Special Event: Five Nations’ Fall (35K)

You have joined the hidden faction: Akatsuki. Current reputation: Friendly (15/100)

You have triggered the Special Event: Five Nations' Fall (Large-scale, Special, Unique)

Event Description: Influenced by Reincarnator XX53562211 (Mercenary Tao), Pain has decided to bring pain to the rulers of this world. Before this mission world ends, destroy the current rulers of the Five Great Nations. This is a special large-scale event. All Reincarnators in this world, except those affiliated with the Five Great Nations, may participate.

Event Rewards: Singularity and Dimensional Point rewards based on completion rate. If completion exceeds 20%, an additional special item ×1 will be awarded.

Penalty for Event Failure: Reputation with the Five Great Nations and the Five Great Ninja Villages will permanently become Hostile. You will be hunted for an additional seven days (return unavailable during this period).

Catherine looked at the spatial prompt before her, took a deep breath, then continued using the Holy ARM to heal Uchiha Itachi. This special magical tool from the Magic Soldier Legend World was incredibly versatile and adaptable. Not only could it be used effectively by anyone who had mastered mana as an energy source, ordinary Reincarnators could also use it to come into contact with and control mana.

As a result, ARM-type items were exceptionally rare.

Catherine withdrew her gaze. She had actually noticed that the two silver rings on Mercenary Tao’s hand were, in all likelihood, also ARMs. Yet he clearly had no intention of following the mana path. Besides, he had just allowed her to join this special event.

The two of them could be said to have established a preliminary level of trust. Catherine began using her items without reservation, no longer afraid that Mercenary Tao would attack her at the slightest disagreement.

Her guess had been correct. Following someone like Mercenary Tao meant opportunities would never be lacking. Though she had no idea what method he had used, Nagato had clearly been persuaded to begin the Five Great Nations Collapse Plan.

"Weren’t we supposed to conquer the Five Great Nations? With our strength, wouldn’t directly attacking the capitals of those countries be a better choice?"

Catherine spoke as she healed Uchiha Itachi. She already knew the answer in her heart, but she deliberately asked anyway. It was also a communication tactic, a way those beneath others often used to "flatter" the higher-ups.

Catherine mocked herself inwardly. She had always possessed an exceptionally strong personality, and in her duo with Ran, she had been the dominant one. But no matter how forceful her personality was, walking alongside a madman like this still reminded her of the fundamental fact that she was weak.

She had no choice but to try interacting with Mercenary Tao more smoothly in the very manner she had once hated most.

Bai Cangshu did not notice those little thoughts, or rather, he simply had no interest in wasting time considering what a Reincarnator like Catherine might be thinking.

It was now the fifth day of the first phase of his Special Trial. With Uchiha Shisui’s defeat and Akatsuki joining them, completion of the first phase was basically assured.

In the current ninja world, unless several Kage-level Ninja joined forces, it was absolutely impossible to forcibly kill Hiranaka Hana in front of Pain and himself.

Therefore, he was considering what the second phase of this Special Trial might be. Based on his experience with the Great Sin System’s Special Trial, the second phase would have some connection to the first.

The first phase of the Great Sin Trial: Sin and Punishment had been to learn any specialization from Mercenary Tao, while the second phase had been to prevent Mercenary Tao from being killed by Reincarnators.

Therefore, Bai Cangshu had every reason to believe that the first phase of the Virtue Trial: Utmost Benevolence and Goodness, protecting Hiranaka Hana, would definitely also be connected in some way to the second phase.

The plot faction most deeply entangled with Hiranaka Hana was Konoha. The reason the town where Hiranaka Hana lived had been massacred was that her husband, Hiranaka Minoru, had leaked top-secret intelligence from Konoha regarding Uchiha and Konoha High Command Discord.

Given the Space’s usual shitty nature, the second phase of the trial would most likely be related to Konoha.

This was one major reason Bai Cangshu had devised the Konoha Collapse Plan.

Of course, he would not tell anyone that reason.

Bai Cangshu merely watched Uchiha Itachi’s calm expression with great interest. This mature-looking Shōnen had clearly been affected by the information Bai Cangshu had deliberately released about Danzo possessing Sharingan. His Will of Fire had begun to waver.

People were often like this. Both had stolen Sharingan, yet when someone like Bai Cangshu—whose underlying impression in Uchiha Itachi’s mind was already that of an "evil faction" and a "wicked person"—did such a thing, Itachi found it only natural. He felt disgust and hatred, certainly, but it was simply normal hostility toward an enemy.

But when Danzo, a Konoha higher-up whom he had regarded as one of his leaders, did the same thing and took Sharingan for his own use, it became far more unforgivable in Uchiha Itachi’s eyes.

The corners of Bai Cangshu’s mouth rose. He had to admit that sometimes, being a bad person was indeed easier. Though… he had never considered himself a bad person.

"Konoha is currently under close scrutiny from the other ninja villages because of that intelligence leak. At a time like this, any slight disturbance in Konoha will provoke major action from the other ninja villages."

Deva Path Pain explained. Though Mercenary Tao’s "persuasion" had also made him recognize that the true decision-makers of war were not the ninjas, he still had reservations about the claim that Akatsuki contained the pawn of someone hiding behind the scenes.

He sent Zetsu away, yet still explained the details of the mission to Konan. He could sense that ever since Mercenary Tao joined Akatsuki, Konan had been deeply uneasy.

Konan lowered her eyelids. She understood the truth behind the so-called Konoha Collapse Plan. As long as Akatsuki dealt Konoha a devastating blow at a time like this, then regardless of whether the Uchiha Clan and Konoha High Command had actually descended into internal conflict, Konoha’s decline would become an established fact.

