Chapter 409: The Fifth Disciple

"Uncle Sosuke, do you know about the Rinnegan?" Nagato chose to trust Muyue after a moment of silence.

"I do." Muyue nodded with a smile. "It's the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths, and they're right in front of me."

Nagato stared at Muyue in shock, realizing that Muyue had already recognized his Rinnegan without him knowing.

"No need to be too surprised. Actually, there are quite a few descendants of the Sage of Six Paths in the world. Anyone who understands the Sage's lore can recognize your eyes." Muyue reminded him.

Nagato wore an expression of gaining new knowledge. Seeing that Muyue didn't speak next, he realized it was his turn to tell Muyue about himself.

"Even though these are my eyes, I still can't control their power well. The first time I discovered I had this power was the day my parents were killed by Leaf ninjas." As he spoke of his parents' death, Nagato's expression darkened.

This was a painful memory he still couldn't forget—he had been a child with both parents.

Muyue gently patted Nagato on the back. In the original story, Nagato's life was one of the more tragic ones even among the Naruto world.

Because he was selected by Uchiha Madara to be implanted with the Rinnegan, his entire life was orchestrated, always losing those important to him.

"Because of my parents, I really hated Leaf ninjas. But one Leaf ninja changed my view of them—that was Teacher Jiraiya." When mentioning Jiraiya, Nagato's expression improved slightly.

If Nagato had a ranking of important people in his heart, first would be Yahiko, second Konan, and third Jiraiya.

Jiraiya taught Nagato many jutsu to help him better control the power of the Rinnegan. At the same time, Jiraiya often encouraged Nagato and comforted him when he was down.

Even today, Nagato occasionally dreams of the times he spent with Jiraiya—those days were truly relaxed and joyful, without needing to think about too many things.

Jiraiya made them realize that not all Leaf ninjas were bad; it depended on the individual.

"Jiraiya of the Sannin—I know him. He's a remarkable ninja." Muyue responded with a smile.

"Teacher Jiraiya taught me many things. Last time, when Yahiko was attacked by ninjas, I couldn't control the Rinnegan's power and killed them directly. Deep down, I don't want to kill people, because there must be a better solution than killing.

But at that moment, my mind was full of hatred. By the time I came to, the enemy was already down—it was too late for everything." Nagato lowered his head slightly.

Nagato didn't like killing; he thought killing was the worst-case scenario. So killing due to the Rinnegan going berserk made him suffer a loss of self.

"Even though Teacher Jiraiya taught me so many jutsu, I still ended up like this. Maybe I'm the only one he misjudged. Someone like me can't be saved by anyone, so how could I possibly save the world?" Nagato's mood grew even more dejected.

"Don't deny yourself like that. If you hadn't stepped in, maybe Yahiko and the others would have been hurt. You protected your comrades." Muyue looked into Nagato's eyes and said.

"Besides, since they attacked you, it's only natural for you to fight back. Their deaths are not your fault."

Nagato looked at Muyue. Behind Muyue, it seemed as if a familiar white-haired figure appeared.

"Uncle Sosuke, what do you think is the way to achieve peace?" Nagato asked out of the blue.

He wanted to know if Muyue's answer would be the same as Jiraiya's.

"If you're asking for a plan that will definitely achieve peace, then I definitely don't have one." Muyue replied.

"But if you're talking about working toward peace, then that's actually what we're doing right now."

"Spreading the idea of peace, raising public awareness, improving one's own abilities..."

Nagato looked at Muyue again. The white-haired figure behind Muyue had disappeared—they were ultimately different.

The answer Jiraiya had given back then was even vaguer than Muyue's.

Jiraiya said he hadn't found an answer. Then he said that experiencing pain makes people grow, makes them think, and makes them learn how to treat others with kindness. If everyone understood each other, maybe a peaceful world would come.

Before leaving, Jiraiya entrusted Nagato with the heavy task of finding peace. He thought that Nagato, with his Rinnegan, might be the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths, and that peace's hope rested in Nagato's eyes.

Nagato felt that Muyue resembled the savior Jiraiya had described more than he did.

The Sage of Six Paths traveled the ninja world spreading peace and founding Ninshu, while Muyue traveled the Rain Country spreading peace and founding Ninshu.

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Even though you have the same eyes as the Sage of Six Paths, you don't need to measure yourself against him. You are you. You are Nagato, not anyone else." Muyue said earnestly.

