At this moment, Nagato sat in a machine, his hands clamped by it, and black iron rods stuck into his back.
His entire body was emaciated beyond recognition, and even the Uzumaki Clan's standard Red Hair looked somewhat dull.
Seeing Konan arrive, Nagato asked with some confusion.
"What is Mei Zheren back for again?"
"He's back to deliver a gift!"
As she spoke, Konan took out a virtual helmet.
Nagato also looked at the virtual helmet with some confusion.
Currently, virtual helmets were only active in a few places in the Land of Fire, so Nagato had naturally never seen one.
"Nagato! This is called a virtual helmet. As long as you wear it, you can walk again!"
Hearing that he could walk, Nagato's expression brightened with joy.
Immediately, Konan put the helmet on him and began to teach him how to operate it.
After helping Nagato enter the virtual world, Konan also put on a virtual helmet.
The two entered the virtual world together and both chose to descend in the Ninja Zone.
"This... what exactly is this?"
Looking at the surrounding environment, Nagato was very shocked.
Most importantly, Nagato couldn't feel the power of the Rinnegan anymore.
"Konan, what exactly is going on?"
Suddenly losing his Rinnegan, Nagato was panicked, after all, all his current strength relied on the Rinnegan! Without the Rinnegan, how could he achieve his goal of peace?
"Don't be nervous, Nagato, this is just a virtual world! Your body is still in the Akatsuki Organization base!"
"You can also understand this as a huge genjutsu space."
After hearing Konan's explanation, Nagato finally relaxed.
Knowing the situation with the virtual helmet, Nagato began to sing, dance, and rap freely.
"There's actually such a magical thing in the world!"
Just as Nagato was marveling, a group of wild boars suddenly rushed out nearby.
These wild boars were the local wild monsters, and also one of the most suitable monsters for beginners.
Behind these wild boars, several people holding wooden sticks or bare-handed were chasing them.
"Elder Chiyo, please speed up and block the path of these wild boars."
"Maki, you block the right side."
"Elder Ebizo, you take the left side!"
"The experience from this wave of wild boars is quite a lot, we must take them down!"
Seeing the group hunting wild boars, Konan and Nagato moved away from there.
"Are these people players too?" Nagato asked curiously.
"They should be, and I think I know some of their names: Chiyo, Ebizo, and the Jonin Maki from the Sand Ninja Village."
"As for the one who can command all three of them, that should be the Fourth Kazekage, Rōsa."
Nagato also hadn't expected that he would encounter people from the Sand Ninja Village, and with the Kazekage leading them, right after entering the virtual game.
Just then, another familiar figure entered their sight.
"Hmm? Isn't that Kakuzu? I remember he went to recruit new members, didn't he? Why is he here?"
Just as Nagato and Konan were wondering.
Kakuzu over there helped Kazekage Rōsa and his group kill all the wild boars.
After killing the wild boars, everyone successfully leveled up to three.
Kakuzu, like a merchant, rubbed his hands and came before Rōsa, smiling, "Kazekage-sama, how do you feel about this virtual helmet?"
"Good, ah... Really very good! Our Sand Ninja Village wants to purchase a large quantity!"
At this point, Rōsa suddenly calmed down, then looked at Kakuzu and asked in a deep voice, "How much exactly is this helmet?"
"Cough, cough, cough." Kakuzu cleared his throat a few times, then held up a finger and said, "Currently, the virtual helmet is on promotion, and a set only costs one million."
"Not only that, but you also get to enjoy three years of VIP service!"
Was one million expensive? Very expensive, but... compared to the magical virtual helmet, it was nothing. Instead, the VIP service greatly interested Rōsa.
"What is VIP?"
Rōsa asked curiously!
"Simply put, VIP is the internet service! Simply wearing a virtual helmet won't allow you to enter the virtual world; you need an internet connection to enter, and connecting to the internet requires a fee. With three years of VIP, the internet connection for those three years is free!"
Although Kakuzu's explanation was very general, Rōsa knew that VIP was very important.
"Okay, one million each. Give me two thousand for now!"
"Excellent! Thanks for your patronage!"
Successfully selling two thousand helmets at a price of one million each, Kakuzu was very excited.
Two thousand sets of helmets, that's two billion. Kakuzu's cost was five hundred thousand per set, so this wave netted him one billion in profit.
At this moment, Kakuzu suddenly felt that following Naruto had a future! One business deal brought in one billion.
"Hahaha, this really is a windfall! This instantly earned back the money Konan tricked out of me!"
Just as Kakuzu was looking smug, a slender hand rested on his shoulder.
"Kakuzu... what are you doing?"
Hearing this familiar voice, Kakuzu's body stiffened. He then turned around and saw Konan looking at him expressionlessly.
He suddenly had a feeling that his little money was about to fly away.
"Hehehe, just doing a small business, just a small business!"
"A small business of two billion?"
Kakuzu: ...
"Cough, cough... I'll state this beforehand! These two billion aren't mine! I'm just helping to sell goods, just earning a small commission!"
Konan also knew that you couldn't always shear the same sheep, so she didn't really mind Kakuzu earning extra money.
Instead, Kakuzu's voice greatly interested Konan!
"Are you selling virtual helmets?"
"Yes!" Kakuzu nodded and said, "What? Does our organization also want to introduce a batch? Don't worry! If the organization wants them, I'll give a direct 20% discount!"
Kakuzu's words immediately made Rōsa unhappy!
"Hey! Why do they get a 20% discount, but we pay full price?"
Kakuzu was not flustered by Rōsa's questioning at all, and righteously said, "Didn't I give you three years of VIP?!"
Rōsa: ...
Rōsa suddenly had the illusion that he had been fooled by the so-called VIP.
Ignoring Rōsa, Kakuzu pulled Konan aside and whispered, "Actually, a 40% discount isn't impossible!"
"Don't worry! If the organization wants them, I'll try to get us a permanent VIP!"
Hearing Kakuzu's words, Konan didn't reply but looked at Nagato.
Kakuzu, seeing this, asked with some confusion, "Konan, who is this?"
Before Konan could answer, Nagato directly replied, "I am Pain!"
"Holy crap! Boss, you're in here too!"
"Since the boss is here, it's even easier to talk! 45% discount! Take the virtual helmets!"
Nagato and Konan exchanged glances. They both thought at the same time, was it a bit of a waste to send Kakuzu out to collect bounties every day?
If Kakuzu had been sent out to do business earlier, wouldn't the organization's funds and the six hundred billion exploding tags have been gathered long ago!
"Cough, cough... In that case, let's get a hundred sets for the organization first!"
Compared to the Sand Ninja Village, the small Rain Ninja Village was still relatively poor!
A hundred sets was already the limit; if there were any more, the Rain Ninja Village might not be able to function normally!