I, Naruto Uzumaki, don't need your approval.

Thinking of this, Naruto said to Shisui with a serious expression, "We have guests. I need to go and entertain them. You keep an eye on those rats and make sure they don't cause any trouble. I'll be right back."

"guest?"

Shisui was slightly shocked; someone whom Naruto addressed as a guest was clearly no ordinary person.

Naruto had never shown such a serious attitude before, so he asked, "Lord Menma, have the Five Kage appeared in the Land of Waves?"

Noticing the change in Shisui's expression, Naruto smiled and said, "Stronger than the Five Kage, I want to see the leader of Akatsuki, who is considered the strongest in the ninja world today."

Upon hearing this, Shisui, Zabuza, and Haku's expressions turned grim and uncertain.

They were even stronger than the Five Kage; they could no longer even imagine their exact strength.

After hesitating for a moment, they seemed to have made up their minds and said, "Lord Menma, do you need our help? Perhaps we can be of some use."

Naruto shook his head slightly: "Forget it. If a fight really breaks out, be prepared to retreat at any time."

After saying that, Naruto left the company building and instantly appeared on the street outside.

Shisui, Zabuza, and the others sighed softly. Naruto was right; they were simply incapable of participating in such high-level battles and could only manage to protect themselves.

Zabuza looked at Shisui and said, "Shisui, who do you think will win between Menma-sama and the Akatsuki leader?"

Shisui's expression was uncertain. He shook his head slightly and said, "I don't know either. I hope Menma-sama wins, but the leader of Akatsuki cannot be weak. I can only say that it is impossible to judge the outcome before the result is in."

What's the difference between this and saying nothing at all... Zabuza was speechless for a moment.

After a pause, Shisui added, "Maybe we won't even fight. We don't have much conflict of interest with Akatsuki, and there's no need for either side to fight to the death."

"That's true." Zabuza relaxed and even began to look forward to the battle.

The only time he had ever witnessed a battle at the level of the Five Kage was when Naruto suppressed the rampaging Fourth Mizukage. It was an almost one-sided crushing victory. He had never seen a battle where the two forces were evenly matched before, so it must have been incredibly exciting.

……

Walking down the streets of the Land of Waves, Naruto tried to pinpoint Nagato's location.

As a transmigrator, he knew that the Heavenly Path was only one of the Six Paths of Pain, and that the one who truly controlled these puppets was Nagato behind them. Moreover, the puppets could not be controlled over a very long distance, at most within a range of a dozen kilometers.

But after looking around, he still couldn't find where Nagato was hiding.

Furthermore, Konan and Nagato are inseparable, and Konan, who has mastered the Paper Release technique, is also a Kage-level powerhouse, making her extremely difficult to deal with.

Thinking of this, Naruto asked the Nine-Tails inside him, "Kurama, have you found the location of Pain's controller? If you can't, this will be difficult."

Kurama shook its head: "I also found his location. He didn't seem to be threatening. Could it be that he didn't realize you were a Jinchuriki, but came because you're the leader of Uzushio Village..."

"That's true."

Naruto paused, realizing that the logic did indeed make sense.

But why would Nagato come to the Land of Waves for no reason? There are no tailed beasts here. Did he come for a vacation, or was he persuaded by Obito to come and deal with him...?

Naruto's alarmed demeanor also caught Minato's attention, who asked curiously, "Isn't the Akatsuki leader the masked man? Is there someone else?"

"The leader of Akatsuki is indeed someone else, a ninja named Pain, who possesses the Rinnegan."

"The Rinnegan?" Upon hearing the mention of the Rinnegan, Minato Namikaze seemed to recall something and said, "I remember that more than ten years ago, Jiraiya-sensei adopted three orphans, one of whom possessed the Rinnegan."

"But they died later. Could it be that the leader of Akatsuki stole their Rinnegan?"

Naruto glanced at Minato Namikaze and said in a low voice, "The Rinnegan is the eye of the Sage of Six Paths. How could its owner die so easily? If you don't believe me, ask Kurama."

Kurama snorted and said with its tail wagging, "Naruto is right. People with the Rinnegan don't die so easily. They might change their appearance and identity just like Naruto, but they're still the same kid they were back then."

"Kurama makes a lot of sense... In the ninja world, people who die don't really count as dead."

