Grand resurgence

"Sometimes You Must Hurt In Order To Know, Fall In Order To Grow, Lose In Order To Gain Because Life's Greatest Lessons Are Learned Through Pain."

_Pain_

"Akatsuki initiation...?" Asked Ieyasu, tilting his head in confusion. The others also held a confused expression. Upon seeing this reaction Pain closed his eyes and started his speech.

"You three must've already seen that this world is covered of wars and suffering. The reason can be seen later, conflict is part of human nature. I called you here today is to be part of the organization that will change this insane world"

"This is nice and all but, Pain sama we have our own objective, we want to gather money for our village. If you want help with anything, we will be glad to help since you're the one who saved our lives" Sayo spoke.

"As long as you're affiliated with Akatsuki you'll contribute to its goals. Once they are achieved, yours shall also be quickly fulfilled since our immediate mission will be merely financial anyway. However, Akatsuki's true goal is another which requires a large amount of money to be achieved"

"You make it sound like we'll be simple mercenaries". Tatsumi spoke a little annoyed.

"You still sound really confused then I'll explain everything to you. Akatsuki's final goal will be achieved in three stages. The first one is to make money whether by doing missions or by receiving the patronage of protecting a country under our flag the second one is to use that money to create the first true and strongest mercenary organization this world has ever seen"

"But how is that any different from what any country does? recruit soldiers, to go to other countries, do their job, and get paid? not forgetting to mention the taxes" Sayo asked remaining skeptical about the matter.

"You couldn't be more wrong. Let me explain to you what really means to be a soldier within a country. In these, large, powerful countries such as the Imperial Capital, you could say that they are in constant "business" because a lot of their income comes directly from the people of the capital and smaller countries and villages around it by taking various protection services and taxes they charge from the people beyond their borders enough to merit saying that they're the lifeblood of the country's economy. So for these countries to remain financially stable, they need war. But nowadays most of the tasks they take result only yo small skirmishes by sending some of their troops to another country to take control over it. Large destructive wars have all but disappeared. Bigger countries are in no real danger. They usually have noble rich families both in and outside the country such as the one you've assassinated the other day to help them keep a large portion of that country's military power. However, that's not how it works for smaller countries and villages. They pay taxes that are given to their king or the Emperor in exchange for their protection. Heh... it's ironic because not even that they're doing properly these past years from what I've seen so far. What I've seen is, abusive taxes that continue to expand and soldiers that are letting down the defense of the villages leaving them open to external attacks from thieves even the soldiers raid the villages and take everything from them. Some of these bandits are even contracted by the Capital itself as a cheap workforce. They're all nothing but corrupt scum". Pain said while opening his eyes giving a look of disgust. Tatsumi and the other two seemed to have felt a shiver from his intense gaze but then, Tatsumi remembered something.

"Wait! Our village taxes continue to rise for no reason given! if it wasn't for our efforts, we could have starved! so that's why! the Imperial Capital is part of the reason why we've been passing through such difficulties! we wanted to find work in the army to help save our poor hometown who is living in poverty but now that I know this...". Tatsumi clenched his fist with rage. His friends also felt the same resentment Tatsumi was feeling towards the Capital.

"Right now the Imperial Capital counts with a major force both in and outside their borders. If their forces are reduced too drastically, they won't be able to survive if a bigger conflict breaks out. Groups such as the Revolutionary army are trying to do just that they trying to get rid of the core of this corruption by sending their troops to different regions to works in small jobs to gather resources for their most capable assassins who's been acting constantly against the Imperial Capital by assassinating nobles, high-rank soldiers and nobles the name of this group is Night Raid. And why I say to you to join Akatsuki instead of joining people like them? because by working with me you'll be trained to become capable shinobi. You'll have access to powers that surpass even their most powerful weapons, the Teigus. You witnessed my fight with Night Raid that day and I also faced another one of these Teigu users yey again after that and I can say that with the training you'll receive you'll be more than capable to take down even the most capable users of Teigu who they rely so much on with ease. With that and my help, the Akatsuki will soon be on top of everything, which leads us to the next step..." Pain spoke as he did a few hand seals and putting his hand on the ground, performing a summoning jutsu.

Tatsumi, Sayo, and Ieyasu could only stare in shock as a massive eerie-looking statue emerged from the big poof of smoke.

"What the hell is that!?" Ieyasu screamed in panic. Tatsumi and Sayo were also dumbfounded by the now colossal figure that stood before them.

