Chapter 112 - 112. Peace Through Fear

Shiroken knew he had Pain interested now, so he elaborated, "For decades, I thought about how can I make the world peaceful, so that everyone in the world can live with no fear of getting killed by some bandits or enemy village. A method that can make the various Shinobi villages stop their hatred.

"Initially, I was an idealist, wanting to bring people together with the power of love and friendship. Yet, I was proven wrong. Hence, I soon realised, that this world we live in... it's barbaric, and the only law that people understand is the law of the jungles, which is "the strongest one rules".

"Do you know the reason why in a village, a poor man does not steal? Because he fears... he fears he will be caught and punished. These big villages and their heads are the 'poor' men who steal, but they never got caught or punished. Something that I shall do. To keep the world in peace, some level of fear is needed.

"Good people can live happily, the bad ones will be punished like never before. Be it a Kage or a Daimyo. They will always know that there is someone out there who outranks them and has his eyes everywhere."

"What about you? Who will punish you?" Pain asked.

Shiroken shrugged, "Me, well I'm the necessary evil. Besides, I have much to gain from peace too. As then my family can live in peace."

"What family?" Pain asked.

"The beasts you want to catch to use, they are my family. So, a peaceful world is in my best interest. I'm the best bet this world has at uniting and peace. What about you? What are you going to do?" Shiroken asked him.

Pain thought about it. Being the head of Akatsuki, he was influential enough to have all kinds of information at his disposal, and ever since he fought Shiroken in the Wave Country the last time, he had been keeping an eye.

It was no longer a secret to anyone that due to Shiroken, now the Water Country was a stable country with no infighting in its Shinobi village and the normal people under the Daimyo were enjoying the economic development. The same was the case with the Wave Country, which was haunted by criminals not too long ago, it now enjoyed vast trade through their newly developed bridge to the Fire Country and the seaport.

It was clear that whatever Shiroken was doing was really working for good.

"You are so strong, then why haven't you directly taken over the world and ruled it?" Pain questioned.

"Because it is human nature to resist control over their lives. Why do you think there are no kings and queens like in the past anymore?" Shiroken countered him with a question.

"Because they killed each other in pointless wars?" Pain answered.

"Right and wrong. In the past, the human population was low. These Kings and queens ruled their kingdoms for generations by the power of arms, by keeping large military forces with them. But as the population increased and it became hard to manage, the people started resisting. The world changed when a catastrophic event took place, it changed everything. That catastrophe killed a large chunk of the human population allowing the birth of a new community, called Shinobi. Yes, people in old times, I'm talking more than a thousand years ago, didn't know how to use Chakra.

"Later a wise sage taught them Ninshu, and Shinobi came into existence. From there, the world changed, constant wars erupted, eventually forming countries and finally the hidden villages." Shiroken explained, at this point Pain interrupted him.

"Are you talking about the legend of Sage of the Six Paths?" Pain asked. He was somewhat a believer in this legend due to his own eye powers.

"Yes, that's right. He was the father of all tailed beasts, their creator. Anyway, the reason why the Hidden Villages are usually more prosperous than the rest of the country is due to their policy of ever-changing Kage, which brings uniqueness to the ruling of the village, it can be bad or good. While in the rest of the countries, the leader is the Daimyo and his family line. People hate their Daimyo because they are so incompetent and there is no hope of changing the Daimyo.

"This is why, if one must control the world and make it peaceful, it can only be from the shadows. Sure, you can appear like a hero to the world, but people can never know that you are the puppet master. Sure, I can take over the world in a day, but what about all the small rebellions and revolutions after that?"

Pain looked down at the village. The various explosions had stopped already and it was now all calm. His mind however was stuck on a few things Shiroken said, about the past of humanity, the catastrophe, the Sage of Six Paths and the tailed beasts. He had no idea where he got his eyes from. But they were related to this legend, this was his doubt for a long time.

"Did...the Sage of Six Paths also have these eyes?" Pain asked.

"Yes, he did," Shiroken answered since Isobu had recognised them the last time.

Pain fell into great contemplating and didn't move for 10 minutes. Shiroken gave him enough time, already knowing nothing was happening in the village.

When Pain finally moved, he suddenly pulled out a black rod from his body and threw it towards Shiroken. "You should know how to find me."

With that, Pain's body turned to ashes as if it was never there. Not just his, but other bodies that Jiraiya fought also turned into ashes.

