Even a tiger dozes off sometimes, not to mention that Senshi, in order to train his mercenary group members, had gradually withdrawn the Wood Release clones assigned to missions in Amegakure.
Without those clones around to scare off any troublemakers, it was only natural that caravan robberies started happening one after another.
Nagato massaged his temples, his thoughts a tangled mess of irritation.
From the moment the first caravan got hit, the situation spun out of control like a horse without reins—it just wouldn't stop.
A look of concern was written all over Konan's delicate face: "Nagato, we have to settle this quickly, or it's going to have a huge impact on Amegakure."
Of course Nagato knew that.
Everything had been going so smoothly for Amegakure's growth, but now some sneaky enemy was making moves in the shadows, and they'd really found an opening. As a result, the village's trade took a huge hit.
"I know," Nagato nodded, brow creased. "But the problem is, I have zero leads."
In fact, he had a direct, brute-force solution: contact Senshi and post a request, letting him flush out whoever was behind this.
But he planned to do that only as a last resort.
There were two reasons.
First, Senshi charged an outrageous fortune – even someone like Orochimaru, who makes loads of money off his Great Snake District, could barely keep up. And second, he didn't want the Akatsuki and Amegakure to rely on Senshi for every little thing.
They couldn't call on him for every minor threat. What if he wasn't around someday? Amegakure would be plunged into chaos.
He thought for a moment, then looked up at Konan. "Did we turn up any worthwhile clues?"
He wasn't too hopeful, really. As the leader of the seven divisions in Amegakure, if there'd been crucial intel, he should've known already.
But Konan hesitated, saying, "There's one piece of intel—I'm not sure if it's helpful."
Nagato's eyes lit with curiosity. "What is it?"
Konan looked a bit uneasy. "All the caravans that got robbed had fairly weak guards."
At first glance, that sounded obvious: caravans with tough escorts usually wouldn't get robbed.
But Nagato immediately caught the key point.
"So that means whoever's messing with Amegakure in secret has outstanding intel-gathering or surveillance," he said, narrowing his eyes, his tone cold. "They can pick out the caravans with weaker guards from a bunch of them, which shows their scouting is top-notch.
"Let's see if caravans with top-tier escorts are really spared from attacks. That'll confirm my guess."
Konan nodded, agreeing with his take. "If that's true, we can figure out some countermeasures."
She paused, then added, "But this whole robbery issue has caused huge damage to Amegakure. Maybe have Animal Path Pain or another one of the Pains handle it right away."
Nagato scowled, huge question marks basically floating over his head: (O_O)???
Why did he have to do both the top-level decision-making and personally carry it all out?
He hesitated slightly, turning to Konan with a resigned tone. "Konan, I'm already busy running the Leader's Office, plus all seven departments—there's too much on my plate. Let's give it to the other ninjas in the village."
Konan sighed, tiredness in her gaze.
"Sure, we can let regular ninjas do it, but caravans to and from our village are getting hit all the time now. Some of our local caravans won't leave the village at all, and outsiders don't dare come in, either. Our trade has already taken a beating, and the longer it drags on, the more we lose."
Hearing that, Nagato finally understood.
Great power means great responsibility!
If he wanted a quick fix to this headache, he'd have to go in person.
But Nagato didn't realize that these caravan attacks were only the beginning of a bigger storm.
Obito only needed to worry about giving Amegakure trouble, but Nagato and his people needed to worry about so much more.
Meanwhile, word of the attacks was spreading like wildfire in Amegakure, stirring up massive commotion.
All over town, villagers and shinobi alike were discussing the robberies:
"Damn it all! Which scumbag is gunning for Amegakure, daring to go after our caravans so brazenly?"
"This is infuriating! Nothing like this has ever happened since Amegakure entered its new era!"
"If only Lord Senshi were still in town – this would never have happened!"
At the Ninja Academy, the Raimon siblings were receiving advanced training from one of Senshi's clones.
When they heard a caravan from Konoha heading to Amegakure had been thoroughly robbed, Raimon Yukika socked Raimon Hayate in the face without warning.
Covering his head, Hayate groaned. "Sis, what's wrong with you? Why'd you hit me for no reason?"