In his view, Nagato was just piling pressure on himself.

This kind of personality was troublesome, because people have limited endurance—too much pressure, and they will eventually break down.

If it were Obito who went berserk and took out the enemies, he definitely wouldn't blame himself; instead, he'd be showing off in front of Rin and Kakashi.

Of course, Muyue wasn't saying Obito's way was good either; he felt a balance between the two would be better.

Nagato's body trembled. This was something Jiraiya had never said to him.

Compared to Jiraiya saying he was the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths and a savior, Nagato found he actually preferred Muyue's words: "You are you. You are Nagato."

Nagato's mental image of Muyue gradually became richer; this person was also worthy of recognition.

"If you don't mind having one more teacher, I could try teaching you some ninjutsu, hoping it might help you control the Rinnegan." Muyue said with a chuckle.

"Haven't I been learning from you all along?" Nagato said honestly.

He had always listened attentively to Muyue's lessons.

【Establish master-disciple relationship with Nagato?】

Looking at the sudden pop-up on the system panel, Muyue showed a smile. "Of course, but next I'll teach you some more special ninjutsu."

Without any doubt, Muyue directly clicked "Yes." This was the first time he had spent so much effort in the disciple-taking stage.

Muyue had spent a considerable amount of time just planning to take Nagato as a disciple, and the actual actions took even longer.

【Relationship established successfully, current trust level two. Disciple Nagato unlocks "Apprentice Cultivation Returns to Master" and "Teaching Apprentice Returns".】

The initial trust level was two, which Muyue found somewhat satisfactory. This showed that Nagato already had some trust in him.

Muyue valued Nagato's trust level greatly. After all, he had taken Nagato as a disciple because of Nagato's chakra. The higher the trust level, the more effective "Apprentice Cultivation Returns to Master" would be.

Nagato's current chakra was over six hundred thousand. Muyue felt that Nagato's normal peak growth would have to be at least five million. If he could grind up to trust level four before Nagato entered his high-speed growth period, Muyue would never have to worry about chakra again.

Muyue had calculated it. Relying on missions or grinding classes, it was hard to match the chakra tons of those Sage Body jinchūriki. He had to take a chakra-ton disciple and then rely on "Apprentice Cultivation Returns to Master."

Even if he obtained fifty thousand chakra a year, that would be five hundred thousand in ten years. But with a chakra-ton disciple like Nagato, plus trust level four, in ten years he might receive tens of millions of chakra in return.

This was why Muyue wanted so badly to make Nagato his disciple — the chakra profit was simply too great.

"You're quite tired today as well. Get some rest early." Muyue said to Nagato with a gentle smile.

It was getting late and not suitable for teaching. Moreover, considering Nagato's Rinnegan, Muyue still had to guard against White Zetsu's surveillance.

Muyue had already considered these matters before coming to the Land of Rain.

With Muyue's current sealing jutsu, he had the ability to set up a barrier that White Zetsu couldn't eavesdrop on. Then he could teach Nagato inside it.

The reason would be that Nagato's Rinnegan was special, and to prevent Nagato from going berserk and hurting people, a special environment was needed.

Nagato nodded. He was indeed tired today, in every way.

The Rain ninja dispatched by Hanzō moved quickly.

First, they conducted interviews and investigations of the villagers at the location provided by Shimura Danzō, obtaining two pieces of intelligence.

One was that someone had witnessed Yahiko and the others fighting Iwa-nin, and the other was that Yahiko and the others had searched for the corpses of Iwa-nin.

With these two pieces of evidence, it was almost enough to confirm that Yahiko and the others had killed the Iwa-nin.

Then the Rain ninja also investigated the ideological content spread by the Shinobi Sect ninja, which was not much different from what Shimura Danzō had said.

Looking at the intelligence in his hands, Hanzō's expression turned gloomy.

He had once given Muyue some warnings because he thought highly of him, but he never expected Muyue to repay him like this.

Although these matters were not done by Muyue, in Hanzō's view, Muyue was the leader of those ninja, so Muyue had to take responsibility.

Seeing this, Shimura Danzō continued to add fuel to the fire. "As I see it, this Sōsuke is surely plotting to seize control of Amegakure, wanting to lure you, Hanzō, into leading the village into war with Iwagakure, so he can reap the benefits at the end."

"Hanzō, you are too lenient with geniuses. They don't have the willpower of you and me. Once they obtain power, fame, and wealth, they become corrupted."