"This is the statue of the outer path, Gedo Mazo. It will help us get closer to our main goal"

"How so?" Ieyasu asked not understanding how such a strange statue could be of any help.

"Inside the statue, there are seven powerful tailed beasts sealed. With their power, we will create a powerful forbidden technique that will eradicate an entire country in less than a second. It will be the ultimate technique a weapon of unprecedented power and scale" Pain spoke in a tetrical voice which made the trio gasp in astonishment.

"Currently, the power inside the statue is still not enough to complete the technique. Once your training is finished, I want you to bring me any Teigus you may find in your way we will use their power instead to complete the ritual. According to the information, I've been gathering, Teigus are weapons forged by merging the power of Danger beasts into weapons or armors. We'll be sealing away the spirit and the powers of those beasts into the statue even if its added power is inferior to the tailed beasts"

"If they are weaker why don't you simply capture more of those... tailed beasts was that what it was called...?" Tatsumi suggested.

"Unfortunately, there any no more tailed beasts available to capture that's why I had to make a change of plans. I also would like to mention that there is also the possibility that the Teigu is a biological/humanoid one or connected to the user some other way. If that happens, bring me their corpse. It is said that there were 48 in total but some of them got lost or destroyed but that doesn't matter we'll stay with what we can get"

"Pain sama before you continue could you tell us more about you? I don't know about you two, but I would like to know more about who we would be serving if I was to accept your offer" Sayo spoke in a courteous way. Upon the suggestion, Tatsumi and Ieyasu also showed curiosity seeing this Pain decided to speak.

"Me? I started living in the world as a simple war orphan" The trio was surprised to hear that God started from so low. They expect something like a God that came directly from heaven or something like that but they felt sympathy for him it makes them share a feeling of humility.

"As time passed I went through many hardships in my life and as a mere human, I lived many battles and lost many people. The pain that the people around me and I felt made me grow up. It as them that I've grown from a person into a God" the trio could relate they lost many people, including their family and the only familiar figure they had was the chief of their village. Knowing these details made them built more thrust on Pain.

"But still, for what purpose we would be doing all that? why gather so much power from such beasts?" Tatsumi asked.

To achieve the true goal of Akatsuki of course. That is to create a world of true peace among people in other words our main goal is... to rule the world!" Pain's statement managed to catch the young trio by surprise.

"Wait wait wait! this is just too much to absorb! rule the world? that's one big goal! I don't think we can make it" Ieyasu interjected.

"Is that so? do you have anything else to do? don't you want to participate in the crusade to rid the world of scum such as the one who tortured you and your friend? and what about those who demand abusive taxes in your hometown? Even the most ignorant child can learn something from pain. Think about it, what did you learn after your experience back in that mansion, what did pain taught you?" Pain asked staring directly at them which made each one become thoughtful. Tatsumi was thinking about everything that Pain said and thought back when he saw Sayo dead and Ieyasu in that deplorable situation. If it wasn't for Pain would they have any chance at surviving that? seeing his friends dead made a hidden strength rise within him. He thought that if he were going to join in a fight against the Imperial Capital it would be under God. Sayo followed the same line of thinking she was totally grateful for Pain saving her friends' lives and hers too. The mere thought of what she felt he she was being tortured by that girl brought her shivers. She didn't want that for any of her friends. Now she was stronger now more than ever she understood that the world wasn't a field of flowers and it was more like a bloody pathway she would have to cross if she wanted to save her village and the world, she wouldn't be fooled by a cute smile again. Seconds passed and Ieyasu started to sweat nervously not finding any other better options to counter Pain's offer. He was the one who saved them, they had a life debt with him, his experience back in the mansion made him understand how careless he was. And now that he took a moment to think about it if they were trained to be somewhat closer to Pain's power he was sure they could succeed. But still, one last doubt clouded the mind of the trio of teens.

"How do intend to use such a massive weapon of destruction?" Tatsumi asked.

"At first I intended to give it to the warring countries to use them to create panic so it could act as a deterrent to stop the conflicts but seeing how things are handled in this world and the nature of those who control it, I decided to keep it for our personal use. I will use it against any country who opposes the hand of God and Amegakure, the village that I now command".

They were relieved to hear the answer they didn't enjoy the prior idea too much. Ieyasu, Tatsumi, and Sayo then finally took a step forward, making their decision.

"We'll be joining!" The trio said at the same time with confidence in their voice.

