Yahiko's Ideals!

"Lord Hanzō, the leader of the Akatsuki Organization has arrived!"

Outside Hanzō the Salamander's office, Ametsuyu wiped the smile from his face and knocked on the door with great formality.

"Let them in!"

Hanzō the Salamander's hoarse, deep voice came from inside the office.

After gently pushing open the office door, Ametsuyu stepped aside and looked at Yahiko's Trio. Lowering his voice, he said, "Go in yourselves. I'll see you off here!"

Yahiko nodded, exchanged looks with Nagato and Konan, then took a deep breath to ease his nervousness before stepping into the office first.

Nagato and Konan hurried after him.

Once all three had entered, Ametsuyu reached out to close the office door and swiftly withdrew.

What none of them noticed was that atop a Tall Building not far from Hanzō the Salamander's residence, a man wearing a White Vortex Mask and a figure whose body was half Black and half White, with one half submerged in the ground, were silently observing the situation.

"Obito..."

"Call me Madara!"

The moment Black Zetsu spoke, Uchiha Obito harshly interrupted him. Black Zetsu could only change the way he addressed him and continue, "Fine, Lord Madara. Are we just going to watch from out here?"

Uchiha Obito snorted. "What else can we do? That's Hanzō the Salamander! If we get any closer, can you guarantee he won't notice us?"

Black Zetsu fell silent. He truly had no such confidence.

It was not that Hanzō the Salamander's senses were especially formidable. Rather, a massive amount of poison had accumulated beneath his residence, and even Black Zetsu could not ignore it and sneak inside without a sound.

Black Zetsu asked again, "What if Hanzō the Salamander discovers Nagato's Rinnegan?"

"Wouldn't that be even better?" Uchiha Obito gave a low laugh. "With Hanzō the Salamander's knowledge, he naturally won't fail to recognize the Rinnegan!"

"With Nagato's current strength, he may not be able to defeat Hanzō the Salamander, but if he overdraws some of his power, he can still escape unharmed!"

"This time, perhaps Nagato will get a taste of pain!"

Thinking of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path Nagato had summoned yesterday, Black Zetsu relaxed. "Then do as you wish!"

Inside Hanzō the Salamander's office.

"Lord Hanzō!"

Upon seeing the figure behind the desk reading documents, Yahiko's Trio respectfully bowed.

"You are Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan, correct? Sit."

Hanzō the Salamander set down the document in his hand, looked up with a smile, and gestured toward the three chairs that had been prepared across from him.

"Th-thank you!"

Yahiko gave a light cough, forcibly suppressing his excitement as he sat down across from Hanzō the Salamander.

Nagato and Konan followed suit.

However, as Nagato lowered himself into his seat, he took the opportunity to glance at Hanzō the Salamander through the eye hidden behind his hair!

That single glance made Nagato's body tremble, a chill shooting from his spine straight to the top of his head!

Nagato bit his lip and struggled to suppress his emotions, revealing no hint of anything amiss.

After the three had taken their seats, Hanzō the Salamander looked straight at Yahiko and got to the point. "When I learned that an organization pursuing peace had arisen within the Land of Rain, I became very interested in you. That is why I presumptuously invited you here for a talk!"

Yahiko hurriedly said, "You honor us too highly, Lord Hanzō! Receiving your invitation is our privilege!"

"No need to belittle yourselves. I am merely a Senior who took a step ahead of you," Hanzō the Salamander said with a slight shake of his head. He then asked, "Ametsuyu told me that the Akatsuki Organization's ideal is 'to create world peace without relying on extreme force.' Is that correct?"

Yahiko nodded. "That is indeed the case!"

"Can you explain it to me in detail?"

"Of course!" Yahiko was visibly excited. "I believe many wars and conflicts in this world are unnecessary! Both sides can completely resolve their differences by sitting down and communicating!"

"But I also know that achieving this is extremely difficult!"

"There are strong and weak people in this world, and the strong generally do not care about the voices of the weak!"

"Therefore, the best outcome would be for every nation to possess a certain degree of power, sit down as equals to communicate and negotiate, and ultimately form a shared alliance to maintain order!"

"This power is not extreme violence used to launch wars. It is power meant for balance and protection!"

Though Yahiko was "naive," he was not overly idealistic!

He knew that endless compromise would only make others see him as weak and easy to bully. Simply hoping everyone would restrain themselves with morality would yield nothing but wishful thinking!

Thus, a force was needed to maintain that balance!

Only because everyone feared the existence of this force would they not casually start wars! Only then would there be a chance to sit down and negotiate!

After Yahiko's death, Nagato inherited Yahiko's ideals!

However, Yahiko's death made Nagato become somewhat extreme!

Nagato believed that only after everyone experienced the pain brought by this force could they understand pain and truly fear its existence!

Hanzō the Salamander smiled and praised him. "Not a bad ideal!"

Yahiko was delighted, an excited smile spreading across his face!

Yet before the smile on Yahiko's face could fully form, Hanzō the Salamander added, "But it is still far too immature!"

"Huh?"

Yahiko's expression froze. Confused, he also felt somewhat unconvinced!

Yahiko asked, "Lord Hanzō, is there something my idea has overlooked?"

"Your idea is beautiful, but reality is far less simple!" Hanzō the Salamander countered, "Do you know that when the One Country One Village System was first established, Senju Hashirama, the First Hokage of Konoha, distributed Tailed Beasts to the other ninja villages?"

Yahiko shook his head in confusion. As a commoner, he had no way of learning about such matters.

Hanzō the Salamander explained, "Though each ninja village among the Five Great Nations now controls one or two Tailed Beasts, most of those Tailed Beasts were actually distributed by Senju Hashirama!"

"Perhaps Senju Hashirama had hoped that the Five Great Nations would fear one another's Tailed Beast power and thus not dare to easily wage war!"

"But what was the result?"

"The Tailed Beasts' power only brought greater casualties to every village!"

"Your idea is identical to Senju Hashirama's approach, but reality is far more complicated than either of you imagined!"

It had to be said that Yahiko's ideas were far more practical than the later so-called Child of Destiny, Uzumaki Naruto, and his illusory ideals. Yet they were still overly idealistic in the end!

Yahiko's ideas might have worked for securing peace within a single country, but seeking world peace with them was simply impossible!