Start with a Zanpakuto and build the strongest Mist Village

"The Akatsuki..."

His dark green eyes stared at Payne. While using the dust and debris as cover, he allowed some of the Earthly Wraiths to retreat with their hearts, and then he replied casually, "I remember I used to hate it when you guys took my orders."

"Don't even think about escaping."

"Pfft!"

The Earthly Grudge, which was trying to escape from the smoke and dust, was directly pierced through, and a figure wearing a black robe with red clouds slowly floated out.

The jet-black iron sand swirled around him, and the one that pierced through the Earthly Grudge was a sharp blade of iron sand!

The moment Kakuzu saw that face, a look of horror appeared on his face.

"Magnetic Release? Wait, the Third Kazekage?!"

"How could this be? Weren't you already... no, no, in this form, a human puppet?!"

"As expected of someone who has survived from the Warring States period, your perspective is indeed quite interesting."

Fine chakra lines connected beneath the Third Kazekage, and a handsome young man with red hair slowly emerged from behind the bushes.

Upon seeing this face, Kakuzu's expression of shock deepened.

"The grandson of Chiyo, the strongest puppeteer in Sunagakure, Sasori of the Red Sand... I didn't expect you to actually assassinate the Third Kazekage and turn him into a human puppet. No wonder you were rated as an S-rank rogue ninja by Sunagakure."

"To be precise, it's [Akatsuki no Treasure - Sasori of the Red Sand]," the red-haired youth said calmly. "If you join, you will also receive your own title."

"What if I refuse...?"

"The will of God is beyond question." A detached voice rang out from Payne: "Whether you agree or not, you must join the ranks of Akatsuki! Under the power of God, there is no room for you to resist."

god?

What an arrogant self-proclaimed title! Even Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju in the past would not dare to call themselves gods. Even Hanzo, who single-handedly led the Land of Rain to independence from the three kingdoms of Iron, Wind, and Fire and was regarded as a god by countless people in Amegakure, only called himself a demigod.

Kakuzu's gaze fell on Payne, scrutinizing him closely, his eyes lingering particularly on his eyes.

The whites of his eyes were purple with concentric rings of wrinkles.

As a living fossil in the ninja world who has survived since the Warring States period, and a top assassin in the underground market, Kakuzu's experiences and knowledge are naturally different from those of ordinary ninjas. He didn't recognize those special eyes at a glance.

These...

"The eyes of the Sage of Six Paths, the Rinnegan, right?"

"good."

Pain's indifferent voice rang out: "The Akatsuki is a special organization that takes in S-rank rogue ninjas from the ninja world, because only you, who are known as S-rank rogue ninjas, have witnessed the darkness of the village and the true nature of this world."

"As long as you join Akatsuki, I will be your protector, freeing you from the pursuit of ninja villages, and I will lead you to true peace in the ninja world!"

"..."

Kakuzu, who was nearing seventy, was completely unmoved by the remarks of such a delusional teenager, but there was one thing he was very clear about at that moment.

Sasori of the Red Sand, a genius puppeteer who possesses puppets of three generations of Kazekage, is not easy to deal with.

And this guy who possesses the Rinnegan and claims to be a god is a terrifying existence that he cannot contend with!

So clearly, he only has one option left.

"Okay, I'll join."

Kakuzu simply put away his Earth Grudge, and the three hearts re-integrated into his body. However, the earth-attribute heart in the upper left corner had been destroyed by the Third Kazekage's iron sand. Without the mask, only the dark lines of the Earth Grudge remained, which looked quite eerie.

Seeing that Kakuzu was so sensible, Sasori of the Red Sand snorted and withdrew the Third Kazekage. Pain's raised hand slowly fell, and he took out a ring, a thin book, and a black robe with red clouds from his pocket, and threw them to Kakuzu.

"You made the right choice, Kakuzu. From this day forward, you are [North], the North Star of Awakening!"

"This ring is a symbol of your official membership in Akatsuki. The book contains several ninjutsu techniques that you need to master, as well as a uniform. As for the rest, you will learn them all after following me for a few days."

"Are there any bounty missions underway..." Kakuzu murmured, fiddling with the ring engraved with the character "North".

"It's about searching for companions."

Pain turned and left, and Sasori of the Red Sand glanced at Kakuzu before following in Pain's footsteps.

"Companions...does that mean the people we're going to encounter next will all be top-tier rogue ninja?"

Kakuzu's eyes lit up, and he quickly put on the ring, donned the Akatsuki robe, and followed!

at the same time.

In a tree hole constructed using a paper-based magic technique, more than ten miles away.

