Earth Release ninjutsu. Taijutsu. Bukijutsu.
Deceits. Trickeries. Traps.
The three ninjas of Iwa whom Yahiko and Nagato faced were the elites, having gone through the harsh war for over years.
It was only natural that they'd struggle.
Sparks flew. Sharp weapons flew. The hard stones, sprinkles of water, as well as a strong gust—the battle between the five has rendered the surrounding area unrecognizable from its past self.
"Huff... huff... huff..."
At last, Yahiko and Nagato managed to triumph, just barely. Just the fact that they managed to triumph suggested how much their strengths had grown.
A kunai was sticking out of the chest of the last remaining Iwa ninja, whose eyes wavered in disbelief.
From behind, Yahiko held onto said kunai, huffing beyond exhaustion.
Thud.
The Iwa ninja fell, dead. Yahiko too collapsed to his butt, unable to put strength into his body.
"Huff... huff... Nagato."
Yahiko quickly turned to see Nagato, who was visibly wounded in the shoulder.
"Nagato... can you move...?"
Although sweating profusely and pale-faced from the pain that surged from his shoulder, Nagato formed a shaky smirk.
"I should be the one asking that... Yahiko."
Yahiko, although wobbly, managed to stand back up. Walking up to Nagato, he supported Nagato, lifting the latter up from the ground.
The two, albeit slowly, walked out of the crumbled-down area without bothering to check the dead corpses of the Iwa ninjas; they couldn't be bothered about them at the moment.
Limping their way out, the two exited the alley.
"...What is going on...?"
What awaited them was Ame in ruins.
Ninjas of Iwa were invading the village that had the majority of its force stationed in the land of grass.
Civilians were being threatened. The ninjas of Ame fought with their lives at stake, but the war veterans of Iwa weren't easy enemies to deal with.
Nearby walls had many shurikens and kunais embedded. A few walls have already been blown up due to the explosive tags. Some area was burnt to a crisp, indicating the use of a fire release ninjutsu.
In a span of two hours or so, the peaceful village that the two of them were spectating was no more.
And above all things, in the middle of the village, three huge creatures were found standing proudly—a salamander, four tails, and five tails.
Roaring, the salamander clashed against the tailed beasts, meeting their ferocious power with its lethal poison.
Clearly, Hanzo was occupied with the infamous jinchurikies of Iwa.
"Iwagakure... how..."
"...Yahiko."
Nagato then spoke with a trembling voice.
"Konan. We need to find Konan."
"...! Yes."
Collecting his breath, Nagato removed himself from Yahiko's support.
Pushing themselves beyond their limits, they began to run toward Konan's small house—one that she had lived in ever since they became the official ninjas of Ame.
Thankfully, the house seemed to be one of the few that were intact when they reached it. Hurriedly slamming the door open, the two of them entered.
"Konan!!"
Yahiko urgently shouted the name of the blue-haired girl.
Then, he froze as he witnessed.
"Yahiko, what's wrong—"
Nagato, who came in from behind, stiffened as he saw what Yahiko saw.
"Greetings, Yahiko and Nagato."
Instead of Konan, there was the masked man standing, casual and relaxed.
The question of how the masked man knew their names wasn't the problem here. Rather,
"...What did you do to Konan?!"
The fact that Konan couldn't be seen was the problem.
"Ah yes, Konan."
The masked man brought out what appeared to be a crystal ball of crimson color.
Holding it by his right hand, he explained,
"She is currently in here."
Yahiko and Nagato glared at the orb, calculating how true the masked man's words may be.
"Trapped in this object like a damsel in distress, waiting for a prince to save her. I wonder which one of you two will be the one?"
"Cut the crap!!!"
Yahiko growled, swinging his hand angrily.
"Who are you, and why would you do this to us?!! Judging by your sharingans, you aren't from Iwa in the first place!!!"
"Why, you ask?"
The masked man raised his finger and pointed it at Nagato.
"Those eyes. I want them."
"...My eyes?"
Nagato paused.
"Don't listen to him, Nagato!! We don't even know if Konan really is in that sphere!!"
Yahiko shouted, and the masked man snorted at that.
"Whether you believe in my words or not doesn't matter."
In an instant, the masked man was in front of the two.
Hanging his arms around them, he whispered,
"Do note that I'm being quite generous here. If I were to take your eyes by force, do you think you'd be able to resist? In that current state of yours?"
In that moment, Nagato got to see the sphere in the masked man's hand at a closer view.
