Naive Ideals

After Danzo announced the official departure, all the ninjas immediately began moving rapidly toward Amegakure.

The ninjas traveled at a high speed; after only half a day, the delegation to Amegakure had already covered several dozen kilometers.

"Lord Danzo, it is noon. Shall we rest here for a while?" a trusted aide by Danzo's side asked him.

This ninja was named Yamanaka Rei, a member of the Yamanaka Clan who had joined Root since childhood and was one of Danzo's most trusted subordinates.

"Hmm, then let us rest here," Danzo nodded. His voice was hoarse, giving anyone who heard it an uncomfortable feeling.

Soon, the ninjas received the order to rest in place and stopped on a flat stretch of land. Aside from a few ninjas responsible for scouting and setting up temporary traps, everyone else began to rest to recover their stamina.

Uchiha Yusuke also leaned against a tree to rest, adjusting his state while observing the surroundings.

Just then, Yusuke saw Danzo walking slowly toward his direction, followed by several Root ninjas.

"Uchiha Yusuke, do you know the true purpose behind the Third Hokage sending you to supervise me?" Danzo asked in a deep voice upon reaching Yusuke.

"Ninjas do not need to ask for the reason when executing a mission," Yusuke gave a very official answer.

Although Yusuke understood a bit about the Third Hokage's intentions in his heart, he would not actually discuss these things with Danzo.

"Good, it seems you still have the awareness of a ninja," a cold glint flashed in Danzo's eyes; he was not satisfied with Yusuke's perfunctory answer.

However, Danzo seemed not to care and continued, "Root is currently lacking ninjas like you. Compared to those weak ninja organizations in the village, only Root truly embodies the way of the ninja."

Although Danzo detested the Uchiha Clan, he was actually a very rational person.

Danzo was clear that Yusuke had excellent potential, and he wanted to test if he could recruit Yusuke into Root.

Once Yusuke agreed, regardless of whether it was a sincere joining, Danzo was confident he had ways to firmly control Yusuke and turn him into a combat force in his hands.

Yusuke was slightly taken aback by Danzo's veiled recruitment. He had thought Danzo would deal with him, but he hadn't expected him to try to recruit him.

However, Yusuke was very clear that he and Danzo were not on the same path. Danzo thought that by hiding in the shadows, accumulating power, and playing political schemes, he could obtain the position of Hokage.

Yet in Yusuke's eyes, Danzo was merely a ghost hiding in the darkness; having adapted to the dark, he could never survive in the sunlight. Just like in the original story, the moment he became Hokage, it was destined that he was not far from his demise.

"Sorry, I have no intention of joining Root," Yusuke shook his head.

"Is that so? That is truly a pity," hearing Yusuke's refusal, Danzo said no more and turned around, seemingly preparing to leave.

But what Yusuke could not see was that, with his back turned, a murderous intent flashed in Danzo's eyes as he signaled his subordinates.

Suddenly, two Root ninjas flashed to Yusuke's sides, grabbing his shoulders from the left and right, attempting to restrain him.

Meanwhile, Yamanaka Rei, who was facing Yusuke, began forming hand seals, preparing to use the Yamanaka Clan's secret technique against Yusuke.

"Mind Body Switch Technique!" Yamanaka Rei finished his seals and, seeing that Yusuke was already held immobile by his two companions, revealed a look of joy.

However, Yusuke's body jolted; the two Root ninjas holding his shoulders felt a massive force strike them and lost their control over Yusuke.

Yusuke kicked the ninja on his left away with his left foot, while simultaneously pulling the ninja on his right in front of him, using him as a timely shield against the Mind Body Switch Technique.

The smile on Yamanaka Rei's face had not yet faded when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his abdomen.

It turned out that after he possessed the companion standing in front of Yusuke, Yusuke had delivered a fierce punch to that companion's stomach, and he, being in the state of the Mind Body Switch Technique, suffered the same damage.

Yusuke casually threw the Root ninja possessed by Yamanaka Rei sideways, smashing him into the other two ninjas rushing toward him.

The two ninjas were unable to dodge in time and had no choice but to retreat while catching their companion thrown by Yusuke.

Just at this moment, two hands suddenly reached out from the ground beneath Yusuke's feet, grabbing his ankles. It seemed they were preparing to use the 'Headhunter Jutsu' to trap him underground.

The Headhunter Jutsu was a common technique used by Earth Style ninjas to control enemies. By using Earth Style to sneak under the enemy's feet by surprise and quickly pulling them into the earth, leaving only their head exposed, the enemy would be rendered unable to move.

"Fire Style: Square Inch Scorched Earth," Yusuke sneered and quickly formed hand seals.

After the seals were completed, a ninjutsu seal appeared in a small area beneath Yusuke's feet, and the area covered by the seal immediately became like soil that had been scorched by the sun for months; the earth dried up and cracked, while a wave of heat radiated from the fissures in the soil, clearly indicating the temperature beneath the ground was not low.

"Ah!" A scream rang out, and a ninja covered in charred skin and emitting the scent of roasted meat jumped out from the ground beneath Yusuke's feet, and Yusuke, without a shred of sympathy, gave him another kick, sending him flying far away.

Just as Yusuke finished dealing with the first wave of attacking ninjas, another group of Root ninjas lunged at him, while a dozen kunai flew toward his position.