"Since I was able to fake Shisui's death and escape, it's not surprising that others would have similar thoughts. Maybe the masked man is actually just an alias of some Uchiha brat."

"The leader of Akatsuki might be a student of Jiraiya..."

Faced with Naruto's personal agenda, Minato Namikaze fell into deep thought, and he suddenly thought of his student Obito.

But he quickly shook his head. How could Obito be the masked man? In just one year, Obito couldn't have grown from a Chunin to someone who could threaten him. Obito also had no reason to manipulate the Nine-Tails to attack the village.

Furthermore, the masked man was manipulating the bucket from behind the scenes. If it really was Obito, he wouldn't have dared to harm Rin.

Wait a minute… Minato Namikaze’s expression changed slightly, as if he realized something. He looked at the noisy Naruto and Kurama and his face turned somewhat gloomy.

If Obito only transformed into the Masked Man after Rin's death, then the Masked Man's actions in Kirigakure would make sense. The Masked Man was taking revenge on Kirigakure, which is why he caused Kirigakure to kill each other and never recover.

The attack on Konoha was Obito's revenge for being late and failing to save Rin.

It was wrong of him to fail to keep his promise to the students, but if the Nine-Tails' rampage was really caused by Obito, then Obito was truly a sinner against the village.

Chapter 147 Didn't you receive ninja training?

Noticing the change in Minato's expression, Kurama said in a sinister tone, "Naruto, did you already know the masked man's true identity, and that's why you deliberately misled Minato?"

Naruto rolled his eyes at Kurama and said calmly, "I don't know anything. Even if the Fourth Hokage guessed the masked man's identity, it has nothing to do with me. However, the masked man and Itachi Uchiha do have some things in common."

Nine-Tailed Fox pursed her lips: "If you don't want to say, then don't. I'm not curious about the masked man's identity anyway."

Seeing Kurama's arrogant side, Naruto could only say, "I suspect the masked man is a student of the Fourth Hokage, a kind old man who helps old ladies cross the street all day long."

Hearing this, Kurama paused for a moment, then said, "Konoha and Uchiha are truly blessed with outstanding people and resources, able to cultivate two geniuses, Itachi and the masked man. One attacked his master and mistress, and the other killed his parents and attacked his entire clan."

Naruto shrugged, his tone revealing helplessness: "These are nothing compared to what's really going on. Now you understand why I left Konoha to start my own business. I can't handle those people in Konoha."

Kurama nodded, as if sensing something, and frowned: "Naruto, the Akatsuki leader is nearby. You must be careful. At a critical moment, I will lend you my power so you can activate Dark Kurama Mode."

"Dark Nine-Rat Mode..."

For some reason, Naruto felt something was off when those words came from Kurama's mouth; they didn't fit Kurama's serious demeanor. But he nodded nonetheless, having no qualms about using Kurama's power.

……

Nagato walks down the street in the form of Pain.

Although Tiandao's appearance is strange, it is still within the normal aesthetic range. At most, he has more earrings and mouth piercings than most people, which will not attract much attention.

Nagato did not come for the Land of Waves, but to hunt down Orochimaru, who had fled there.

A few days ago, after visiting the villages he passed through and leaving the Land of Rain, he sensed the ring on Orochimaru's hand and tracked it all the way to the Land of Waves.

Upon arriving in the Land of Waves, the chakra on the ring disappeared again, and he lost Orochimaru's position once more.

After a moment's thought, Nagato roughly guessed Orochimaru's plan: to lure him into the Land of Waves, cause a conflict between him and the leader of the Land of Whirlpools, and then seize the Rinnegan.

Orochimaru's covetousness had already been revealed several years ago.

However, Orochimaru's power was insignificant compared to Pain's, and he was recruited into the Akatsuki organization.

After thinking about all this, Nagato was no longer in a hurry and began to visit and investigate within the Land of Waves to see how different the living standards of the people of the Land of Waves were from those of the residents of the Land of Rain.

However, after conducting the investigation, Nagato came to a conclusion that left him with mixed feelings.

The living standards of the people of the Land of Rain are only slightly better than those of the people of the Land of Waves, who have been exploited by Gato for more than a decade; there is no fundamental difference between them.

Does this mean that Xiao Nan's policies are too harsh?

