Chapter 149: Rain Tiger Technique
"Another rainy season, Konan." Inside the Akatsuki base in Amegakure, Nagato stared at the weather outside and let out a quiet sigh.
Another rainy season.
And once again, his mind drifted back to the day he met Konan and Yahiko, and the day Yahiko collapsed in front of him.
"Mm. It's the rainy season again." Konan stepped out from the shadows and stopped beside him, keeping him company as the steady rain tapped against the world outside.
She stared at Nagato's back, expression distant. She knew exactly what he was thinking.
Yahiko's death was a scar that would never fade, no matter how many years had passed.
Even though they had avenged him by killing Hanzo the Salamander, Konan understood one thing clearly. The fire in Nagato's heart had never gone out. It still burned, stubborn and furious.
Konan did not know whether that fire would eventually burn down Konoha and this sick world, or whether it would burn down Nagato himself.
"Nagato," she said after a pause, forcing a lighter tone, "speaking of which… what about that guy, Jade?"
It was not easy to distract Nagato once he fell into that silence. But Konan quickly thought of someone Nagato rarely brought up.
Jade.
Or, more precisely, Kenichi Amamiya, the S rank rogue shinobi from Konoha, also known in the shinobi world as the Heavenly Demon.
Konoha had already updated his bounty information. Kenichi had officially been classified as an S rank rogue shinobi. When Konan first heard, she was genuinely curious what he had done this time.
Only that man could ease the pressure in Nagato's chest, the kind built from years of revenge. Kenichi's personality had something of Yahiko in it, and he was just as troublesome in a completely different way.
Nagato did not like talking about him.
"I assigned him a mission," Nagato said, unable to hold it in once he heard the name, "and then his trail showed up on the battlefield in the Land of Frost. But for some reason, he never came back."
Kenichi Amamiya was a challenger and a walking violation of Akatsuki's rules.
He had clearly been told that after completing a mission, he needed to return as soon as possible, hand in the organization's share, and report completion.
And yet Kenichi ignored all of it.
Every time Kenichi attended a meeting, Nagato felt like the meeting might turn into some strange comedy show.
Just thinking about him made Nagato's head throb.
Nagato's expression darkened. When Kenichi returned, he was going to have a serious talk with him about Akatsuki discipline.
"Hm?" Nagato's eyes narrowed slightly.
He felt it.
The presence of an Akatsuki ring.
The rings were communication tools. They could not be used to locate members across long distances, that would consume far too much chakra.
However, chakra could be used to perform an Illusion Body Technique, as long as the member's thought waves helped form the link.
And if the ring was close enough, it could still be sensed directly.
Now, Nagato felt two rings approaching.
He recognized them instantly as Kenichi's and Sasori's.
So he controlled Pain and went to meet them.
"Yo, Pain. Long time no see." Kenichi lifted a hand with a bright grin.
Sasori stood off to the side and covered part of his face.
Could his friend not see how awful their leader's mood was?
At least Kenichi understood basic boundaries. He had not brought Anko or Koji Tadokoro with him.
It was not appropriate to expose Akatsuki matters right now, even if Kenichi believed those two would not leak anything.
It was a matter of attitude.
"Jade," Pain said, voice flat and cold, "why did this mission take so long?"
The expression on Pain's face did not change, but the irritation in his tone was obvious.
"Found something interesting," Kenichi said easily. "It delayed me a bit."
He took out a sealed scroll and handed it over. It contained the payment he had obtained from Iwagakure in the Land of Earth.
He also very thoughtfully added one third of his own money.
Nagato had said before that the organization only wanted one third of Kenichi's income, while other members usually split theirs in half with the organization. As for Kakuzu and Kenichi, nobody knew what kind of strange deal existed there.
Kakuzu was a man possessed by money. Kenichi truly could not understand how Nagato had convinced someone like that to join Akatsuki. Getting money out of Kakuzu was like trying to squeeze blood from a rock.
Nagato opened the scroll and glanced at the contents. There was a large amount inside, and after using a [Wealth Summary Technique], he immediately knew the exact figure.
"How much did you negotiate?" Nagato asked, eyebrow lifting as the dissatisfaction in him eased slightly.
This brat was irritating, but he did get results. Every time he moved, he brought back a frightening amount of money.
That personality was the problem. If only it could be corrected.
"The total is 745 million ryo," Kenichi said, giving the precise number without hesitation.
There was no point hiding it. If Nagato wanted the truth, he would get it anyway.
