Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe

"Nagato is still a bit too hasty," Daniel muttered to himself after the Akatsuki members had left. His original plan was for Amegakure to develop in secret for a few years, waiting for the Fourth Great Ninja War to erupt. Then, when the Five Great Shinobi Villages were weakened by the war, Akatsuki could step in and harvest the fruits of victory.

Daniel had always believed in the strategy of "growing strong quietly," a principle he held dear. Even without Black Zetsu's manipulation from behind the scenes, the Fourth Great Ninja War would inevitably happen, just like how the Third Ninja War was bound to occur, regardless of whether Sasori assassinated the Third Kazekage. The only difference was a matter of timing.

When the Fourth Ninja War did break out, the Five Great Shinobi Villages would lose a significant portion of their strength. At that point, Akatsuki's emergence would make things much easier. After the devastation of war, both in terms of military power and morale, Akatsuki would have the upper hand.

Unfortunately, after hearing Daniel's analysis, Nagato and Konan became fixated on stopping the Fourth Ninja War from happening. This led to the Akatsuki gathering and the creation of the Nation of Akatsuki.

The Nation of Akatsuki was Daniel's suggestion after realizing Nagato and Konan's determination, and after some consideration, they agreed to it.

"Though it's a bit rushed, it's not impossible to pull off. After all, we have overwhelming strength on our side," Daniel reasoned. He felt confident enough to propose such a bold plan because of the strength of Akatsuki. Without that strength, no matter how much Nagato and Konan wanted to change things, Daniel would have advised them to bide their time and grow stronger first.

"The first step is to establish a legal system for the ninja world," Daniel mused. Law was incredibly important. The chaos in the ninja world was due in large part to the lack of consistent laws. The Uchiha clan, for example, had been resented as the police force in Konoha, showing just how dysfunctional the legal system was.

Although the idea that "even the prince must be punished for breaking the law" is often a joke, it's crucial that such matters, even if handled secretly, don't come to light.

"I'll have to put out a reward for this. How much should I offer? A million should be enough," Daniel thought. Drafting an entire legal system for the ninja world himself was out of the question, but he could provide some basic guidelines. The more specific details would need to come from collective intelligence.

Luckily, he had the funds. He planned to post a bounty under the guise of designing a game setting on the internet, which would undoubtedly attract a lot of participants.

"The envoys have already been dispatched," Nagato and Konan said as they walked in. Nagato's body had recovered, so there was no need for the Six Paths of Pain unless absolutely necessary.

"Our enemies now are essentially the entire ninja world. You may have to fight your former teacher, Jiraiya," Daniel remarked. The system and philosophy of the Nation of Akatsuki were a direct challenge to the old order of the ninja world. Although some might support them, they would be far outnumbered by the opposition.

"My teacher has always sought a way to bring peace to the world. Now that we've found it, if he stands in our way, then I will have no choice but to oppose him," Nagato replied calmly.

"Taking all the hatred onto yourself, huh? That's similar to what Uchiha Sasuke would later try."

"I don't necessarily have to kill him. I could just capture him," Daniel suggested.

"That won't be necessary. If my teacher truly opposes me, it will mean he no longer believes in his own ideals of peace," Nagato responded, his tone unwavering.

Back when Nagato had been swayed by Naruto, it was partly due to Naruto's skill with words, but also because Nagato had been lost and unsure of how to achieve peace. At that time, his solution was to instill fear and pain in others to create a fragile peace. That's why, after Naruto defeated him and gave his speech, Nagato was shaken.

But things were different now. Nagato had found a clear path forward, and if Jiraiya tried to stop him, there was no question that Nagato wouldn't hold back.

There was no way Naruto could talk him down this time.

Nagato's plan was to resurrect Yahiko after unifying the ninja world. He wanted Yahiko to take center stage while he, who had absorbed most of the world's hatred, would quietly step down—a plan eerily reminiscent of another certain figure's.

"This is between you and your teacher, so I'll stay out of it," Daniel said. Whether Jiraiya lived or died would depend on his fate. Now that Daniel was aligned with Akatsuki, he couldn't afford to let personal feelings interfere.

"Undoubtedly, the Five Great Shinobi Villages and the Five Great Nations will react. When the time comes, we may need you to step in and intimidate them. As for our first target, it will be him," Daniel said, activating the holographic projection system, which displayed the image of the Fire Daimyo.

Nagato nodded slightly. While the daimyo had powerful bodyguards—like the Twelve Guardian Ninja in the case of the Fire Daimyo—none of them would stand a chance against someone of Nagato's caliber, no matter how many there were.

