A Brand-New Akatsuki

Am I not dead?

Yahiko slowly opened his eyes, his voice very weak.

Konan, who was looking after Nagato, was suddenly startled and rushed to Yahiko's side, crying out, "Yahiko!"

Seeing Konan step forward, Shiraha raised his hand and gestured, "Don't touch him. If the wound reopens, no one can save him."

As he spoke, Shiraha activated the defensive range of the "Barrier" spell, blocking the continuous raindrops from Yahiko.

Upon hearing this, Konan paused, knelt on the ground, and dared not breathe, for fear of affecting Shiraha's treatment of Yahiko.

After Shiraha finished the initial treatment, he got up and carried the unconscious Nagato to Yahiko's side.

At this point, Nagato had become emaciated, transforming from a healthy young man in his early twenties into someone who looked like a fifty-year-old man.

His legs were a bloody mess, with bones protruding, and the pungent smell of blood was nauseating.

Shiraha used Senjutsu Chakra to examine Nagato's body and found that his Chakra was nearly depleted. If it weren't for the Uzumaki Clan's strong physique and vitality, an ordinary person would be dead by now.

As for Nagato's leg injuries, that was more complicated. Summoning the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path had consumed a large amount of his Chakra and life force, so conventional treatments could not restore his legs to normal.

After all, even if Shiraha helps Nawaki Limb Regeneration and re-cultivates and transplants his legs, the prerequisite is that Nawaki's body is healthy and strong, not that he is drained like Nagato.

We must first help Nagato recover his depleted life force before we can heal his legs.

Thinking of this, Shiraha frowned slightly.

At this moment, the weakened Yahiko lay flat on the ground, tilting his head to look at the drastically changed Nagato, and was immediately shocked. "How could Nagato have become like this?!"

Konan explained, "Hanzo wanted to kill us, Nagato used the power of the Rinnegan to save me and summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path."

"That guy!" Noticing Nagato's destroyed legs, Yahiko was filled with self-reproach. "It's all my fault! I was too naive! Hanzo's offer was too good to be true, and I..."

"Now is not the time to discuss responsibility. Nagato's injuries are much harder to treat than yours!" Shiraha said in a deep voice.

"Mr. Kodama, please heal Nagato! We are willing to pay any price!" Yahiko said excitedly.

"Since I saved you, I won't give up on this kid either." Shiraha glanced at Yahiko with annoyance, and then said, "It's just that the kid's injuries are mainly due to damage to his life force. I can save his life, but he will be in a wheelchair for a considerable period of time in the future."

"How could this happen?!" Konan's expression was filled with guilt as she blamed herself, "It's all my fault for being so careless and getting captured by Hanzo's men. Otherwise, you wouldn't have been hurt because of me!"

"Konan, this isn't your fault. I trusted Hanzo." After saying this, Yahiko seemed to let out a sigh of relief.

"I've said it before, reality will show you what the price of naivety is."

Shiraha said calmly.

As he spoke, he clasped his hands together, forming a mudra.

' Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!'

Rumble~

The earth trembled slightly, then cracked inch by inch. Thick tree trunks emerged from the cracks as if they were alive, and then transformed into a giant Wood Dragon more than thirty meters long. It lifted the four people onto its head and headed towards the Akatsuki base.

On the cliff, Obito witnessed everything that was happening before his eyes, and his heart was shaken.

"This is Wood Release! It really was him! He's the one who stole Rin's 'corpse'!"

With this outfit and the same Wood Dragon Technique, Obito cannot use this level of Wood Release Ninjutsu yet, since his body has only been fused with Hashirama cells for a few months.

This person named Kodama is the mysterious person who saved Kakashi and took Rin's body before.

Since White Zetsu Tobi can also use the Wood Dragon Technique, is currently encasing Obito's body in a shell, and has been doing so for some time, it is definitely Kodama.

"Could it be... that Rin isn't dead?!" Obito's pupils constricted as he considered this astonishing possibility.

Because Yahiko had just crashed into the Kunai in Nagato's hand, the amount of bleeding was so great that even the most elite Medical Ninja, even Tsunade and Shiraha, couldn't save Yahiko.

But the Kodama did it.

"But Rin's heart was pierced by the White Fang Short Sword," Obito struggled internally.

