The doubt vanished in a flash.
Sasori composed himself, dedicating some of his attention to his surroundings as he continued forward.
Not long ago, Pain had contacted him, requesting that he go alone to a certain place. Sasori didn't object; his partner was getting on his nerves, so he agreed without hesitation. He abandoned his noisy companion and set off alone.
On the way, Sasori considered Pain's purpose in contacting him.
Truthfully, there wasn't much to guess. Since joining the Akatsuki, he'd spent his time either freely, or carrying out the organization's missions. Some were simple, like eliminating a ninja squad, while others were as difficult as conquering a small country.
In short, the missions always involved fighting and killing.
Moreover, Pain had instructed him to bring more puppets in their previous communication. It wasn't hard to deduce that a tough battle was coming.
Since it was going to be a tough fight, there would be strong opponents among the enemy.
"Heh heh, I hope I can find some suitable ones to make into Puppets this time..." A hoarse voice sounded from within the short Puppet.
With a hint of anticipation in his heart, Sasori quickened his pace.
At the same time, a few hundred miles away, in front of a bounty exchange.
Kakuzu, who had just finished exchanging a bounty, received a communication from Konan. Kakuzu was the member of the Akatsuki responsible for raising and managing funds; naturally, one had to go to him to get money.
Initially, Konan had wanted to directly instruct Kakuzu to purchase Puppet materials, but on second thought, only Sasori in the Akatsuki knew what materials were needed to make Puppets.
There was no way to send the materials, so she had to resort to a vulgar method: sending money directly.
Thus, Kakuzu received the communication.
After a brief conversation, Kakuzu ended the call and beckoned to his idle partner, who was kicking at a tree trunk. "Let's go."
Hearing this, Kakuzu's partner, carrying a strangely shaped weapon, skipped after him, asking, "Where are we going?"
"To see Pain," Kakuzu's deep voice rumbled from behind his mask, sounding displeased.
"Oh~~" the rogue ninja responded with interest. "Going to see the mysterious leader! Heh heh~"
Amidst their chatter, the two gradually disappeared at the end of the road.
On a tree beside the road, a crude human face emerged on the surface, watching their backs for a few seconds before re-integrating into the trunk, as if it had never appeared at all.
When the Akatsuki began to move, the others weren't idle either.
Konoha, Tobirama's residence.
Tobirama placed the brush on the brush rest, stretching his wrists that ached from writing for so long. His eyes remained fixed on the scroll filled with writing, checking for any errors or things that needed changing.
The scroll recorded some of Tobirama's thoughts.
Currently, the ninja world was at peace, and with four Hokage in Konoha, the other four ninja villages would be crying for their mothers, even if they tried to take on Konoha one-on-four. With no need to worry about safety, Konoha's focus should be on all-around development.
Due to the Dimensional Merchant, the future of the ninja world would undoubtedly change rapidly. Before those drastic changes arrived, Konoha needed to build a strong foundation to ensure its safety.
How to build this foundation? Naturally, through innovation and development, and by exchanging items in the shop to improve strength.
To constantly innovate and move forward, it was essential to establish a solid foundation, meaning the basics of food, clothing, housing, transportation, and economic stability.
"After I see the thoughts of the monkey and the others in three days, I'll decide who to assign the basic construction to... Hmm, I can first rule out my brother." Tobirama said, activating his Optical Brain to enter the group chat interface.
His gaze locked onto the group chat's new member notification: Nagato has joined the chat.
"We also need to gather intel on the group members."
Tobirama's to-do list gained another entry.
Sunagakure delegation, Chiyo's room.
Chiyo of Sunagakure's thoughts were not much different from Tobirama's; both wanted to develop as quickly as possible. However, Sunagakure's situation was much worse than Konoha's. They had very few resources or research talent.
Therefore, Chiyo was also particularly anxious. After sending the letter out with a ninja hawk, she immediately went to Hiruzen Sarutobi to discuss technical exchanges, and their conversation went very smoothly.
After arranging the exchange, Chiyo informed the delegation and then took her son back to Sunagakure ahead of schedule, while the delegation stayed to exchange technology.
Every bit of knowledge counts; knowledge is valuable.
Leaving Konoha on the same day as Chiyo was another person.
It's not quite accurate to call it a person; it was, more precisely, Black Zetsu.
Black Zetsu's ability to conceal his presence was arguably the best in the ninja world. Without anyone noticing, he confirmed all the figures from the rumors, except for the Dimensional Merchant.
Black Zetsu, who had survived for a thousand years, had seen the top figures of each era and even observed some of them. After a moment of observation, he confirmed that those people were indeed resurrected and not impersonated.
This discovery made Black Zetsu believe in the rumors about the Dimensional Merchant. Just as he was about to search for more information about the Dimensional Merchant, a White Zetsu, stationed with the Akatsuki members, sent a message.
"Nagato has obtained the Dimensional Merchant's token..."
Black Zetsu didn't hesitate and immediately went to Nagato.
The world had been wound up, and the spring was slowly turning, accumulating power for the world bit by bit. When enough power had been accumulated, the world would begin to operate at high speed.
And the one who wound up the world, the instigator of everything, had already left without any regrets.
Back in the shop, Muyang received the memories of his clone. There hadn't been any customers in the shop these past few days. The Marvel world was also as calm as a windless lake, at least on the surface…
A few days ago, Steve had successfully taken down a Hydra hidden base, striking it rich. After deducting the money used to pay off the debt, there was still a large sum left.
Steve first spent money to buy a spot for Bucky, obtaining the token of a Dimensional Merchant's client – an Optical Brain bracelet. Then, he spent money to buy a Logia-type Devil Fruit for Bucky.
Mainly, Steve had tasted the sweetness of elementalization, and when discussing the enhancement plan with Bucky, he blurted out the idea of a Devil Fruit.
Bucky figured Steve wouldn't screw him over, so he agreed.
After selecting, they chose the Ice-Ice Fruit.
If you were to ask why they chose this fruit, it was probably because it suited them.
And after taking a bite of the Devil Fruit, a sentence flashed through Bucky's mind.
Friendship is a fickle thing!
After strengthening Bucky, Steve didn't continue attacking the Hydra base. Instead, he went to New York to pay off his debt.
As for Hydra's reaction to the two bases being attacked, Muyang didn't bother to find out, but he could guess a little.
They would probably go into a rage mode, increasing the boss's attack power.
In the future, when Steve attacked Hydra bases, the difficulty would increase slightly, but it wouldn't be a big problem.
It was like raiding a dungeon; Steve's level would definitely always be higher than the level required to clear a Hydra base.
"Speaking of Tony Stark..." Muyang narrowed his eyes, "I seem to have forgotten to give him the Optical Brain!"
------------------------
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(End of Chapter)