Nagato, with his dry hair and gaunt face, let out a soft breath and pushed his wheelchair while controlling Payne.

"Yahiko...you will always be the leader of Akatsuki!"

"Nagato, don't blame yourself too much. It wasn't your fault back then!"

Beside him, Konan, with paper flowers in her hair, placed her hand on Nagato's shoulder, offering words of comfort.

"No, Minazuki Yoru is right. The reality of this world is dark and dirty. We cannot hand over the right to choose peace to them; instead, we should firmly hold it in our own hands."

"Back then, we, Xiao, were all too naive. And because of that, we paid a heavy price and learned a bloody lesson."

Although Nagato's voice was weak, it was extremely firm, and his pale purple Rinnegan seemed to see through everything!

"Only hegemony can restore peace to the ninja world. Only by making these countries, those ambitious fools, feel fear and pain will they understand the preciousness of peace!"

"And I, who possess the Rinnegan, will become the god who bestowed all of this upon them!"

"Let's go, Xiao Nan. We need more companions, more companions who have experienced pain and know the darkness of this world!"

……

"Then let's plan to establish a port route from the Land of Water to inland countries like Fire, Earth, and Wind."

"Fourth Hokage, the port construction is perfectly fine, but this shipping route... your route needs to pass through the Land of Waves. It's a chaotic country without ninjas, a melting pot of mafia and wandering ninjas, with fluctuating political power. If you carelessly send large quantities of goods through there, I'm afraid..."

"Isn't that the best thing ever?"

Ye spread his hands and said to the elders in front of him, "Although the Land of Water has been confirmed to be open, we lack a port city for foreign trade and commerce."

"The more prosperous island cities of the Land of Water are all located in the deep sea, while those closer to the inland are surrounded by reefs and often suffer from dangerous natural disasters such as waves. But the Land of Waves is different."

"It is a country that is close to the inland areas of fire, iron, and lightning, and it does not have a stable government or ninja organization... You all should understand what I mean."

"Understood!"

The patriarch of the Kaguya clan revealed an excited expression, winked at Yoru, and waved his fist: "Please rest assured, Fourth Hokage, we will definitely complete your mission perfectly!"

Are you sure you understand what I mean?

Ye's lips twitched slightly, but entrusting this task to the violent Kaguya clan was indeed the best option. Perhaps these guys could even give him a surprise.

"Of course, the Land of Waves is secondary. Now that we've decided to vigorously expand trade, we need to pay close attention to the construction of large ports, the development of sturdy ships, and the control of goods. Especially regarding goods, we absolutely cannot allow substandard or contaminated seafood to end up on our tables..."

A pure white figure appeared outside the meeting room. Ye's eyes flickered slightly, and he waved his hand, saying, "Let's end this meeting here. If any elders have any ideas, please write them down and send them to me. By pooling our wisdom, Wuyin can achieve better development."

"Lord Mizukage is absolutely right."

"Thank you for your hard work, Lord Mizukage."

"Then I shall take my leave."

After the meeting ended, the elders and elite Jonin left one after another. The Kaguya clan members were even more excited. They had just held a meeting and found a good job. They wondered how much extra money they could make in this mission.

After everyone had gradually dispersed, Mizuki Akira came to Yoru and placed a scroll on the desk.

"Fourth Hokage, this was sent by the Third Hokage."

"Is it finally here?"

Ye took the scroll and opened it directly.

A moment later, a cold smile appeared on Ye's face: "He really is an old fox."

"What's wrong?" Mizuki Akira asked curiously.

"This is the implicit clause of the last Shadow Conference held in the Land of Iron. In order to make peace with us, Hiruzen Sarutobi will provide us with the detailed locations of the ninja squads on the Iwagakure battlefield. And this scroll contains information about the ninja squads currently on the front lines in Iwagakure, sent in the form of an ally requesting assistance."

"One Moonlight, one Inuzuka, one Aburame, two Hyuga... On the surface, they do seem very sincere, if I didn't know the situation on the front lines."

Ye snorted and took out several intelligence reports from a pile of files on his left.

"With Konoha's counterattack, the battle lines of both sides have gradually been pushed back, and several small teams, led by Konoha's elite ninjas, have even begun to penetrate into the heart of Iwagakure's army."

"But Iwagakure is no pushover either. Many Konoha ninja squads were surrounded and killed in Iwagakure's territory, including a Konoha squad of twenty or thirty people who were besieged by Iwagakure."

"If I were to take action against them, I would inevitably encounter the Iwagakure forces that have surrounded them first. If that were all, it would be fine. The problem is that after we go through all the trouble of getting our hands on this small team, the most valuable member, Hyuga, is from the branch family."

