Chapter 366: How Many Steps Does It Take to Persuade Nagato?
Amamiya Kenichi had one Shadow Clone with a particularly unusual line of thinking.
That Shadow Clone firmly believed that Wood Release, this special Bloodline Limit, could be developed into a method for rapidly growing plants. So while the other Shadow Clones were busy screening cold resistant genes, this one had been diligently researching Wood Release.
This time, Amamiya Kenichi did not dispel him.
After all, that Shadow Clone's idea was unique. Who knew what kind of result it might produce? Because of that, Amamiya Kenichi decided to let him continue.
"Forget it. I'll ask later. The important thing right now is..." Amamiya Kenichi touched the ring on his hand, the one engraved with the word [Jade].
He intended to contact Nagato as soon as possible.
The thought waves he had tried to send before had failed, most likely because he did not possess the Rinnegan. The Land of Snow was also very far from the Hidden Rain Village, which likely caused the problem.
Just as Amamiya Kenichi touched the ring, a familiar ripple suddenly came through it.
He immediately calmed himself, released his own thought waves, and when he opened his eyes again, he found someone already standing opposite him.
Nagato.
However, he was still using Yahiko's appearance rather than revealing his true body.
Amamiya Kenichi was not surprised. Although there were a few guesses about Nagato's real identity within the Akatsuki, most members still did not know who he truly was.
"Jade, what is it you want to say?" Nagato asked, glancing around before finally looking at Amamiya Kenichi.
He had just finished dealing with Danzo, placing his head before Yahiko's grave so that he could forever repent for his crimes and his foolish actions.
"Leader, what do you think about what I said before?" Amamiya Kenichi asked with a smile.
In the Land of Snow, Black Zetsu's reach could not extend so easily. In fact, after arriving there, Amamiya Kenichi had even blown up his own airship to make sure Black Zetsu had not secretly hidden aboard it. He had gone to great lengths for this conversation with Nagato. Unless Black Zetsu's Mayfly ability or his stealth methods were somehow broken, there was no safer place than this.
Nagato did not answer.
To be honest, he was not especially interested in speaking with Amamiya Kenichi. Every time he talked to this man, his heart became conflicted and heavy.
"Leader, do you know the history of the ninja world?" Amamiya Kenichi asked with a smile.
Seeing Nagato's pain and hesitation, he chose to change the subject. There was no need to rush. They had time now, and before this, there had simply been no proper chance to talk. That damned Black Zetsu had made sure of that.
Nagato silently nodded.
There was no ninja who did not know the history of the ninja world. These things were not secret. The only difference was that every village recorded them differently.
Take the Hidden Rain Village, for example. Its internal records said that the founder of the village saw through the conspiracies of the great ninja villages, then resolutely gathered a group of like minded people to establish Amegakure and protect the Land of Rain. It was all written in a way that made everything sound righteous and noble.
But what was the truth?
Nagato knew very well that the Hidden Rain Village had not been born from some lofty and righteous ideal. It had simply been the product of circumstance.
"Back in the Warring States era, the ninja world was dominated by clans that fought each other endlessly. In the Land of Fire, the Uchiha, the Senju, and the Hyuga were all at each other's throats." Amamiya Kenichi looked at Nagato and continued.
"But what about now?"
"They became members of Konoha."
"Even if there are still some private frictions, they no longer fight each other to the death. They can sit together, eat together, talk together, and fight for the same village."
As he spoke, Amamiya Kenichi used the ready made example he had gotten from Uchiha Hikari.
Lies are always exposed one day, but truth is different. Truth is truth. Especially when it is something recorded by history and known by everyone.
Just how chaotic the Warring States era had been was recorded in every clan. The Senju and Uchiha recorded it in even greater detail. Those were hard facts that could not be denied.
Nagato fell silent.
He naturally understood what Amamiya Kenichi was trying to say.
"What exactly are you trying to do?" Nagato finally asked, frowning as he looked at him.
He was not a fool. He knew full well what those words implied. Amamiya Kenichi was using a ready made example to persuade him.
"Didn't I already tell you?" Amamiya Kenichi spread his hands, his tone full of excitement.
"I want to establish a country. I want to unify the entire ninja world. At that time, no one in this world will carry the labels of different countries or different villages anymore. They will have only one identity."
"Citizens of the Nation of Flame."
Nagato stared at him in silence.
"At that point, everything will simply repeat the pattern we already saw in the past. There will definitely be some friction at first, but if peace lasts long enough, the ninja world will naturally achieve lasting peace."
Amamiya Kenichi continued speaking, his voice persuasive.
"At that time, there will be no hunger and no war. People will be able to live peaceful, healthy lives. Children will grow up with full stomachs. No one will become an orphan because of war."
Each word struck directly at Nagato's heart.
He even started to wonder if Amamiya Kenichi had already learned his true identity long ago. Otherwise, why would he choose words like these to persuade him?
After all, he, Yahiko, and Konan had all been war orphans.
No one understood the pain of being a war orphan better than they did.
"Why didn't you say all of this earlier?" Nagato narrowed his eyes.
Amamiya Kenichi smiled bitterly.
"Leader, if I told you there was someone in this world with an extremely powerful stealth ability, someone who could gather information without anyone ever noticing, would you believe me?"
If Black Zetsu were not such a problem, why would he have gone through all this trouble? He would have just laid everything out in the Hidden Rain Village already.
Instead, the matter had dragged on until now, bringing with it a whole pile of trouble.
Nagato frowned.
