Amegakure. The Land of Rain.
The rain never seemed to end here, drenching everything in an icy cold downpour.
The ground was muddy, the very land almost absent of vegetation aside from moss.
Tobi said nothing to the others, his orange mask replaced by a blank white mask with two open holes to allow the Sharingan to peer through. The man's chakra was methodical, but bereft of any inner motion. Tobi was bound by the Contract, but he was merely going through the motions.
Minato Namikaze's icy cold blue eyes showed no remorse or sorrow to what had happened to his former student. His former student had cost him his life, his wife, and even his hopes in the village he had once ruled over.
The blonde hair was dyed black, and the cloak of the Hokage was replaced by a simple black cloak with the only insignia on it being a moon on one side and the sun on the other.
Shisui Uchiha was absent, having been moved to a different location to recruit Itsuki Uchiha, his girlfriend back from when he was alive.
Hashirama Senju stood in his iconic armor. He was the open face of the operation. The First Hokage had been an open pacifist, at least by shinobi standards, so no doubt Pain would at the very least be interested in talking with the man who had a hand created the current broken system of the Five Great Villages.
Hashirama stood carefree in the rain as it soaked his armor and his skin, a carefree smile on his face.
"Mito, this rain reminds me of you." Hashirama said wistfully. The chakra that suffused the rain was masterful, a form of surveillance that rivaled Mito's own Grand Detection Barrier that she had made for Konoha when she arrived.
The rain slowed to a stop, and Hashirama Senju frowned as he saw the seven bodies. Six of them shared the exact same chakra signature, and one did not.
"Why has the long dead First Hokage come to Amegakure?" Pain asked coldly, his rippled eyes betraying the Rinnegan.
"I've heard you are the man to talk to about peace. Madara had his own vision of peace. I had my own vision of peace. Neither of us was successful. I wished to hear yours." Hashirama said honestly.
Konan stilled, her cold face betrayed by her chakra wavering between hope, curiosity, and fear.
"You created the Five Great Villages system. You gathered and then gave out the nine bijuu to the other nations for money. Your vision of peace led to the utter destruction and generational agony of my home and nation. I don't think you've earned the right to ask me about my vision." Pain said with hostility, his eyes narrowed.
Hashirama nodded sadly. "I know. I know, and, I'm sorry, Uzumaki. The price paid is too much, too high. All I ask, is that I meet you and talk to you as kin. Senju and Uzumaki, we are family. 'Family above all else' is the motto of the Uzumaki." He said quietly.
Pain's eyes hardened. Konan's chakra twisted in pain at her friend's reaction.
"Please. Do not do this. This is too close to your nation's homes. Too close to your village. Do not fight me, Uzumaki. For Mito's sake!" Hashirama begged.
"A God has no family." Pain said coldly. A surge of chakra exploded into the body, and Hashirama Senju cried as a blast of chakra hit him.
The blast of the chakra did nothing more than make him stumble, and Hashirama could feel his tears fall into the rain below.
I'm so sorry, Mito. I tried. I really did.
His hands clasped together as his Sage Mode activated.
"Mokuton: Great Forest Emergence."
Then the ground exploded apart in forest and trees, rapidly swallowing up the muddy ground and the trees sucking up all chakra in every living thing it could touch.
The Preta Path stood in front of the Naraka Path, but it couldn't absorb the trees for any longer than a moment as it turned to stone, petrified as the trees ruthlessly crushed the body as it ensnared and consumed the Naraka Path in the same motion.
The Animal Path didn't even get the chance to summon anything as it saw only the briefest moments of a black flicker, and a rasengan into its skull.
The Human Path was easily crushed, by the large thick roots reaching out from under it and dragging it into the ground, never to surface again.
The Asura Path's arms opened to reveal laser cannons, it's head likewise opening up to reveal an even larger laser priming to fire.
It wasn't fast enough to dodge the large green flower that poured acid on top of it, the acid melting through metal and bone as the Asura Path became molten sludge.
The Deva Path had barely recharged its abilities in time and had launched itself high into the air, hovering over the ground as the Deva Path debated releasing a large Shinra Tensei in the area below.
It never had the chance, it's body jerking violently as something seemed to eating it from the inside out as it fell out of the sky, collapsing on a tree with a harsh thud.
"This body will be of interest to the Honored One." Tobi commented coldly, the mokuton growing out of his arm severing the spinal cord of the long dead Yahiko's corpse. One blink, and the body was gone.
In less than a minute, the Six Paths of Pain had lost.
Konan trembled in fear as she saw Nagato's eyes closed in defeat. "Konan. Whatever happens, thank you for being my friend and being with me from the beginning." Nagato said quietly.
Konan shouted at him. "No! Don't say that! We can leave, they don't know where you are! We can try again."
Nagato laughed rasply. "No, Konan. They are already here."
Step. Step. Step.
Hashirama Senju stepped into the dim light, his Sage Mode still active as he looked devastated at Nagato.
"Kin, your body is mutilated! Mito would have my head if I didn't treat you!" Hashirama's voice of stunned horror echoed in the silence.
Nagato snorted. "There is nothing to be done, and you don't need to lie to me, Senju. Where was our kin in the Second Shinobi War when Uzushiogakure was being raided by all four of the Great Villages? Where was our kin when my mother had to flee to the Land of Rain to evade death, only to meet death at the hands of Konoha shinobi!" Nagato spat.