Compared to Yahiko, Rin's injuries were more severe; a punctured heart is an injury that is almost impossible to treat.

Obito both hoped that Rin was still alive and feared that the hope that had been raised so hard would be shattered, leading to even greater despair.

He had made up his mind to walk into darkness and didn't want to waver anymore, but Lin was the only exception for him.

"What a pity. I didn't expect that such an injury could be healed. This Kodama is really amazing! What should we do? In this case, can it still lead Nagato into darkness?" White Zetsu Original felt a little regretful.

"Yahiko's injury wasn't fatal, so it's not entirely impossible for him to recover. If it were a heart or neck injury, he probably wouldn't survive," Black Zetsu's deep, hoarse voice rang out, glancing at Obito beside him, his words carrying a hidden meaning.

Clearly, Black Zetsu realized, through the story of Shiraha healing Yahiko, that Rin, who had suffered a fatal injury, might also be healed. The key is that Obito must not waver, otherwise it will affect the plan that has been prepared for a thousand years.

"Even if Yahiko isn't dead, I believe Nagato will finally face reality, and I will guide them to complete the plan." Obito's voice regained its coldness, no longer harboring any illusions about Rin being alive.

As for what he truly thinks deep down, only he himself knows.

"What about that Kodama? He's quite strong, and if he turns against us, he'll be a huge problem! Besides, we've never even heard of the Infinite Ring organization?"

Black Zetsu asked.

Black Zetsu was extremely wary of this Kodama that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, because he had been lying low in the Shinobi World for over a thousand years and knew nothing about this organization. Even if it was a new organization with such powerful members, he had to be careful.

He would do everything in his power to eliminate anyone who might hinder the rescue of his mother, Kaguya.

"We don't need to pay attention to him for now. Since his organization is going to cooperate with Akatsuki, we will have more opportunities to contact him in the future and we will be able to find out his background sooner or later."

For now, we can utilize his strength to work for Akatsuki in the early stages. If he hinders our plans later, we'll eliminate him then.

To collect the Tailed Beast, you need strong combat power. Wood Release is perfect for countering Tailed Beast. The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is very powerful. Didn't Tobi suffer at her hands?

"Later, we can use the Infinite Ring to deal with the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki and Yagami Shiraha."

Dodai, adopting Madara's perspective, calmly analyzed the situation.

"That's true. Madara left Kirigakure as a backup plan. When the time comes, we can mobilize the entire Kirigakure to deal with those two from Land of Whirlpools." Black Zetsu replied. For now, he could only act according to Obito's ideas. After all, he had no power. The identity he was currently impersonating was Madara's will. In the end, he still had to obey Obito's orders and could not go against Obito.

"Let's go. Now is the perfect time to go find Nagato."

"Obito said in a deep voice."

After he finished speaking, ripples spread through the space where he was, and he disappeared into the spatial Uzumaki. Meanwhile Black and White Zetsu disappeared underground and quickly transferred underground using the Mayfly Technique.

In the mountains south of Amegakure, Danzo in a tight-fitting combat suit.

Whoosh whoosh!

Three Root Ninja appeared before Danzo.

"Danzo, what's wrong? Where are the other members?"

Upon Danzo, Danzo feigned composure and said, "The plan has changed. All the other Anbu have been killed in action. Go to the scene and retrieve the bodies of all the Root Ninja. Do not leave any trace related to Konoha."

"Yes!" The three Root Ninja accepted the order. Although they knew that an enemy capable of killing more than a dozen elite Anbu must be exceptionally powerful, they had to carry out the mission even if Danzo sent them to their deaths. That was the Root.

As Danzo watched the three figures disappear quickly, Danzo face gradually darkened.

We've lost a lot of money this time!

The Anbu he brought were all elites from Root, and their strength was not weak. Unexpectedly, they were all wiped out.

I never imagined that such a terrifying ninja would be hidden in a newly formed organization in the small country of the Land of Rain.

"Fortunately, the alliance between Akatsuki and Hanzo was disrupted, otherwise..." Danzo was generally satisfied with the outcome of this operation.

After all, the Akatsuki is very powerful. If they really join forces with Hanzo, they might become a major enemy of Konoha in the future.

Now that Hanzo has incurred the wrath of the Akatsuki, internal strife will inevitably ensue in the Land of Rain, which will be advantageous to Konoha.