The other ninja villages would swarm in like wolves that had caught the scent of blood.

And when that happened, Akatsuki could withdraw and attack the capitals of the major nations, facing far less pressure.

It was an open scheme no one could refuse.

But likewise, far more people would die in this operation than she had previously anticipated.

And many of those who died would likely not even be ninjas.

Konan raised her head and looked at the rain-shrouded sky above the Land of Rain. She could barely remember the warm dream Yahiko had once held when he was alive.

Perhaps that peaceful and prosperous vision was destined to remain unattainable in her generation. She only hoped that the sins of slaughter committed by people like them could make the world truly fear war…

"I will become an Asura… only then can the future be granted peace."

Konan’s near-dreamlike murmur reached Uchiha Itachi’s ears. The boy slowly sat up. His face was pale, and he looked as though he had just recovered from a serious illness, but the clear Three-Tomoe Sharingan in his eyes still made the others wary.

When Orochimaru saw that Uchiha Itachi possessed a Three-Tomoe Sharingan at such a young age, this Uchiha Clan genius he had heard his teacher mention several times gave him a truly strange feeling.

Such talent and ability, yet eyes as calm as stagnant water. Unlike those Uchiha whose gazes could not conceal their arrogance, that calmness made him even harder to read.

"I will become an Asura…"

Uchiha Itachi repeated Konan’s words softly, but his younger brother’s face appeared before his eyes.

From Mercenary Tao and Orochimaru, he had learned many hidden secrets of the ninja world. Behind those glorious heroes lay dark truths as vast as the tide.

Sunagakure was like that. Kirigakure was like that. Kumogakure was like that. Konoha could not escape it either.

Ninjas were not heroes of the night. Ninjas were merely convenient weapons in the hands of those higher-ups.

Catherine accidentally met Uchiha Itachi’s gaze. The calm determination in the eyes of this boy, barely twelve or thirteen years old, startled her. She began to understand why he had massacred his own clan.

Uchiha Itachi probably was not without arrogance. Rather, he was arrogant to the extreme. Deep down, he trusted only his own judgment. When he believed his clan had no future, and that only exterminating the Uchiha could preserve his younger brother, he did it.

He had always believed that his own judgment was the most correct…

Catherine turned to look at Mercenary Tao. In a sense, these two were probably the same kind of person. Just then, she saw the undisguised smile on Mercenary Tao’s face.

"I can’t pretend I didn’t hear the plan to destroy Konoha."

Uchiha Itachi let his hands hang at his sides as an unusual aura began to spread from him. The Three Tomoe in his pupils slowly turned. Orochimaru and Konan both lowered their stances slightly, sensing a threat from this boy.

Pain Deva Path extended a hand and stopped them both, while Bai Cangshu also stepped in front of Uchiha Itachi.

"What do you intend to do?"

His hands also hung naturally at his sides, but Itachi’s Sharingan clearly detected that beneath his seemingly relaxed posture, the other man’s muscles were exceptionally tense. With only a thought, that godspeed attack would likely pour forth in an instant.

Uchiha Itachi looked at Mercenary Tao. There was absolutely no reverence for human life in the man’s eyes. This was a madman who possessed absolute violence.

"To what extent does this so-called Konoha Collapse need to go?"

"How many people need to die? How much infrastructure needs to be destroyed?"

Uchiha Itachi asked calmly, with the same attitude one might use when asking the price of goods at a market. Bai Cangshu’s smile deepened at his words.

"Would one-tenth be enough? If not, one-eighth?"

Uchiha Itachi continued speaking, his tone growing colder and colder.

Just as he had once faced a moral dilemma, he once again made the most utilitarian choice. If some people had to be sacrificed, he could accept it. Moreover, he wanted the power to choose who would be sacrificed.

Was that attitude not also treating human lives as mere numbers?

Yet he believed that since Konoha itself was not clean, perhaps removing some parasites might actually make Konoha better.

"Mercenary Tao, if possible, may I join this plan? I hope to gain the authority to choose some of the shares."

Through the Rinnegan of Pain Deva Path, Nagato watched Uchiha Itachi. In a sense, this boy’s way of thinking was equally extreme and terrifying. But at a time like this, he no longer cared. As he had said, he was a god beyond good and evil.

He did not wish to make moral judgments. He only wanted this world to feel pain.

"More than half of the higher-ups must be eliminated. At the same time, Konoha’s defenses must be completely breached, and its ninja combat capacity reduced by more than thirty percent."

With those words, Pain accepted Uchiha Itachi’s participation.

Uchiha Itachi drew another blade from behind his back. He turned and sat down alone, wiping the blade clean, his eyes filled with coldness.

The massive Summoning Beast continued to run. Before long, the group left the Land of Rain and entered the Land of Fire. Tomorrow would be the day the operation to destroy Konoha began.

Bai Cangshu looked over the dense forest. At the border of the Land of Fire, many patrolling samurai and ninjas had also begun to appear. But before they could sound any warning, drifting sheets of white paper covered their mouths and noses. Soon, they fell to the ground and died in despair.

Bai Cangshu walked over to Orochimaru and said,

"Orochimaru, you truly are fated to be involved with the Konoha Collapse Plan."

Orochimaru did not understand, but he remained guarded.

Bai Cangshu did not continue making jokes and instead revealed his true purpose.

"You have mastered the forbidden technique Impure World Reincarnation, haven’t you? If possible, I hope you can do something for me…"

"I want you to use Impure World Reincarnation on me."

Orochimaru’s pupils contracted. He almost suspected he had misheard, but the madman before him still wore that terrifying smile, as though he were embarking on a thrilling adventure.