Naruto: Starting from the time when the Six Paths of Pain was Kira Yoshikage

An ordinary ninja would have died instantly from a broken spine during that sudden attack. As a Jinchūriki, Arashi possessed unimaginable regenerative abilities and resilience, which is why he didn't die immediately. Even so, his body suffered unimaginable damage, with multiple bones broken throughout his body.

However, as long as they are not fatal, these injuries are only superficial to a Jinchūriki and will heal in no time.

Alternatively, transforming directly into a tailed beast could accelerate the healing of the wound...

Lan also had this plan. He no longer cared about going berserk or not; he just wanted to follow Nanagi's advice and leave this place.

The next moment, Lan was horrified to discover that he could not only not hear the Seven-Tails' voice inside him, but he also could not mobilize his chakra... Even more terrifying, he could not move his body at all.

They were bound by a mysterious force.

"Kakuzu, seal him with a sealing technique."

After doing all this, Pain maintained a calm tone, as if he had just done something insignificant.

"No problem, Chief."

Kakuzu wouldn't underestimate Pain just because the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki wasn't killed in his sleep. After all, he was a Jinchuriki, a power that even the Five Great Shinobi Villages held as their last trump card.

Moreover, Pain defeated the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki in an instant with a mere gesture, demonstrating a power that no one can underestimate.

Having witnessed the power of Pain and obtained the money, Kakuzu was now full of energy.

"Who...are you people?"

Lan struggled to lift his head, and what came into view was Kakuzu's eyes, which emitted a faint green light in the darkness. At this moment, he felt no fear at all; even if he were to die, he wanted to die knowing why.

"What are you going to do to our Takigakure Village?"

Kakuzu looked down at his opponent and spoke in his uniquely calm yet slightly hoarse voice, "Our Takigakure Village... a name I fondly remember. I think you should have heard of me..."

"My name is Kakuzu, and I was once a member of this village."

Arashi's pupils contracted sharply the moment he heard Kakuzu introduce himself.

Kakuzu's name may not be well-known among the Five Great Ninja Villages, but he is absolutely famous in Takigakure. He was once the strongest elite of Takigakure and a terrifying existence who almost single-handedly overthrew the entire village.

Especially in Takigakure, the issue of Kakuzu has been a subject of ongoing debate. One faction supports honoring Kakuzu as a hero, revoking his S-rank rogue ninja status, welcoming him back to the village, and even making him their leader. The other faction suggests uniting with other major ninja villages to eliminate Kakuzu at a cost to Takigakure, thus completely eradicating the village's shame.

The two factions have been fighting for years and have never reached a consensus.

But now things are better; we won't have to argue about it anymore.

"As for the purpose..."

Kakuzu looked at Pain and, seeing no objection, said, "We've set our sights on the location of Takigakure and plan to turn it into our base."

After receiving the answer from Kakuzu, Arashi was stunned for a few seconds before roaring in a trembling voice, "Just for this? Just for this you're indiscriminately killing innocent people?"

His voice was filled with suppressed anger and a questioning tone.

"Innocent? You say innocent?"

Pain, who had been silent until now, snorted coldly and slowly turned his head towards Arashi. He said, "Takigakure is a ninja village. There have never been innocent people here. Haven't you killed anyone while carrying out your missions?"

Faced with Pain's sarcastic question, Arashi instinctively replied, "That's different! We're doing this for the mission! To protect the village..."

Before he could finish speaking, Pain coldly interrupted him: "There's no difference. You are human, and the people you kill are also human... All ninjas have blood on their hands, and as a ninja, the moment you put on your headband, you should be prepared to be killed at any time."

"God is fair... You killed them in the past, and now I give you an equal death."

Pain had no interest in debating with Arashi, nor did he intend to persuade him with words. He simply stated his point of view and then shut him up.

The world of ninjas is completely different from other worlds with clear-cut right and wrong stances. There are no saviors of evil people here, nor are there any emperors of the universe. There is never a right or wrong, only different stances.

To create peace in this world, everyone must experience suffering.

Only by experiencing pain can one understand pain.

Only then will people cherish the hard-won peace.

"Chief, what should we do now? Why don't we take over Kusagakure too..."

Having just received a large sum of money and tasted the sweetness of success, Kakuzu made the suggestion.

If Takigakure has this much wealth, what about Kusagakure? And what about other ninja villages?

Having personally experienced the power of Pain, Kakuzu was filled with blind confidence in his leader.

Pain merely glanced at him indifferently: "The organization is still in a dormant phase and hasn't even recruited any personnel yet. There's no need for such a grand display."

The situations of Kusagakure and Takigakure are completely different. Takigakure can be wiped out without attracting anyone's attention, but Kusagakure cannot be done that way.

"If you're interested, we can consider it later."

Kakuzu was somewhat dejected after hearing the first half of Pain's words, but he immediately perked up after hearing the second half. His words meant that the situation in Takigakure was definitely not the last one.

Then... there's definitely still room to make a profit.

It's all about time, and Kakuzu, who has almost eternal life, has no shortage of time.

Pain's statement was the result of careful consideration.

To be honest, the sheer number of the five great nations, the five great ninja villages, plus countless smaller nations and ninja villages, is far too great, which is detrimental to peace.

From Nagato's perspective, to achieve lasting peace, a centralized and unified government and state are necessary.

People from the same country, unless they are out of their minds or are being suppressed too severely, will not escalate their conflicts to a life-or-death situation.

A plan to collect the nine tailed beasts to create tailed beast weapons and use them as a deterrent to bring peace to the world is far less sustainable than the peace achieved by unifying the entire ninja world with overwhelming power.

The former was a plan devised by Madara Uchiha and Obito to deceive Nagato in order to realize the Eye of the Moon Plan. It seemed feasible but was actually full of loopholes. The latter, on the other hand, was a plan that could truly lead to peace. However, the latter was much more difficult than the former.

However, for Nagato, who possesses the mutated Six Paths, the second option is not particularly difficult.

As long as I can get stronger step by step, that's fine.

Becoming stronger is only a matter of time for Nagato now.