However, what left the Root ninjas staring at each other in confusion was that these kunai did not hit Yusuke; they passed straight through his body. They only saw Yusuke's body flickering in the air like flames, while crows wrapped in fire split off from his body, flew a circle in the sky, and then re-converged into Yusuke on a tree branch not far behind Danzo and the Root ninjas.

"Lord Danzo, shall we continue?" Yusuke crossed his arms, leaning against the tree trunk, looking at Danzo with a calm gaze.

At this point, Danzo's plan to have his subordinates ambush and restrain him had failed; if they continued to attack, he would no longer hold back.

Although he might not be able to defeat Danzo and all the Root ninjas present, he was very confident in killing a few and then leaving leisurely.

Hearing Yusuke's voice behind him, Danzo turned around, his gaze cold as he looked at Yusuke.

Although he had heard that Yusuke had performed exceptionally well in the previous Third Great Ninja War, no less than the genius ninja Hatake Kakashi, and held the title of 'Flame Tachi'.

But after the series of ambushes just now, Danzo's assessment of Yusuke's strength had greatly increased, placing him above Kakashi.

Whether it was taijutsu, reaction speed, or the speed of forming hand seals, Yusuke had displayed a very high level of skill.

"As expected of a genius of the Uchiha Clan, your skills are truly remarkable," Danzo said coldly, while waving his hand to stop the Root ninjas who wanted to continue forward.

The ambush had failed, and Danzo said no more, leading his subordinates away from the area where Yusuke was.

However, in Danzo's heart, he had already placed Yusuke on his kill list. He absolutely would not allow any Konoha ninja to defy him, especially not a ninja from the Uchiha Clan!

Seeing Danzo back down, Yusuke continued to lean against the tree to rest.

Although Yusuke appeared very calm and casual, in reality, his mental energy was highly concentrated, paying attention to every move of Danzo and the Root ninjas to prevent them from harboring evil intentions again.

"This mission is no walk in the park; the Third Hokage really has set a difficult problem for himself." Looking at Danzo and the Root ninjas not far away, Yusuke sighed inwardly.

Shortly after the Konoha delegation finished their rest, they continued their journey toward Amegakure. The sneak attack by the Root ninjas on Yusuke just now was merely a minor interlude, and both Danzo and Yusuke acted as if nothing had happened at all.

Meanwhile, within the territory of Amegakure, an organization known as the Akatsuki was conducting various secret activities, which had also begun to draw the attention of the actual ruler of Amegakure.

Inside a hidden base, the true founders of the Akatsuki, Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan, were in the middle of a conversation. At this time, the Akatsuki members were wearing plain black robes without any red clouds embroidered on them.

"This is great! More and more ninjas are willing to join us. I believe that one day, our philosophy will be able to eliminate all wars in the world." Under the dim candlelight, Yahiko, with his short yellow hair, spoke with excitement.

At the time of its inception, the Akatsuki was not a terrorist organization, nor did it have any plans to capture Tailed Beasts or execute the Eye of the Moon project.

In reality, the Akatsuki was initially founded by three young people who simply yearned for peace, establishing the organization with the tenet of "building peace without relying on force."

Back then, the Akatsuki used Amegakure—sandwiched between the three great nations of Konoha, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure—as their base, moving between the major powers, recruiting wandering ninjas who shared their longing for peace, and promoting their philosophy of peace in every country.

During this period, the Akatsuki was effectively led by Yahiko. Yahiko was not only highly charismatic but also possessed strong leadership skills.

Many wandering ninjas in the vicinity joined the Akatsuki out of admiration for his reputation and were willing to accept his leadership.

"That's right, Yahiko. As long as enough people acknowledge our ideas, even the great nations will have no choice but to stop the wars!" Nagato, with his red hair and the Rinnegan already awakened, smiled.

By this time, Nagato's strength was already extraordinary; in terms of combat power, he was far superior to Yahiko. However, Nagato also believed that Yahiko was the best leader, and he intended to use his own strength to help Yahiko achieve the ideal of "peace in the ninja world."

"I recently received news that a Konoha delegation will be visiting Amegakure to negotiate with Hanzo regarding war reparations. The leader of this Konoha delegation is named Danzo, a high-ranking official of Konoha, though his specific character is not yet clear," Nagato said.

Upon hearing this, Yahiko's face lit up with joy: "Do you think this could be an opportunity for us? We could convey our philosophy to the Konoha delegation, and through them, to the entire Land of Fire! The Land of Fire is the most powerful nation in the ninja world; if our philosophy can spread there, then we won't be far from gaining recognition from the entire ninja world."

Nagato nodded: "This is indeed a good opportunity. Some time ago, the leader of Amegakure, Hanzo, sent people to pass a message to us, hoping to make contact and use us as a pivot to propose peace negotiations to the three surrounding great nations. Perhaps we can use this chance to reach a peace treaty with both Konoha and Amegakure simultaneously."

"It seems that even the 'demigod' of the ninja world can no longer ignore our existence!" Yahiko said. At this moment, his eyes were filled with confidence and longing for the future, firmly believing that his ideal was about to take a major step forward.

To the side, Konan sat quietly on a chair, her gaze fixed tenderly on the two of them, a simple and satisfied smile on her face.

For her, Yahiko and Nagato were everything. As long as their ideals could be realized, she was willing to give everything to assist them. Although the road ahead was bumpy, as long as the three of them were together, it didn't matter.

However, the three of them, still very naive at this time, did not realize that an event that would change their lifelong philosophy and destiny was about to occur!