Chapter 73: The Changes in the Land of Rain

"Forget it."

Itachi Uchiha lowered his eyes in dejection.

In any case, he was terminally ill and had no desire to continue living; dying with such regrets could be considered a kind of ending.

"Go to the Land of Rain and take a look; there is someone there doing quite well."

Fang Yi saw through his thoughts and spoke up: "There are some things that you will only believe once you have seen them with your own eyes. Perhaps it can change your attitude toward life."

Players with Gold Potential are considered some of the most elite life forms that the Ninja World can produce.

Since they are willing to dedicate themselves and sacrifice for Konoha, why can't they be squeezed dry by him, or act as his dogs?

If he had to pay money to make the other party work for him, Fang Yi would absolutely refuse, but if he could squeeze out the other party's final essence just by guiding them slightly, he would be very willing to do so.

To be honest,

Itachi Uchiha is heinous, but to the person who brainwashed him, he is a very Sharp tool.

Looking across the Ninja World, even the protagonists hailed as the Children of Prophecy do not have as many cheats as Itachi Uchiha.

Sasuke and Naruto want to become stronger; one needs to match wits and courage with Orochimaru and then get beaten up by various experts, while the other has long dominated the rankings as the dead-last, relying on the Rasengan to make his way through the world and training diligently under Jiraiya.

Both of them have powerful enemies they can only defeat by giving it their all.

Yet, most battles involving Itachi Uchiha are conducted with a near-indifferent posture, breaking deadlocks that were fundamentally impossible to break.

For all enemies who encounter Itachi Uchiha, there are only two words.

Unsolvable.

The Great Toad's stomach prison is invincible? Then I'll just use Amaterasu flames.

Orochimaru is hard to seal? I'll start right off with the Totsuka Blade and Yata Mirror.

Edo Tensei? I have the trump card Kotoamatsukami left behind!

The Fourth War's greatest mastermind, the Sage Yakushi Kabuto? I'll release the invincible Genjutsu Izanami directly.

It's just like a duel in a mobile game: I use a high-burst, one-shot kill build, you pull out a hard-control build to counter me; I pull out a control-flow lineup, and you switch to a debuff-cleansing rogue team with Gaara, Ino, and Shizune.

To a certain extent, this can also be considered the favor of the World Consciousness.

"The Land of Rain?"

Itachi Uchiha muttered.

Isn't that the headquarters of the Akatsuki?

Itachi Uchiha had always executed the various missions of the Akatsuki perfectly without a single flaw, yet he despised and disapproved of the Akatsuki from the bottom of his heart.

Amassing wealth, collecting Tailed Beasts, inciting wars.

This Akatsuki, with its pure violence and bloodshed, could be called the greatest cancer of the Ninja World.

But the game merchant before him said that if he wanted to find a way to quell the war, he had to go to the Land of Rain?

Strange.

Suddenly, Itachi Uchiha recalled a rather strange thing that had happened recently.

Every time the Akatsuki gathered, that member who had always been by the Leader's side, the female ninja with the codename White Tiger, had not appeared for a long time.

Generally speaking,

Whenever an Akatsuki member died, the Leader would announce it directly and forcibly recruit a newcomer to fill the vacancy, so he figured White Tiger should not be dead.

Could there be a hidden story behind this?

Itachi Uchiha's mind raced, but on the surface, he nodded with his usual expression: "I understand, Mr. Merchant. If I have the chance, I will go to the Land of Rain for a visit."

"Very well, then I wish you both a happy game."

Fang Yi smiled, waved his hand lightly, and dispersed the phantom image before them.

If he just let Itachi Uchiha become a curse user and die for Sasuke, that would actually be the best choice for him.

Paranoid as a madman, Itachi Uchiha believed he was on the right path even after killing his entire clan, and he faced death with complete composure.

Once he followed his guidance, saw the seeds Konan had sown in the Land of Rain, learned of true hope, and understood his own mistakes, he might suffer a mental breakdown, fall into an endless Abyss, and become a true madman...

But these were all Itachi Uchiha's own choices.

As a game merchant, he would not save anyone; he only maximized his interests under the premise of not violating the rules and his bottom line.

