"Kill him?"
Yahiko wondered if his ears were playing tricks on him. He stared at the man hovering in midair, unable to believe what he'd just heard.
"You want us to kill Hanzo the Salamander?"
It was the most absurd order imaginable.
Who was Hanzo the Salamander?
He was the man who had ended the Second Shinobi World War single-handedly, earning the title of "demigod"! He stood at the very top of the Land of Rain! He was the very person they had just made contact with, the one they hoped to join forces with to bring about peace!
And now this stranger, appearing out of nowhere, was telling them to kill Hanzo the moment he opened his mouth?
"What kind of joke is this?" Yahiko's anger flared. He pointed at Lin Feng and shouted, "Who do you think you are? God? What gives you the right to order us around? Why should we listen to you?"
Konan looked grave as well. The paper fluttering around her whipped through the air even faster, shielding her and Yahiko and Nagato behind her.
This demand went far beyond testing them. He was forcing them to go to their deaths.
Only Nagato said nothing. He just trembled even harder.
He stared at the man. In those purple eyes, identical to his own, there was no madness or mockery, only the matter-of-fact certainty of someone stating the obvious.
As if, in his eyes, killing "demigod" Hanzo the Salamander was as easy as crushing an ant.
"God?" Lin Feng repeated the word, then gave a soft chuckle. His laughter rang out through the cold rain, grating on the ears. "I'm no god. I'm just here to reclaim what's mine and, while I'm at it, correct a mistake."
He raised a finger and pointed at Yahiko from afar.
"And you're the biggest mistake of all."
"Your so-called ideal of peace is childish, naive, and utterly foolish. You put your hopes in a butcher with blood on his hands, then expect to change him through 'dialogue'? What a joke."
"You're lying! Hanzo wouldn't conspire with Root of Konoha!" Yahiko protested furiously. "What proof do you have?"
"Proof?" Lin Feng sounded amused. "I am the proof."
"My word is the greatest proof in this world. Believe me, or die. You have no third option."
He drifted a little closer. The invisible pressure made it almost impossible for Yahiko to breathe.
"You!" Yahiko's face flushed with anger, and he tried to say more.
But the next moment, his whole body froze.
The ground beneath his feet—the rain-soaked dirt and pebbles—began slowly rising, as if countless invisible hands were lifting them.
Then an irresistible force of attraction came from the palm of the man in the sky!
"Banshō Ten'in."
Lin Feng softly uttered the four words.
Yahiko instantly lost control of his body. His feet left the ground, and he flew helplessly toward Lin Feng!
"Yahiko!" Konan cried. Her paper wings snapped open, and countless strips of paper turned into ropes that wrapped around Yahiko, trying to pull him back.
But the moment those paper ropes touched him, an even stronger force snapped them apart!
"Let him go!"
Nagato, who had been silent in the corner, finally exploded into action.
He jerked his head up, and an astonishing repulsive force burst from his Rinnegan!
"Shinra Tensei!"
Boom!
A violent repulsive force erupted from him, trying to shove Yahiko away from the strange pull.
Two forces from the same Rinnegan, yet opposite in nature, collided violently in midair!
Szzzt—
A grating sound rang through the air. Even space seemed to warp under the pressure of the two forces.
Caught between them, Yahiko felt as if his body were about to be torn apart!
Nagato's face turned deathly pale. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.
To his horror, he realized that his "Shinra Tensei" was being pushed back, inch by inch, by his opponent's pull!
His opponent's power was not only stronger than his, but also purer and more concentrated! It was like refined steel against crude iron!
"Hmph. A firefly dares to rival the bright moon?"
Lin Feng snorted and slightly curled his fingers.
The pull suddenly intensified!
Pfft!
Nagato spat out a mouthful of blood and flew backward, crashing into the rock wall. The repulsive field he had released collapsed instantly.
With no resistance left, Yahiko was sucked right up to Lin Feng. Lin Feng clamped a hand around his throat and lifted him into the air.
"Yahiko!"
Konan charged forward without hesitation, but as soon as she came within three meters of Lin Feng, an invisible force flung her away. She crashed heavily to the ground.
It had all happened in the blink of an eye.
The three members of the Akatsuki who had just been so full of spirit were now one captive and two badly injured.
Choked by Lin Feng's grip, Yahiko struggled desperately with his arms and legs, gasping for air, but he couldn't budge that hand in the slightest.
He stared in terror at the face so close to his.
Cold, powerful, invincible.
Was this... the difference between them?
