After Danzō announced their official departure, all the ninjas immediately moved quickly towards Rain Village.
Ninjas traveled very fast. After only half a day, the delegation to Rain Village had already covered dozens of kilometers.
"Danzō-sama, it's noon. Should we rest here?" One of Danzō's trusted subordinates asked.
This ninja was named Yamanaka Shika, a Yamanaka clan ninja who had joined Root since childhood. He was one of Danzō's most trusted subordinates.
"Hmm, let's rest here then." Danzō nodded. His voice was hoarse, making it uncomfortable to listen to.
Soon, the ninjas received the order to rest in place and stopped on a flat piece of land. Except for a few ninjas who were responsible for reconnaissance and setting up temporary traps, everyone else began to rest and recover their depleted stamina.
Yusuke also leaned against a tree to rest, adjusting his state while observing the surrounding situation.
At this time, Yusuke saw Danzō slowly walking towards his direction, followed by several Root ninjas.
"Uchiha Yusuke, do you know the true purpose of the Third Hokage sending you to supervise me?" Danzō said in a deep voice, standing in front of Yusuke.
"Ninjas don't need to ask for reasons when carrying out a mission." Yusuke gave a very official answer.
Although Yusuke had some understanding of the Third Hokage's intentions, he wouldn't actually discuss them with Danzō.
"Good. It seems you still have the awareness of a ninja." A cold glint flashed in Danzō's eyes. He was not satisfied with Yusuke's perfunctory answer.
However, Danzō didn't seem to mind. He continued, "Root is currently lacking ninjas like you. Compared to those weak ninja organizations in the village, only Root truly embodies the ninja way."
Although Danzō loathed the Uchiha clan, he was actually a very rational person.
Danzō knew that Yusuke had good potential. He wanted to see if he could recruit Yusuke into Root.
Once Yusuke agreed, whether he joined sincerely or not, Danzō was confident that he could firmly control Yusuke and turn him into a force under his command.
Yusuke was slightly taken aback by Danzō's veiled recruitment. He had expected Danzō to confront him, but he hadn't expected him to recruit him.
However, Yusuke was very clear that he and Danzō were not on the same side. Danzō thought that by hiding in the shadows, accumulating power, and playing dirty tricks, he could become Hokage.
But in Yusuke's eyes, Danzō was just a ghoul hiding in the darkness. He had adapted to the darkness and couldn't survive in the sunlight. Just like in the original story, when he became Hokage, it was destined that his demise was not far off.
"Sorry, I have no intention of joining Root." Yusuke shook his head.
"Is that so? What a pity." Danzō didn't say anything more after hearing Yusuke's refusal and turned to leave.
However, Yusuke couldn't see that Danzō, with his back to him, had a flash of murderous intent in his eyes. He gave his subordinates a signal.
Suddenly, two Root ninjas appeared beside Yusuke, one on each side, grabbing his shoulders, trying to subdue him.
Yamanaka Shika, who was facing Yusuke, began forming hand seals, preparing to use the Yamanaka clan's secret technique against Yusuke.
"Mind Body Switch Technique!" Shika completed his hand seals. Seeing that Yusuke had been grabbed by his two companions and couldn't move, he looked delighted.
However, Yusuke's body trembled. The two Root ninjas who had grabbed his shoulders felt a surge of immense force in their hands and lost control of Yusuke.
Yusuke kicked off with his left foot, sending the ninja on his left flying. At the same time, he pulled the ninja on his right in front of him, just in time to block Shika's Mind Body Switch Technique.
The smile on Shika's face hadn't faded when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his abdomen.
It turned out that after he entered the Mind Body Switch Technique state and possessed his companion who was blocking Yusuke, Yusuke punched his companion's stomach hard. Since he was in the Mind Body Switch Technique state, he also suffered the same damage.
Yusuke casually threw the Root ninja possessed by Shika sideways, smashing him into the other two ninjas who were attacking him.
The two ninjas on the other side couldn't dodge in time and had to step back, holding the ninja thrown by Yusuke.
At this moment, two hands suddenly reached out from the ground beneath Yusuke's feet, grabbing his ankles. It seemed like they were about to use the "Mind Body Extraction Technique" to control him on the ground.
"Fire Release: Square Inch Scorching Earth." Yusuke sneered, quickly forming hand seals.
After completing the hand seals, a jutsu seal appeared beneath Yusuke's feet, covering a small area. The area immediately became like soil that had been exposed to the sun for months. The soil was dry and cracked, and hot air emanated from the cracks in the soil, indicating that the temperature beneath the ground was not low.
"Ah!" A scream rang out. A ninja, completely charred and smelling of roasted meat, popped out of the ground beneath Yusuke's feet. Yusuke, without any sympathy, kicked him again, sending him flying.
Just as Yusuke finished dealing with a wave of attacking ninjas, another group of Root ninjas rushed towards him, and at the same time, dozens of kunai shot towards his location.
However, to the astonishment of the Root ninjas, the kunai didn't hit Yusuke. They all passed right through his body. Yusuke's body seemed to flicker like flames in the air. At the same time, crows wrapped in flames split from his body, flew around in the sky, and then reassembled into Yusuke on a tree branch not far behind Danzō and the Root ninjas.
