Because the Land of Rain directly bordered the Land of Wind, Nagato arrived in the Land of Wind much earlier than Shisui Uchiha.
And after reaching the Land of Wind, his first choice was not to follow the intelligence collected by Kirigakure and Amegakure to investigate related clues.
Instead, he quietly infiltrated Sunagakure and began observing Sunagakure's movements.
So many attacks against other villages' jonin had occurred near the Land of Wind.
As the most important military force in the Land of Wind, Sunagakure had no reason to know nothing at all.
Through Sunagakure's intelligence, he could view this sudden incident from a more objective and comprehensive angle, avoiding any critical mistakes caused by secondhand intelligence.
That was Nagato's judgment.
But his gains after infiltrating Sunagakure were not very satisfactory.
Because at this very moment, Sunagakure was currently in a state of widespread anxiety due to the increasingly obvious signs of the One-Tail Shukaku's new Jinchuriki losing control.
Nagato relied on the Human Path's power to quietly examine the memories of several Sunagakure jonin, yet he found no sign that they had paid attention to the attacks happening in the Land of Wind.
This left him feeling quite speechless and helpless.
"Just because their Jinchuriki has some problems, the whole village has become this panicked. Sunagakure really has declined badly…"
Watching the Fourth Kazekage hurriedly leave Sunagakure to report to the Wind Daimyo, Nagato sat in a small shop selling Land of Wind specialty food and silently shook his head while eating.
"According to the memories of those jonin, Sunagakure has already reached the point where they need the Fourth Kazekage Rasa to use his Magnet Release to search for gold dust and supplement the village's funds. If they still cannot handle their Jinchuriki problem properly, then the funds Sunagakure receives from the Wind Daimyo will only decrease further. Sunagakure's economic problems will worsen even more. At that point, in order to prove their strength to the Wind Daimyo, they will have no choice but to wage war against neighboring countries…"
"A declining country full of internal troubles like this… No wonder the mastermind chose it as the stage to stir up trouble. If that series of attacks was all caused by the same mastermind, then even if Sunagakure learned the truth, relying on Sunagakure's strength alone, they might not even have the power to take revenge…"
While analyzing Sunagakure's current state, Nagato observed the depressed, hurried Sunagakure residents on the street.
A somewhat strange thought gradually began surfacing in his mind.
"If left alone, Sunagakure will definitely be forced by economic problems to transfer its internal conflicts outward, becoming the instigator of the next war. Then if I help them stabilize their Jinchuriki's condition, would they become less likely to turn into a new source of war?"
"No, that will not work. That would only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. As long as Sunagakure still relies only on shinobi commissions and funds provided by the Wind Daimyo to maintain the village's operation, they will eventually walk the road of external war. Even if Kirigakure does not attack them, they will choose to wage war outward in order to survive…"
Seeing Nagato suddenly frown and stop moving, the shop owner nervously approached and asked in a low voice.
"Um, customer? Is the food not to your taste? Or…"
"Hm? Ah, no. I was just thinking about something."
Nagato returned to himself and answered the shop owner's question in a calm tone.
"Do not worry. Boss, your food is very delicious and quite distinctive. Even if you opened a shop in another country, you should be able to earn money quite easily…"
"That's good, that's good…"
The shop owner let out a long breath.
Looking at Nagato's young face, he asked curiously, "But from your accent and your comment, customer, are you from another country?"
"Yes. I came to Sunagakure from the Land of Rain to commission a mission."
Nagato firmly remembered the fake identity Yahiko had given him before he left.
"But it seems Sunagakure has been rather quiet recently…"
"Isn't that the truth?"
The shop owner let out a long sigh.
He sat down opposite Nagato and began pouring out his grievances.
"The atmosphere in the village has been tense lately. Fewer and fewer people come here to eat. If Lord Kazekage cannot improve the village's situation, I might have to imitate those peers from the Land of Water and try my luck in other countries."
Nagato had not expected to hear such a statement from a small-food shop owner in the Land of Wind.
He looked the man up and down in surprise, then asked curiously, "Why would you think that, uncle?"
"Because I heard some customers who came here to eat say that the Wind Daimyo has recently taken a great liking to a chef from the Land of Water. Just because he liked that chef's food, he rewarded him with quite an impressive amount of money."
The snack shop owner glanced at Nagato, who was eating with obvious enjoyment, then whispered to him.
"I do not expect myself to be like that peer and catch the eye of some great nation's daimyo. I just think that with my skills, perhaps I can make people from other countries like the Land of Wind's food too.
If that gives them a bit of goodwill toward the Land of Wind, and makes them willing to come to the Land of Wind and commission Sunagakure when they run into trouble, then I suppose I would have made some contribution to the Land of Wind and Sunagakure, right?"
"Aren't you worried about the trouble and hardship you might encounter after leaving your homeland, uncle?"
Nagato casually placed another spoonful of food into his mouth.
That flavor, different from his own eating habits but carrying an unusual, stimulating savoriness, made him feel that the other party's idea might actually work.
"If you run into trouble outside, you will not be able to ask Sunagakure for help."
"Everyone speaks the same language. At most, the accents are a little different. If you talk things through more, you can always find a way to solve problems."
The shop owner stood up and spoke half helplessly, half emotionally.
"There are troubles outside, and there are troubles at home. I am completely helpless about the problems at home. But outside, perhaps there is still some room for me to do something…"
After saying that, he rubbed his bald head somewhat embarrassedly and apologized to Nagato.
"Sorry, customer. I dragged you into so much meaningless chatter and disturbed your meal…"
"It is fine. I quite like what you said about 'since everyone speaks the same language, if people communicate more, they can always find a way to solve problems.'"
Nagato smiled and took his wallet from his pocket.
After handing the meal payment to the owner, he picked up a portion of snacks that could be taken away and slowly walked out of the shop.
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