Return to Konoha

Uchiha Obito's body stiffened, and anger showed in his eyes.

Nagato and Konan had never truly been on the same side as Uchiha Obito. They had only pretended to get along, each with their own agenda. But ever since the information had leaked, they had all but fallen out completely. There was no trust left between them, though they had yet to come to blows.

What truly enraged Uchiha Obito, however, was that he really hadn't leaked Nagato's secrets—least of all anything about the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. He cared about the statue even more than Nagato did!

But just as Uchiha Obito had used the Sharingan to control the Nine-Tails and frame the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Shūichi's frame-up had been flawless.

The Sharingan was the Uchiha Clan's Kekkei Genkai, so the Nine-Tails' Attack must have had something to do with the Uchiha.

Likewise, aside from Nagato and Konan, only Uchiha Obito and Black Zetsu knew about the Rinnegan and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. So the leak had to be Uchiha Obito and Black Zetsu's fault!

There was no way to clear his name, no matter how much he protested. Uchiha Obito gave a cold snort, glanced at Konan and Pain, and finally turned to leave.

He had originally hoped to use pressure from the other shinobi villages to regain control of the Akatsuki Organization, or at least improve his relationship with Nagato.

But with Nagato refusing to listen, Uchiha Obito was at a loss. He had also picked up a note of warning in Konan's words.

Uchiha Obito had considered killing some shinobi from the Five Great Shinobi Villages and framing the Akatsuki Organization, making its position even more precarious. That way, he could step in and offer help when it was down.

But Konan's unspoken warning had made it clear: if Uchiha Obito really did that, Nagato and Konan wouldn't hesitate to expose his secrets. Then Konoha Village and the Uchiha would both come after him.

Uchiha Obito himself didn't care about being hunted by Konoha Village and the Uchiha. But if his secrets were exposed, his plans would be much harder to carry out.

There would be no chance of destroying the Uchiha or weakening Konoha Village. Instead, all kinds of information about him might be dug up, and advancing his plan would become several times more difficult.

In the original story, the Moon Eye Plan had ultimately succeeded only because its opponents had been caught unprepared. If Konoha and the Five Great Shinobi Villages were on guard, the Akatsuki Organization alone would have almost no chance of success.

After leaving Amegakure, the Konoha shinobi soon regrouped.

Yamanaka Fū had withdrawn as soon as the battle began and was uninjured. Uchiha Shūichi and Jiraiya had each faced off against Nagato and Konan, but one confrontation had been staged, while the other had ended before things got serious. Neither of them had been hurt.

Hyuga Homura had only provided support from the sidelines. But when he had faced the Six Paths of Pain's Shinra Tensei, several of his bones had broken. He had kept fighting for a while after that, making his injuries even worse.

But Yūhi Kurenai was in the worst shape.

Konan hadn't held back much against Yūhi Kurenai. Fragments from her exploding paper shuriken had pierced Yūhi Kurenai's body, even puncturing some of her internal organs.

Fortunately, vital organs like her heart and kidneys were unharmed. Otherwise, Yūhi Kurenai would already have been dead. As it was, she could still be saved.

"This girl's injuries are a real problem... Do any of you know medical ninjutsu?"

After examining Yūhi Kurenai's injuries, Jiraiya frowned. Uchiha Shūichi replied helplessly,

"Among us, only Kurenai knows any medical ninjutsu! You know how most shinobi who also train in medical ninjutsu are women."

Female shinobi tended to be more meticulous and better at chakra control, which generally gave them more talent for medical ninjutsu than men.

And with Tsunade, the Shinobi World's greatest medical ninja, as a role model in Konoha, many of its kunoichi also learned some medical ninjutsu, enough to provide emergency treatment on the battlefield.

In Uchiha Shūichi's squad, Yūhi Kurenai was the one who handled medical emergencies. But that also meant that once she herself was seriously injured, there was no one else around who could treat her.

"That's a bit of a problem. I can summon a toad from Mount Myōboku to stabilize her for now, but we'd better get back to Konoha as soon as possible so she can be treated."

As he spoke, Jiraiya summoned a giant toad, which swallowed Yūhi Kurenai whole.

"Gamaken can keep Yūhi Kurenai's injuries under control for a while and stop them from getting worse. Let's head straight back to Konoha."

Jiraiya made the decision on the spot. Uchiha Shūichi didn't object. At least they had learned something about the Rinnegan, so they would have something to report when they got back.

After they returned to Konoha, they took Yūhi Kurenai and Hyuga Homura to the hospital. Jiraiya then promptly disappeared, though it was hard to say whether he had gone to spy on the women's bathhouse.

Uchiha Shūichi and the others disbanded as well. Uchiha Shūichi went to the Hokage Office to report on the mission, while Yamanaka Fū returned to Root.

In the Hokage Office, Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi listened to Uchiha Shūichi's report, his expression shifting slightly.

"I didn't realize you'd been through so much. It seems I made this mission too difficult for you when I sent you out."

Too difficult was an understatement. The Fourth Raikage, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Konan, and Nagato—four Kage Level combatants had shown up. Without Jiraiya, the mission would normally have been a death sentence.

For example, the shinobi sent by Sunagakure had run straight into the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. Escaping with even one or two survivors would have counted as lucky.

And Uchiha Shūichi hadn't seen the Iwagakure shinobi at all. There was a small chance they hadn't sent anyone to the Land of Rain, but it was much more likely they had already been killed before Uchiha Shūichi ever found them.

The Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki hadn't fared any better. In the end, the Six Paths of Pain had driven them into a humiliating retreat. The A and B combination might have escaped the Land of Rain, but some of their men had surely died.

The shinobi who could take part in a mission in the Land of Rain were generally at least Special Jonin. Even for the Five Great Shinobi Villages, with all their resources, shinobi of that caliber were elite. Losing them would still hurt.

Fortunately, Konoha had suffered no losses. Yūhi Kurenai and Hyuga Homura had been injured, but with shinobi medical ninjutsu, they would make a full recovery in a few days.

"We owe a lot to Lord Jiraiya. Otherwise, we wouldn't have learned so much. But..."

Seeing the hesitation on Uchiha Shūichi's face, Third Hokage grew curious. A faint sense of foreboding also stirred in him.

"If you have something to say, just say it! Don't tell me the Akatsuki Organization has some other grudge against Konoha?"