Uchiha Madara: "Let's see what kind of person the Akatsuki leader in the other world is."
Danzō: "Another world… did I become Hokage there?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "Keep dreaming. As long as I'm around, you're not worthy!!!"
Danzō: "dofiafnsadf."
Nagato: "The Akatsuki leader of another world… I'm a bit curious."
As the red-framed screen fully lit up, the image appeared.
[A torrential rain poured down, and everywhere there was blood and smoke.]
[Countless civilian corpses mixed with a few shinobi bodies lay scattered chaotically across the muddy ground.]
[Amid the heavy rain, a boy of about seven or eight rummaged through the corpses and scattered belongings, searching for something.]
[After gathering what he could, drenched to the bone and shivering, he returned to a drafty, broken house. Using Fire Release, he lit a small campfire that illuminated part of the room.]
[Curled up, his face obscured, he muttered to himself: "What kind of hellish world is this… and I was even born in the Land of Rain. This is nightmare-level difficulty."]
"This… is the Akatsuki leader from the other world? His hair isn't red—it's not Nagato?"
"That's not the point. The point is… he looks like an orphan. This environment is way too harsh."
The moment the scene appeared, everyone was shaken.
Scavenging supplies from corpses—
It was simply too miserable.
And yet, such an orphan… would become the leader of the Akatsuki?
It sounded like a joke.
How did he even manage that?
At least Nagato had a family at the beginning.
Hidan: "This kid clearly doesn't have any kekkei genkai. And he's supposed to be our Leader? What a joke."
Kakuzu: "Just a civilian who knows a bit of ninjutsu. No future in that."
Black Zetsu & White Zetsu: "Impossible… how could this be the Akatsuki leader of another world?!"
Even the usually silent Zetsu was shocked.
Obito activated his Sharingan, trying to discern what exactly was going on.
On one side—
An eight-year-old genius who awakened the Rinnegan.
On the other—
An eight-year-old boy scavenging from corpses.
The contrast was simply too stark.
If this was the starting point of life—
Then for a civilian who only knew basic ninjutsu, being born in the Land of Rain truly was nightmare difficulty.
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "Why is it the Land of Rain again? Does it specialize in producing Akatsuki leaders?"
Senju Hashirama: "For such a young boy to survive alone in this chaotic world… he's not simple."
He thought back to his own childhood.
Even with ninjutsu, family, and brothers—
He had faced countless hardships.
Not to mention this boy—
Alone, with only basic techniques, surviving in such conditions.
Senju Tobirama: "Mm. Mentally, he's far more mature than Nagato at that age. There's not a trace of fear—quite extraordinary."
Might Guy: "He's like a blade of grass, struggling desperately to survive. It's truly moving—this is the greatness of life!"
Rock Lee: "Guy-sensei, I'm so moved I'm crying too!"
[The fire burned steadily as the boy placed a metal lunchbox over the flames. He broke apart a rock-hard piece of bread and added some canned food he had scavenged, lips pursed as he waited.]
[Before long, the smell of food began to bubble and rise.]
["Ahh, smells like something good." A white-haired man with a weathered expression walked in. "What bad luck—rain's pouring this hard."]
With that casual, overly familiar tone—and that head of white hair—
Who else could it be but Jiraiya?
Jiraiya: "Huh? What's going on? Is that me? I think I've been to this place before… but I don't remember meeting this boy."
Tsunade: "That's right. Before the war broke out, rogue shinobi took advantage of the chaos to attack fleeing civilians for money. Jiraiya was sent to the border of the Land of Fire to assist."
Orochimaru: "Interesting… so this is another world. The course of events has changed—there are more possibilities now."
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "Most things should still be the same. The only difference is the addition of this boy."
Hanzō of the Salamander: "Correct. It was extremely chaotic back then. Some rogue shinobi took advantage of the situation to loot. After all, when it comes to assassins and rogue ninja, the Land of Rain has the most."
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "So that's the reason your Land of Rain is so chaotic?"
Hanzō of the Salamander: "And where do you think those rogue shinobi came from? Aren't they missing-nin from your Five Great Nations? You don't even hunt them down, and you still blame us?!"
That was the truth.
At the time, the Land of Rain was essentially a lawless zone.
It accepted the most assassination missions.
It was also the place rogue shinobi preferred most—
Because everyone there was the same: all wanted, all fugitives.
No one looked down on anyone.
In fact, those who weren't wanted were sometimes mocked.
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "At least in Konoha, there are very few who defect."
Fourth Raikage A: "Our Kumogakure shinobi are united. Defection doesn't happen."
Ōnoki: "Same for us."
Rasa: "Our village may be poor, but we would never do such things."
Mei Terumī: "Oh please, stop pretending. Every single one of your nations has missing-nin in the Land of Rain!"
"Take your Land of Wind—after cutting military funding and reducing shinobi numbers, quite a few turned into rogue ninja."
"And you, Iwagakure—raising shinobi without enough funding, forcing them to take side jobs in the Land of Rain."
"And Kumogakure—don't tell me you haven't sent shinobi there for training and intelligence gathering."
"As for Konoha, need I say more? And later, Kirigakure had plenty of defectors because of the Bloody Mist policy."
The moment she said that—
An uproar broke out.
So most rogue shinobi actually came from the Five Great Nations?!
This was completely different from what people had been taught growing up.
Some rogue shinobi sought money.
Some sought intelligence.
Some simply struggled to survive.
But one thing was undeniable—
They posed an enormous threat to civilians.
And yet—
No one truly dealt with them.
Because they didn't harm the interests of the Five Great Nations.
As for civilian safety?
They could just post missions—if they had money.
If there was a mission, shinobi would take it—and earn profit.
If there was no money?
Then sorry—too busy.
In this way, rogue shinobi actually created more missions.
Under such circumstances—
Who would bother eliminating them?
Unless they thought they were earning too much.
At this moment, many shinobi who understood the truth fell silent, their expressions changing slightly.
And the image… continued to play.