Hashirama's eyes darkened and Konan felt her throat catch as she couldn't breath. The feeling of nature pressing in on all sides, of fungi growing in the lungs as she wheezed and begged for air, of the horror and silent begging for death as the fungi took over her body and piloted her like a meatsuit, as it tore through her eyes and face. The feeling of tree roots drinking her blood slowly as it fed off of her wounds for weeks on end as she begged for a quicker death.
"Tell me if they yet live, and I will avenge your parents." Hashirama vowed darkly.
The feelings vanished and Konan struggled to maintain her composure as all she wanted to do was cry.
Nagato looked puzzled. "I... don't understand." He said slowly. "You would kill Konoha shinobi for what they did to my family? Why?" He clarified at Hashirama's solemn nod.
Hashirama's smile lit up the room as he sighed with nostalgia.
"Mito Uzumaki believed that family came first, above all else. As a young man, I had convinced myself that the village was my family, but when little Susano'o was born, I had my worldview shattered like glass."
Hashirama's voice darkened. "The village judged my son, little Susano'o, for not wanting to be a shinobi. He wanted to be a chef. He loved making food. He loved growing food. He cared nothing for the shinobi way of life. My village did not like that. They bullied him, they kept trying to mock him, kept trying to lie to me about his grades. My son nearly committed suicide at the hands of my village, because he became convinced that him not being a shinobi was a dishonor on me."
"I nearly killed them all." Hashirama's voice echoed, his green eyes glowing as the entire village of Amegakure shook. In the distance, an old rusted skyscraper in the edge of the village was suddenly being grabbed by a large tree that grew around it and squeezed, the screeching sound of rusted metal being crushed and shredded apart until it collapsed into the distance with a large crashing sound in the distance.
A deep breath. The shaking stopped.
"I announced to the village that the Senju Clan was to be dissolved. All my clansmen were encouraged to marry into other Clans and civilians. I announced to them all that being a shinobi is never a requirement, and that I was honored my son felt safe enough to follow his dreams of being a chef in my home. That anyone who made fun of my son, anyone who tried to convince him that he could dishonor me in any way, would feel my wrath as I drove a stake through them and left them to die hanging for days as the bark drained them of life."
Hashirama's glowing green eyes gazed at Nagato, who looked shaken.
"Do not doubt me. I am a peaceful man, but I am not a man to be pushed around for the sake of peace. My hearing you out is a courtesy, kinsman, not a requirement. I was brought back to life by another who shares our vision of truth, but his vision doesn't rely in jutsu to do it."
Nagato blinked, frowning.
"How?" Nagato said doubtfully.
A whisper of motion, and Konan moved to defend Nagato, fear soaking her every muscle, yet she still acted anyway.
Except, it wasn't a motion to attack.
A man appeared in front of them, his white hair and tall frame reminding them of Kakashi Hatake, with the exception of those glowing blue eyes.
"Who are you?" Nagato demanded weakly, his Rinnegan eyes widening in what Konan could only recognize as fear and concern.
"I am here to offer you and Konan a Contract, a way for peace. I intend to destabilize and destroy the Daimyo and the nobles that hold the wealth of the Great Five Villages. With no income, the Great Five cannot wage their wars. I intend to up trade between all the Nations to ensure that wars seems unprofitable and unreasonable to the masses. I have already captured Iwa, Kiri, and Konoha. Suna is nowhere strong enough, and Kumo is setting up it's own downfall."
Nagato's eyes narrowed. "How can you be sure your path to peace is the right one?" He rasped.
The man waved to his left, and Nagato and Konan both stiffened as an orange haired young man coughed as he waved at Nagato and Konan.
"Hey, Nagato. Konan. I've heard that there's been a lot going on in the Akatsuki these days. I hope you guys have been okay without me." Yahiko said solemnly, his face showing a tentative nervous grin to Nagato and Konan.
Konan's face turned red with absolute rage as she turned to the man, ready to attempt to kill him here and now except Nagato... shook his head?
"Yahiko is real. He's alive. The man somehow brought back Yahiko alive and well despite not having the Rinnegan." He muttered to Konan, whose face drained of all color as Yahiko nodded solemnly.
"I'm sorry for how much pain my death caused all of you. I just thought I was doing the right thing." Yahiko said quietly.
"Is that proof enough, Nagato Uzumaki?" The man said abruptly.
Nagato nodded, and Konan blinked as two pieces of paper appeared in front of them. "Sign it, and then I'll restore your body back to it's prime, Nagato Uzumaki."
The piece of paper was absurd, but Nagato had already signed it without a second glance, and so, reluctantly, Konan also signed it. Where Nagato went, she followed.
The machine snapped apart as Nagato found himself on his feet, the rods he'd had impaled in his back for many years now gone as he found himself standing on his own two legs with ease, like he'd never lost them.
"Who are you?" Konan whispered. Even Nagato had resigned himself to this contraption from the Gedo Statue.
"I am Meraki. I will return in a few month's time for the Gedo Statue, and I will call for you then. In the mean time, you will find I may send you or Nagato on a recruitment for the Akatsuki, and some other missions in the background. It was a pleasure meeting you face to face."
The man vanished, and abruptly Konan found herself being hugged by Yahiko.
"Konan, I don't want to die a virgin again." Yahiko whispered into her ear.
She sighed as she turned into paper, reforming several feet away as Yahiko pouted at her.
"Yep, that's Yahiko alright." She groaned to Nagato, who laughed in the background, a smile tugging on her lips as Nagato sounded more care-free and happy than he'd been in decades.
Thank you, Meraki.