"Join Akatsuki. What do you say?"

"I can tell our ideals align."

Pain's lengthy preamble had finally reached its end. After their discussion, he extended the invitation outright.If at first it was just discovering someone impersonating Kakuzu and Sasori outside, using the name of their Akatsuki Organization to stir up trouble, Nagato's initial reaction was anger.

He felt the dignity of a god had been challenged.

But...

As time passed, he gradually realized that the so-called wars this guy instigated were merely uniting the people of the Shinobi World against the Akatsuki Organization.

And now, he was even taking the initiative to help, clearly wanting the Akatsuki Organization to win this battle.

In short.

Uchiha Kaito, like him, wanted the great nations to feel pain!

Finding someone who shared his ideals brought Nagato great comfort.

"I'll think about it."

Kaito pondered for a few seconds before politely declining Nagato's invitation, then raised a finger to point at himself.

"Besides, I'm only six years old. Let's talk about it later."

Pain turned his head and gave the boy a strange look, his lips twitching as if he wanted to say something sarcastic. But fearing it might diminish the dignity of a god, he simply nodded in silent agreement.

After all.

He had never seen a six-year-old with such audacity, daring to instigate wars among the five great nations of the Shinobi World.

And even daring to confront his godlike power head-on.

It just went to show that the Uchiha clan was truly different from normal people.

"Oh, there's one more thing I need your help with."

Kaito's expression turned serious again, as if what he was about to say was even more important than their previous deal.

"Go on."

Although the boy had embarrassed him last time, in a way, it had also revealed a weakness in his Deva Path Puppet.

Over the past few days, Nagato had fixed the interference vulnerability in his puppets. From now on, as long as no one disrupted them with Black Rods, his puppets would function normally.

Honestly, Nagato had a fairly good impression of Uchiha Kaito.

At the very least, this six-year-old Uchiha already possessed the mindset of a "god" when it came to problem-solving.

"Does your Amegakure have any brothels?"

"?"

Even though Nagato had just fixed the Chakra interference bug, hearing such words spoken so seriously from the boy's mouth left the real Nagato stunned for a few seconds. The Chakra controlling Pain even faltered momentarily.

For a brief moment, Nagato even considered using Almighty Push on this six-year-old brat who had come to Amegakure looking for fun.

Are you insane?!

Pain turned and walked away. The fact that he could suppress his killing intent at this moment was already an immense display of restraint.

"If you want a brothel, go somewhere else."

With those words, Pain swiftly left the rooftop. If he stayed even a second longer...

He truly feared he might kill someone.

"Such a big village like Amegakure..."

"And not a single brothel?"

Kaito clicked his tongue, his face full of disappointment. Still, it had to be said that under Nagato's rule, aside from being poor, the village had no major issues.

Take vices like gambling, prostitution, or drugs...

Amegakure seemed to have none of them.

Could this be why the Sannin didn't stay in Amegakure for long back then?

Shaking off his wandering thoughts, he immediately body-flickered away from the rooftop and returned to the outskirts of the village, where he found his great-grandmother hiding in the woods.

"You didn't die in there?" Uchiha Hikari, who had been idly twirling a kunai, gave the boy a cold glance, her face full of disdain and disgust.

"Of course not. Your great-grandson is invincible under the heavens. Who would dare lay a hand on this Heaven's Chosen?"Hikari appeared disdainful on the surface, but this was her way of showing concern. Seeing this, Kaito couldn't help but think about trying to trigger a mission again.

Currently, his Foundation Establishment mission was only one hour away from completion, after which he could truly step onto the Path of Cultivation.

He had already figured out the conditions for triggering missions—not only did he have to act unpredictably, but the chosen target also had to respond appropriately to initiate the quest.

Uchiha Hikari turned her head away with a cold snort, refusing to speak. Clearly, she had no intention of cooperating.

"Where are we going now?"

"You should return to the Land of Fire first... The forces from the other villages haven't set out yet, so there's no rush for now."

Kaito said this casually, but in truth, he didn't want Hikari involved in this operation.

After all...

Uchiha Hikari had suffered brutal persecution at the hands of the Uchiha clan. Forcing her to face them again would be like tearing open old wounds—and worse, the clan might end up annihilated before anything else.

"You promised to take me to destroy... destroy the Shinobi World," Hikari narrowed her eyes, her expression twisting with pain.

Clearly, she was deeply dissatisfied with Kaito's arrangement.

"Are you lying to me?"

Her gaze bore into him, as if piercing straight through his soul.

But the first one to be seen through was actually this relic from the Warring States era. Kaito went straight for the heart of the matter.

"You don't actually want to destroy the world, do you?"

These days, Uchiha Hikari had been smiling much more often, and her withdrawn personality had improved significantly.

Only in the dead of night would she curl up in a corner, whispering "Dad... Mom..."

Someone like that—destroying the Shinobi World?

He didn't believe it.

"N-no... Impossible!" Hikari's eyes darted around nervously, her voice stuttering but unusually loud.

Just like his foolish little brother, who always tried to mask his guilt by shouting.

"I... I hate this world! And I hate the Uchiha clan most of all!"

"Do you really think a fool like you can make me... make me give up?!"

As she spoke, her eyes reddened. She turned away, unwilling to let this idiot see her vulnerable state.

Always talking about destroying the Shinobi World...

But deep down, she was still a kind person.

Kaito simply couldn't believe that someone who kept getting scammed while shopping out of sheer kindness truly intended to destroy the world.

He stayed silent, afraid that if he pushed too hard, he'd end up getting kicked into the stratosphere again.

The two walked through the forest in silence for a long time before Hikari suddenly spoke up from behind.

"Kaito... You don't actually want to destroy the Shinobi World either, do you?"

"I just want my family to live."

That was his only wish—but achieving it would be incredibly difficult. Even if the Uchiha clan broke away from Konoha, they would only survive in the short term. Over time, they'd face sieges from all sides.

And then there was Obito's Eye of the Moon Plan, the future invasion of the Ōtsutsuki clan...

All of it had to be accounted for. At the very least, he didn't want his little brother to die a miserable death at the hands of the Ōtsutsuki.

This was the first time Hikari had heard him speak so seriously about this. She trailed behind him, muttering under her breath.

"Then... I..."

"I guess I won't destroy the Uchiha clan... for now."

Though she found this six-year-old brat annoying and often exasperating, she had to admit...Kaito was different from those people of the past.

So much so that her impression of the clan was gradually changing. The hatred was still there, but it wasn't as extreme as before—no longer the kind that demanded the annihilation of the entire clan.

"Great-grandma really did love—"

"Shut up! Say another word and I'll kill you too!!"

Before they could have a proper conversation, the topic had already derailed again. In the next second, Uchiha Hikari grabbed a stick from the roadside and chased after her damn disciple.

Yet, faint smiles lingered on both their faces.

...

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