Land of Earth's border.
Onoki floated at the top of a towering rock wall, his eyes half-closed as if he were resting. Below him stood his personal bodyguard, Akatsuchi, with his arms crossed. He's vigilantly scanning their surroundings.
"They're here."
At a certain mont, Onoki suddenly opened his murky eyes and raised his head slightly.
High above, a figure in a black cloak adorned with red clouds pattern and orange hair descended from the sky.
"Who… are you?" Onoki frowned upon seeing the figure's face. The hair color, eyes, and black rods on his body were identical to those of the Akatsuki's mber he had seen before, but the face was entirely different!
"I'm Pain!"
The new Deva Path Pain spoke expressionlessly, "Tsuchikage, let's get down to business. What is this commission that requires you to co personally?"
"This task is extrely important, so I need to confirm your identity first." Onoki replied cautiously.
"Humph."
Deva Path Pain extended his hand, "Shinra Tensei!"
Boom…
A repulsive force neither too big nor too small spread out from his palm, causing Onoki's hair and clothes to flutter wildly.
'This feeling…' After confirming his identity, Onoki imdiately said, "This mission is very simple. First, create a conflict at the border between the Land of Grass and the Land of Earth. Once I send a large army of Shinobi into the Land of Grass, you will lead the Akatsuki to invade the Land of Fire and draw Konoha's attention!"
Deva Path Pain remained silent for a mont before speaking: "You want to occupy the Land of Grass?"
"To be precise, I aim to do what Kumogakure did." Onoki explained.
Deva Path Pain understands, "You want to sandwich the Land of Fire between Iwagakure and Kumogakure, making the ninja world unstable... Akatsuki will accept this task, but regarding the commission fee…"
"Don't worry, I've prepared a large sum this ti. You won't refuse it!"
Speaking of this, Onoki slowly stretched out his palm and squinted his eyes, "Five hundred million!"
"The difficulty of this mission is very high, five hundred million is not enough, it must at least doubled!" Deva Path Pain began to negotiate without emotion.
"One billion…" Onoki looked troubled.
Speaking of which, the commission fee for this task was jointly paid by Iwagakure and Kumogakure, each contributing 500 million. If he followed Deva Path Pain's demand, then wouldn't he gain nothing from this deal?
This was unacceptable for Onoki.
Onoki bargained, "600 million!"
Deva Path Pain stared at him without speaking.
"700 million!"
Onoki's twisted into a bitter expression, and he said, "800 million, and no more. Pain, we have been working together for so many years, so you should at least give a discount!"
"Since Tsuchikage insists, let's settle at one billion." Deva Path Pain remained firm.
'Bastard!!!'
Onoki was furious but managed to hold back his anger. Fortunately, although he didn't gain from this deal, at least he didn't lose out. He suppressed his temper and said, "Fine, one billion! As per our usual agreent, I'll first pay ten percent as a deposit. After you complete the first step, I'll pay thirty percent. Once Iwagakure's army are positioned at the Land of Grass and Land of Fire's borders, I'll give you the remaining commission."
"Agreed."
...
After completing the transaction, Onoki floated back to Iwagakure in a cheerful mood, while his bodyguard Akatsuchi ran along on the ground.
At sunset, Onoki slowly descended, accompanied by Akatsuchi, and they arrived at a nearby town to rest.
"Tsuchikage-sama." Akatsuchi looked Onoki floating in front of him and called out hesitantly.
Onoki said without looking back, "Do you want to know why I have to go to a remote place every ti I et that guy?"
Akatsuchi nodded quickly, then shook his head vigorously, "Tsuchikage-sama, if it's a village secret, please don't tell ."
"It's not really a big deal."
Onoki chuckled and said, "But this matter is too extensive, so it's better if you don't know."
"Oh." Akatsuchi lowered his head.
Entering the town, the two people found a tavern to sit down and were ready to have a good al, but at this mont, a figure rushed over at a very fast speed.
Akatsuchi instantly positioned himself in front of Onoki, but upon recognizing the newcor, he quickly stepped to the side.
"Grandpa, sothing terrible has happened!!" The person coming was none other than Kurotsuchi.
"Kurotsuchi, why are you shouting? What's the matter?" Onoki asked calmly.
"Grandpa, Uncle Han has gone missing!!" Kurotsuchi exclaid.
"Han?"
Onoki was taken aback, and his expression changed greatly, "What?!"
'Han is Iwagakure's Gobi's Jinchuriki. How could he go missing suddenly?'
'Could it be…'
The first thought that crossed Onoki's mind was that Han had been captured by Konoha's Shinobi.
"What happened exactly, Kurotsuchi? Tell quickly!" Onoki urged.
Kurotsuchi organized her thoughts and said, "Grandpa, just a few days after you left, soone lay in wait outside the village to ambush lone Shinobi. The cunning guy used Ice Release. After hurting many of our Shinobi, Anbu sent their Elite Jonin to pretend to be Genin passing by, but unfortunately, they still couldn't beat the other party. Since you are not in the village, Uncle Han left the village to deal with it, but... he went missing."
"Fols!"
Onoki was furious, "This is clearly a ploy to lure Han out. Damn it!!"
"Grandpa, do you know who did this?" Kurotsuchi asked curiously.
"No need to ask, it must be Konoha!" Onoki's face turned red with anger, but then his expression stiffened.
'Wait, Ice Release?'
'Since the civil war in Kirigakure, the only ones in the Shinobi World with the Ice Release bloodline limit are that Yuki Haku and…'
'Akatsuki?!'
Onoki stood frozen, caught off guard by the realization.
'How could this be?'
'They had just accepted my commission…'
'So that's how it is, Akatsuki dared to take advantage of my absence to pull this off!'
'Damn it!!'
Onoki felt like he had swallowed a fly, and he's filled with frustration and rage.
Moreover, if this was indeed Akatsuki's doing, would his previous commission to Pain still stand?
Could he get back the one hundred million he had already paid?
Onoki felt so stressed his hair was falling out!
…
At the sa ti.
The new Deva Path Pain, Konan, Zetsu, Hyōketsu, and Hidan were hiding in a secret location, silently sealing the Gobi.
"It takes more than ten days for seven people to seal a Biju, and now with only five of us…"
Hyōketsu grumbled, "Pain, why didn't you call Kisa and Kakuzu?"
"They have a mission." Pain said.
"Mission? Sealing Gobi first and then catching Rokubi later, isn't it the sa?" Hidan was also very upset. Being kept in one place all the ti was driving him crazy.
"It is not the mission to capture Rokubi, but the commission from Iwagakure." Deva Path Pain calmly explained Onoki's commission.
"This is not good. I just captured Gobi's Jinchuriki right in front of them, and Pain, you took Onoki's order on the back. How do you think Onoki will feel about this?" Hyōketsu laughed and joked.
"Occupying the Land of Grass and then positioning Iwagakure's army at the border to pressure Konoha…"
White Zetsu also laughed, "Sounds like Onoki has made a deal with Yondai Raikage."
"This is actually good news for us."
Hyōketsu said, his smile fading as he began to dig a pit secretly, "If Iwagakure and Kumogakure start a war, it will surely draw Konoha's attention, giving us a chance to attack Konoha and capture Hachibi and Kyubi."
Deva Path Pain glanced at him, "You're right. That's exactly my plan."
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