The rain in the Land of Rain was endless. The humidity here was overwhelming, and Karin found it hard to get used to. Still, since Nanami had ordered her to infiltrate the Akatsuki, she had no choice but to endure it for now.
At this point, Karin had already successfully joined the Akatsuki. It hadn't been particularly difficult — following the intel Nanami had provided, she entered the Land of Rain under the pretense of searching for relatives. The relative she claimed to be looking for was named Fusō.
Fusō was Nagato's mother.
On the surface, Karin was just a lonely little girl seeking out her kin. In reality, though, she felt no particular attachment to the Uzumaki clan. After all, she was born and raised in Kusagakure, growing up under harsh treatment. How could she feel anything for a family she had never even met?
Still, Karin was curious. Kushina Uzumaki had been the princess of the Uzumaki clan and the wife of the Fourth Hokage. After settling down in Konoha, why hadn't she done anything to save her suffering clansmen?
—Maybe there had been circumstances beyond her control.
Karin wasn't sure if using her supposed bloodline to approach Nagato would actually work. But the Akatsuki was always on the lookout for powerful rogue shinobi. Despite her young age, Karin had the outstanding achievement of singlehandedly destroying a nation — something most couldn't even dream of. The last person to claim such a feat had been Sasori of the Red Sand.
(T/N: According to the anime, Land of This is the country that Sasori mentioned conquering using the Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets.)
Because Karin was both young and allegedly a relative of Nagato's, Konan took a bit of extra care with her. They intended to have her start out as an Akatsuki trainee, a member of their outer circle.
Konan was very interested in the "Box of Ultimate Bliss." The rest of the Akatsuki were, too. Following Nanami's orders, Karin spared no detail in sharing everything she knew about it — part of their strategy to spread information about the Box as widely as possible.
Karin carefully portrayed herself as a sweet, naive girl. She believed that maintaining such an innocent image would lower others' guard around her. Even though she had indirectly destroyed an entire country, she still viewed herself as pure and untainted. With her twisted sense of morality, she was like a clueless child — someone who, perhaps in a moment of anger, had casually wished for the destruction of the Land of Grass.
To her, it was no different from pouring boiling water onto an anthill just for fun. There was no guilt afterward, no burden of conscience — only a kind of pure-hearted, amoral innocence.
To open the Box of Ultimate Bliss required a great number of sacrifices. Karin explained that Kusagakure had secretly been offering sacrifices to the Box, aiming to conquer the shinobi world. However, just as they were nearing completion of the ritual, internal conflict broke out between two factions within Kusagakure. In the ensuing chaos, Karin had stumbled upon the Box, completed the final step of the ritual, and made her wish — a small act of revenge for her mother's death at the hands of Kusagakure.
The Box itself was far too large to carry away. When other shinobi factions came searching for it among the ruins, Karin simply abandoned the Box and ran off.
Truth be told, Karin's acting was terrible — her attempt to come off as a naïve little girl ended up feeling overly theatrical and greasy. But it didn't really matter. Even if her acting had been flawless, the Akatsuki was not a group built on trust or loyalty. They half-believed her story at best — as they did with everything.
After Karin finished spilling everything she knew about the Box of Ultimate Bliss, Kakuzu immediately proposed killing her and cashing in the bounty on her head.
"Prices have been skyrocketing lately, and the organization's funds are stretched thin. This little brat has a hefty bounty on her. She's outlived her usefulness, so we might as well recycle her."
No one objected. They simply stood there in silence, watching as Kakuzu moved to attack Karin. In that moment, Karin realized bitterly that no matter how carefully she'd crafted her identity and persona, none of it mattered — only strength could secure a place here. That weirdo trainee, Tobi, could act like a complete idiot, and yet no one actually treated him like one.
Pain and Konan silently allowed Kakuzu's move — a clear test for Karin. The Akatsuki had no room for dead weight.
Fortunately, Karin was not a truly helpless girl. She wore a dark brown robe, tinged with red, embroidered with strange and intricate patterns — a piece Nanami had personally stitched for her. Supposedly, when Nanami had once taken the title of "Master of the East," she had become an expert at embroidery. Karin didn't know who "Master of the East" was, but she cherished the robe deeply.
As Kakuzu's attack came at her, the patterns on the robe writhed and spread outward, as if alive. In moments, it formed a spiderweb of rust-red muscular tendrils. Barbs, tumors, suction cups, and rows of razor-sharp teeth danced wildly across the web, effortlessly blocking Kakuzu's assault.
After a few exchanges, Konan stepped in to stop them, casting a complicated look at Karin.
As expected of a witch — outwardly adorable, but her techniques were... unspeakably grotesque.
Karin officially became an Akatsuki trainee.
...
At the moment, the Akatsuki was facing a serious funding problem. Just as Kakuzu had mentioned, inflation had sent prices skyrocketing, and the organization's accumulated funds had depreciated considerably.
As shinobi, they didn't understand economics. Their only solution was to take on more missions to earn more money. Conveniently, the Akatsuki had just received a large job offer — but Konan and Nagato hesitated.
The mission was a step too far: human trafficking.
A group of Iwagakure shinobi had privately contacted the Akatsuki, asking them to deliver a large number of people — no particular requirements, even the sick or elderly would do, as long as the numbers were high enough.
"I heard that the Tsuchikage has obtained the Box of Ultimate Bliss," Konan said coldly. "He's probably gathering sacrifices — but he doesn't want to get his own hands dirty. Pain, we really shouldn't get involved in this."
The Akatsuki was still operating in the shadows. It wasn't the right time for them to step into the public eye. If they started targeting civilians — especially on a massive scale — they'd immediately become the enemy of the entire shinobi world.
Pain agreed with Konan's assessment.
"In that case, refuse Iwagakure's offer. We'll just have to work Kakuzu a little harder in the meantime."
"By the way, has Zetsu found out why prices are suddenly spiking?"
With inflation rising so sharply, smaller nations were feeling the squeeze. As the de facto ruler of the Land of Rain, Pain naturally had to pay attention.
Konan shook her head.
"Zetsu hasn't found anything — honestly, he doesn't even care. Financial crises are for ordinary people to worry about. What do they have to do with shinobi?"
Even after a thousand years of existence, Black Zetsu still hadn't fully grasped the mechanics of human society. He could easily deceive pure-hearted shinobi, but he remained clueless about the deeper consequences. At this point, he had no idea what kind of chaos the financial crisis would unleash across the world.
...
The Land of Rain was already feeling the effects — most notably in its food supply.
A month after joining the Akatsuki, Karin couldn't help but grumble.
"Why is it dried fish for every single meal? Isn't there anything else to eat around here?"
Passing by, Hoshigaki Kisame kindly explained,
"All the restaurants nearby have gone out of business. The Land of Rain borders the Land of Rivers, and their coastal areas had a bumper harvest of fish this year. Fish products are dirt cheap."
Karin tilted her head, sensing something off in Kisame's tone.
"Gisame-san, what's wrong?"
Kisame smiled faintly.
"I just suddenly remembered... This year, for some reason, all the fish from the deep seas have flooded into the coastal waters. Every fisherman is going to have a bumper harvest."
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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