As for the ninjas who died, they all sacrificed themselves for the peace of Konoha, and their deaths were not without value.

"Rinnegan! Another Wood Release ninja. The Shinobi World is hiding so many powerful individuals, and there's so much more information I don't know."

Danzo's heart was stirred as he recalled the terrifying secret technique Nagato used to summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

If one could obtain the legendary Rinnegan, becoming the Hokage of Konoha would be a certainty, and unifying the Shinobi World would be within reach. Surpassing the First Hokage, the God of Shinobi, would not be impossible.

However, given Nagato's demonstrated combat strength, it would be extremely difficult for him to plan for the Rinnegan; he would have to take a long-term approach.

On the contrary, it was the sudden appearance of another Wood Release ninja that surprised Danzo.

"Besides Kagami and Nawaki, there's another ninja who can use Wood Release. Could it be Orochimaru's doing? Damn Orochimaru, he's been hiding something from me. It seems he's made a new breakthrough in his research on Wood Style Secret Technique. I have no choice but to agree to his conditions."

Danzo secretly scoffed to himself, thinking that Orochimaru was nothing special, but he hadn't expected that Orochimaru would first fully develop the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, and then conceal the progress of his Wood Release Experiment.

Danzo had originally planned to sever ties with Orochimaru as soon as possible, but now it seems he needs to maintain contact with him.

"If I use the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu to summon the First and Second Hokage, their abilities should be able to counter the power of the Rinnegan. However, Orochimaru probably won't sabotage the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu, right? If I can't control them, then it's pointless. I should summon Kinkaku and Ginkaku first, extract the Nine-Tails Chakra, create False Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, and stabilize my power in Konoha."

Knowing that he would be held accountable for the deaths of more than a dozen elite Root, Hanzo quickly devised a plan.

Danzo Orochimaru, causing him to lose his position as the Fourth Hokage and be forced to defect.

Given Orochimaru's personality, he certainly wouldn't bother explaining, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't retaliate, so Danzo remained very wary.

After much deliberation, he decided to summon the weaker Kinkaku and Ginkaku first. As for the First and Second Hokage, he would wait until he had further developed this Forbidden Technique and eliminated any potential threats before using it.

Danzo thought about what he had done over the years. Although most of it was for Konoha, there were also many things that the Second Hokage could not forgive. As the Second Hokage Hokage's disciple, he knew Tobirama Senju's personality very well, and there were some things that would definitely not be forgiven.

After all, the Impure World Reincarnation was developed by the Second Hokage Second Hokage. If the Second Hokage left some backup plan and the summoned creatures lost control, wouldn't he be digging his own grave?

"The Rinnegan, Wood Release, Shinobi World Hokage position —the entire ninja world will be mine sooner or later." Danzo gazed at the location of Amegakure and made a silent vow.

After returning to Konoha to recuperate for a few years and train a new batch of elites, we will then try to seize the Rinnegan.

Shiraha Kazumi, Yahiko, Nagato, Konan did not return to the tower stronghold not far from Amegakure.

Because halfway there, Yahiko, Nagato, Konan had already discovered the bodies of Kyusuke and the others. Almost all of the core members that Akatsuki had accumulated over several years were wiped out, with only a few members who had gone out to gather intelligence surviving the disaster.

Yahiko felt immense guilt.

The four arrived at the cave stronghold that the Akatsuki had previously used.

Nagato remained unconscious.

Shiraha had already bandaged the wounds on his legs.

As for the Black Rod embedded in his back, Shiraha is currently unable to deal with them, because these Black Rod are deeply embedded in his back, many of them close to his internal organs. If they are pulled out, he will die from massive bleeding.

Fortunately, the Uzumaki Clan has strong vitality; an ordinary person would probably have died long ago.

"What's going on? These Black Rod are interfering with Chakra so strongly!"

Shiraha touched the Black Rod Black Rod several times and found that his Chakra was affected whenever his hand touched it.

In this situation, if the Black Rod is used as a weapon, it would be an absolute godsend for dealing with ninjas.

Shiraha doesn't need Chakra; he can use Magic Power and Mental Power, but normal ninjas can't.

If a top-tier fighter were to touch the Black Rod during a battle, the outcome of the fight could be decided in a second or two. This Black Rod is strange.