"This isn't urgent. Right now, our priority is the development of the Nation of Akatsuki," Daniel said. Since they had decided to rename Amegakure, the village of the rain would soon be a thing of the past.

"Konan, I'll need you to organize the chunin and genin, getting them to work together. I'll also provide them with some new weapons. Oh, and by the way, while your chakra reserves are decent, they're still not as high as others'. After this, I'll help you fuse with Hashirama's cells, so you can handle more shadow clones for administrative tasks."

The ninjas of Amegakure were known for their proficiency with a technique involving umbrellas that launched a barrage of senbon needles. These mechanical umbrellas could be pre-loaded with senbon, allowing even low-ranking ninjas to carry multiple umbrellas during missions, significantly enhancing their effectiveness.

Equipping them with more advanced weapons would only make them more formidable.

While Daniel wasn't going to provide firearms just yet, crossbows were an option. Even in Konoha, there was a jonin who used a crossbow. The limited number of ninjas meant large-scale formations weren't common, but Daniel envisioned a future where, like in Qin's Moon, tens of thousands of soldiers could fire a volley of arrows or bolts simultaneously.

However, the weapons Daniel had in mind weren't guns but chakra-based weapons, similar to the scientific ninja tools introduced in Boruto.

Daniel had long considered developing such tools, and after mastering sealing techniques, he could finally begin creating them. The first he produced was the chakra bullet.

Sealing techniques allowed for the miniaturization of scrolls, so Daniel created bullets that could hold various jutsu inside them. These "chakra bullets" could contain simple techniques or even powerful jutsu.

Thanks to the abilities granted by his Ope Ope no Mi, Daniel could slice the bullets and seals apart to inscribe the necessary patterns before flawlessly reassembling them—a feat that would be impossible without the Ope Ope no Mi.

Imagine firing a jutsu like Great Fire Annihilation from a gun—that's something no enemy would expect. The chakra bullet system solved the problem of the scientific ninja tools' lack of accuracy when launching individual jutsu.

While using these tools in exams might be considered cheating, in battle, they were perfectly legitimate. Ninjas were, after all, masters of dirty tactics.

"The training is already underway," Konan confirmed. With her unique Paper Clone technique, Konan could handle multiple tasks at once. What would be difficult elsewhere was no problem in the ninja world.

"Using ninjas for mission work is actually the greatest waste of their potential. I don't understand why no one ever thought of forming a ninja army," Daniel mused aloud. In other worlds, even characters like the Blood-Robed Marquis had squads of hundreds of elite soldiers, yet ninjas only ever seemed to team up for large battles.

Of course, this was just a gripe. The ninja system of four-man teams was a result of practical necessity for missions, but the Nation of Akatsuki was going to change that.

The state would fund the ninja army, allowing for concentrated training, meals, and combat drills. Fortunately, Akatsuki had accumulated considerable wealth over the years, largely thanks to Kakuzu. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to afford this new system. The reason the Five Great Shinobi Villages never adopted such a model was likely because they simply couldn't afford it.

However, the Nation of Akatsuki wouldn't entirely eliminate the mission system. Independent ninjas who weren't part of the state's forces would still take on missions, similar to how mercenary companies or security firms operated in the real world. Of course, they would need to be certified by the government.

Amegakure, being a small village constantly ravaged by war, was highly receptive to reform. Its people worshiped Nagato and Konan as gods and angels, so these changes went smoothly. Trying to reform one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, however, would have been a different story altogether.

It was reminiscent of the Warring States period in Qin's Moon, where only the most desperate nation

, Qin, successfully reformed, while the other six failed.

The Nation of Akatsuki was fortunate to have vast reserves of iron, which greatly reduced the cost of manufacturing weapons. Using alchemy, Daniel had produced numerous giant crossbows to guard the nation's borders and protect against infiltrators.

Given the sweeping reforms in the Nation of Akatsuki, it was inevitable that spies from other nations would start pouring in.

While Daniel, Nagato, and Konan were busy with internal reforms, the Five Great Shinobi Villages and the Five Great Nations were in turmoil due to the arrival of envoys from the newly established Nation of Akatsuki.

Since they had decided to openly challenge the ninja world, Daniel didn't hold back. He dusted off the leaflet tactic he'd used in the One Piece world, distributing them everywhere through hired hands or dropping them from flying summoning beasts. However, they avoided dropping them directly into the villages of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, targeting the cities of the Five Great Nations instead.

