Seven days later
After seven days, Itachi, Sasuke, and Obito crossed the Land of Fire and arrived at the Land of Rain. Just seeing the atmosphere and surroundings here, Itachi sighed. Although Itachi also liked rain, he liked sunshine after rain even more. And living under rain 24×7×365 is truly depressing; no wonder Nagato became abnormal, he can't even leave the Land of Rain occasionally for a change of taste.
"Big brother, are we going to meet the Demigod Hanzo of the Salamander? I heard that he defeated the Sannin together. If you fight with him, how many minutes would it take to take care of him?" Sasuke, who was getting annoyed by the constant rain and the unfriendly behaviour of the people on the way, asked with curiosity.
"Ah, Hanzo is dead. He was killed nearly a decade ago and is now ruled by Uzumaki Nagato from the Uzumaki Clan, the possessor of the legendary Rinnegan. Although he has a little bit of mental issues, in the current Ninja world he can be said to be top 5." Hearing that a Kage of a village was dead and they didn't even know about it, Sasuke was shocked.
"But, big brother, before leaving Konoha, I had checked the major information of the outside world and it was updated last year. How could other Ninja villages not even know the death of a village leader?"
"That's because of the special circumstances of the Land of Rain. Due to the previous Ninja wars, the Land of Rain was devastated, so they closed the borders and are now highly xenophobic. So, information doesn't leave the Land of Rain easily, and Pain controls the Land of Rain in secret, so although other Ninja villages have suspicion of the long-term absence of Hanzo in public, they would only conclude it with Hanzo's advanced age."
A few hours later they finally reached Amegakure's main gate, but they were greeted by numerous guards checking identity and information about the travellers. Just like Itachi had said before, Amegakure is highly xenophobic banning the entry of foreigners, so even Jiraiya had to sneak into the village. Fortunately, he, Itachi Uchiha, has connections.
SWISH SWISH
With the sound of flapping wings, the crowd around them fell silent, looking at the sky with reverence and excitement. In Amegakure, only their Angel Konan could fly, and seeing her face is considered good luck for the rest of the year.
Itachi and others also followed the crowd, and in the next few seconds a blue-haired woman with paper wings flew from the sky, landing in front of Itachi and others, looking at them with scrutiny and suspicion. Seeing Konan's expressionless face, Itachi, who had been planning to smile and greet, stopped his actions.
"Let's go." Itachi and others followed Konan without saying another word, entering the steel city. Even in Itachi's previous life, he hadn't seen a steampunk city like this, making him observe everything in wonder. If Itachi is like this, then Sasuke was even more fascinated by the various tall buildings. Seeing the appreciation and curiosity of Itachi and Sasuke, Konan also appreciated it.
A few minutes later, after taking the lift in the tallest building, everyone finally arrived in front of the main room of the building. Opening it, Itachi saw Nagato, or more like Yahiko's corpse with Rinnegan, sitting on the main seat of the table, waiting for them expressionlessly. Seeing Yahiko's face, Itachi was impressed; no wonder Konan fell in love with Yahiko and didn't get married till the end.
"Uchiha Itachi, clan leader of the Uchiha clan.
Madara said that you wish to form an alliance with Akatsuki.
What makes you think your Uchiha clan can have an equal footing with Akatsuki?" As Pain said this, an immense pressure radiated from the Rinnegan, cracking the walls against Itachi and others. Itachi and Obito weren't affected by this much pressure. First, they were already at the peak of the Ninja world, one possessing Mangekyo Sharingan and Wood Release and the other possessing the divinity of a higher life form. Thus, a world where only Sasuke suffered was born.
"Okay, let's talk." Just when Sasuke was about to fall, Obito said in a deep voice. With Obito's intervention, Pain also took back the chakra pressure and stared at Itachi, looking for the answer.
"I killed your master." One single sentence broke the defense of everyone present. Obito was impressed; Itachi could still tease Nagato instead of giving a proper answer.