Immediately, his Rinnegans got to work, peering through this mystical orb.
"...It's true, Yahiko."
Nagato muttered.
"I see... Konan in that sphere."
Yahiko, gritting his teeth, swung kunai at the masked man, only for it to phase through without harming the man.
"...What?"
Yahiko whispered as the masked man backed, unfazed. His arms dropped loose.
"...If you are able to take Nagato's eyes by force, why would you even attempt to negotiate with us?"
"Let's just say that I want no accidental damage done to those eyes."
Angrily, Yahiko threw the kunai, only for it to phase through the masked man once more and hit the wall behind.
The masked man shrugged, and Yahiko clenched his fists so hard that they trembled, conveying his frustration and helplessness.
"...I will do it."
"Nagato!!!"
"We have no choice, Yahiko."
Nagato, eventually having made a decision, said softly.
"Besides, these are just eyes. Konan is more important, by a far margin."
"Ha—! Just eyes, you say!"
The masked man laughed at that before clapping loudly.
"What a good man you are, Nagato!"
"Let's do it like this. I will give you one of my eyes. Then, you pass that sphere to Yahiko. After, I will give you my other eye."
"And how do I trust that you would give the second eye to me as well?"
"You said it just before, didn't you? We have no way to rebel should you wish to take my eyes by force."
Nagato heard many stories of his eyes in the past, of Rinnegan.
He knew that having the legendary eyes of the Sage of Six Paths fall into the hands of this unknown man was dangerous.
However, Konan's life was at stake. Their sister's life was at stake, someone whom Nagato could give his life to save.
'Just as how Akashi did it for us...'
"Hah, fine. That will be the condition, then."
'I will do the same.'
"...Why?"
Yahiko, at last, spoke weakly, earning the masked man's attention.
"Why do you want Nagato's eyes?"
There was a slight pause. Then, the masked man answered,
"Peace. I want peace to come in this world, and I need those eyes for my endeavors."
A bizarre feeling penetrated Yahiko's heart as he heard that.
__________
Two figures rapidly flew through the rain.
Their black cloaks that had numerous red-cloud-like designs engraved fluttered; judging by how they didn't get wet in the rain, it appeared that these cloaks were, partly, meant to serve as rain coats.
One was a man, while the other was a woman.
The man, brown-haired, was Akashi. The other, of course, was Mei, following him from a step behind due to her unfamiliarity with this region.
To them, five ninjas appeared by their sides, running with them.
With their eyes locked onto Akashi and Mei, they revealed an outright killing intent.
Upon the moonlight, their forehead protectors of Iwa flashed. Akashi narrowed his eye.
"Who are you? Ninjas of Rain? You lack the forehead protector, however, and those cloaks of yours seem to suggest otherwise..."
'Why would the ninjas of Iwagakure be here?'
Akashi had to think.
'For Iwa, there are two ways into the land of rain. One, through the land of grass, which lies directly between the land of earth and rain. Two, through the land of birds, whose borders touch the land of earth, sand, and rain. One of the two routes must be taken for them to infiltrate.'
Sunagakure handled the frontline at the land of birds. Akashi suspected that a problem had occurred there.
Obviously, these ninjas of Iwa planned to fight the two of them. However, they, for some reason, didn't seem to recognize them, whose faces should be quite well known by now. Akashi deduced that these ninjas, while seemingly veterans in battles, don't belong high up in the ladder—not high enough to be aware of what was happening outside the war.
Therefore, Akashi decided to play for the moment, while they continued to move at a rapid pace toward the village.
"It took you shorter to arrive than I expected, after having managed to push Suna back in the land of birds."
The nearest ninja to Akashi squinted his eyes. He then grinned ferally,
"...Oh? So you knew? Interesting... we killed the messengers of Suna on the way. There was no way you would've gotten the information, unless..."
As if having realized something, the ninja concluded on his own,
"There is a betrayer among us."
The confirmation of what he had made up and thrown was enough for Akashi. He learned that his theory was likely to be true based on the reactions of these Iwa ninjas.
That meant that these nuisances had no more use for him.
From Akashi's pouch, a kunai soared up, causing the nearby Iwa ninja to hurriedly back in surprise.
"What is that thing—"
The kunai, emitting a green glow, remained upfloat high in the air.
Energy Release: Spirit Blade.
The kunai suddenly shot forth. Swimming like a carp in a pond, it flew through the air, before, in an instant, piercing through the neck of one Iwa ninja who didn't expect such an attack at all.