Sending the leaflets directly into the villages would have been suicide, even for the flying beasts.

The leaflets were simple and consisted of two parts. The first exposed the daimyo's conspiracies, accusing the Five Great Shinobi Villages of starting the Great Ninja Wars every few decades to cull the lower-ranked ninjas. In every world, the lower classes made up the majority. Normally, they had little power, but when stirred to action, they could overturn entire systems.

The second part presented Nagato as the leader of the Nation of Akatsuki and the prophesied "Child of Prophecy" who had inherited the Sage of Six Paths' Rinnegan. He was portrayed as the savior of the ninja world. No matter the era, righteousness was always a powerful tool.

Boom!

In the Hokage's office, Tsunade nearly slammed her fist through her desk as she glared at the envoy standing before her, representing the former Amegakure, now the Nation of Akatsuki.

With Amegakure renamed, their forehead protectors had also changed.

"What exactly is Amegakure trying to do?" With Konoha's intelligence network, they were well aware of the changes happening in the village, as the information had not been concealed.

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, it's now the Nation of Akatsuki. Please don't make that mistake," the envoy corrected.

"And what about Hanzō? Is he just letting you run wild like this?" Tsunade was exasperated by the situation, especially the rumors about the Great Ninja Wars being a conspiracy to eliminate lower-ranked ninjas. Those rumors had already begun to shake the resolve of Konoha's lower-ranked shinobi.

For most lower-ranked ninjas, the dream of becoming Hokage like Naruto wasn't their main concern. For them, survival was what mattered most.

"The traitor Hanzō was personally executed by Lord Nagato years ago," the envoy replied. Since Nagato was the legitimate leader, Hanzō was naturally labeled a traitor.

"What?" The revelation that Hanzō had been dead for years stunned everyone in the room. Present in the office were Konoha's advisors Shikaku Nara, Kakashi Hatake, Jiraiya, Shizune, Shikamaru Nara, and Tsunade herself.

Tsunade and Jiraiya were the most shocked, having fought Hanzō in the past. They knew firsthand how powerful he was. To think such a formidable figure had been killed in silence years ago was hard to believe.

"You've delivered your invitation. If you don't want me to kill you, you'd better leave," Tsunade said.

"Nation of Akatsuki does not seek war, Hokage-sama. We wish to invite you to our inaugural celebration and discuss how to prevent the Fourth Great Ninja War."

The envoy's words were meant for all the Five Great Shinobi Villages. Their mission was to test the waters by delivering invitations to the leaders of each village, ostensibly to invite them to the Nation of Akatsuki's founding ceremony and discuss how to avoid the Fourth Great Ninja War.

"The god you mentioned, is that Nagato?" Jiraiya asked suddenly.

"I assume you're Lord Jiraiya. Lord Nagato asked me to pass on a message: 'Teacher, I've found the way to bring peace to the ninja world that you sought so long ago. As the Child of Prophecy, I have not disappointed you. I hope you will join me in achieving peace for the ninja world.'"

"Nagato... What about Yahiko and Konan?" Jiraiya asked after a long silence.

"Apologies, but I've only been instructed to deliver this message. Farewell." With that, the envoy left the Hokage's office.

"Tsunade, let me go. I need to see what's become of them," Jiraiya said after a long pause. He had remained in Konoha instead of taking Naruto away for training, all due to the butterfly effect caused by Daniel.

Tsunade had kept Jiraiya in the village to stabilize morale and to put pressure on Danzo.

Despite remaining in Konoha, Jiraiya had still been training Naruto. Meanwhile, Sakura had become Tsunade's apprentice, and Team 7 had temporarily disbanded. The only bright side was that Sai didn't have to return to Root.

"Jiraiya, calm down. They aren't the same as they were back then," Tsunade warned. Although she wasn't very familiar with Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan, she knew enough.

"Tsunade," Jiraiya insisted, his normally jovial expression replaced with one of grave seriousness.

"The Nation of Akatsuki has invited the Hokage, not you."

"Of course, the Hokage won't be going personally. But since Jiraiya has ties to this Rinnegan user, it might be worth sending him. Shikamaru, you'll go with him."

Shikamaru, who usually preferred to avoid responsibility, had been roped into more duties by his father following the events of the Konoha Crush.

"And for the third person..."

"I'll go," Kakashi volunteered before Shikaku could decide.

"Kakashi? Alright. Your safety is the priority. If things go wrong, retreat immediately."

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