Chapter 253: Special Event - Five Great Nations' Fall (3.5K)
[You have joined the hidden faction: Akatsuki. Current Reputation: Friendly (15/100)]
[You have triggered a Special Event: Five Great Nations' Fall (Large, Special, Unique)]
[Event Description: Due to the influence of Reincarnator XX53562211 (Tao Bai Bai), Pain has decided to inflict pain upon the world's dominators. Before the end of this mission world, complete the action of collapsing the current dominators of the Five Great Nations. This is a special large-scale event, and all Reincarnators in this world, excluding those belonging to the Five Great Nations' factions, can participate.]
[Event Rewards: Receive singularity points and dimensional points based on completion. If completion exceeds 20%, you will additionally receive a special item *1.]
[Event Failure Penalty: Reputation with the Five Great Nations and Five Great Shinobi Villages will be permanently set to Hostile, and you will be hunted for an additional seven days (cannot return during this period).]
Catherine looked at the spatial prompt before her, took a deep breath, and then continued to use [Holy ARM] to heal Uchiha Itachi. This special magic tool from the [Magic Soldier Legend World] possesses extremely strong functionality and applicability. Not only can it be used well by simply mastering the energy of [Magic Power], but ordinary Reincarnators can also come into contact with and control [Magic Power] through this magic tool.
Therefore, ARM-type items are quite rare.
Catherine retracted her gaze. She had actually noticed that the two silver rings on Tao Bai Bai's hand were very likely also ARMs, but the other party clearly had no intention of pursuing the magic power sequence, and he had previously allowed her to join this special event.
The two could be considered to have established initial trust, and Catherine began to use items boldly, no longer fearing that Tao Bai Bai would attack her at the slightest disagreement.
Her guess was correct. Being with someone like Tao Bai Bai would not lack opportunities. Although she didn't know what method the other party used, it was clear that Nagato had been persuaded and was about to begin the Five Great Nations Collapse Plan.
"Aren't we supposed to conquer the Five Great Nations? With our strength, directly attacking the capitals of the great nations would be a better choice, wouldn't it?"
Catherine asked while healing Uchiha Itachi. She actually had the answer in her heart, but she still deliberately asked this way. This was actually a communication strategy, a common rhetorical tactic used by subordinates to "please" superiors.
Catherine mocked herself inwardly. She originally had a very strong personality, and among the duo of [Chaos], she held the dominant position. But no matter how strong her personality, walking with such a madman would still remind her of her weak nature.
She had to start trying to get along better with Tao Bai Bai in a way she once hated the most.
Bai Cangshu didn't notice these small thoughts, or rather, he wasn't interested in wasting time thinking about what Reincarnators like Catherine were thinking.
Now, the first step of his special trial had reached its fifth day. With Uchiha Shisui's defeat and the Akatsuki's joining, the first stage of the special trial was basically confirmed to be completable.
In the current Shinobi World, it was absolutely impossible to forcibly kill Pingzhong Hua in front of Pain and himself, unless multiple Kage-level ninjas worked together.
Therefore, he was thinking about what the second stage of this special trial would be. Judging from the experience of the Great Sin-type special trials, the second stage would have a certain correlation with the first stage.
The first stage of [Great Sin Trial: Great Sin and Punishment] was to learn any specialization from Tao Bai Bai, and the second stage was to prevent Tao Bai Bai from being killed by a Reincarnator.
Therefore, Bai Cangshu had reason to believe that the first stage of this [virtue Trial: perfect benevolence and supreme goodness], protecting Pingzhong Hua, was also absolutely linked to the second stage in some way.
Because the plot force most deeply involved with Pingzhong Hua was Konoha Village. The reason for the massacre of Pingzhong Hua's town was that her husband, Ping Zhongshi, had leaked a top-secret intelligence about [Uchiha and Konoha High Command Discord] from Konoha Village.
According to the space's usual habits, the trial mission for stage two would very likely be related to Konoha.
This was a major contributing factor to Bai Cangshu's [Konoha Collapse Plan].
Of course, he would not tell anyone this reason.
Bai Cangshu merely watched Uchiha Itachi's calm expression with interest. This mature-looking young man was clearly affected by the information he deliberately released about Danzo possessing the Sharingan; his [Will of Fire] had wavered.
People are often like this: even though both took the Sharingan, when someone like Bai Cangshu, who in Uchiha Itachi's mind was inherently an "evil villain," did such a thing, Itachi found it natural. There was disgust and hatred, but it was based on normal hostile psychology.
But when Danzo, a Konoha high-ranking official whom he considered his leader, took the Sharingan for his own use, it was even more unforgivable in Uchiha Itachi's eyes.
Bai Cangshu's lips curved. He had to admit that sometimes, being a bad person was indeed easier, though... he never considered himself a bad person.
"Konoha is currently under close scrutiny from other Shinobi Villages due to the leaked intelligence. At this time, any slight disturbance in Konoha will trigger major actions from other Shinobi Villages."
Tendō Pain, however, spoke up to explain. Although he, too, had realized, under Tao Bai Bai's "seduction," that the true decision-makers of war were not the ninjas, he still held reservations about the other party's claim that there was a hidden mastermind's minion within the Akatsuki organization.
He sent Zetsu away but still explained the mission details to Konan. He could feel that Konan had been quite uneasy ever since Tao Bai Bai joined the Akatsuki.
Konan lowered her eyelids, also understanding the truth of the so-called [Konoha Collapse Plan]. If the Akatsuki organization delivered a heavy blow to Konoha at this time, then regardless of whether the Uchiha Clan and Konoha's high command had an internal conflict, Konoha's decline would already be a fact.
