Using Kamui to show off as he bailed, Obito slipped away—almost at the same moment, Uchiha Shisui tensed up, ready to fight.
Gripping his ninja blade, he turned to Yorin.
"Did you sense something?"
"I did. Chakra flow—a space–time jutsu." Yorin was still lying back in the wagon under the canvas, eyes closed, hands behind his head. "Stronger than Flying Thunder God, too. The Land of Rain is really full of hidden monsters."
"So there's someone besides Hanzo the Salamander that strong in Amegakure," Shisui murmured.
"Not necessarily Ame. Could be some other faction."
Yorin's tone stayed lazy. Unlike the tense, alert Shisui, he'd already guessed the watcher in the distance was Uchiha Obito.
"The kid's gotten cocky. Our Uchiha clan really does slip into arrogance fast—full of ourselves and losing the plot."
He couldn't help the thought. Obito hadn't been like this. Is this the power of "love"?
Decision made: in a few days he'd go find Orochimaru, learn Edo Tensei, bring Nohara Rin back, and make her face off with Obito.
With a rotten idea like that in his pocket, Yorin wasn't worried at all.
People have weaknesses, and weaknesses can be exploited; the bigger the weakness, the easier the leverage—right, Kakashi?
"If possible, we should still verify it. It is a request from the Hokage," Shisui said.
Their mission, besides escorting a mountain of luxury goods to the Rain capital for the daimyo and nobles, also carried Minato's private brief:
"Something's off in the Land of Rain. I suspect that bastard Danzō is hiding something. In Anbu, other than Kakashi, I don't really trust anyone. So I can only ask you two."
Minato, like Jiraiya's other students, had heard from his unreliable master that there were three "senior classmates" of his in Rain. He also knew that during the Third Ninja War, Danzō led Anbu to negotiate with Hanzo and got routed.
Danzō claimed he walked into an ambush, but he wouldn't say by whom, nor how Anbu was wiped. Minato couldn't press too hard over a "minor matter" like this; even the Third wouldn't back him.
Minato's thought was to send someone to look. Rain borders Fire, Wind, and Earth—prime real estate. The problem: he lacked subordinates who were both strong and trustworthy.
Regular intel teams, Anbu, even jōnin—once they entered Ame, they got nothing… or went dark.
The land of endless rain is a black hole, swallowing any prying eyes.
Then the Uchiha extended an olive branch, and Minato had a new plan.
Uchiha Yorin plus Uchiha Shisui—the new generation's prodigies. Maybe they'd bring good news.
Yeah, right.
Yorin: "If we can dig it up, great. If not, forget it. The Hokage's request is off the books—success or failure won't count."
"But succeeding would still be better, right?" Shisui said. "That way the Fourth will think more highly of us."
"Oh, we'll succeed," Yorin mumbled, sounding half-asleep. "I know Amegakure like the back of my hand. Just watch me perform."
Shisui: "Huh?! What? Yorin-nii, you know what's going on in Ame? Tell me! Yorin-nii—hey, don't fall asleep now!"
Ignoring the chatter, Yorin shut his eyes and mapped out the next steps.
Right now, Akatsuki—the future big bad—hadn't grown into that S-rank–rogue–everywhere, invincible juggernaut. Even so, Yorin wasn't about to pick a fight.
Jiraiya in Sage Mode had fallen there. Yorin plus Shisui might not add up to Jiraiya.
Recon Amegakure? He could fudge the legwork. As long as the intel was accurate, that's what mattered.
Akatsuki was still in its cocoon. Credit where due: Nagato was a talent—top-tier at recruiting and flipping enemies. In just over a decade he'd grown a dinky outfit into something that outclassed the Five Great Villages.
A dozen-plus Kage-class fighters—the Leaf at its peak couldn't field that many.
If Nagato's body had been sturdier, his life a bit longer… maybe not lasting peace, but a Hashirama-style era of enforced peace for a few decades? Very possible.
A pity.
Would First Hokage cells extend his life?
If the chance came, Yorin would talk. If they could strike a deal, all the better.
With that, he left Shisui a final line—"Hold the fort. I'll take over after a nap"—and actually dozed off.
Seeing that, Shisui could only sigh.
"Once we deliver the goods, we should swing by Ame. I won't feel right if I don't see it myself. But… what do I do about Yorin-nii?"
Torn between the Hokage's order and Yorin's plan, Shisui spiraled—until, a few minutes later, Kamui's space-time twist rippled again on a ridge above the road.
Before that, a band of rogues with slashed headbands had already burst from the trees on both sides, charging the caravan loaded with luxury goods.
Plenty of them, quality all over the place.
Ame-nin or a rogue outfit?
Didn't matter.
Because the fight had started.
…
"Konoha ninja, help us!!"
The caravan owner screamed for Yorin and Shisui.
They weren't about to leave him hanging.
In fact, before he even yelled, they were already in motion—and had divvied up the heads. "Split 'em—your left, my right!"
"Got it!"
Two streaks of light flared down the flanks of the convoy. Under flickers of red and blue, countless rogues, bandits, and drifters never even understood what happened—they felt a chill at the throat, a gush of blood, and then… nothing.
In a blink, what had looked like a fierce raider unit was gone under Shisui and Yorin's blades. Body Flicker specialists really are the ultimate mook harvesters.
…
"As expected of Shisui—but Yorin's actually keeping pace?"
Watching from afar, Obito's eyes narrowed. Then he turned, twisted space, and vanished again.
This surge of chakra was even stronger than last time. Let's see if that guy bites.
"If recruiting those brats failed, let's try recruiting Yorin."
He thought, "Bring out that Uchiha Madara aura—and make him kneel."