"Lord Pain, after you and Lady Angel left, the Hidden Rain Village no longer had the right to speak with the Five Great Shinobi Nations.
The development the Seventh Hokage promised you was never realized!
He merely mentioned us to the others once, and in response, the Five Great Nations gave us a 'business opportunity'—processing the waste generated by their own development. Every kind of toxic, hazardous, and unmanageable trash was dumped on us!
The Land of Rain is now filled with poisonous gas. Even the rain itself has become corrosive.
Some of us tried to go to Konoha to demand answers, but they were beaten and driven away.
Konoha never treated the Hidden Rain as an ally. They believe it was the Seventh Hokage who saved and revived their elders and families, claiming it had nothing to do with Lord Pain. To them, Lord Pain, you were nothing more than a defeated loser..."
Nagato was bewildered by much of the letter's content.
For instance, who was this "Seventh Hokage"? Why would he ever cooperate with such a person?
However, he could piece together the general trajectory of the future. The keyword was "revive." If there was a mass resurrection, it had to be his Rinne Rebirth technique.
It was almost beyond belief. In the future, would he truly sacrifice his own life to revive the people of the Hidden Leaf? Would he really choose to trust a shinobi from the Leaf to help the Hidden Rain prosper?
Looking at the photos Senya had taken of the future Hidden Rain, Nagato chose to believe.
"We failed? Or is it that as long as I am not influenced by that Konoha ninja, we can succeed..." Nagato muttered, clutching his head in conflict. Finally, he looked up at Senya. "What is your goal?"
Nagato had a peculiar personality. He was capable of making ultimate decisions, but the specific options were usually presented to him by others. First, it was Yahiko; later, it was Jiraiya, and eventually, Naruto.
Now, faced with a "destined failure," Nagato didn't know how to change course. He decided to consult Senya, this "Future Leader" of the Hidden Rain.
"I want to become the strategist and advisor for Akatsuki. I will direct the development of both the organization and the Hidden Rain Village," Senya stated bluntly.
"I have no issue with you making decisions for the village, provided your choices convince both of us," Konan interrupted, her voice like cold water. "But Akatsuki... the members of Akatsuki will not easily follow your lead."
"Does Akatsuki have a gathering scheduled soon?" Senya asked with a slight smile.
"What?" Konan frowned.
A few days later.
Inside a cavern outside the Hidden Rain Village, protected by numerous barriers, the members of Akatsuki gathered.
However, two were missing: Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame.
Senya had informed Nagato that Uchiha Itachi was a spy sent by the Hidden Leaf. Whether Nagato believed it or not, Senya advised him to keep Itachi away from this meeting, promising to handle the situation later.
Excluding only Itachi would have been too suspicious, so Pain had assigned both Itachi and Kisame a mission to scout for intelligence in the Leaf. It was a chance for Itachi to return home for a look—a mission he was unlikely to refuse.
"Where are Itachi and Kisame? Don't tell me they got taken out already. And who's this? A new member?"
Hidan stood there brashly, pointing his finger at the only unfamiliar face: Senya.
"Vermilion Bird and Southern Star are on another assignment," Pain's voice echoed through the cave from his high vantage point. "This is Senya. He has come to apply for the position of Akatsuki's strategist."
"What?! I don't need some brat of a strategist telling me what to do!" Hidan shouted immediately. He unslung the Triple-Bladed Scythe from his back and leveled it at Senya. "Hey, kid! You want me to sacrifice you to Lord Jashin right now?"
The other Akatsuki members watched coldly, remaining silent. Their thoughts mirrored Hidan's; none of them wanted a strategist breathing down their necks. As Konan had said, these men were all elite rogues and geniuses. They weren't the type to take orders from a stranger.
"I wonder, who among you handles the finances of Akatsuki?"
Senya ignored Hidan's outburst. He set up a small blackboard and pinned a sheet of paper to it.
"What the hell is 'finances'?" Hidan asked, confused.
"It means money, you moron," Kakuzu grunted, glancing at his idiotic partner.
Almost immediately, Kakuzu's gaze was drawn to the contents on Senya's board.
"Under the leadership of the previous head, Salamander Hanzō, the Hidden Rain Village completed several stages of steam-powered industrialization," Senya began. "While the shinobi of the Rain may not be the strongest, those machines can fully replace manual labor. We can produce light industrial goods and sell them to the Five Great Nations, generating massive amounts of capital."
"If initial funding is an issue, I happen to have some classified intelligence. A wealthy businessman named Gatō has seized control of a bridge being built by the people of the Land of Waves. The citizens want to hire ninja to deal with him, but they have no money. To that end, they are planning to lie about the mission's difficulty to lower the bounty."
Senya tapped the paper as he explained. "Akatsuki can take this mission. We'll let them pay a symbolic price of one Ryo. Once we're there, we eliminate Gatō and seize his assets. If possible, we can establish a long-term partnership with the Land of Waves. It sits right between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water—a strategic maritime choke point. If the Land of Water wants to develop, they'll eventually have to pass through the Land of Waves to reach the mainland, or else take a massive, costly detour. Controlling that point means a continuous, staggering stream of income."
The more Kakuzu listened, the more his eyes began to gleam.
Senya's plan was entirely feasible. Furthermore, the way he tossed around professional terminology suggested he was a seasoned expert in the field!
"Hey, Kakuzu! Hey! Don't let him trick you!" Hidan saw that Kakuzu was becoming hopelessly engrossed and waved a hand in front of his face.
Seeing no reaction, Hidan glared back at Senya. "So what if you can make money? What right does that give you to command us in other matters?"
"The Leader's current policy is to collect the nine Tailed Beasts to create a deterrent, establishing peace through overwhelming pressure," Senya said, once again ignoring Hidan. "The direction of this plan is correct. It's far more realistic than trying to maintain peace through 'love.' However, the plan has its flaws."
"Flaws? We'll discuss those later," Senya continued. "But regarding this deterrence theory, I have a proposal that is infinitely easier than hunting Tailed Beasts, with nearly the same effect."
"Oh? What proposal?" This caught even Pain's interest.
In recent days, Senya had only spoken to Nagato and Konan about the future of the Hidden Rain; he hadn't mentioned anything else. They had also confirmed the current date for him. In the Konoha calendar, it was Year 60—the most pivotal year in the original story. Everything from the theft of the Scroll of Seals to the Land of Waves, the Land of Snow, the Chūnin Exams, and Sasuke's defection happened around this time.
"To ensure this plan remains effective, 'Three Platforms' must leave. He cannot be allowed to hear this," Senya said flatly.
"What?! Why the hell do I have to leave?! You're just holding a grudge, you brat!" Hidan exploded. His curiosity had been piqued as well, and now he was being excluded?
Shing—!
Hidan's scythe whistled past Senya's head. Senya reached out, caught the handle of the spinning weapon mid-air, and tossed it back.
"Hmm?" Kakuzu's eyes narrowed slightly. To catch Hidan's high-speed rotating scythe so effortlessly and throw it back suggested that this strategist's Taijutsu and reflexes were already at a considerable level.
After returning the scythe, Senya brushed off his sleeve.
"I'm not holding a grudge. And 'Three Platforms'... you should spend more time training your Taijutsu and your brain. Otherwise, be careful, or a mere Chūnin might just end up killing you."
"You! Why you—! #&*%!"