"Wait, wait!?" Yahiko's eyes widened. He flailed his arms in disbelief. "Negotiate peace with the Hokage at the place where the First Hokage held the Five Kage Summit? Hey, hey, are you serious, Rei Kaguya? If I remember right, Konoha and Kirigakure are still fighting fiercely on the front lines, aren't they?"
"Of course I'm serious. I've already sent the invitation to Konoha, you know?"
Rei Kaguya grabbed his token and spread his hands.
"Wars are started to fight over interests. Once war is no longer profitable for either side, choosing to stop fighting and sit down to talk is the most normal thing in the world, isn't it?"
"As an outsider, I'll put aside the question of why you chose to stop the war with Konoha for now…"
Nagato looked at the token in Rei Kaguya's hand and narrowed his pale purple Rinnegan.
"But why would you hire us, the Akatsuki, as guards for something like this?"
"The first reason is naturally to clear away the insects from other villages who might come to interfere with the peace talks."
Rei Kaguya raised one finger and said unhurriedly, "My agreement with Konoha is that only the Kage and two guards may set foot in the country where the talks are being held. Putting the Hokage and Mizukage themselves aside, who among the people qualified to attend as guards would not be a strong shinobi with the right to compete for the next generation's Kage position? If we had to personally clean up the insects outside, wouldn't that be a bit too beneath us?"
Nagato nodded, barely accepting that reason.
"As for the second reason, it is to push your Akatsuki into the open and attract the attention of the other villages, buying Kirigakure some stable time to develop."
Rei Kaguya paused and observed the expressions of the three Akatsuki members.
Seeing all three of them reveal expressions that said "as expected," he continued.
"The holes left behind by the previous Mizukage are too many and too large. I will need at least thirteen or fourteen years to build a foundation for Kirigakure that can barely support my personal ambitions.
"So before that, I need the entire shinobi world to maintain a sufficiently peaceful environment. I cannot have someone starting wars every few days and interfering with my efforts to reform Kirigakure's spiritual foundation.
"And you, Nagato. You, who possess the Rinnegan, are the only person besides me who has a chance to achieve that.
"But right now, the drive inside you is not enough. So I intend to bring you onto a higher stage in advance and let the entire shinobi world know of the Akatsuki's existence, and of yours. That way, while they fear me and Kirigakure, they will also have to spare some attention to consider the Akatsuki's ideas."
"So the bet revolves around this commission, doesn't it?"
Nagato stepped forward and grabbed the token in Rei Kaguya's hand, his tone carrying a trace of excitement.
"Correct."
Rei Kaguya released his token and smiled.
"If, after you complete this commission, Hanzo of the Salamander of Amegakure does not attack you out of fear that his position is no longer secure, then you may use this token to withdraw all the funds I obtained from exchanging Danzo Shimura's head on the black market.
"I imagine one billion ryo should be quite a generous payment for a small organization like the Akatsuki, which is still in its starting phase. After that, Kirigakure will continue providing you with financial support. We might even consider sending outstanding young people from our village to the Akatsuki for training."
Gulp.
Yahiko swallowed hard. That astronomical reward made it a little difficult for him to breathe.
Beside him, Konan tilted her head, looking as though she did not care much about money and was more concerned about the safety of her companions.
"Then what if the bet fails and Hanzo attacks us?" Nagato asked very calmly.
"Then those of you who survive will only get one-fourth of the money inside…"
Rei Kaguya shrugged and grinned.
"At the same time, I will need you, Nagato, to provide me with some of your cells so I can study the Uzumaki clan's physique and help me research the origin of the Uzumaki clan's ability to suppress Tailed Beasts…
"Of course, if you can also prepare a copy of any Uzumaki clan secret techniques that can be taught to outsiders, that would be even better."
"You don't need me to have a child with one of Kirigakure's women?"
After hearing him out, Nagato placed Rei Kaguya's token into the pocket of his black cloak and teased him.
"That should be the final goal of you studying my cells, shouldn't it?"
"When you come to hand over your cells, I will pull out Kirigakure's beautiful girl honor guard to welcome you. But whether you want to leave behind your child or not will be your personal choice."
Rei Kaguya blinked and said with a smile, "After all, you are my partner, Nagato, not a spoil of war I can handle however I like. I will not treat you like that Hyuga main family captive or that genius boy from the Uchiha clan and turn you into a round-the-clock, non-stop pile driver."
Nagato took several uncomfortable steps back.
Then, after pulling Yahiko and Konan aside and discussing with them in low voices for quite a while, Yahiko finally stepped forward and nodded to Rei Kaguya.
"All right. We accept your commission and your bet. When the Mizukage and Hokage hold their talks, the Akatsuki will mobilize all members and ensure your meeting is not disturbed by any external forces."
"Then I wish us a pleasant cooperation, everyone of the Akatsuki… I sincerely hope our cooperation can continue for a long time."
Rei Kaguya revealed a smile that said everything had gone according to plan.
Then, together with the white snake responsible for delivering the scroll, he vanished from the Akatsuki's secret base.
…
On the other side of the Land of Rain.
White Zetsu's figure emerged from a quiet, empty alley. After looking left and right for a while, he silently snuck toward the tower where Hanzo of the Salamander, the so-called demigod of the shinobi world, resided.
"Seriously, finding an identity that can be used to persuade Hanzo really isn't easy…
"Damn Rei Kaguya. If you hadn't killed Danzo Shimura, we wouldn't even need to do anything ourselves. That guy would have come running over on his own and dragged Hanzo into plotting against the Akatsuki, which has ties to you."
"I hope Hanzo's brain hasn't degenerated too badly. If he can't even understand such an obvious hint, finding another force that can drag the Akatsuki and Nagato into darkness will be quite troublesome…"
"Speaking of which, Iwagakure seems like a pretty good choice too. Their plan to sneak attack the Land of Fire border was ruined by the Akatsuki. They should be frantically investigating the Akatsuki's background right now, shouldn't they?"
While muttering to himself, White Zetsu relied on his almost ghostlike infiltration ability and successfully snuck into the tower where Hanzo of the Salamander lived.
Then, he quietly placed a scroll containing information on the Akatsuki's main members and another scroll filled with hatred, fear, and an action plan against a certain person on the most conspicuous spot of Hanzo's desk.
Left alongside the scrolls were a mask stripped from a Root ninja and a Konoha forehead protector that had been slashed deeply through the middle.