A Carefully Planned Encounter

"What! Konan, you found them!?" Yahiko asked urgently.

He could hardly believe his ears. For a moment, he didn't even register what Konan had said. They had been searching for the three Konoha Ninja for three months. They had faced countless hardships without making any progress, and by now everyone was starting to lose hope. Then, out of nowhere, they heard this news.

"I got a good look at them. It's definitely them!" Konan nodded firmly. While checking the nearby outposts today, she had unexpectedly spotted the very people they had been searching for.

"Where are they?"

Even Yuehua Ai could no longer stay calm. The Sannin were their only chance to change their current situation. If they missed them, no one could say what would become of them.

"They're in the caves by the riverbank. I saw them resting there."

"Good. Everyone, come on!" Yahiko nodded at Konan's words and called to the others.

"We're going there now. Konan, lead the way. They might move, so we need to get there as fast as we can!"

Konan, Yahiko, and Yuehua Ai nodded. Without another word, Konan took the lead, running ahead to show them the way, while the other youngsters hurried after her.

After the initial excitement of hearing the news, the youngsters were mostly left feeling anxious. If the Sannin hadn't left yet, then their three months of searching would finally have come to something. But facing an unknown future, they couldn't help feeling torn between hope and worry.

The youngsters ran with all their might and reached the place Konan had described in less than five minutes.

It was close to the riverbank, beneath a vast cliff. The cliff wasn't especially tall, but it stretched a long way along the river. Countless caves and hollows dotted its face. They had formed when floodwaters washed the soil out from between the rocks. As long as the river wasn't running too high, water wouldn't spill into them.

Many of the caves and hollows were connected, with stone pillars linking the walls above and below. In some ways, they resembled the limestone caves Yuehua Ai had seen in his previous life, though these had only damp, gray stone walls, nothing like the dazzling beauty of those caves.

The caves were dark, but spacious enough to make a rare natural shelter from the rain. The Sannin weren't the only ones who used them. Other Ninja often stopped here to rest, and in peacetime, traveling merchants regularly gathered here to take a break.

By the time the youngsters arrived, they were already gasping for breath. Running at full speed for five minutes was no easy feat. It was like a hundred-meter dash at an athletic event on Earth: the runners might reach the finish line in less than ten seconds, but they would still be exhausted afterward.

Once they reached their destination, everyone grew tense. Konan held her breath and quietly went to take a look. The three Konoha Ninja were still there. She returned and told the others, who breathed a sigh of relief—only to find themselves at a loss over what to do next.

They had searched for the Sannin because they wanted to learn ninjutsu from them, but now that the moment had come, none of them could make up their minds. They couldn't just suddenly show up in front of the three and bluntly say they wanted to learn ninjutsu, could they? Never mind how the Ninja might react—they couldn't get past their own reservations. That would be so awkward!

After resting a little and catching their breath, they couldn't help sneaking aside to discuss their options in hushed voices.

They talked back and forth for ages, rejecting one plan after another. They didn't know what the three Ninja were like or what they thought of orphans from an enemy country. Yuehua Ai and the others had no idea how to make their first move.

An accidental meeting, followed by a spur-of-the-moment urge to become someone's pupil, was one thing. But because they had deliberately searched for the Sannin, the whole matter had grown complicated in their minds.

"Maybe... I should go ask them," Nagato said at last, unable to bear the arguing any longer. In truth, he didn't want to face the Konoha Ninja at all. It had taken great courage for him to speak up. He thought that since he had the Rinnegan, he might be able to protect himself even if the other side meant them harm. He couldn't control the Rinnegan's power, but his eyes would react instinctively, giving him a better chance of staying safe than his companions.

Nagato had changed a great deal. Ever since Yuehua Ai had told him that his eyes were the same Rinnegan as the Sage of Six Paths, he had not only put some of his doubts to rest but also gained confidence.

"How can we let you do that? If anyone's going, it should be me!" Yahiko immediately rejected Nagato's suggestion. As the oldest in the group, how could he stand by and let someone else take the risk?

"But..."

Nagato had just started to say more when Yahiko waved a hand and cut him off.

"Even if you have a special power, Nagato, I won't let you go into danger by yourself."

Yahiko had lost consciousness during their earlier encounter with the rogue Ninja, so he didn't know what had happened afterward. But in the time since, he had learned the details from Konan. He knew Nagato possessed power far beyond his own. Still, Nagato couldn't control that power, and as long as he was alive, Yahiko couldn't let a companion face danger alone.

"Yahiko..." Seeing how utterly resolute Yahiko was, Nagato could only bite his lip hard.

"All right, stop arguing. We need to decide soon. Those three Ninja might be about to leave!"

Ninja generally didn't stay in one place for long. A fair amount of time had already passed since Konan spotted them, and the others reached the caves. Seeing that nobody could make up their minds, Yuehua Ai spoke up to remind them.

"What!?" At Yuehua Ai's reminder, the youngsters' faces changed, and their anxiety only grew.

Seeing their expressions, Yuehua Ai couldn't help smiling to himself. But his own composure came only from being more mature than the others; he was only a little less nervous than they were. How could he not worry at a moment that might change the course of their lives?

"Stop overthinking it. I have an idea," Yuehua Ai said.

"What is it?"

"Yahiko and I will go over together. Nagato and Konan can wait here."

"No! If you're going, we're all going!" It wasn't just Nagato—Konan couldn't accept it either. Two would go while two stayed behind? What was the point? If danger came, it wasn't as if they could just abandon Ai and Yahiko and run away!

Yuehua Ai only smiled at Konan's protest, then took her hand.

"Come on. Yahiko and I are just going to pretend we ran into them by chance and sound them out. Nagato and Konan aren't very good at disguising themselves. We've been searching for them for months, and Ninja don't like meetings that are so obviously planned!"

"Pretend? But is that really a good idea?" Konan and Nagato still looked worried.

"Anything planned in advance can make people wary. We can't let anything slip this time, or things could go badly. Besides, Yahiko and I won't come right out and say we want to learn ninjutsu from them. We need to find out what they're like first. And no matter what happens, Nagato mustn't reveal his eyes. Those three aren't some random Ninja. Who knows how one of them might react if they saw Nagato's eyes?"

When he mentioned one of them, Yuehua Ai couldn't help thinking of the figure he had just caught a glimpse of. He still felt a sense of awe toward Orochimaru's knowledge and madness.

Hearing Ai say that one of the three Ninja might know about his eyes made Nagato tense up. After Yuehua Ai had explained them to him, he now had a much clearer understanding of his eyes.

"Let's do what Ai says. Just wait for our signal," Yahiko said, wholeheartedly agreeing with Yuehua Ai's suggestion. This was exactly the kind of test he had in mind.

Yahiko talked them around in the end. Though Nagato and Konan were still worried, they had no choice but to agree.