"Indeed, this needs to be dealt with." Hanzō nodded with a cold expression. This was something he could not tolerate. Muyue and the Shinobi Sect's actions had crossed his bottom line.

Shimura Danzō's smile grew thicker. Things were heading in the direction he had hoped for.

"My subordinates helped cover things up a bit, so Iwagakure shouldn't find out too quickly. If you don't want to start a war with Iwa, Hanzō, you can eliminate them quickly, as a way to give Iwa an explanation." Shimura Danzō continued.

He couldn't wait to see these three forces in the Land of Rain destroyed, ideally with both sides suffering heavy losses.

"I'll trouble you, Danzō." Hanzō felt that Shimura Danzō was really good.

"I have another method that can help you deal with Sōsuke and his group more easily." Shimura Danzō began to offer advice.

Hanzō looked at Danzō, curious about what this easier method was.

"Doesn't Sōsuke say he wants peace? You can use the pretext of wanting to borrow their strength to jointly maintain peace, and invite them to a certain location. We only need to arrange a trap there and ambush them with ninja to make victory much easier." Shimura Danzō sneered.

In his view, naive peace guardians like Sosuke are the easiest to deal with — you can deceive them just by shouting a few nice-sounding slogans.

Hanzo showed an expression of agreement; Shimura Danzo's plan was indeed highly feasible, allowing him to win more easily.

Even for a ninja of his level, having or not having terrain advantage makes a huge difference.

"When the time comes, I will dispatch Konoha ninja to assist you, but I hope you will also support me on other matters in the future," Shimura Danzo hinted.

"Helping each other is what friends do." Hanzo indicated there was no problem.

Hanzo didn't mind having a powerful friend like Shimura Danzo, especially since Shimura Danzo had really done him a considerable favor this time.

If not for Shimura Danzo, Amegakure might have gone to war with Iwagakure.

After finalizing the plan, Hanzo quickly sent out messengers to find Muyue.

At this time, Muyue had just completed his travels through the Land of Rain, and the Ninja Sect belonging to Muyue was officially established. All ninja except Kakuzu joined the Ninja Sect.

At first, Yahiko was still somewhat concerned about the matter of Iwa ninja, but since there was no follow-up for a while, he stopped paying much attention and focused on expanding the Akatsuki organization.

He believed that the Akatsuki and the Ninja Sect were not in conflict because, strictly speaking, the Ninja Sect was different from a ninja organization; it was more like a faith, with everyone recognizing its philosophy and yearning for peace.

Indeed, some ninja were persuaded by Yahiko to join Akatsuki — on one hand, Akatsuki already had some fame in the Land of Rain, and on the other hand, during their interactions with the Akatsuki members, they discovered its shining points.

However, still more people wanted to continue following Muyue, awaiting his next instructions.

At such a time, a messenger from Amegakure arrived at Muyue's location with Hanzo's proposal.

"Lord Sosuke, this is Lord Hanzo's personal letter. Please be sure to read it carefully," the Amegakure ninja said as he took out a scroll to Muyue.

Nowadays, Muyue's alias was very famous in the Land of Rain; most ninja in the Land of Rain knew him.

Muyue nodded slightly and then took the scroll, opening it to read the contents.

Yahiko, who was beside him, curiously leaned over to look together.

"An invitation for the Ninja Sect to jointly maintain peace in the Land of Rain!" Yahiko's eyes widened, and he shouted in surprise.

The other ninja all crowded around to look as well.

Muyue did not stop them; to accommodate those who couldn't see, he read out the entire contents of the scroll.

Actually, most of it was nonsense; the truly essential content had already been shouted out by Yahiko — that Hanzo wanted to cooperate with the Ninja Sect.

Many ninja of the Ninja Sect showed expressions of shock and joy.

Hanzo was special to the ninja of the Land of Rain. This scroll was almost equivalent to Hanzo personally saying "I acknowledge you," and its impact was quite extraordinary.

Yahiko, who regarded Hanzo as an idol, was extremely excited, after all he was also a member of the Ninja Sect.

Of course, there were also those not impressed by Hanzo, such as Chi Changye, who felt something was off.

Chi Changye did not deny that the Ninja Sect had an extremely bright future, but the current Ninja Sect was not that strong; the only true powerhouse was Muyue.

Normally, Hanzo should have no need to issue such a formal cooperation invitation to the Ninja Sect; if he wanted Muyue's combat power, he could just directly recruit Muyue.