Pain nodded, glad that they accepted his offer. "Very well. With this our first step towards our final goal is complete. And since you're now members of the Akatsuki I'll be giving you these" Pain said as he handed them their rings. To Ieyasu, he handed the teal-colored ring (青, ao, shō).

To Sayo, he gave the white-colored ring (白, byaku, haku).

And to Tatsumi, he gave the red ring (朱, shu).

Pain instructed them which finger each one of them should use. Ieyasu's right index finger. He put on the ring and started jumping around with a smile, like a child when receiving a gift. Sayo put on the ring in her right middle finger. She looked at it as if it was the prettiest thing she has ever seen. Deep inside she was calling it "My precious..." And with that, the ring brought to Sayo an unnatural long life. For 500 years it will poison her mind ( lord of the Rings reference... OK NO! :P ). Tatsumi put his ring on the right ring finger he looked at it with a proud smile.

"Don't ever lose these they are irreplaceable" Pain spoke with a stern expression making them understand the rings' importance.

Pain then glanced at the Gedo Statue and got lost in his thoughts 'I never thought I would be able to create new rings for the Akatsuki since they are all unique. If they are lost like the one Orochimaru had kept, I wouldn't be able to replace them. This was only possible because the Gedo Statue somehow suffered a "reset" and I had created a new link with it. Strangely enough, this time the statue didn't cripple me as it did with Nagato, was it somehow rigged before? I'm not so sure' This thought only raised the suspicions he already had but he had to get those thoughts out of his head he wasn't Nagato and he wasn't even in the elemental Nations anymore whatever truth he was being kept secret from, it wasn't his problem anymore it was Nagato's that is if he was still alive...'

"So... what now boss...?" Tatsumi asked averting the attention of Pain to him.

"Counting with my group and your friends we have a total of nine members so we still need to find one final member. We will be acting in groups of two but we can worry about that later. We have very little time to start acting and because of that, I will have to rush your training. Here are a few heirlooms left by previous members of Akatsuki these are my gifts to each of you they are precious secret techniques from my comrades" Pain stated as he handed one scroll to each of them. "Go ahead and read its contents" Pain ordered.

"Belongings of Itachi Uchiha... A summoning contract with crows?" Tatsumi said in a confused tone of voice.

"Belongings of Konan... Secret paper technique scroll?" Sayo said not very amazed with the name paper.

"Hmmm... Belongings of Deidara... clay secret techniques?" Ieyasu said in a very disappointed tone. The word clay seemed like he was going to play with clay like a child near a pond.

Pain gave out a chuckle he knew that since they knew nothing of shinobi, chakra or anything connected to the ninjas of his world they would be disappointed at first. " I guarantee to each one of you that the contents inside each scroll are for lethal shinobi arts all their owners were powerful shinobi of the highest grade and that's only the beginning of its contents there is more for you to see. Now come with me we have limited time we will start this immediately"

The trio followed Pain to a reserved place near his new Amegakure where they would take the training that would shape them into powerful ninjas.

Meanwhile Night Raid Hideout

Najenda was walking in the room from one side to another with impatience. She was waiting for something. A few more minutes passed and someone entered the hideout. She rushed to meet the person as if her life depended on it or more so as if Akame's...

"Finally you've come! What took you so long just to gather some intel!?" Najenda asked in an infuriated tone of voice.

"Forgive me, General. It was very difficult to obtain this information because it was nearly impossible to infiltrate the Kingdom of Dong Zhuo or at least the former Kingdom..." The Revolutionary Army scout said with his head lowered not only from shame but also from fear of looking at Nejenda's eyes.

"Whatever, give me that already!" Najenda took the intel from the scout's hands in a violent manner and immediately inspected its contents.

"This... is just what I needed... this information matches the descriptions Bulat gave me and a passage through pipelines under construction? this couldn't be more perfect..." Najenda spoke with a dangerous gleam in her eyes one that called for revenge.

"Do you... intend to go on your own General?" the scout asked sweating nervously. He didn't want to infuriate not even one bit more.

"Of course! the members are still recovering. I have to this alone as their leader!" Najenda was about to leave but was interrupted.

"General please... grab something to protect you from the rain before you go!" Najenda glared at the scout.

"Rain? Are you kidding me!? that region never rains! it's one of the hottest regions in the land! I don't have time for your jokes!" She slammed the door in front of the scout who could only look in concern as she left.

"She is not thinking straight, I pray for your safety, General"

Najenda left without thinking back but soon she would learn that any who obstructs Pain's rain will suffer the consequences...