Yukika's expression was pained, as if it hurt to even breathe. She clenched her teeth. "A full third of that caravan's goods were mine! Now that the caravan's been trashed, I've lost a fortune! I'm in a bad mood—so you get punched, got it?"
Furious, Hayate shouted back, "What's your mood got to do with me? I'm not the robber! Oh wait—who owned the remaining two-thirds? The caravan itself?"
Yukika's face turned weird. She lowered her voice. "That belongs to Uzumaki Musen. We both chipped in and invested three million in capital to buy goods in Konoha, planning to sell 'em in Amegakure. Never thought this would happen."
Hearing that, Hayate burst into laughter. "Hahaha! So Musen's got two-thirds? Man, I gotta run over to the Uzumaki clan's place to see what Musen's face looks like!"
With that, he bolted off.
Meanwhile, at the Uzumaki clan's settlement, Musen was practically howling to the sky, face in hands in despair.
He'd lost two-thirds of the caravan's goods, and it was all gone now—he could hardly accept it.
Lanyu and Lanwu stood nearby, looking at him helplessly.
Lanyu couldn't help asking, "Musen, why're you wailing like a ghost?"
Musen's face was drenched in tears, his voice full of anguish.
He shook and said, "I'm ruined! Yukika and I put three million capital together, buying a huge batch of goods in Konoha, hoping to make big profits in Amegakure. Out of that, two million belonged to me! And now? The caravan was robbed for free by those stinking bandits—my two million is gone, wahhh!"
He sobbed harder, dropping to the ground, hugging his head.
"I can't swallow this! I'm gonna exterminate those bandits! They're absolutely lawless!"
After crying a bit more, Musen jumped up, rage flashing in his eyes, fists clenched tight.
Lanyu stepped up to block him instantly, looking serious. "No going out! Lord Senshi said we can only do missions in or near the village, never wander off too far. With so many caravan ambushes, it's pretty obvious someone's targeting us. If you storm out, you might walk into a trap. Maybe these bandits are aiming for members of the Uzumaki clan in particular!"
Lanwu stood to the side, calmly nodding. "Lanyu's right—this incident obviously isn't random. It's some scheme against Amegakure. Acting on your own might just hand yourself to them, and you'd end up adding more burden to Lord Senshi and the Leader."
While Lanyu and Lanwu tried talking sense into Musen, they felt secretly relieved their own two-million-ryō shipment from the Land of Water hadn't been robbed…yet.
But just then, a small figure came dashing over, flustered.
It was Haruko-chan, panting frantically as she arrived in front of them. "Lanyu-nii, Lanwu-nee, some traveling merchant from the Land of Water just told me his caravan got robbed, and your goods…were all stolen, too!"
"What?!"
Lanyu's face went livid, fists clenched tight, knuckles white. "Those damned bandits! Stealing my stuff? I'll tear them apart!"
Musen: (O_O)???
He paused, then caught on and tried to stop him. "Lanyu, calm down! You can't rush out of the village. Lord Senshi told us we have to stay near it, or we'll get in trouble! And Lanwu just told us it's obviously some trap! Why can't you be calm like her—uh, wait, Haruko-chan, where's Lanwu?"
Haruko-chan blinked her cute eyes innocently. "Musen-nii, while you were talking, Lanwu-nee grabbed a ninja sword in her room and ran straight for the village gates."
Musen: (O_O)???
What was happening?!
Weren't they just telling him to be calm and not fall for the scheme?
Actually, it was no mystery why Lanwu was so pissed.
Among the stolen goods were items she carefully picked out for herself. She'd finally decided to splurge for once, but they got snatched before she even saw them.
No way would she just accept that.
She had to pick up a sword, leave the village, and hack those bandits to pieces.
…
News of Musen's group leaving the village eventually reached Nagato's ears.
Standing at the tower window, Nagato frowned in deep concern.
But that wasn't all.
Not just Musen's group: a bunch of other Ame ninjas were also storming out of the village in anger.
Some had invested in the caravans, seeing them looted for everything they had; others had asked caravans to bring back treasured items from other nations, only to have them stolen, too.
