[Land of Lightning]
Located at the northeast corner of the Naruto world, the territory is mostly mountains and hills, the terrain uneven and varied.
The people who live in the Land of Lightning mostly build their homes along the mountains.
To adapt to the local conditions, the farmers of the Land of Lightning mainly cultivate cold-resistant, high-altitude crops such as buckwheat and barley, supplemented by tea planting as an export economic crop.
In some areas there are winding rivers. After the planting season, the farmers would fish sea fish and freshwater fish as extra food.
This day, for the civilians of the Land of Lightning, was an extremely ordinary morning.
They woke in the dark, kissed their children, shouldered their nets, and in groups of three or five prepared to go down to the river to fish.
Summer was about to end. They had to catch the tail of the fishing season, haul in a few more, and patch up the household expenses. If this year's catch was good, maybe they could even buy their kids a couple of new clothes.
The farmers, moonlighting as fishermen, boarded their boats, drifting through the reed marshes.
The early morning river was shrouded in thin mist, hazy and blurred.
Nets were cast into the water, then hauled back up after a while.
Nothing.
Tried two or three more times in a row, still not a single fish.
"Eh, what the...? Where the hell did all the fish go?"
A fisherman scratched his head, puzzling over why the river was barren today, when suddenly his companion tugged his sleeve.
"Look."
Following his companion's gaze, the fisherman saw a lone boat slowly drifting down the river.
The boat wasn't big. Only two people sat on it, one large and one small. Between them sat a stove, fragrant steam rising from it.
Eating on a boat wasn't unusual. What shocked them was what was being dragged behind the little boat, a serpent's head.
A massive, deathly pale serpent's head.
"Wait! Do snakes… grow horns?!"
One fisherman, who had studied a few days and "seen the world," goggled his eyes wide.
"That's not just a snake, it's a dragon that has already taken form!"
The fishermen stared dumbstruck at the small boat gliding closer, and finally understood where today's missing fish had gone.
Schools of fish were following behind the White Snake Sage's head. They didn't dare tear into its flesh, but only trailed behind, sipping from the water soaked with its corpse. Each gulp made them visibly fatter, and in their once-murky eyes flickered a faint trace of intelligence.
The fish leapt in the water, their scales shining in faint rainbow light under the morning mist.
In the fishermen's eyes, it looked like a myth come alive, fish leaping the dragon gate.
Cranes and herons, drawn by the scent, swooped down from the air.
They flapped their wings, hovered overhead, and breathed in the steaming vapors with deep, greedy gulps.
"An… an immortal!"
No one knew who shouted it first, but one fisherman suddenly stood up, turned toward Ryosuke, and bowed low from the boat.
Slaying the white snake, summoning birds, making fish leap the gate, what else could he be but an immortal?
Even if the legendary Sage of Six Paths himself descended into the mortal world, it would look no more wondrous than this.
With one man kneeling, the rest followed. Fishermen dropped to their knees, kowtowing toward Ryosuke.
But how big and steady could poor farmers' boats be?
So many people rising at once made the boat rock violently. A few unlucky ones lost their footing and fell into the river.
Normally, with a fisherman's skill in water, they wouldn't drown.
But today, with tens of thousands of fish boiling through the river, the current was turbulent. The fishermen couldn't climb back up, crying out in panic.
Ryosuke sighed lightly at the scene.
"All I wanted was a quiet breakfast. This is really lively enough already."
Sasuke smiled, lifted a bowl, and ladled fish soup for Ryosuke.
He knew Ryosuke's character, though he complained aloud, he would still save the drowning fishermen.
Ryosuke accepted the bowl, touched his fingertip lightly to the edge of the boat.
A thread of green ripple fell into the river. The water surged, hurling the drowning men back onto their boats.
The rescued fishermen, feeling the "divine power," knelt once again in worship. But just then, with a few splashes, six or seven fat fish jumped onto Ryosuke's boat. His voice drifted gently to the fishermen,
"The water's cold this morning. Go home and make yourselves some soup."
———
Ryosuke followed the river forward.
This was the main river running through Hidden Cloud Village. As long as he kept going, he would reach it.
From both sides of the river came prying, hidden gazes.
In the grass, behind trees, shadows shifted, and the longer Ryosuke traveled, the more there were.
Among them were Cloud Village scouts, but also spies from other villages planted in the Land of Lightning.
C was one of them.
Golden hair, handsome face, an intelligence expert of the Cloud. Skilled in genjutsu, medical ninjutsu, sensory arts.
The Cloud, being the aggressor, had already heard through various channels the news of Yugito's death.
