That night, Shiba Seika ultimately did nothing to Uzamaki Kayo. He merely practiced the healing ninjutsu techniques he had been studying on her, then urged her to go back and rest.
Early the next morning, the group woke up and hurriedly packed their things, wasting no time before leaving town.
They still had plenty of supplies they hadn't sold, but they couldn't worry about that now.
Getting out of the Land of Grass as quickly as possible and bringing Uzamaki Kayo safely back to the Akatsuki Organization mattered more!
On the way back, Shiba Seika yawned several times in a row, making Konan feel terribly guilty.
"You've worked hard on this trip, Seika. Make sure you get plenty of rest when we get back."
Seika had worked so hard for Nagato and all of us, and I even suspected him before. I'm awful!
Konan silently reproached herself.
Behind them, Uzamaki Kayo was riding on Nagato's back as they traveled. Seeing Konan show such concern for Shiba Seika, she found herself feeling unexpectedly conflicted.
On one hand, Konan's words made her even more grateful for Seika's kindness.
On the other, she couldn't help feeling a little dejected.
Was he so proper last night because I'm too old, not young enough by comparison? Kayo thought sadly.
Shiba Seika had no idea that his yawns had prompted so much inner turmoil among the people around him.
He really was just tired because he hadn't slept well.
But the next moment, Shiba Seika's expression suddenly changed as he ran.
"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Konan immediately caught up and ran beside him, asking with concern.
"It's nothing." Shiba Seika shook his head.
It had nothing to do with the others around him.
He had been startled because he'd checked the system without thinking and discovered that his fated outcomes had changed again.
The probability of dying peacefully of old age hadn't changed; it was still 0.6%.
But the probabilities of the several outcomes in which he died at Konoha's hands years later had all shrunk to varying degrees.
In other words, the probability that he wouldn't survive another year and a half had risen sharply!
What was going on? Why was this happening?!
Had he done something wrong lately?
Was it because he'd saved Kayo? That made no sense!
In the original story, neither Uzamaki Kayo nor her daughter, Karin Uzumaki, had any connection with the Akatsuki Organization. There was no reason saving an unrelated person would greatly accelerate the danger facing him, was there?
For the rest of the journey back, Shiba Seika racked his brains. In the end, he concluded that nothing he'd done recently could possibly have caused such a change!
That left only one possibility!
If it wasn't something he'd done, then the problem had to lie within the Land of Rain!
Had Yahiko gone and done something stupid again?
As soon as he returned to the Akatsuki Organization's base, Shiba Seika rushed off to find Yahiko.
Unexpectedly, Yahiko was looking for him, too. The moment he saw Seika, he urgently asked him for help.
"Seika? I'm so glad you're back. There's a difficult situation I need your advice on."
So it really was something you'd done!
Once the mystery was solved, Shiba Seika calmed down instead. "Go on. What happened?"
"Lately, whenever we try to bring in wandering ninja, other Rain ninja keep interfering, openly or behind the scenes. Members of the organization have also reported being robbed and extorted by other Rain ninja. Everyone's gotten pretty nervous."
"Other Rain ninja?" Shiba Seika suddenly understood. "Hanzo the Salamander's men?"
"Yes." Yahiko nodded obediently.
"Why have they started targeting us all of a sudden? What have you been doing lately?" Shiba Seika pressed.
Yahiko sounded just as baffled. "We haven't done anything extra. We've just been doing what we always do: helping the people nearby, spreading our ideals, and taking in wandering orphans and refugees."
To be fair, Yahiko really was a good person, and the sort who put his beliefs into practice and handled everything himself. He was nothing like the sanctimonious do-gooders people would come to despise in later generations.
Unfortunately, they were living in a time of chaos, and Shiba Seika quickly spotted where Yahiko had gone wrong!
"Hold on, you've been helping people this whole time? How many supplies have you used up over the last few days?"
An awkward look came over Yahiko's face.
"Not that much. We've only... used up a quarter of what was in the warehouse."
Shiba Seika's eyes went wide.
How much?!
The secret warehouse Ando had stocked contained enough supplies to shake up prices across the Land of Rain!
And in just a few days, Yahiko had given away a quarter of it!
No wonder Hanzo's men had come to extort and rob them!
If he were in their shoes, he'd do the same! Who wouldn't be tempted by such an easy target?
Shiba Seika sighed. "Stop immediately, Yahiko! Pull back. The Rain ninja are everywhere out there."
Then Shiba Seika tapped his fingers rhythmically against the table as he gathered his thoughts, and asked, "Do you ever keep in touch with Hanzo the Salamander?"
Yahiko's expression grew even more awkward.
"Once in a while. I write to him."
"How often is 'once in a while'?"
"I wrote him a letter two years ago..."
Good grief. How many years ago had you even founded the Akatsuki Organization?
Shiba Seika was beginning to think more and more that Yahiko hadn't deserved any better than the death he met in the original story.
Having good intentions and the will to act was all well and good, but Yahiko was hopelessly bad at dealing with people.
The Land of Rain's nominal leader had always been Hanzo the Salamander!
In its early days, the Akatsuki Organization had been no more than an insignificant grassroots group. It could get away with not reporting its activities.
But now it had grown to this scale and recently acquired such a huge windfall, yet it still hadn't even bothered to give him a heads-up. What leader could tolerate that?
Shiba Seika remembered how he'd mocked Minato Namikaze not long ago. He hadn't expected his words to come back as a boomerang and hit them so soon—
You won't even call him "Demi-God." You have no respect for him at all.
Once he'd figured it out, Shiba Seika immediately knew what they needed to do.
"Stop handing out money at once, Yahiko. You're making enemies for the Akatsuki Organization!
"Also, take half the supplies you've used up over the last few days, seal them in scrolls, and send them as tribute to Hanzo the Salamander.
"And give me the channel you used to send those letters. I'll write Hanzo a letter."
As he spoke, he also asked one of Yahiko's followers nearby, "How's the copying going? The statement by Minato Namikaze that I asked you to reproduce?"
The man glanced at Yahiko. Seeing that even the leader had been scolded into silence, he had no choice but to answer honestly. "We've already made over a hundred copies, as you requested."
Shiba Seika nodded. "Good. Distribute those copies to the surrounding towns soon.
"Emphasize that Konoha's next Hokage made concessions out of respect for Hanzo's strength, and that Hanzo has once again protected the Land of Rain!
"Make sure you put it that way. Understand? Also, get the refugees who received our aid to spread the news. Ideally, it should reach the entire Land of Rain as soon as possible."
Yahiko's follower looked troubled and reluctant, and glanced at Yahiko several times.
But the recent conflicts had left Yahiko at his wits' end. He couldn't think of a solution, and he'd had to turn to Shiba Seika's wisdom himself. How could he stand up for his follower?
"Do as Seika says. We can't do without his wisdom right now."
Yahiko could only offer his follower that reassurance.
Shiba Seika chuckled. "I'm honored. It's not every day I hear you praise me like that."
Yahiko's cheeks twitched stiffly. He really didn't want to admit it, but he couldn't argue.
What stung even more was that, just then, Nagato and Konan walked in together and both congratulated him.
"Wonderful, Yahiko! You finally trust Seika's wisdom!"
Konan was one thing, but how had Nagato turned out like this while they were away, too?!
Yahiko couldn't even begin to describe how he felt.
Why did it feel like everything around him was changing so fast? He just couldn't get used to it!
Before you continue