With so many ninjas leaving, Amegakure's defense force plummeted, leaving the security lines dangerously thin.
Nagato could see this wasn't random.
His instincts told him a giant conspiracy was unfolding.
He wasn't wrong.
As Amegakure rose so fast, it inevitably stepped on plenty of other villages' or groups' interests. Some compromised and tried working with Amegakure to share the benefits, while others lay low, waiting to strike.
Now, with help from White Zetsu, these forces—who'd lost their "piece of the pie" to Amegakure—recognized the perfect time to enact long-planned revenge.
Sadly, lots of Ame ninjas who rushed out of the village fell into traps and were picked off one by one.
As the looting of caravans and news of ninja deaths rolled in, panic spread.
Ordinary folk found their once-stable lives shattered, and fear took root. Some even started questioning whether Amegakure's golden days were coming to an end.
Across the village, everyone was talking about the recent troubles.
Some were anxiously calling for Senshi's return, hoping he'd save them from chaos: "Lord Senshi, please come back! Amegakure is under attack by enemy forces! First it was caravans, now our ninja are dying—what's next, a direct assault on the village?!"
Others insisted that as long as Nagato and Konan were in charge, the village wouldn't fall: "Stop panicking! With the Leader and the Angel-sama around, who'd dare invade us? We're safe!"
Right then, someone suddenly yelled, "Hey, your house is on fire!"
Another ninja retorted, "Nonsense! Why would my house—"
But turning around, he saw thick black smoke rising from his home's direction. His face changed, and he gasped, "Oh crap! Who torched my house?!"
Before he could ask more, he ran off in that direction.
But it wasn't just one fire.
White Zetsu was creeping through the village setting fires at random, furthering the chaos.
Caravan lootings, ninja deaths, fires in the village…
One disaster after another hammered Nagato, who was already juggling seven departments' worth of leadership.
From morning till night, he was drowning in urgent crises, and the orderly routine gave way to endless rush.
In his tower office, Nagato faced piles of documents and urgent reports, sweat beading on his forehead.
Just then, Konan entered, looking even grimmer than before.
Before she could speak, Nagato said flatly, "I know about the situation in and around the village. I'm fully aware."
He spoke while rubbing his throbbing temples, trying to ease his stress.
Continuing, he said, "Some hostile forces are waging a planned, methodical sabotage campaign against Amegakure. We have to react right away to handle the crisis."
Konan's face grew more worried, her eyes locking on Nagato.
"So what do we do? Where do you need me?"
Nagato took a long breath, rubbing his temples again.
"First, you and the Deva Path go reassure everyone, calm their fear. Then put out an order: all Chūnin-level ninjas and below can't leave the village too far, so we don't weaken our defenses any more."
He paused, then went on, "Next, I'll lay out new escort rules for caravans. From now on, any merchant caravan traveling to or from Amegakure must have at least one jōnin-level shinobi to guard it, so it stays safe."
Konan nodded, a slight hint of relief in her eyes. She asked, "What about the bandits and other forces attacking us?"
Nagato's eyes hardened, his voice frosty. "I'll send out the Animal Path, Human Path, and Naraka Path to clear out the local bandit gangs and keep digging for whoever's behind this. Step by step, we'll knock out these threats."
Hearing that, Konan let out a soft sigh, a faint smile creeping onto her face.
She thought, As expected of Nagato. Even though Amegakure doesn't have the name 'Amekage,' he's leading it more and more like a real village head.
But Nagato himself felt no relief—only an ever-heavier weight on his shoulders.
If they couldn't root out the mastermind soon, Amegakure, now so large, gave the enemy endless vulnerabilities to exploit.
The idea gave him a huge headache, and he started thinking maybe he needed to ally with nearby villages to help exterminate the bandits.
After all, the bandits didn't only threaten Amegakure's interest but harmed others too.
But for now, the most critical job was to have Deva Path and Konan quell the people's panic.
If panic took hold, internal chaos would only get worse, giving the enemy even more chances.
Soon, the Deva Path—clad in that black robe with red clouds—appeared over Amegakure along with Konan, looking like saviors descending from the sky. Instantly, everyone's eyes went to them.