Other Shinobi Villages would pounce on it like jackals seeing blood.
And by then, when the Akatsuki withdrew to attack the capitals of the great nations, the pressure they faced would be minimal.
This was an overt scheme that could not be refused.
But similarly, this operation would kill far more people than she had previously estimated.
And many of the people who died would probably not be ninjas.
Konan looked up at the Rain Country sky, still shrouded in mist and rain. She could no longer quite recall the warm dream she had when Yahiko was alive.
Perhaps, that scene of peace and prosperity was destined not to be achieved in her generation. She only hoped that through the bloodshed they caused, the world would truly come to fear war...
"I will become a Shura, and only then can I bring peace to the future."
Konan's almost dreamlike murmur fell into Uchiha Itachi's ears. The young man slowly sat up, his face pale, looking as if he had just recovered from a serious illness, but the clear Three-Tomoe Sharingan in his eyes still made others wary.
Orochimaru saw Uchiha Itachi possess the Three-Tomoe Sharingan at such a young age. This genius of the Uchiha Clan, whom he had heard about a few times from his teacher, made him truly feel a strange sensation.
Such talent and brilliance, yet his eyes were as calm as still water. Unlike those Uchiha whose eyes couldn't suppress their arrogance, that calmness made him even more unfathomable.
"I will become a Shura..."
Uchiha Itachi murmured Konan's words, but his younger brother's image appeared before his eyes.
From Tao Bai Bai and Orochimaru, he learned many secrets of the Shinobi World. It turned out that behind those glorious heroes, dark truths flowed like a tide.
Hidden Sand Village was, Hidden Mist Village was, Cloud Village was, and Konoha was no exception.
Ninjas were not heroes in the night; ninjas were merely convenient weapons in the hands of the higher-ups.
Catherine inadvertently met Uchiha Itachi's gaze. The calm determination in the eyes of this twelve or thirteen-year-old boy astonished her. She began to understand why he would commit the act of slaughtering his own clan.
Uchiha Itachi was probably not without arrogance, but rather arrogant to the extreme. He believed only his own judgment to the core. When he believed his clan had no future and that only by slaughtering the Uchiha could his younger brother be preserved, he did it.
He always firmly believed that his judgment was the most correct...
Catherine turned her head to look at Tao Bai Bai. In a sense, these two were probably of the same kind. Coincidentally, she saw an undisguised smile on Tao Bai Bai's face.
"The plan to collapse Konoha, I cannot pretend not to have heard."
Uchiha Itachi's hands dropped, and a strange aura began to emanate. The three-tomoe in his pupils rotated slightly. Both Orochimaru and Konan slightly lowered their stances; they felt a threat from this young man.
Tendō Pain, however, reached out and stopped the two. Bai Cangshu also stood in front of Uchiha Itachi.
"What do you want to do?"
His hands, too, naturally hung at his sides, but Itachi's Sharingan clearly detected that despite his seemingly relaxed posture, his muscles were unusually tense. It seemed that with just a thought, that Godspeed attack would instantly unleash.
Uchiha Itachi looked at Tao Bai Bai. There was absolutely no reverence for human life in the other party's eyes. This was a madman who wielded absolute violence.
"What extent is this 'Konoha Collapse' supposed to reach?"
"How many people will be killed, and how much infrastructure will be destroyed?"
Uchiha Itachi asked calmly, his attitude no different from asking for prices while buying groceries. Bai Cangshu's smile widened upon hearing this.
"Is one-tenth enough? If not, how about one-eighth?"
Uchiha Itachi continued to speak, his tone growing colder.
Just like the moral dilemmas he once faced, he again made the most utilitarian choice. If some people had to be sacrificed, he could accept it, and he hoped he could choose who would be sacrificed.
This attitude, in a way, treated human lives as mere numbers.
But he firmly believed that since Konoha itself was not clean, perhaps clearing out some of the parasites could make Konoha better.
"Tao Bai Bai, if possible, can I join this plan? I hope to have the power to choose some portions."
Nagato looked at Uchiha Itachi through Tendō Pain's Reincarnation Eye. This young man's thinking, in a sense, was equally terrifyingly extreme, but at this point, he no longer cared. As he said, he was a god with neither good nor evil.
He didn't want to make moral considerations; he just wanted to make this world feel pain.
"More than half of the high-ranking officials must be annihilated, and Konoha's defenses must be completely breached, with its ninja combat capability reduced by over thirty percent."
Pain said this, which was equivalent to accepting Uchiha Itachi's participation.
Uchiha Itachi drew another blade from behind him. He turned and sat down alone, wiping the blade, his eyes filled with coldness.
The giant summoned beast ran continuously, and the group quickly left the Rain Country, entering the Land of Fire. Tomorrow would be the day the Konoha Collapse Operation began.
Bai Cangshu looked at the dense jungle. At the border of the Land of Fire, many patrolling samurai and ninjas were now appearing, but before they could even give a warning, floating white papers covered their mouths and noses, and they soon fell to the ground, dying in despair.
Bai Cangshu came to Orochimaru's side at this moment and said,
"Orochimaru, you truly have a predestined connection with the Konoha Collapse Plan."
Orochimaru didn't understand why, but he remained vigilant.
Bai Cangshu didn't continue to play on words and stated his true purpose.
"You possess the Impure World Reincarnation forbidden jutsu, don't you? If possible, I hope you can do something for me..."
"I want you to use Impure World Reincarnation on me."
Orochimaru's pupils contracted, almost suspecting he had misheard, but the madman in front of him still wore a terrifying smile, as if embarking on an exhilarating adventure.