Shiroken was left hovering there alone, he sensed a connection between the rod and something else. "So they were all puppets. I must say, they were very strong by human standards."

He immediately dissipated his clones and went back to the ground. But, before that, he made a loud proclamation, "PEOPLE OF KONOHA! YOU CAN RETURN TO YOUR HOME! I HAVE TAKEN CARE OF THE ENEMIES!"

People cheered as soon as they heard Shiroken's voice. It was already very recognisable to them from the last time. With this, the people now truly saw Shiroken as their benefactor. He had helped them with food, housing and now this. Though nothing was free, just cheap.

"SHIRO... I found this shark boy roaming around the streets." Monari soon found him. She dragged a beaten body with her. Behind her were Naruto, the disguised Minato, Shisui and a boy he presumed to be Itachi.

"Yes, keep them tied up in the special prison I made under the Uchiha Compound. I will deal with the ones behind all this first." Shiroken told her.

"TAKE ME ALONG..." Tsunade arrived soon.

"No, I can't. From what I have felt, the one behind this assault is someone deeply hurt and mentally damaged. He will not trust you." Shiroken denied her.

"And why would he trust you?" Jiraiya blurted as he reached them.

"Perhaps... because I'm slightly different from you all. My long life has granted me the opportunity of seeing multiple faces of humanity. Monari, take care of the prisoners. And you... boy... Shisui, keep an eye on your friend here." He ordered as he stared daggers at Itachi.

But before leaving, he turned to Naruto, "Naruto, you come with me. I will need to talk with Kurama about something."

"YES... FINALLY SOME ACTION!" Naruto jumped in excitement.

*BAM*

He received a knock on the head from Shiroken, "We're not going to fight, and even if a fight breaks out, you will stay behind me." He faced everyone else, "Tsunade, and everyone else, you should all work to bring back order to the village. Assure people that everything's fine. Oh... and Jiraiya, keep an eye on Danzo, take Otanim(Minato) with you."

"TAKE ME WITH YOU..." Jiraiya stopped him by holding his arm.

Shiroken waited for him to elaborate on why. Jiraiya continued, "I... I know the two. Back after the Second Shinobi war, I found them as wandering orphans in Ame. I took them in and taught them how to survive. They were very good kids, who wanted nothing but peace... I want to talk to them, to understand what changed them."

*Sigh* Shiroken nodded, "Then come along. Shisui, it's your job to watch over Danzo with Otanim, Monari, you keep an eye on this Uchiha boy."

He quickly held Naruto and Jiraiya's collar and flew in the air, headed outside the village.

...

Inside a large hollowed tree, a man, who looked so skinny his bones were visible, was held tight by a semi-mechanical and wood contraption.

"So you met him too, Konan?" The red-haired boy asked.

Konan stood by him with a face full of worry, "Why did you call him here? We could just leave this place and silently see the world change."

"No... if I must put my trust in him, I need to be completely assured of it. Assured that what he said was the truth. He's a very old man, Konan. I also wish to learn about the past from him, and where he was when we were Orphans." He said.

"But... What if he decides to kill you?" She asked him.

He replied in a resolute voice, "Then I will die. I tried to fight him before, but the powers of my eye don't work on him. He's too strong... truly, only a child raised by the tailed beas... beings could be this strong. If he truly is what he says... then I can rest in peace, that way Yahiko's dream will be achieved, even if it isn't by our own hands."

Konan silently looked at his skull-like face, "We... have come so far already... I don't think we can walk out of this alive today. Our hands are soaked in blood."

"And that turned you into the very thing you swore to destroy." Shiroken entered the tree all of a sudden with a blonde boy behind him. However, Konan and the man were not ready for who was to come in next.

Konan quickly jumped in front of her friend and guarded him, "STAY THERE... DON'T COME CLOSE."

Shiroken raised his hands, "Child, if I wanted to harm you... I wouldn't need to come closer to you."

"And I can vouch for that." Jiraiya entered, with a sullen look pasted on the face.

_________________

[You can see Nagato on my Discord - https://discord.gg/DgHkrAn OR see them on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mister_immortal_novel]

NEW WEEK! NEW STONES PLES!

__________________

(Advised you don't join right now as there are only 25 chapters. I Will be uploading more soon.) You can read 30 Advanced chapters at -patreon.com/misterimmortal.

Special thanks to *Douglas Flower* *Umar Latif* *Julian Rocamora* *Darrien Steely* *Franklin Walley*

Thank you for your support!