Obviously not. Konan's policies were much milder than those during Hanzo's time. It can only be said that the previous Shinobi World Wars had caused too much damage to the Land of Rain.

Although the Land of Waves was plagued by smuggling and human trafficking, it was one of the few countries that was not affected by the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Feeling hungry, Nagato went to a roadside restaurant, only to realize with embarrassment when ordering that his body was now just a corpse and he didn't need to eat at all.

"A bowl of ramen, plus a bowl of kelp soup."

A deep voice broke the awkward silence that Nagato was in. He looked at the figure approaching from not far away and immediately became more alert.

Naruto sat down in front of Nagato and then slowly asked:

"You don't look like a local. Are you here to visit the Land of Waves? But the Land of Waves isn't suitable for tourism right now. In a few years, it will become a tourist hotspot."

"Who are you?" Nagato asked expressionlessly.

Naruto rested his chin on his hands, glanced around at Pain, and said, "I am a ninja from the Land of Whirlpools, responsible for finding those ninjas hiding on the island, which is why I came to you."

"So you're ninjas from Uzushio Village. Are you in such a hurry to find someone because you're worried that news of the Land of Waves' fall will leak out?"

"Not at all. We...we never stopped them from spreading the news. It is a fact that Uzushio Village occupied the Land of Waves, but I prefer the word 'rescue.' We rescued the people of the Land of Waves."

Naruto explained with a smile, then asked the waiter to make two glasses of juice and bring them over.

Nagato narrowed his eyes. The change in vocabulary did make the actions of the Land of Whirlpools sound much better, but countries could always find a high-sounding excuse. Whirlpool Village was already considered civilized.

After the juice was served, Naruto took a sip and then said, "Moreover, the Land of Waves is a country without ninja villages, and the people cannot receive proper protection. Uzushio Village is confident that Bikado will do a good job."

Nagato became interested and asked curiously, "Next, what... what does Uzushio Village plan to do?"

Naruto gave Nagato a strange look: "Of course, we should first get the ninjas involved in construction. After the infrastructure is sorted out, we can then vigorously develop industry, commerce, and tourism. Didn't your ninja village teach you these basic facts?"

"It seems like there really isn't one..."

Nagato was embarrassed. He had never received systematic ninja training and didn't know if the ninja academy had this kind of education. In any case, Jiraiya hadn't taught them any of this.

Minato Namikaze was completely bewildered. When did the Ninja Academy ever teach this?

At this moment, Nagato seemed to remember something and asked, "Even if you complete the infrastructure construction in the Land of Waves, what benefit will it bring to the ninja village?"

Naruto said in a matter-of-fact tone, "It's easier to plunder people when they have money. They were so poor before that there was no profit to be made. The ninja village can't always let the people rest and let them work. They have to be fed before they can work."

Nagato asked anxiously, "What are the specific methods? How exactly do we do it?"

Naruto glanced at Nagato, his eyes filled with suspicion: "Are you trying to trick me into revealing Uzushio Village's secrets? I'm just a lowly genin, and I don't even know the details. If you want to know, go ask the leader."

Nagato sighed softly, looking at Naruto with a complicated expression: "At this point, there's no need to continue pretending. You are Uzumaki Menma, the leader of Uzumaki Village. I can't think of anyone else."

After Nagato revealed his true identity, Naruto stopped pretending and said coldly, "I am indeed the leader of Uzushio Village, but shouldn't you explain why you appeared in the Land of Waves, Pain, the leader of Akatsuki?"

Chapter 148 Two Whirlpools

After her identity was exposed, Nagato remained calm and said:

"This is not Uzushio Village, but the land of the Land of Waves. You and I are both outsiders."

"Is that so?" Naruto narrowed his eyes and chuckled, "Go ask the residents of the Land of Waves on the street whether they support Uzushio Village or that man-eating Gato."

"However, I must thank your Akatsuki organization. If it weren't for the masked man from your organization controlling Gato to attack Uzushio Village, I really wouldn't have had a reason to take action against the Land of Waves. Speaking of which, the Akatsuki organization's actions are truly unclean."

"They attacked Konoha, released the Nine-Tails, and secretly manipulated the Fourth Mizukage to instigate war for Iwagakure..."

"Given all that has already happened, my vigilance towards Akatsuki is justified, especially since you recently attacked Uzushio Village."