But afterward, Ryosuke had simply vanished, with no word for several days.
C thought Ryosuke had lost his nerve, that he didn't want to provoke war between two great ninja villages. He had seen plenty of such "big picture" people in his life.
For example, Konoha's Third Hokage, an absolute archetype.
C assumed that coming from Konoha, Ryosuke had inherited this "Will of Fire." But then…
C's gaze landed on the massive serpent's head trailing in the water.
Others might not recognize it, but with Cloud's ties to Ryuchi Cave, how could they not know that head? How could C not?
'The White Snake Sage!'
An ancient powerhouse who had lived a thousand years, his head torn off.
After the Mist attack, Cloud had been keeping close watch on Kirigakure's movements. C could confirm there had been no large-scale mobilization of Mist ninja.
Mei Terumi, Zabuza, Ao, even the samurai Miyamoto, they were all still in the Mist.
"That means…"
C's breath quickened. He slapped his cheeks hard to regain clarity, and whispered his conclusion, "Ryosuke single-handedly toppled one of the three great sacred grounds, Ryuchi Cave!"
C wasn't the only one who realized it.
The spies present were all sharp, and with a bit of info exchanged, they pieced it together.
Unlike the grim C, the other spies were suddenly thrilled, eyes lighting up.
Everyone knew Ryosuke's way of doing things.
Cloud Village is domineering?
Ryosuke was even more domineering.
Since the name "Ryosuke" had appeared in intel files, he had yet to suffer a single defeat, cutting down obstacles like a hot knife through butter.
Now Ryuchi Cave had fallen. Next…
Would it be Cloud's turn?
Messenger pigeons launched skyward, carrying the news back to their organizations.
In that instant, the eyes of the entire world turned to watch.
On one side, Cloud, growing through military buildup, pressing down on the other villages year by year.
On the other, Ryosuke, a comet blazing across the sky, showing absolute strength with unstoppable force.
Everyone wanted to know, who would be the one laughing at the end?
———
"Who will laugh at the end?"
Obito toyed with a White Snake Sage scale in his hand, a souvenir brought back by one of the watchers.
He said to Pain, "Do you even need to ask?"
"Of course it will be us."
Whether Ryosuke won or Cloud won, as long as one side was hurt, it would benefit Akatsuki's plan.
In Akatsuki's base, every still-living member had gathered.
Today, Pain would reveal their next-stage objective.
But before that, "Let me introduce our new member."
Pain stepped aside.
A tall, skinny figure walked out from the shadows into the candlelight.
The man beamed a radiant smile at the group.
"Hey, everyone."
"My name's Hidan. Nice to meet you all. I didn't know what you liked, so I brought you the blessings of Lord Jashin."
"May you all die soon."
No one answered.
Deidara muttered under his breath, "A traitor Uchiha Itachi, a cultist, and now…"
His eyes slid to Konan, clutching her notebook.
"…a deputy leader under enemy genjutsu."
Deidara shook his head slightly. "Akatsuki's doomed."
Pain, seeing Hidan getting along "well enough," nodded and spoke of their next goal, "In the coming period, we will suspend most missions. Capturing Tailed Beasts will be our first priority."
"Tailed Beasts?"
Uchiha Itachi frowned slightly. "Akatsuki intends to wage war on the Five Great Nations?"
Pain said, "Not yet. Thanks to Ryosuke, the Two-Tails and the Three-Tails are no longer under any village, but roaming wild."
"If we wait at the places they will reform, we can capture them without fighting a village directly."
Kakuzu, their treasurer, asked, "And money?"
Since Mist's constant flow of funding had been cut off, if they stopped doing other missions, Akatsuki would be broke.
They might look few, but every member maintained their own intel networks, gear, and daily expenses. It was a huge drain.
And for some reason, their accounts always showed suspiciously large losses.
Kakuzu had audited over and over, and the only explanation recorded was "explosive tag depreciation." Beyond that, nothing.
What kind of depreciation could burn through that much money?
Such fake accounting, it was ridiculously fake.
Akatsuki was Pain and Konan's organization. If the bosses cooked the books, Kakuzu could only swallow it. But now they expected everyone to stop doing mercenary jobs, where would the money come from?
Surely not from Sasori selling his broken dolls?
"Money won't be a problem," Pain said. "A financial conglomerate will fund us."
"Which country's conglomerate?" Kakuzu asked.
Pain glanced at him and tossed out three words,
"The Five Nations."
Deidara's eyes lit up. "Akatsuki, truly thriving!"
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