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

Unbeknownst to these Rain Ninja, two other ninjas with the same orange hair color as Pain were silently watching them with the same Rinnegan.

Pain of the Animal Realm, Pain of the Human Realm.

They are waiting for someone to oppose them so they can eliminate them with swift and decisive action.

Unfortunately, Nagato was clearly overthinking things; Hanzo's die-hard supporters had already passed away before him.

In just a few months, the village experienced the destruction of Akatsuki and the demise of Hanzo, the undefeated legend of Amegakure. The power structure of Amegakure was completely overhauled, and the surviving Amegakure ninjas had absolutely no goodwill towards Hanzo.

Pain has now effortlessly taken over the entire Amegakure village. However, the Amegakure ninja are now no match for him. Without him, their overall strength has fallen to the point where they can't even defeat a small ninja village. If they want to restore Amegakure's glory and peak, there is still a long way to go.

A special, secret room in Amegakure Village.

Nagato let out a long sigh, turned to look at Konan who looked nervous, and said, "Konan, I won."

"For the dawn of the past, for our shared ideals, for our dearest friends who have passed away..."

He paused, his eyes softening with tenderness, and continued softly, "And for...you, we won."

Xiao Nan nodded gently, her previously anxious heart finally settling down. When she heard Nagato's last sentence, she met his deep and tender gaze, and a blush unconsciously crept onto her icy face, her heart racing.

She didn't speak, but leaned down and rested her head on Nagato's shoulder, gently taking his slightly rough but strong hand in hers.

Konan smelled wonderful, a unique floral scent characteristic of Amegakure, mixed with a faint aroma of paper—a distinctive smell left from her years of origami. Her hands were soft and warm, a stark contrast to Nagato's calloused hands.

Nagato loved this feeling, like a ship that had been adrift for a long time had finally found a shore to dock at.

The secret room was quiet, with only the patter of rain outside. The Akatsuki organization of the past, the days of fighting together for the ideal of peace, and the heart-wrenching pain of losing dear friends, all transformed into the warmth passed between their palms.

Nagato turned his head slightly, the fragrance of Konan's hair lingering around his nose. He could feel her gentle breathing, a calming and soothing rhythm.

He slowly tightened his grip, holding that soft, warm hand even more firmly, as if trying to hold onto this hard-won peace, this belated warmth. The rain was still falling, but the air in the enclosed room became exceptionally warm because of this unspoken understanding and deep affection.

Although nothing was said, the two understood each other perfectly without needing words; their tacit understanding built over the years had already reached a point where their hearts were in perfect harmony.

The two remained in that position for a while before Nagato slowly spoke, saying, "From now on, Amegakure officially belongs to us, to Akatsuki... but for the time being, do not reveal the news of Hanzo's death to the outside world..."

"The news that he's alive is still somewhat useful."

The culprit who killed Yahiko and destroyed Akatsuki was not only Hanzo, but also Danzo, the rotten "root" lurking in the shadows of Konoha.

Now is not the time to take action against Konoha...

Xiao Nan nodded. She didn't ask why; as long as it was Nagato's order, she would do it. That was trust.

"Then just continue with the lockdown policy."

The policy that Hanzo issued out of sheer terror could be used to cover up the news of his death, which could be considered one of the last good things he did. Amegakure was ultimately just a small ninja village, and one that had been repeatedly damaged. Like Takigakure, it wouldn't attract the attention of the major ninja villages unless it made any big moves.

Takigakure, once a prosperous ninja village, now has very few living people left; all the ninjas and residents have been replaced by puppets.

Pain found Sasori making human puppets in a secret chamber.

"Scorpion, this is for you."

Pain first tossed a scroll to Sasori: "I need you to make a puppet... preferably one that looks exactly like a living person."

It contains Hanzo's corpse.

Then he handed Scorpion a scroll: "This is for you as payment. Also... once the puppet's usefulness ends, it'll be yours too."

Without saying much, Scorpion opened the second reward scroll. As a master of poisons, his eyes lit up slightly when he saw the venom sac inside: "Good stuff... It's the poison of the salamander... and not just any ordinary poison... It's more potent than any poison I've ever seen."

Then, he slowly and deliberately opened the first reel.

"This ninja..."

Sasori stared at the other person for a while, then said uncertainly, "Hanzo?"

Seeing Pain nod, a rare smile appeared on his usually expressionless face: "Leader, I didn't expect you to accomplish such a great feat without making a sound, even killing this legendary ninja... I remember he claimed to be a demigod of Amegakure..."

"A mere demigod is nothing but an ant under the power of a god."

Pain's tone remained calm as always. He continued, "How's your research going?"

After conquering Takigakure, Nagato manipulated Pain to give Sasori a task.

Turn Takigakure into a puppet village, but allow them to act autonomously without being manipulated by chakra threads.

"This is a field I've never been involved in before," Sasori said frankly, a hint of frustration in his voice. He also wanted to do what Nagato had said, but getting the puppets to act on their own was indeed difficult: "There are some technical aspects I still don't understand..."

Pain nodded and said seriously, "I'll find you some professionals to learn from when I have the chance."

"Then thank you very much, leader." Sasori said casually, focused on his work and not noticing Pain's tone, but even if he had, he wouldn't have taken it to heart.

After all, in Sasori's eyes, his puppetry skills had reached the pinnacle of the ninja world. Unless the first puppet master, Monzaemon, was resurrected, no one could guide him.

However... just because no one in the ninja world can guide Sasori doesn't mean there aren't any in other worlds.

In Nagato's view, Sasori's greatest strength lies not in his physical power, but in his research and development capabilities.

As a puppeteer, Sasori was able to make puppets independently when he was only a few years old. The few small toys he made casually to practice with became treasures of Sunagakure, so much so that more than ten years later, they were used as secret weapons by the son of the Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure.

This alone is enough to demonstrate Scorpion's research and development capabilities.

Therefore, Nagato positions Sasori as a member of the team's research group, a very important role.

Unfortunately, limited by the perspective of the Naruto world, his thoughts were still confined to puppets, and at most personal puppets. Nagato planned to broaden his horizons and let him see a wider world.

While Orochimaru, who later specialized in biotechnology, was clearly superior in terms of research and development, his controllability was far inferior to that of Sasori, who was more stable and trustworthy.