"Danzō-sama, should we continue?" Yusuke crossed his arms, leaned against the tree trunk, and looked at Danzō calmly.
Danzō's plan to sneak attack and subdue Yusuke had failed. If he continued to attack, Yusuke wouldn't hold back.
Although he might not be able to defeat Danzō and all the Root ninjas present, he was confident that he could kill a few before leaving calmly.
Hearing Yusuke's voice behind him, Danzō turned around and looked at Yusuke coldly.
Although he had heard that Yusuke had performed exceptionally well in the Third Great Ninja War, no less than the genius ninja, Kakashi, and had the title of "Flame Sword,"
After this series of sneak attacks, Danzō's evaluation of Yusuke's strength had greatly increased, placing him above Kakashi.
Whether it was taijutsu, reaction speed, or hand seal speed, Yusuke had demonstrated an extremely high level of skill.
"As expected of the Uchiha clan's genius. Truly a remarkable skill." Danzō said coldly, waving his hand to stop the Root ninjas who were about to continue their attack.
The sneak attack had failed, and Danzō didn't say anything more. He led his subordinates away from Yusuke's area.
But in Danzō's heart, he had already added Yusuke to his kill list. He would absolutely not allow any Konoha ninja to defy him, especially not an Uchiha ninja!
Seeing Danzō retreat, Yusuke continued to lean against the tree and rest.
Although Yusuke seemed very relaxed and casual, his mental energy was actually highly concentrated, paying attention to Danzō and the Root ninjas' every move, preventing them from attacking again.
"This mission won't be easy. The Third Hokage really gave me a tough one." Looking at Danzō and the Root ninjas in the distance, Yusuke sighed inwardly.
The Konoha delegation didn't rest for long before continuing their journey to Rain Village. The Root ninjas' sneak attack on Yusuke was just a small incident. Both Danzō and Yusuke acted as if nothing had happened.
Meanwhile, within the territory of Rain Village, an organization called "Akatsuki" was carrying out various secret activities, which had also caught the attention of the actual ruler of Rain Village.
In a hidden base, the true founders of Akatsuki, Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan, were talking. At this time, the Akatsuki members were wearing pure black robes without the red clouds embroidered on them.
"It's great! More and more ninjas are willing to join us. I believe that one day, our ideals will eliminate all wars in the world." Under the dim candlelight, Yahiko, with his short yellow hair, spoke excitedly.
Akatsuki wasn't a terrorist organization when it was first established. It didn't have a plan to capture tailed beasts and execute the "Moon Eye Plan."
In fact, Akatsuki was initially founded by three simple young people who longed for peace. They formed the organization with the goal of "building peace without relying on force."
At that time, Akatsuki used Rain Village, which was sandwiched between the three great nations of Konoha, Iwa, and Suna, as its base. It traveled between the great nations, absorbing wandering ninjas who also longed for peace, and spreading the idea of peace in various countries.
During this period, Akatsuki was actually led by Yahiko. Yahiko was not only charismatic but also had strong leadership skills.
Many wandering ninjas nearby joined Akatsuki, admiring his reputation and willingly accepting his leadership.
"Good, Yahiko. As long as enough people acknowledge our ideas, even the great nations will have to stop fighting!" Nagato, with his red hair and Rinnegan, laughed.
At this time, Nagato's strength was already extraordinary. In terms of combat strength, he was far superior to Yahiko. But Nagato also believed that Yahiko was the best leader, and he would use his strength to help Yahiko achieve his ideal of "peace in the ninja world!"
"Recently, we received news that a Konoha delegation will be going to Rain Village to negotiate with Hanzo about compensation for the defeated nation. The leader of the Konoha delegation is named Danzō. He's a high-ranking member of Konoha, but we don't know much about him." Nagato said.
Yahiko's face lit up when he heard this. "Do you think this might be an opportunity for us? We can convey our ideals to the Konoha delegation and then to the entire Land of Fire! The Land of Fire is the most powerful country in the ninja world. If our ideals can spread in the Land of Fire, then it will be a short step before we gain the recognition of the entire ninja world."
Nagato nodded. "This is indeed a good opportunity. A while back, Hanzo, the leader of Rain, sent someone to contact us. He wants to use us as a fulcrum to propose peace negotiations to the three surrounding great nations. Perhaps with this opportunity, we can simultaneously reach peace treaties with Konoha and Rain."
"It seems that even the 'Demi-God' of the ninja world can't ignore our existence!" Yahiko said. His eyes were filled with confidence and longing for the future. He firmly believed that his ideal would take a big step forward.
Konan sat quietly in her chair, her gaze gentle as she looked at the two of them, a simple and contented smile on her face.
For her, Yahiko and Nagato were everything. As long as their ideals could be realized, she was willing to do anything to help them. Although the road ahead was difficult, as long as the three of them were together, it didn't matter.
However, the three of them, still naive at this time, didn't know that an event was about to happen that would change their lifelong ideals and destiny!