"So much?" Nagato's eyes widened slightly, then he noticed the detail.
Kenichi had indeed handed over exactly one third.
"Heh," Kenichi chuckled. "Because I discussed a business deal with the Third Tsuchikage."
He briefly explained the agreement he had reached. Nagato understood immediately.
He also thought the same model might be worth testing with Kumogakure and Konoha, even if those villages might refuse to pay.
But if they refused, they would have to find a way to counter Kenichi's method of attack.
If they could not solve it, then their village would remain in a constant state of being threatened at any moment.
"Aren't you afraid you'll go too far and force Konoha and Kumogakure to join hands against us?" Nagato asked, gaze sharpening.
Konoha might agree. Their leader prioritized the village, and he had personally seen the kind of weapon Kenichi used.
When the Land of Frost incident happened, Nagato had sent people to gather information. He had learned that Kenichi's attack method did not seem like ninjutsu, but rather some strange weapon.
So Konoha might be forced to pay.
Kumogakure was different.
Based on Nagato's understanding of those stubborn, muscle headed shinobi, the most likely response from Kumogakure was to go to war on principle.
Even if it was said that the Eight Tails jinchuriki was still in the hospital, Nagato did not completely believe it.
Tailed beasts were not that fragile.
He suspected Kumogakure was planning something unpleasant behind the scenes, so he had specifically asked Zetsu to investigate.
"Don't worry," Kenichi said with a shrug. "The strength I'm showing right now is still within what they can understand. And besides, don't organizations only bomb after they've received a mission?"
In the shinobi world, countries could cooperate closely.
Cooperation was possible, but true unity was difficult, especially among the Five Great Nations with blood debts stacked on blood debts. To put it bluntly, every great village secretly wished the others would drop dead so their own could dominate the entire shinobi world.
In this situation, there were only two cases where villages truly united.
First, all five villages became targets at the same time, with no obvious mastermind, and every one of them faced the same overwhelming threat.
That was how it happened with Akatsuki in the future. Only when the villages discovered Akatsuki was collecting tailed beasts, and only after their jinchuriki started suffering heavy losses, did they finally consider joining forces.
Second, an unconventional military force appeared, something no one could even comprehend.
Something like a single strike that instantly vaporized an entire village, leaving no way to resist.
That kind of gap was rare. If it happened, you would have to start asking whether the attacker was an alien.
"Mm." Nagato nodded slowly. "What you said makes sense."
Kenichi was not only strong, he was also smart.
He had clearly thought this through.
That was why he could stand there smiling. And now that Nagato understood Kenichi's view of the filthy politics between villages, he sneered in his heart.
Those who did not know pain, and could not understand pain, would never understand the value of peace.
The Five Great Villages had endless dirty deals. The Fourth Raikage and Iwagakure had a blood feud, one that involved the deaths of their fathers. And across three Shinobi World Wars, the hatred between the great villages had piled up to the point of rot.
The Third Shinobi World War had only ended a year or two ago.
Did anyone truly expect Konoha and Kumogakure to shake hands and make peace just to deal with a small mercenary organization made of rogue shinobi?
Impossible.
And Kenichi also possessed the ability to fly. Even if the villages managed to track them down after exhausting themselves, it was hard to say Akatsuki would still be there when they arrived.
So the villages would not do something so costly and foolish.
"Hey, leader," Kenichi said, smiling as he stepped closer to Pain like they were old friends.
Nagato stared at him through Pain's eyes, suspicious.
What was this brat trying to do now?
"Get to the point," Nagato said curtly.
He manipulated Yahiko's body to step back in disgust. If he did not, Kenichi's hand would probably end up on Yahiko's shoulder.
"Ahem." Kenichi rubbed his hands together, expression bright with curiosity. "I noticed that sometimes the rain in Amegakure feels… unnatural. There's a faint flow of chakra in it. Is that your ninjutsu?"
He had been eyeing the Rain Tiger Freedom Technique for a long time.
A huge area surveillance ninjutsu.
Worried your house will get robbed while you are gone? Then use the Rain Tiger Freedom Technique.
"Oh?" Nagato was genuinely surprised.
Kenichi Amamiya had actually detected it.
That was Nagato's masterpiece, the method he used to monitor all of Amegakure. It was highly concealed, and he never expected Kenichi would notice it.
Kenichi had done some research before. The information he found did not claim it was a Rinnegan ability.
He personally leaned toward one conclusion.
Nagato developed this technique himself.
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