Rain Tiger Justu, Running Toward Ideals

They said, "To see someone live but not bear to see them die." More and more wounded were arriving, clustered here and there, filling the open ground.

There were hundreds, perhaps thousands, of wounded at a glance. It put Uchiha Kin in a poor mood, and even the heavens seemed somewhat depressed, gradually darkening.

"Quick, move the wounded and make room for everyone! Search for tarps—see if there are any raincoats too..." Seeing the sky, Uchiha Kin hurriedly took Jasmine and Golden Chrysanthemum to prepare for the coming downpour.

Some lightly wounded ninja who could still move around also joined in to help. Some squeezed into the tents, while shelters were put up elsewhere.

Those who truly could not fit anywhere had no choice but to put on raincoats.

Uchiha Kin moved from place to place, driving some of the lightly wounded out of the tents to make room for the seriously injured, drawing a wave of curses. Before long, the other wounded silenced those voices, and things calmed down.

The rain began to fall. It pattered sparsely over the tarps, making a rustling sound, then gradually grew heavier.

It was not until late afternoon that the rain eased for a while, only for another shower to follow right after. Uchiha Kin stretched out his hand and caught some rainwater.

At midnight, the rain was still falling. Uchiha Kin found it somewhat strange, so he activated the Byakugan within him.

Open!

Within the curtain of rain, everything was gray and hazy... yet far brighter than the surrounding environment.

Wind, rain, thunder, lightning, plants, trees, birds, and beasts in nature all inherently possessed some amount of chakra... It was the result of nature's own evolution.

But the chakra in this rain was clearly far more abundant.

Rain Tiger Justu?

Uchiha Kin immediately thought of that ninjutsu—and of a gaunt man with red hair.

He was startled, thinking, Could this rain have been created by Nagato? Is his goal to resolve this war?

Use the heavy rain to temporarily halt the conflict between Iwagakure and Konoha, stopping both sides in their tracks, then negotiate and persuade them separately.

Given Akatsuki's nature, that was likely the case.

"Peace? Withdrawal?" The Tsuchikage's short figure hovered in the air, positioning himself half a head above ordinary people and looking down from on high. Staring at the orange-haired youth before him, whose face was still full of childishness, he found it absurd. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

The orange-haired youth cried out, "Lord Tsuchikage, this war brings no benefit to either the Land of Earth or the Land of Fire.

"Konoha's ninja will die because of it, and Iwagakure's ninja will die as well. There was no hatred between them to begin with, yet for no reason they have forged a bloody feud. If such hatred continues to accumulate, it will only harm both sides.

"Besides... if everyone has interests they want to pursue, wouldn't it be better to sit down and discuss them together? Why must there be war?"

"Naive brat. Go tell Konoha that if they're willing to give up the Land of Fire and trade it with Iwagakure, then Iwagakure can stop fighting. See them out..."

The two were "shown" out. The orange-haired youth said in frustration, "Konan, why wouldn't they listen to my explanation? Was I wrong?"

Konan was a blue-haired woman wearing cool blue lipstick and eyeshadow, making her look especially hard to approach.

That kind of makeup did not suit her personality at all. She had originally been a gentle girl, but as an orphan, if she did not want to be bullied, she had to make herself seem difficult to provoke... Nagato had taught her that strategy, and it worked very well.

When she looked like an ordinary girl, the civilians who saw her would bully her and hurl insults at her.

But once she put on that delinquent-looking makeup and wore a paper flower in her hair, creating an intimidating and strange aura, those civilians immediately became respectful.

Konan did not actually care much about the "peace" and "ideals" the orange-haired youth spoke of. To be honest, she thought they were naïve too.

Of course, those were his words, and Nagato agreed with them, so she would support them. No matter what they did, she would support them.

Because Yahiko and Nagato were her only family in this world. Their ideals were her ideals as well.

She comforted Yahiko. "Yahiko, there will definitely be a turning point. As long as we work hard, peace will surely come.

"Nagato brought down this rain. Look, Iwagakure's advance has already stalled for the time being. As long as we make them realize how difficult this war is, they will retreat in the face of hardship. Right now, the Tsuchikage still thinks victory is possible, so we should drag things out."

Yahiko gave an "Mm." "Konan, am I useless?"

"Yahiko, don't say that."

The two carefully avoided any possible eyes along the way before walking into a huge boulder. The boulder was actually a genjutsu.

In truth, once they passed through it, there was a small cave behind it. Food had been prepared inside. A tall, well-built man with long red hair wore a red robe and smiled gently at them. "Yahiko, Konan, you're back?"

As he spoke, he handed them steaming food. "Eat while it's hot." Only after they had finished did he ask, "What did the Tsuchikage say?"

After hearing their account of the meeting with the Tsuchikage, the rings within Nagato's pale violet eyes, like the rings of a tree, flashed with biting coldness.

"Those damned people in power started a war for their own selfish desires. I told you that you wouldn't be able to persuade them.

"If we want world peace, we can only get rid of them and make them feel fear—Yahiko, how about the three of us show the Tsuchikage what we can do? Once he sees our power, he'll be afraid!"

Yahiko raised his voice. "No, Nagato. If you threaten them like that, they'll only feel fear. It won't work.

"Teacher Jiraiya said that to achieve true peace, people must understand one another. Only when everyone understands each other and can feel what the other feels will peace arrive.

"Threatening them like this has no meaning at all!"

Nagato said, "But right now, at this very moment, a war between two great nations is being fought in the Land of Grass. Is it because the Land of Grass is weak that it deserves to have ninja from the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth ravage its own territory?"

Konan suddenly said, "We do not have the power to stop this war, so why not try our best and see whether negotiations can make the two great nations restrain their forces?

"Since it cannot be avoided, then having them restrain their forces and harm the civilians of the Land of Grass as little as possible would still be a good thing."

After a long silence, Yahiko finally said, "Mm, we should take things one step at a time. Konan is right. From the start, we were thinking too far ahead. For now, we should focus on the Land of Grass and keep them from harming its people..."

He could barely wait, deciding to immediately seek out both Konoha's commander and the Tsuchikage for a discussion.

He glanced at Nagato again, thinking, Perhaps this time, it really will be necessary to use force as a threat.