Yahiko thought for a moment and said,"Nagato, you'll stay behind and control the Rain Tiger at Will Technique to monitor the entire battlefield. Konan and I will each lead a squad into action. This will be the first time Akatsuki intervenes in a major nation's war."His tone was solemn.
The truth behind Yahiko's arrangement was his understanding of Nagato… When Nagato fought, he was often too ruthless.
Yahiko feared that Nagato might cause unnecessary casualties—what was meant to end war could instead ignite blood feuds.
Akatsuki's goal was to bring peace to the world, not further hatred and conflict.
"Alright," Nagato replied without objection.
Around 3 to 4 AM, deep into the night, Nagato suddenly woke Yahiko and Konan."There's movement to the northwest, in the Land of Grass. You two should go check it out."
Yahiko offered, "I'll take a team myself."But Nagato wasn't comfortable letting him go alone.
Yahiko was strong, his Water Release techniques exceptional, but he was too naïve and softhearted.
"Let Konan go with you," Nagato insisted, giving Konan a nod.
"Understood," Konan agreed.
The two exited the cave, gathered more than twenty members, and split into two teams heading toward the anomaly. They moved at high speed, cutting through the rain like streaks of silver light, slicing the downpour like blades heading northwest.
The Land of Grass wasn't large. As Yahiko and Konan advanced, Nagato guided them remotely through their rings, correcting their coordinates.
Before long, they encountered a group dressed in black, all wearing eerie, pale-white animal masks.
"Everyone—" Yahiko began to speak, but the masked figures drew their blades without a word and charged.
Silent. Ominous. Grotesque.
Their swordplay was swift and precise, every strike aimed at vital points, focused entirely on offense with no regard for defense.
Water Release!
Yahiko swallowed his words, formed hand seals, and the pouring rain froze mid-air. Torrents erupted from the ground, and a towering wave surged toward the attackers.
Yahiko called out, "Please, listen to me—"
But what answered him was a beam of black light.
Instinct kicked in—Yahiko immediately used Water Body Flicker Technique to retreat a great distance.
The black light expanded rapidly, devouring everything—rain, water, and earth alike—hollowing out the ground completely.
Everything it touched vanished into nothingness. When the black light receded, it left behind only a void.
Yahiko was stunned."What… what is this?"The shinobi world was full of strange things, but he had never seen anything like this. In his mind, Nagato's voice echoed, distant and heavy:
"It's a Sealing Technique. One used by the Uzumaki Clan as a means of mutual destruction."
"Reverse Four Symbols Sealing.The Four Symbols represent East, South, West, and North—foundational to the Eight Trigrams. This technique collapses everything within the seal, including the user, into a void… sealing it all into nonexistence."
"So… they're from Konoha?" Yahiko asked.In the current era, only Konoha still possessed such advanced and bizarre sealing techniques.
Konan added, "But they're different from the Konoha shinobi we know."Due to Jiraiya, both she and Yahiko had some goodwill toward the Hidden Leaf, and they didn't want to believe Konoha still produced shinobi like this.
Yahiko frowned. "Could they be from some secret division?""Maybe," Konan replied.
The group began to head back.
None of them noticed the tiny, ant-sized insects clinging to the clothing of several members—riding along as they returned. While Yahiko and Konan went to report to Nagato, the others headed to a separate cave to rest.
Spirits were high. They saw the recent skirmish as a successful operation.
Those sinister masked shinobi clearly weren't up to anything good. Stopping them was, without a doubt, the right decision.
"Bad guys only ever do bad things. No need to figure out what—they're better off stopped on sight."
"Our Akatsuki will be like a spark," one bald member declared, "igniting the shinobi world and bringing peace!"
Another chimed in, "We're from the Land of Rain, so our rain should fall across the entire world."
A third man grumbled, "Damn it, enough with the rain already. I'm sick of it. There's not a single dry thing in my house. When peace finally comes, I just want to bask in sunlight—twelve hours a day, front and back."
The speaker had a fish-like face, with coarse stitches sealing the corners of his mouth. When he spoke, a mess of X-shaped threads moved grotesquely.
"Haha! With all that sun, you'd dry out like a salted fish!" someone joked.Laughter filled the cave, warming the chilly rain outside.
Much later, after everyone had fallen asleep, the insects quietly crawled away—returning to their master.
The insect-user wore cylindrical goggles with brown lenses, a waterproof cloak covering every inch of his body, and gloves shielding his hands. He hid nearby, just out of the rain's reach.
"The insects confirm it… there's something off about the rain."He muttered to himself, "They're using the rainfall to monitor everything. No wonder our movements were discovered so quickly. But… Iwa, Suna, Kumo… just who—"
As he speculated, one of his bugs returned with new information—and what it revealed twisted his normally impassive face into one of shock.
"The Land of Rain… Akatsuki?!"
It was almost laughable.
He took a deep breath to calm himself, then slipped away through the earth, careful to avoid the rain. His Earth Release tunneling was unpolished—it took him three hours to return to their temporary base.
By then, dawn had broken.
Dawn.
In a military tent, a man stood with his back turned. He wore a black cloak, had only one arm, and a single eye. On the wall in front of him hung a map—centered on the Lands of Grass, Rain, and River, but also showing the surrounding great nations: Fire, Wind, and Earth.
The man heard footsteps. He recognized them instantly.
"Report," came his voice—restrained, yet oppressive.
The shinobi knelt on one knee."Lord Danzō, I've confirmed it. The heavy rainfall is being caused by a jutsu cast by a member of an organization called Akatsuki. They're using it to monitor all movement. That's how they intercepted our team."
Danzō gripped the handle of his cane tightly."Akatsuki?"
"Yes. A group based in the Land of Rain."
"The Land of Rain…?"
After a moment of silence, Danzō exhaled."Go. Visit Hanzō personally. Tell him—he'd best reconsider.Does he want the Land of Rain to be utterly annihilated?The great nations—Fire, Earth, and Wind—are locked in fierce competition, and yet that puny little country dares to challenge the storm?"
"…Yes, sir."