"A person like that exists?"
He did not really believe it. Someone that troublesome should not exist. But when he looked at Amamiya Kenichi's serious expression and thought about all the effort he had gone to recently, it was hard not to waver.
If such a person truly did not exist, then why would Amamiya Kenichi be so cautious?
"So that person has been lurking around the Hidden Rain Village?" Nagato narrowed his eyes.
To be honest, he still found it hard to believe. But Amamiya Kenichi was not someone who liked making pointless jokes, so in the end, Nagato chose to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Still, if such a person really existed, then what Amamiya Kenichi had said before in the Hidden Rain Village took on a completely different meaning.
That would mean the other party might already have been lurking near them then.
Perhaps...
He might even be inside the Akatsuki itself.
"Who knows?" Amamiya Kenichi shrugged.
"That guy is elusive. I don't even know how to find him."
He really did want to drag Black Zetsu out and imprison him. If Black Zetsu were eliminated from the equation, dealing with Obito alone would become much easier.
But there was no help for it. Black Zetsu was simply too difficult to catch.
Still, it was not as though there were no possible lead at all.
Amamiya Kenichi thought of the time he had come into contact with Black Zetsu and extracted some biological data from the sweat left behind. Perhaps he could use that genetic information to create some kind of detection method. But that would also be very difficult.
It might honestly be easier to just build a nuclear bomb with his own hands.
Nagato still did not fully believe it.
He opened his eyes and swept the surroundings with the Rinnegan, trying to find something.
There was nothing.
Only then did he close his eyes again with some reluctance.
Now he could at least understand Amamiya Kenichi's caution. If a person like that really existed, then living under the suspicion that they might be nearby at any moment would indeed be maddening.
"What does any of this have to do with your plan?" Nagato asked, unwilling to let the conversation drift further.
Amamiya Kenichi did not answer directly.
Instead, he asked, "Leader, if the goal is to unify the ninja world, are you willing to help?"
That was the real key.
As long as Nagato agreed to cooperate, he could break with Black Zetsu and Obito immediately. There would be no need to continue this childish game with them.
The Rinnegan was in Nagato's hands. So what if Uchiha Madara were reanimated?
A Madara without the Rinnegan and a Madara with the Rinnegan were two completely different beasts.
Likewise, an Edo Tensei Madara and a fully revived Madara were not on the same level either.
Nagato fell silent again.
He stood there in thought, and Amamiya Kenichi did not rush him. He simply poured himself a cup of hot tea and drank it slowly. This was not the sort of choice one made lightly.
After a long silence, Nagato finally asked, "How can you guarantee your plan will succeed?"
He had to admit that he was tempted.
Amamiya Kenichi's proposal sounded far more feasible than many other ideas. More importantly, it had actual historical precedent and real examples to support it. It was hard to dismiss.
After all, the ninja world truly had changed from the Warring States period into the present age.
"This is the foundation of my plan." Amamiya Kenichi took out a map and marked it with his finger.
"After that, I will build a capable ninja army and launch a lightning campaign against the Hidden Mist Village in the Land of Water. Then I will annex it as quickly as possible."
Before, attacking the Hidden Mist Village had been difficult. It was isolated by the sea, and launching an assault required ships.
But now there were airships.
That problem no longer existed.
Once the Hidden Mist Village was taken in a lightning war, it could serve as a springboard for the rest of the great nations. Unifying the ninja world would not be so difficult after that.
Nagato frowned.
"Will the other villages and great nations just sit there and do nothing?"
Amamiya Kenichi smiled.
"They definitely won't do nothing. They'll condemn it, pressure us, and try to profit from it. But that's all."
His experience from his previous life told him exactly how this would go. When an event like this happened, most parties would first watch, then posture, then try to snatch a few benefits for themselves.
The Five Great Nations fought each other so fiercely already that if one of them were attacked or weakened, the others would sooner laugh and seize the chance than unite in righteous outrage.
At that point, it would simply become a matter of manipulating alliances, striking far and befriending near, and dividing opponents before swallowing them. There were too many methods available.
On top of that, annexing the Hidden Mist Village would also help solve the food issue to a large extent.
Nagato opened his mouth as if he wanted to refute him, but when he thought about the actual state of the ninja world, he had to admit that Amamiya Kenichi was not wrong.
And that only made the choice more painful.
Should he continue down the path of fulfilling Yahiko's final wish the way he originally intended?
Or should he trust Amamiya Kenichi's path?
"Leader, what is the Akatsuki's ultimate goal?" Amamiya Kenichi asked, knowing he was only one step away now.
"To build a world without war. A peaceful world." Nagato answered without thinking.
That had always been Yahiko's final wish.
Amamiya Kenichi spread his hands.
"Then that settles it. I don't know what method the organization originally planned to use, but it's obvious that my path is more feasible, isn't it?"
"The final goal is the same."
Nagato fell silent once more.
He looked at the carefree, thick skinned man in front of him, this infuriatingly persuasive bastard who sometimes reminded him far too much of Yahiko.
And compared with the ideas Amamiya Kenichi had laid out, along with the historical examples proving they could work, the balance in Nagato's heart was indeed shifting.
On top of that, he had already seriously considered Amamiya Kenichi's words before.
After a long struggle, Nagato finally extended his hand.
Amamiya Kenichi smiled and extended his own as well. Of course, their hands could not truly meet. What stood here were only thought forms.
"I will try it," Nagato said at last, his voice steady.
"But if I see no possibility of success, then I will still choose my own method."
.....
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