After a long time, the Akatsuki organization held another secret meeting in their hidden base.
Once the spiritual projections of all members had gathered, Pain began the assembly.
First, he summarized everyone's achievements over this period and offered words of encouragement — urging them to keep up the good work, pull together, work hard day and night to earn money, and dedicate everything to the organization.
After all, if nobody put in the effort, how would Nagato ever afford to equip the Asura Path with laser cannons? And how would Konan ever buy enough exploding tags?
Think about it — where did the 600 billion exploding tags she used to blast Obito in the original story come from?
They were earned bit by bit by Kakuzu and the others working diligently all these years!
Once the summary was done, Pain went on to outline their current missions.
And well… there was nothing new.
Apart from making money, their only task was — still making money!
Sure enough, Nagato had long since realized the truth: dreams alone couldn't change the world… but money could.
He understood the importance of funds very early on.
Of course, he didn't forget to end with his usual speech — brainwashing them with lofty ideals and painting a rosy picture of the future.
Basically: All the hardship and hard work you endure now is for the sake of what is to come.
Whether the world was feeling pain yet… nobody knew.
But among the people present, there were definitely those who were feeling plenty of pain already.
In the past, everyone might have simply gotten used to it and thought nothing of being exploited.
But ever since Itachi returned from his last mission and happened to mention — in passing — the generous benefits and perks offered by that evil cult… outwardly everyone remained calm, but inside they were all making comparisons.
It wasn't that they cared about money. On the contrary — with the exception of Kakuzu, almost none of them valued wealth at all.
But the organization itself was always short of funds. So they went out taking jobs to earn money, only to hand every coin straight over to the group treasury.
At first, it hadn't mattered much. But as time went on, couldn't anyone help but wonder…?
Especially now that they had something to compare it with — it felt even worse.
Think about it: since joining, not only had they received zero benefits… they had actually been losing out and paying out of their own pockets!
No matter how aligned your goals are, you can't treat people this unfairly.
So when Pain finished his long, passionate speech… silence fell. Not a single person responded.
"Hm? Why is everyone so quiet?"
What are we supposed to say? You already said everything there is to say!
Deidara pouted. He didn't worship Pain at all. The only person he feared was Itachi, and the only one he truly respected was Sasori.
Just then, one of the spiritual projections standing beside Kakuzu spoke up:
"That's not what you told me when you invited me to join. I want to know — when does this 'Grand Plan' finally begin? Instead, every day we run around like greedy ghosts chasing after nothing but filthy lucre."
Whoa… this new guy has guts!
Deidara looked over with keen interest. He didn't admire their leader, but he also wouldn't openly challenge him.
He never expected this new member to be so bold — firing straight at Pain like that.
Everyone turned to look, wondering what would happen next.
But before Pain could even speak, Kakuzu beside him was already furious.
"Filthy lucre?! Money is something sacred! Muramasa — if you ever insult money again, I will kill you even if it means disobeying the leader's orders. Then I'll just take a new partner."
Yes — Kakuzu was angry not because the man challenged Pain, but because he had insulted the thing Kakuzu loved most.
This newcomer was Muramasa, Kakuzu's new partner.
But clearly, he had zero interest in earning money, which meant he and Kakuzu were completely incompatible.
Muramasa sneered.
"Try it if you think you can. We'll see if you rip out my heart first… or if I cut off your head first."
"Fine. It seems this meeting will have to be suspended for a moment."
Kakuzu wasn't one to take nonsense. Truth be told, he had disliked Muramasa for quite a while already — only holding back out of respect for Pain's orders.
"SILENCE!"
Pain spoke at last, seeing them about to fight among themselves.
"You are questioning my decisions?"
"Questioning? Not really. I just think this is incredibly boring."
Muramasa wasn't stupid — he took the chance to back down gracefully.
Pain withdrew his sharp, dangerous gaze and continued calmly:
"The organization needs to grow, and growth requires funding. However, our goals have never changed… and we are closer than ever to launching our plan."
This was his way of giving everyone an explanation.
He had noticed the change in morale and atmosphere within the group.
Before, exploiting them had never been a problem; no one even thought twice about it.
But ever since Itachi came back… everything was different.
Thinking about it, he felt helpless. He even suspected Itachi had done it on purpose, but had no proof.
Considering that Itachi and Kisame were their two most hard‑working, reliable members, he decided not to make an issue of it and let it slide.
Then, toward the end of the meeting, Kakuzu suddenly spoke:
"There is a mission I've been offered. The reward is extremely high — but there's one troublesome detail."
"Go on."
"Infiltrate the Hidden Cloud Village… and steal a corpse."
Upon hearing this, every face in the room changed.
It wasn't the corpse that caught their attention — it was the location.
In the early days of Akatsuki, they had always avoided the Five Great Nations, quietly building up their strength.
Was it time to break that unwritten rule?
Everyone looked toward Pain. Only he had the authority to make that final call.
A little while earlier, Nagato would probably have rejected the job. The organization needed money, yes — but they didn't have to take every job available.
But things were different now.
Pain looked slowly around the room, his gaze pausing for a brief moment on Muramasa.
He knew the organization couldn't stay hidden and low‑profile forever.
If they waited too long, their members' loyalty and morale would crumble, and leading them would become impossible.
"Proceed. I will arrange for Konan to wait outside and support you."
"Not necessary. I can handle it alone."
Muramasa replied coldly, and his spiritual projection vanished instantly.
"Whoa… seems like we've got quite an extraordinary new member. Hope we'll still see him at the next meeting."
Deidara laughed loudly, though it was obvious he disliked Muramasa — simply because he couldn't tolerate anyone more arrogant than himself.
"Kakuzu — keep an eye on Muramasa. He is allowed to die on a mission… but I don't want to hear that you killed another partner again."
Kakuzu grinned.
"Relax. As long as he behaves himself."
One by one, the projections faded away, and the base fell back into darkness.
"Shall I go as well?" Konan asked.
Nagato thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"If they are that confident… let them handle it on their own."
"But if we do this… we'll bring ourselves into the spotlight of the Five Great Nations."
"Stealing a single corpse… it shouldn't come to that."
____________________
For more advance chapters visit my patreon
patreon.com/kane45
Tier: 10$ Casual Reader - +20 Advance Chapter
20$ Intermediate Reader - +40 Advance Chapter
40$ Expert Reader - +80 Advance Chapter
Update: "Monday to Friday - Update 3 Chapters a Day"
"Saturday and Sunday - Off"