Yahiko's Quartet

Tap, tap!

The rain fell in a steady, pattering drizzle.

A figure scurried stealthily from afar, spotting sparse trees and a rushing riverbed.

He looked around cautiously, and only after confirming no one was following did he continue forward.

He moved through the rain just like an ordinary refugee in the Land of Rain.

He's the spy hidden beside Lord Hanzō—I never expected it to be him!

Could he be from Iwagakure, or Konoha?

Yahiko led Konan, Nagato, and Kyūsuke, tailing the man from behind.

Through the efforts of Akatsuki, they had finally found some clues and today caught the spy hiding near Hanzō.

With time running out, they had no chance to notify Hanzō and could only take action themselves, following the spy all the way here.

Konan: It looks like the enemy is making a major move this time. We can't let him deliver Lord Hanzō's intelligence to them, or the Land of Rain's strength will become even weaker.

"Mm, based on current analysis, the other party should have backup waiting. I'll scout ahead first."

Kyūsuke, with his black hair and handsome looks, formed hand seals with both hands.

Bang--!

Summoning Technique!

Following the summoning formula, countless little mice were summoned out, scurrying off in all directions.

Meanwhile, Konan also formed seals, sending countless paper cranes flying from her hands.

Most of them followed right behind that spy.

Yahiko: We've finally managed to catch a clue this time—I never thought a spy could infiltrate the upper echelons of Amegakure!

"What should we do?" Nagato asked.

He listened to Yahiko.

Yahiko: "Let's see if we can deal with the enemy and intercept the intelligence."

Coo, coo--!

The figure's mouth produced the sound of a special bird native to the Land of Rain, drifting rhythmically through the air.

Swish, swish!

Just as he was looking around, he noticed a bunch of bugs crawling out from beneath his feet, arranging themselves into a secret signal.

Then the ground slowly opened up, and four figures walked out under his tense gaze.

"We've been exposed; your spy mission ends here. Ryoma, Ze, Fuzei, take him and go ahead—I'll hold off the enemies."

Goenji's Sharingan spun slowly as he looked in one direction.

His teammates clearly weren't surprised at all; Aburame Fuzei's bugs had already detected someone tailing them.

Hearing this, the spy wore a nervous expression on his face.

He hadn't expected to be discovered despite being so cautious.

And someone had been tailing them without him even noticing.

Ryoma: "Let's go."

Whoosh, whoosh--!

The three of them took the spy and used the Body Flicker Technique to leave rapidly.

Leaving Goenji standing quietly, his hand gripping the hilt of his blade: "Friends in the shadows, stay quietly and don't make things difficult for me, alright?"

He didn't rush to attack; his eyes had already observed them.

That uniquely distinctive chakra.

He was just trying to let his teammates get away quickly, stalling for as much time as possible.

Anyway, his Body Flicker Technique was formidable now, and with the Sharingan, he had no problem escaping.

Whoosh, whoosh--!

As the words fell, countless shuriken fell from the sky, flying toward Ryoma and the others in the distance.

These shuriken were white, instantly slicing through the rain curtain.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique."

His left hand moved in a blur, forming a single-handed seal as he spat out a massive mouthful of flame.

Sizzle, sizzle--!

Crash, crash--!

The great fireball broke through the rain curtain and intercepted all the shuriken.

"Some skill, but I won't let you catch up to them."

Seeing those white shuriken, Goenji instantly realized who they were.

Akatsuki members.

Konan.

But what were they doing here?

Even if they came here, shouldn't it be Hanzō discovering them, followed by Amegakure ninja giving chase?

"Fine, let me see what kind of strength these future ninja masters possess right now."

Right now, Yahiko and the others should only be a year or two older than him.

Goenji didn't take them to heart.

He had intelligence on the three of them, and with his current strength, he could at the very least run away.

As long as he didn't kill a certain someone and force Nagato to use the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

Swish, swish, swish--!

Three figures tried to bypass Goenji and rush toward the spy's location.

Boom--!

"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation Arrow."

A blast of flame intercepted them, forcing them to slow their pace and look at Goenji, who had used the jutsu.

"With me here, don't underestimate me too much. Defeat me before you give chase, alright?" Goenji smiled.

Great Fire Annihilation Arrow was a newly learned jutsu, with greater power, range, and temperature than the Great Fireball.

It was a very high-difficulty Fire Release jutsu.

To Goenji, however, the difficulty was only average, and he mastered it quickly.

Learning a Fire Release technique was simply too fast for him.

He didn't need to overthink things the way people did when developing a jutsu.

Yahiko's gaze landed on Goenji's eyes, his pupils contracting.

The prestigious name of the Uchiha was long renowned in the Shinobi World, and of course he recognized them.

"People of Konoha, why stir up war? Do you know how many people will die because of war?"

He demanded of Goenji.

Seeing this, the other three also slowed down, the four of them surrounding Goenji.

Hearing this, Goenji smiled. "Hmm... War really does kill a lot of people, and I yearn for peace too—after all, who wouldn't want to be safe and secure? But peace is just our own wishful thinking. When I finally plant my backside in the Hokage's seat, maybe I'll think about issues of this sort.

Right now, though, let's finish the mission first."

Nonsense, he had come from a relatively peaceful world and had experienced several months of war.

How could he not know the value of peace?

He had a point of comparison, after all.

Unlike the people of the Shinobi World, who were battered by war every few years.

The First World War, the Second, and now the Third.

If one day he planted his backside in the Hokage's seat, maybe he would think more about this aspect.

For now, he had better complete his own mission.

And raise his strength as quickly as possible.

Otherwise, everything else was futile.

...You're right, but we won't let you leave today. Yahiko's gaze dimmed at those words.

Even Konoha ninja longed for peace, yet they were forced to fight in wars.

The philosophy of their Akatsuki had a long road ahead of it.

Then he looked steadily at Goenji.

The other three were the same, knowing they couldn't chat any longer; otherwise, if the spy managed to bring the intelligence back, it would deal a heavy blow to the Land of Rain.

Swish, swish, swish--!

Two of them formed seals while two launched shuriken as a feint.

Goenji swept his eyes across them, quickly observing and memorizing their hand seal gestures.

As expected of geniuses, their seal-weaving speed is faster than an ordinary jonin's too. At this age...

This age was the fastest period of growth, and it seemed Yahiko and the others had already reached the level of jonin.

But... their speed is still too slow...

Goenji formed seals with a single hand, his hands a blur of afterimages; he finished weaving his seals before they could finish theirs.

A ninja's battle was a battle of speed.

Before the shuriken attack arrived, Goenji had already completed his seals.

Fire Release: Rocket Propulsion.

Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.