"Do you see, Nagato?" Lin Feng ignored the struggling Yahiko in his hand and looked toward Nagato, who was struggling to get back to his feet in the distance.
"This is the comrade you're so proud of. This is the person you want to protect. In front of me, he's so weak he can't even put up a fight."
"You're wasting the power that should be used to rule the world on protecting someone this weak. That alone is the greatest blasphemy against those eyes."
Every word he spoke drove like a knife into Nagato's heart.
"L-let him go..." Nagato clutched his chest and forced the words out. His Rinnegan was filled with pain and inner conflict.
"Beg me," Lin Feng said calmly.
Nagato froze.
"I said, beg me." Lin Feng's voice remained level. "Look at me with those eyes of yours. Bow that proud head of yours and beg me to let him go. Let me see just how much those so-called 'bonds' mean to you."
Humiliation!
An unprecedented sense of humiliation washed over Nagato.
He was a descendant of the Uzumaki Clan, a man with the God's Eye. And now he had to bow and beg someone else with the same eyes?
He looked at Yahiko, who dangled in the air, his face already turning purple.
His best friend's life, or his own dignity...
Nagato's body shook violently. His knees began to bend, little by little.
"Don't! Nagato!" Yahiko shouted with the last of his strength. "Don't kneel to him! We... we did nothing wrong!"
Yahiko's words struck Nagato like a bolt of lightning.
His bent knees straightened abruptly.
That was right!
They had done nothing wrong!
What was wrong with striving for peace?!
Nagato lifted his head. The pain and conflict faded from his Rinnegan, replaced by a determination unlike any he had ever felt.
"We... will never give in!"
"Oh?" Lin Feng raised an eyebrow, a little surprised. He seemed not to have expected this timid kid to say something like that.
The hand around Yahiko's throat tightened.
"Is that so? Then I'll crush him first, and ask you again."
Yahiko was about to suffocate.
Suddenly—
"Enough!"
A clear, cold voice rang out.
It was Konan.
She rose from the ground, wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, and put away all her paper—and all her hostility.
She walked up to Lin Feng, raised her head, and looked at him calmly.
"We accept your terms."
"We'll kill Hanzo the Salamander."
Konan's words stunned both Yahiko and Nagato.
"Konan! You..." Yahiko struggled to speak.
"Be quiet, Yahiko," Konan cut him off. "We have no choice."
She looked at Lin Feng and spoke one word at a time. "But you have to let him go first. And you have to tell us who you are and what your purpose is."
This was the best deal she could hope to get.
She was trading an almost impossible mission for her comrade's life and some valuable information.
Lin Feng looked at the blue-haired kunoichi before him and couldn't help admiring her.
Rational, decisive, and able to weigh her options.
She was far better than those two hotheaded fools.
"Fine."
Lin Feng released Yahiko at once.
Yahiko dropped to the ground with a thud, clutching his throat as he coughed violently.
"You're not worthy of knowing my name yet." Lin Feng slowly drifted down to the ground and folded his arms across his chest again. "As for my purpose..."
He paused, his Rinnegan sweeping over the three of them.
"It's simple."
"This world is sick. And I'm the doctor who's come to cure it."
"As for Hanzo the Salamander... he's the biggest cancer in this country. Removing him is only the first step in the treatment."
"I'll give you three days."
"Three days from now, bring me his head. If you fail, or try to run..."
Lin Feng's figure began to turn indistinct, and the space around him twisted once more.
"I'll act personally and show you what true despair means."
Before the vortex swallowed him completely, he left them with one final sentence, meant only for Nagato.
"Nagato, remember how you feel today."
"That helplessness, that humiliation, the feeling of watching your comrade suffer and being powerless to do anything."
"Savor it. Then... yearn for power."
His voice vanished, and so did he.
The three members of the Akatsuki were left standing in the cold rain, staring at one another.
"Konan, why did you agree to that? That was Hanzo!" Yahiko demanded, now able to catch his breath.
Konan didn't answer. She simply walked over and helped the injured Nagato to his feet.
Nagato kept his head lowered and said nothing, but his fists were clenched tight, his nails digging deep into his flesh.
Helplessness... humiliation...
The man's words echoed in his mind like a curse.
Suddenly, Konan seemed to notice something. She bent down and picked something up from the ground.
It was a small fragment of black metal, engraved with a symbol they knew all too well.
A fan-shaped crest.
"This is..." Konan's pupils suddenly contracted.
"The Uchiha Clan crest!"
Before you continue