Who Gave You the Courage to Meet an Uchiha's Gaze?

"You're... Yahiko?"

Tsunade was extremely surprised, her beautiful eyes widening round. "Y-You really are Yahiko? You've grown so much!"

"Lady Tsunade, do you know him?" Uchiha Sōgetsu asked coldly, appropriately adopting a guarded stance as he silently stepped half a pace back. At the same time, his right hand reached for his waist. Beneath the white Animal Mask, three crimson Sharingan tomoe emerged. "Forgive my rudeness, Lady Tsunade, but please be cautious. They may very well be criminals wanted by Amegakure."

"The Sharingan? An Uchiha Clan ninja."

Gazed at by those scarlet eyes, Yahiko felt inexplicably uncomfortable and frowned instinctively. "Konoha Anbu, I bear you no ill will, so put away your hostility. And don't forget... this is our Hidden Village. You're the outsider here."

Because of Teacher Jiraiya, he held a trace of goodwill toward Tsunade.

But... that did not mean he felt the same goodwill toward Konoha's Anbu.

None of Amegakure's people had any fondness for ninjas from the great nations. What they felt was more often disgust. All of it stemmed from the Second Shinobi World War, when Konoha and the Sand Ninja, two major Hidden Villages, had turned Amegakure, caught between them, into their battlefield, causing countless deaths and injuries among its people.

They had become orphans largely because of Konoha as well.

"A criminal wanted by Hanzo of the Rain Ninja has no right to say that." Uchiha Sōgetsu looked arrogant, as if he did not regard Yahiko at all. He openly provoked him. "Lady Tsunade, if we brought them to Hanzo, wouldn't that make a fine gift?"

"So the rumors were true. The Uchiha are all arrogant bastards."

Yahiko was still a hot-blooded youth. Being provoked to his face and then treated as a "gift" to be delivered to the enemy Hanzo, how could he possibly suppress his anger? "If you've got the nerve, then try it!"

"Gladly!"

Uchiha Sōgetsu formed a seal with one hand, his Sharingan spinning rapidly.

"Konoha Anbu, I suggest you don't move carelessly."

Yahiko sneered and raised a hand to point at Sōgetsu's feet, his face full of mockery. "Look carefully at what's beneath your feet. If you don't want to be blown to pieces, you'd better stay still."

Following Yahiko's finger, Uchiha Sōgetsu lowered his head and saw that more than a dozen Explosive Tags had somehow become wrapped around his legs.

The scraps of paper scattered through the air swiftly gathered beside Yahiko, forming the figure of a girl with pale blue-purple hair. A Paper Flower was tucked by her temple, and she looked at him coldly.

"Konoha Anbu, we only wish to catch up with Lady Tsunade," Konan said coolly. "So... don't make any rash moves. Otherwise, I'll blow off your legs."

"Stop!"

Seeing the atmosphere turn tense, Tsunade rubbed her forehead and sighed before speaking to stop them.

"Rest assured, Lady Tsunade," Yahiko said gently. "Konan won't hurt him. We mean no harm."

"No, I wasn't talking about you, Yahiko."

Tsunade waved a hand, looking deeply troubled. "Owl, stop. We didn't come here to fight. This is Amegakure's internal affair, and we have no right to interfere."

"What?"

Hearing this, Yahiko and Konan froze, unable to understand.

They were clearly the ones holding the upper hand, so why was Tsunade telling that Anbu to stop?

"Yes, Lady Tsunade."

As his words fell, Uchiha Sōgetsu, who had been standing in front of them, dissolved like a reflection in water.

Then, the sensation of being gazed at from behind became sharp as a blade, sending a chill down their spines. Yahiko and Konan's expressions changed abruptly.

"Genjutsu?!"

Yahiko's pupils contracted sharply, his face filled with shock. "Impossible! When did it happen?"

They had not noticed in the slightest when they had fallen under the Genjutsu.

Was this... the Kekkei Genkai that had made the Uchiha Clan, Konoha's greatest noble clan, famous throughout the Shinobi World—the Sharingan?

"Who gave you the courage to meet an Uchiha's gaze?"

Uchiha Sōgetsu circled around to stand directly before them. A trace of mockery flashed in his eyes as he clapped, just like he was praising their "courage."

They certainly were brave!

Across the entire Shinobi World, there were not many ninjas who dared meet an Uchiha's gaze.

"This time, I lost. I lost because I was careless." Yahiko took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the unwillingness in his heart as he said calmly, "But the next time we meet, I definitely won't lose again."

Through that brief clash, Uchiha Sōgetsu's impression of Yahiko, the legendary founder of the Akatsuki, was actually somewhat disappointing.

To be fair, as the leader of the Akatsuki, Yahiko was undoubtedly qualified.

His ability to accurately recognize his mistakes and reflect on them in time without being swayed by emotion showed that he was indeed more suitable than the future Nagato.

However, though he was an excellent leader, he had one serious flaw.

In this distorted ninja world, when personal strength stood above everyone else, so-called leadership, political skill, strategy, and the like were merely icing on the cake. What truly decided everything, what mattered most from beginning to end, was strength.

The First Hokage had pacified the chaotic era not through politics, but through force.

Likewise, in the original story's ending, the five great nations and Hidden Villages had not tacitly allowed Sasuke to be pardoned because they had suddenly become kindhearted.

If anyone had been foolish enough to lay a finger on Sasuke, would Naruto not have gone berserk and hurled a Tailed Beast Bomb at them from five hundred miles away?

Still, compared to Yahiko, there was someone else who was a little more interesting.

Uchiha Sōgetsu observed Konan.

"Looks like there's no time to catch up."

Hearing the commotion in the distance, Yahiko knew it was about time. He looked at Tsunade again, gratitude on his face. "Lady Tsunade, please give Teacher Jiraiya our regards."

"I will."

Tsunade nodded, indicating that she would pass them along. She had wanted to offer some advice, but the words reached her lips and were swallowed back down. "You... forget it. You have your own path. Be more careful from now on."

"I hope that one day, when you come to Amegakure again, you'll see an entirely new Amegakure," Yahiko said confidently.

Hope for the future and confidence in the path he believed in could be seen on his face.

Before leaving, Konan instinctively turned back for one last look.

For some reason, she felt very uneasy, as if someone were... secretly watching her.

That night, at the Akatsuki's secret base.

Konan was alone, sorting through the supplies they had seized from those Rain Ninja during the day.

The Akatsuki had only been established recently, and everything about it was still immature.

They had neither people nor money. They were utterly destitute.

But compared to all that, an even graver problem stood before them: Hanzo's wanted order and pursuit.

This made the already understaffed Akatsuki struggle with every step.

Konan rubbed her brow. A trace of exhaustion appeared on her cool face as she leaned back against the nearby chair. "Haa... Am I too tired? I'm so sleepy. I'll rest for a little while."

December 14th, overcast.

Heh... Other people spent 88 yuan and won 120 million, while I'm just a sucker. No more, no more. I should give up on getting rich through the lottery as soon as possible. (P.S.: I heard that all the gentlemen who vote for this book win on scratch-off tickets~)