Thud.
In the running group of 7, one has fallen off, dead.
"You bastard!!!"
The Iwa ninjas, having realized what Akashi just did, growled.
They took out the weapons of their own.
The kunai, after piercing through the one, continued to travel. Now aimed at another who looked more ready than the last, it dove towards the man.
"It won't work twice!!!"
The shinobi slashed his ninjato, only to see the kunai drilling through his blade like a knife through butter.
"...Huh?"
By the time the ninja blinked, the kunai had already drilled a hole in his neck, same as his comrade had before him.
Now, five were running.
The remaining three Iwa ninjas, having seen the danger in the kunai that refused to fall, turned pale-faced.
"What is that technique?!!"
The confidence in them no longer lingered. A hint of fear appeared in their eyes that previously exhibited complacency.
At last, upon seeing that the kunai was still at work, now about to come to one of the three, they decided,
"...Fall back!!"
So they did, no longer running alongside Akashi and Mei and creating distance.
"..."
It was just as they suspected; there was a range limit to that mysterious technique of Akashi.
However, there was a ranged specialist in this Akatsuki's team of two, named Terumi Mei.
"Water is quite abundant here, don't you think?"
Akashi left a comment, and Mei formed a hand seal.
"Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
What appeared in front of the three, at the next moment, was a great wave of a tsunami.
"...Ah,"
Such was the last word, spoken by one of the three Iwa ninjas, before the water of high pressure—lethal enough to crush people—crashed down onto them.
BOOM.
And at last, the walls of Amegakure appeared before them.
Right into the eyes of Akashi and Mei, abnormalities were found.
"...Four tails and five tails."
Mei whispered in disbelief.
"Clearly, this is a planned invasion. There is no other way to explain it other than Suna's fallback on the left."
"Two tailed beasts against a salamander..."
Stepping on tall walls, Akashi's eye roamed.
"Hanzo is occupied. Anything can happen to those three."
Thankfully, Akashi, before he had to leave the land of rain, gave them a seal that would share the location of one another as long as they kept it on their bodies.
Akashi took out a paper that had a seal engraved on it. As he pushed his chakra into it, the seal glowed in blue.
Through the seal, Akashi sensed Yahiko and Nagato's location.
'Strange. I can't sense Konan's presence...'
Shutting off the negative thoughts that were about to rise, Akashi quickly spoke.
"Mei, monitor Hanzo's situation. If he seems to be in a pinch, help him out and stall until I arrive."
His relationship with Hanzo was complicated.
In the past, he despised Hanzo for leaving the village in such a state. The feeling didn't change much even after he learned that he and Hanzo were tied by blood.
However, Hanzo seemed to have understood his intention that night when they fought. Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato were accepted as ninjas of Ame.
Not only that, but he changed. The state of Ame began to improve in the midst of the war. What used to be the depressing and harsh land of rain now looked... livable.
The presence of Hanzo still acted as a safeguard for those who lived within the walls to fend off the enemies.
For the safety of the three, regardless of how complex their relationship had been, Akashi knew that Hanzo had to be kept alive.
Mei nodded without asking any questions; she knew how he must be feeling right now.
"Leave it to me."
The two of them then separated, knowing that the situation was dire.
Akashi dashed through the broken-down ruins, wounded ones, corpses, and crying civilians.
The memories of his past, when he was weak and helpless but had the three following after him, entered his mind.
Quickly, Akashi dashed. Having found an open door, he entered,
...and saw Nagato standing with his eyes closed and bleeding. He panted, clearly suffering from the horrendous pain of having his eyes ripped off.
Yahiko stood weakly with a red orb in his hand; it looked as if he had aged 10 years in a short moment.
Across them, the masked man stood, holding onto a bottle of glass that held the extracted Rinnegans.
"...Akashi?"
Yahiko was the first to find him, wide-eyed.
However, Yahiko's whisper didn't reach him.
Akashi's eye, locked onto the masked man, saw red.
"Looks like this time around... you were a step late, Red Blade."
The masked man mocked him.
"You... fucker..."
"Be immersed in misery."
The vortex appeared around the masked man,
"The next time I see you—"
Blood squirted.
The process of teleportation, which is the vortex surrounding the man, paused.
No, it wasn't that it was paused; it was stopped.
He was bleeding.
"...Huh?"
Akashi was behind him, holding Ryuma, which pierced through his chest.