As for Nagato and Konan, although they hadn't met Jiraiya for the past few decades, hearing Jiraiya's death saddened them incredibly. A few days ago, Obito informed them about Itachi's visit and purpose, and although Nagato knew that if Madara appreciated the Uchiha clan, then the Uchiha are worthy of forming an alliance, they were resentful of their teacher's killer, so Pain wanted to intimidate Itachi. He just didn't expect Itachi to rub salt in their wounds.
Shinra Tensei
Flying Thunder God
The moment Nagato attacked, Itachi took Sasuke and teleported a few kilometres away
"Sasuke, I will be back in a while. Obito, take care of him." After speaking to Sasuke and reminding Obito, who had appeared beside them, Itachi once again used Flying Thunder God and appeared on the ruins of the room.
"Nagato, let's make a deal. You and I will fight one on one. If you win, then the Uchiha clan will join Amegakure and Akatsuki. You will gain four Mangekyo Sharingan users, dozens of Jonin, and hundreds of Chunin and Genin. With that, you can effectively fill the lower and middle level strength of Amegakure, and with the resources of the Uchiha clan, within ten years Amegakure can be stronger than any other Ninja village, without even counting Akatsuki and us.
If I win, then Akatsuki will nominally be under the Uchiha. You can still lead Akatsuki and complete your dreams, but you will have to cooperate with the Uchiha in difficult matters. How about this? Do you dare?"
After hearing Itachi's terms, Nagato became hesitant. Even Nagato knew how much of a behemoth the current Uchiha clan was, and by bringing it under Akatsuki, they could begin their nuclear deterrence plan immediately.
Even if he lost, Akatsuki would still be under his control; it's just that he wouldn't be able to oppose the Uchiha directly.
The reason for his hesitation was Itachi's confidence. Nagato knew Itachi's deeds in the past few months: subjugating the Seven-Tails, defeating Kakuzu and his partner, confronting the entire Konoha alone, and finally killing Jiraiya within five minutes. Although he could also accomplish these feats, even he was not confident of defeating Jiraiya within five minutes.
"Right, it is indeed unfair to fight you with all my strength. How about this — I will not use my Mangekyo Sharingan. You won't chicken out now, would you?" Itachi seeing Nagato's hesitation gave the bait and said with a teasing expression.
Nagato's face remained expressionless, but inside, anger and humiliation burned intensely. But he wasn't an idiot. If Itachi was giving him a chance, he would take it. Although he called himself a god, he was still a ninja. There was no rule of fighting fair and square in the ninja world.
"Okay, but first I will have to call the other members to watch this fight. As members of Akatsuki, they have the right to watch the battle that will decide the future of this organisation."
Although Nagato spoke in a calm and logical tone, Itachi could see his calculations. He was just afraid that Obito or Madara would do something to him or Konan while he was injured or busy. But Itachi didn't care. He could just call Shisui, and with Shisui's and his mirror clone, they would have five Kage-level ninjas — enough to deal with the other Akatsuki members.
"Accepted. We will have our fight in three days. You can decide the venue. Until then, I would like you to arrange accommodation for me and Sasuke."
Although Nagato didn't like Itachi's tone, he still nodded.
"The fight will be in Kansai Plains, thirty kilometres from here. Konan, arrange a place for them."
After saying this, Nagato went down through the undamaged lift. Itachi then used Flying Thunder God to bring Sasuke and Obito back.
"Let's go," Konan spoke calmly and once again led them towards a hotel at the edge of the village.
While Sasuke was planning his trip for the next three days, Itachi was planning how to trick Konan. But unfortunately, he had been a single guy in his last life. He didn't know how to make a woman fall in love with him within three sentences, and he didn't want to do those perverted acts from fanfics which supposedly awaken the M-character of those women.
Sigh, I am a loser.
Itachi sighed in despair. He couldn't even ask anyone for advice. Who would he ask? Obito, the epitome of failure in love? Or Sasuke, who was still a child?
Maybe he could go to Limited Tsukuyomi Sasuke to ask for advice…
He would definitely ask when he had the chance.