"Hey, look! It's the Leader and the Angel-sama! We're saved!"
"Leader, please take out those filthy bandits! They robbed our goods and killed our shinobi!"
"Leader, what's going on? Why so many disasters at once? Is it going to get worse?"
Floating above, the Deva Path kept calm, voice resonating and resolute: "The situation in our village isn't going to get any worse. Follow my instructions, and we'll gradually return to normal. For anyone who lost property, I'll do my best to recover it. And for those Ame ninjas and civilians who died, I promise we will avenge them!"
Those words fell like a calming medicine; the once-panicked villagers began to quiet down.
Seeing how composed he was, their faith reignited.
"Long live the Village Leader! Amegakure can definitely overcome this!"
"No, it's 'Long Live the Leader!' With him at the helm, we'll ride out the storm and get back to normal!"
As the cries grew louder, more folks shouted, "Long live the Leader!"
While they corrected the term "Amekage," many still called him "Lord Amekage" from time to time.
Clearly, the idea of Nagato as the Ame's undisputed leader was deeply rooted now.
…
Meanwhile, outside Amegakure in a dense forest…
Sunlight filtered through the thick leaves, scattering dappled shadows on the ground.
Obito lounged lazily on a mossy rock, wearing a half-smile.
Next to him, a giant tree trunk bore the torso of White Zetsu, sticking out like it had grown there, quietly updating him on all the intel.
"Amegakure is in total chaos now," White Zetsu said.
"Following your instructions, I leaked information about Amegakure caravans to nearby bandits and mercenaries, and basically all of them got looted."
"As for those ninjas leaving the village, if they're not strong enough or if they travel alone, the intel goes out, and enemy forces pick them off. Meanwhile, I've been lighting fires inside the village, scaring the public. Deva Path and Konan had to come forward just to keep things together."
Obito listened, a smug grin deepening on his face.
"That frail Nagato dared to manage the village's seven departments? He's biting off more than he can chew. Let's see how long he holds out."
Everything in Obito's plan was going smoothly. The more disorder in Amegakure, the heavier Nagato's burden got.
Obito guessed that pretty soon, Nagato would burn himself out.
At that point, grabbing Nagato's Rinnegan and resurrecting Uchiha Madara would be easy, letting the world witness Uchiha's true power once again.
…
And in stark contrast to a frantic Nagato, Senshi was living an almost enviably laid-back life.
His "snowball plan" was already rolling, with the mercenary group's heavy hitters plus a bunch of diligent "rookies" steadily racking up employment points day and night.
And his Wood Release clones were scattered around, completing missions.
By now, Senshi didn't need to handle those ordinary missions himself. That's what the mercenaries and clones were for.
He was currently en route to Iwagakure, stopping at a hot spring inn along the way.
He lounged in the hot spring, enjoying a rare moment of comfort.
Sasori and Deidara were outside handling tasks, and Karin was happily sampling local foods, hoping to "learn from the best" to improve her cooking.
As Senshi relaxed, he suddenly spotted a familiar silhouette: a mass of spiky white hair leaning over the partition wall, eyes glued to the women's side of the bath.
"What, even Jiraiya's here?"
But soon he smirked: "Running into the Pervy Sage, huh. Better than running into Tsunade – that gambler's so deep in debt, she's got no money to hire me. Jiraiya, on the other hand, is a best-selling author, and Orochimaru's got his Great Snake District – both are loaded."
Thinking that, Senshi smiled and raised his right hand. A bright blue bolt of lightning crashed down from above.
Sensing danger, Jiraiya flickered aside, narrowly avoiding the strike.
He frowned, glancing in Senshi's direction with a weird expression.
Who else uses a lightning move to greet someone? That had to be Senshi.
If the target dodged, "Hello." If not, well, Senshi might have a funeral to attend.
"Senshi, that's a bit 'excessive' for a greeting, huh?" Jiraiya said, shaking his head. He eyed the blackened hole in the spot where he'd been standing. "Aren't you worried you might accidentally turn your friends into, well, 'crispy acquaintances?'"
"'Crispy acquaintances'" being literal – if someone got zapped by Senshi's lightning, they'd be toasted in an instant.
~~~
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