"Can this still happen?!"

Mizuki Akira was somewhat dumbfounded.

"You may not know this, but after Ao seized that Byakugan, the Hyuga clan ordered all members of the main Hyuga family to stay away from the battlefield. Now, the Hyuga clan members who are able to operate on the front lines are basically from the branch families!"

Ye snorted softly, knowing all too well what Hiruzen Sarutobi was planning.

The allure of the Byakugan is undeniable, especially for Kirigakure, who has already experienced its benefits and understands its value.

Using a ninja squad that was destined to die to draw the attention of Iwagakure from Kirigakure, even if Kirigakure succeeded, they could simply activate the Caged Bird Seal, turning the living Hyuga into the dead Hyuga, making it all for naught.

"Then forget it?"

Mizuki Akira whispered, "If we know we won't get any benefits, we can just not go. That way, we can avoid conflict with Iwagakure."

"No, of course we're going."

Night shook his head. The reason he agreed to Hiruzen Sarutobi's offer to exchange the readily available bloodline limit for this kind of information was twofold: firstly, he genuinely wanted to plunder more bloodlines from Konoha; secondly, he also wanted to have a reason to intervene in the war between fire and earth.

Whether it's white eyes or not is completely unimportant. Even if it's a caged bird's dead white eye, it doesn't matter. As long as we can get some flesh and blood to study it, that's fine.

What he really cared about was the Hidden Rock Battlefield, which was like a meat grinder at that moment!

Fresh souls who have just died on the battlefield are bound to possess intense fear and anger. Such people with extreme personal emotions are far better than the souls whose consciousness has been dragged back from the dead through a medium with great effort.

Whether used for soul experiments or to create a spiritual land, this kind of soul is more likely to meet the requirements!

Chapter 111 Uchiha Shisui: Not a single drop left, absolutely none.

The construction of a new spiritual land requires a massive amount of souls. If the plan had been laid out in Kirigakure decades ago, Kirigakure, as the Village of Blood Mist, would surely have become a new spiritual land.

The Third Hokage's Blood Mist policy resulted in the number of survivors dying in Kirigakure each year being comparable to a small-scale war.

In particular, the annual ninja graduation exams at the ninja academy, which pitted the ninjas against each other, took away countless young lives.

Unfortunately, these souls have already entered the Pure Land of the Underworld, and Kirigakure has become a village under Night's rule. He can no longer continue to create chaos and slaughter indiscriminately in his territory.

Therefore, there is only one way to transform Kirigakure into a spiritual land at present.

Collect alien souls!

During these three months, Yoru collected a number of souls by purging death row inmates and resurrecting ordinary ninjas using the Impure World Reincarnation technique. However, these souls were far from sufficient for the Spirit Land.

In the current ninja world, the only way to quietly allow Night to acquire enough souls without causing much impact is on the battlefield between the Fire and Earth kingdoms, which are currently engaged in fierce combat.

Originally, rashly intervening in the war between the Fire and Earth Kingdoms would inevitably give others grounds for criticism, but now the Third Hokage's letter has given him a reason!

My Hidden Mist Village and Konoha Village are sworn allies, and it is only natural for us to appear on the battlefield!

"However, rashly collecting flesh and blood, or using special sealing methods to collect souls, would inevitably attract the attention of some people with ulterior motives. If I could possess the Rinnegan, it would be much more convenient..."

The night murmured, the Rinnegan's Human Path and Hell Path abilities were simply the nemesis of the soul.

Simply stand on the battlefield, and with a single breath of the Rinnegan, you can collect all the souls that ordinary people cannot see.

Unfortunately, Nagato had no intention of cooperating with him, and he could not possibly entrust this task, which was crucial to the future development of the Shinigami Project, to Nagato, whose mind was now twisted.

"Mizukage-sama!"

Suddenly, a beautiful figure knocked on the door of the Mizukage's office. With her red eyes, Touna Yukiko could not hide her excitement.

However, upon seeing Mizuki Akira in the office, her expression froze slightly.

"It's alright, speak."

Night waved his hand, and then Yukiko Touna excitedly said, "We have achieved certain research results on the First Hokage cells and the Mangekyou Sharingan that you provided."

"Yeah!"

Ye's expression changed drastically: "Explain in detail!"

Three months ago, he used Kotoamatsukami to control Danzo. In addition to obtaining a large number of forbidden and secret technique scrolls and data on various forbidden research, including Wood Release and soul experiments, he also took a small portion of the First Hokage's cells from Danzo.