After Konan became a player, she participated in various activities very actively; the Akatsuki's reserve funds were poured into the game in large amounts, and she led some minor ninjas from the Rain Village, as well as the civilians of the Land of Rain, to engage in infrastructure construction.

There was a bumper harvest of grain, and they even took advantage of the Land of Rain's unique environment to cultivate aquatic products and certain fungi.

Konan was even willing to give up a portion of her interests in the game to exchange for commercial trade with Sunagakure in reality.

With the enthusiastic cooperation of the civilians, coupled with the natural high mobility of ninjas, this caused many areas of the Land of Rain to undergo earth-shaking changes in a short period of time.

Two uprisings that were on the verge of breaking out due to poverty and hardship were silently quelled.

Clearly, in the past, such turmoil within the Land of Rain required Nagato to control Pain to descend and suppress it with absolute, overwhelming strength.

Those eyes filled with hatred, those stubborn bones unwilling to compromise—even after being killed, they would still spring up like bamboo shoots after a rain.

Repeated countless times, they still refused to submit.

But this time, the Akatsuki did nothing, yet the other party began to take the initiative to express goodwill and a willingness to engage.

Even Konan, who had done all these things, felt it was unbelievably easy.

"They are just civilians who feel dissatisfied with the current state of the Land of Rain, just like we were back then."

After Konan personally interacted with the rioters, she revealed a look of realization.

So, she and Nagato had also unknowingly become the Hanzo who sat high above in the heavens; they hadn't even noticed such a simple truth.

"Pain cannot quell war."

This was the first time Konan and Nagato had erupted into an argument.

"Don't joke around!"

Covered in tubes, his ribs protruding, and his face like a malevolent ghost, Nagato gasped for breath violently.

He was extremely furious.

Even if Konan's tone was gentle and her attitude sincere, it could not reach the depths of his heart.

He could not listen to it.

A game merchant from another world, a brand new path to save the world, peaceful development, letting everyone feel happiness and joy.

Bewitching people's hearts!

These things could absolutely never bring about peace!

Do those high and mighty Nobles not feel enough happiness already? Yet they still exploit the commoners and bully the world; they have no heart for repentance.

Only by letting everyone feel pain and experience the despair of war can we thoroughly shatter that sliver of wishful thinking in their hearts; only when everyone experiences the same pain as us can the world welcome peace.

"Experiencing pain can only bring about temporary peace."

Konan shook her head and said, "Pain will be diluted by time, just like the Shinobi World War; after every war ends, there is a brief peace, but if we continue to maintain such a twisted and childish system, war will break out again."

Nagato's voice was hoarse as he said angrily, "Then I will continue to bring them pain!"

"In that case, can it even be called peace?"

Konan looked at the stubborn Nagato, not knowing what to do.

All she could do was to keep going, to let her dear friend see the changes in the Land of Rain, to let him see the happy smiles brimming on the faces of the commoners.

Kirigakure, office building.

Terumi Mei gently rubbed her forehead; she had been working almost non-stop during this period.

Not only did she have to lead her team to continuously clear the Hell-level 【Sihun Yingdi】 in hopes of getting the materials to unlock the Family Token, but she also had to handle various official documents after returning to reality.

Even with the advisors helping, the official documents were still piled up like a mountain.

"Lord Mizukage."

Chojuro knelt on one knee and reported, "The Suikazan family has developed a medicine called 【Yang Yuan Pill】 and is willing to sell it to the village at an extremely low price."

"What are its effects?"

"It is the same as the Yang Yuan Pill sold in the Game Mall; it can rapidly recover chakra without any side effects and can be taken continuously. The Mall price is twenty Reward Points per pill, but the Suikazan family only wants ten Reward Points."

"Good, thank me to the Suikazan Clan Head."

This was the best news Terumi Mei had heard, and her irritable mood eased slightly.

The Ninja World also had items capable of rapidly recovering chakra, which were the Military Ration Pills.

But in most situations, ninjas would not take them lightly; although these pills, which were similar to stimulants and narcotics, could rapidly restore physical strength and enhance chakra, they excessively drained the cells and had strong side effects.

Seeing Terumi Mei's expression soften, the honest Chojuro dared to continue his report.

"Lord Mizukage, a player has dropped an Inferior Version of the Family Token in the Hell-level 【Sihun Yingdi】."

(End of this chapter)