had stopped, and sunlight peeked through the clouds, a rare sight.
Mukai put on the Zealot Mecha and bumped fists with Sasori, who was sitting inside the Mountain God Mecha.
"Teacher Pakura, you and Konan hold down the fort here. Give us support if we run into anything we can't handle.
Konan, use your paper cranes to guide us.
There's no need for the wandering ninja and bandits around Moon Sake Town to exist anymore!
Let's go!"
Far north of the Land of Fire, Mountain Graveyard
The area was covered by a dense primeval forest and rarely visited by people. Even insects and ants were scarce.
Enormous animal bones lay on the ground, covered in vines and moss, their ghastly white surfaces faintly visible.
Beneath the dense forest was a crisscrossing network of mine tunnels.
The tunnel walls bore traces of excavation, and some sections connected to the stone gates of Ōtsutsuki ruins.
Faint ancient runes were also carved into the stone walls.
Deep in the tunnels was an extremely spacious cavern, with the vast and terrifying Demonic Statue of the Outer Path stationed at its center.
Black chains wound around the statue, giving off a chilling Chakra,
while root-like structures at its base reached deep underground, slowly absorbing the energy of the earth's veins.
An old man with a gaunt face and a strange face-shaped pattern on his chest sat before the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Just then, a faint rustling came from deep within the tunnel,
and a grayish-green figure slid along the rock wall into the cavern. It was White Zetsu.
Rather than stand upright, he remained half-crouched, his fingertips brushing the ground as he spoke in his usual airy voice.
"Lord Madara, I've returned from Amegakure.
Three Sand ninja made contact with Nagato and the others."
At the news, the aged Madara Uchiha abruptly opened his eyes.
The Mitsudomoe turned slowly in his scarlet eyes as he fixed his gaze on White Jue.