So Shiraha used his Special Scalpel to scrape some black powder off the Black Rod, intending to use it for research.

During the scraping of the Black Rod powder, Nagato awoke from her coma.

"Yahiko?!" Nagato was lying on his side, noticed Yahiko lying next to him and his eyes widened suddenly. "You're not dead?! That's great!"

Looking at Nagato's miserable state, Yahiko said with remorse, "I'm sorry! Nagato, it's all because of me."

"Yahiko, this is not your fault! Who would have thought that Hanzo, who was worshipped by everyone in the Land of Rain, was actually a treacherous villain!" Nagato's eyes were filled with killing intent.

"Mr. Kodama, we are so grateful to you for saving us this time!"

Noticing that the wounds on her legs had been bandaged, and the cool sensation gradually lessened the excruciating pain, Nagato looked at Kodama beside her and expressed her heartfelt gratitude.

"This incident isn't entirely a bad thing for you; at least it has shown you the gap between ideals and reality," Shiraha said calmly.

"I will make Hanzo pay for this sooner or later! I will make him feel the same pain as us!" Nagato's voice turned cold.

Konan and Yahiko both sensed Nagato's change, but they didn't know what to say; this lesson had been far too painful.

Almost all of their like-minded companions were killed or wounded.

"Am I right?"

Obito's voice suddenly rang out.

When the four looked closely, they realized that he had appeared in the stronghold at some point.

Yahiko and Konan looked at Obito with wary expressions as he suddenly appeared.

However, Nagato remained calm, recalling Obito's earlier words, and said in a deep voice:

"Staying in the name of peace is selfish and will only lead to war. In order to protect love, hatred will follow. In this cursed world, there is no true peace! People will not understand each other. Only by tasting pain will they feel fear and understand pain."

"That's it." Obito responded calmly, sensing Nagato's completely different behavior from before.

Black and White Zetsu reassured. Although things had deviated somewhat from the plan and Yahiko, that troublesome guy, hadn't died, as long as Nagato's mindset had changed and he accepted their plan, that was enough.

After all, it was Nagato who possessed the Rinnegan, and all they needed was Nagato.

"Nagato." Yahiko hesitated, but was stopped by Shiraha raising his hand.

"People's understanding of things is not static. This experience has fundamentally changed Nagato's understanding of the world. He no longer agrees with your set of ideas, so there's no point in trying to persuade him anymore." Shiraha gestured to Yahiko not to try to persuade him anymore, and then asked in return, "Even you yourself, even now, if you still insist that an era of mutual understanding between people will eventually come, will you still trust others as you did before?"

Yahiko fell silent, for his own beliefs were also beginning to waver.

For the first time, he questioned Teacher Jiraiya's philosophy.

Perhaps only by experiencing the same pain can people truly understand each other.

At this moment, Obito sensed that Yahiko and Shiraha seemed to agree with his ideas, so he said, "In that case, you can also join us in correcting this distorted world."

"This world does indeed need correction, but you have your methods and I have mine." Shiraha shook his head slightly and said, "I still stand by what I said: the Infinite Ring hopes to cooperate with the Akatsuki to bring peace to this world."

"It seems you still harbor naive thoughts." Obito's voice deepened. "When you suffer the same pain, I wonder if you can still remain so naive."

Obito's words were addressed to both Shiraha and Yahiko.

"What do you say? Do you want to cooperate with the Infinite Ring? Of course, I can also join Akatsuki as a temporary member to help you rebuild and strengthen Akatsuki."

As I've said before, once basic survival and safety needs are met, people might begin to understand each other. If you're willing to pursue such peace, I'm happy to help.

As for the approach of purely using force, or simply destroying the world, I do not agree with it.

Shiraha looked at Yahiko.

Although Nagato's mindset has changed, Yahiko Akatsuki.

Welcome to the company.

Yahiko didn't say much, but simply extended his hand. Shiraha proved himself with his actions, Yahiko had no reason not to trust him.

"And you, Nagato?" Obito frowned beneath his mask, looking at Nagato, and said, "Are you going to continue being as naive as them?"

Nagato fell silent. Although he felt the Masked Man was right, he still trusted Yahiko and Kodama.

"Since that's the case, I'll join Akatsuki too. I want to witness firsthand the failure that will result from your continued naivety. This hopeless world will disappoint you once again."

Obito said calmly.