Planetary Devastation?

"What do you mean?"

"Over there!"

Yan pointed to the space in front of a stone house with its doors shut:

"That's a great spot. No one's there, there's somewhere to sit, and the eaves will keep the rain off.

Remember to activate your Byakugan. Warn us if anyone eavesdrops."

"Okay!"

The moment the three reached the eaves, Taichi eagerly asked:

"Why didn't we fight? Were you afraid of dying?"

"Could you stop thinking about fighting all the time? Fighting is a last resort. If we can resolve things peacefully, we should."

"He won't even see us. How are we supposed to resolve things peacefully?"

"Can't we just make Hanzō come out to see us himself?"

Uchiha Yan crouched beneath the eaves, watching the pedestrians come and go along the street, and said calmly:

"If we killed every pedestrian on this street, Hanzō would definitely show up, as long as he was still alive.

If Hanzō was dead, we'd get to meet whoever killed him. That would count as completing the mission too."

"Wait! What do you mean, 'as long as he was still alive'? You think he's already dead?"

"It's possible!"

"Impossible!"

Taichi shook his head repeatedly. "He's the demigod. Even the Sannin working together only barely fought him to a draw. How could he be dead?"

Uchiha Yan pointed at the street vendors. "Look at those vendors. Most of them are selling food, and their prices aren't high.

It rains year-round in the Land of Rain. They already lack food supplies, and they have to support a huge number of Ninja too. That often leaves the people of the Land of Rain without enough to eat.

That's because Hanzō trades away most of their resources for Ninja supplies, like Explosive Tags and Shuriken.

But now, the Third Shinobi World War has just ended, and every nation is recovering. They don't have many resources to trade with smaller nations.

That means the number of Ninja in the Land of Rain has dropped, and Hanzō is willing to trade resources for food for these civilians.

But is Hanzō that kind of person? There's another thing. When I mentioned getting intelligence on the Akatsuki earlier, Jonin Furukawa's expression was clearly off.

The Akatsuki is an organization dedicated to peace and protecting civilians. If Hanzō really was trading resources for food for civilians, he'd definitely be working with the Akatsuki. Furukawa would have refused outright instead of going back to ask for instructions.

That's why I suspect Hanzō is already dead. Anyone who could kill Hanzō would be no ordinary person, so I told Captain Kakashi not to act for now.

We need to stir up some trouble to bring out Hanzō, or whoever killed him."

"Drip, drip, drip..."

There was no sound on the street except the rain and the vendors' cries. Kakashi and Taichi stared blankly at Uchiha Yan, shock in their eyes.

"Hey! Why are you looking at me like that? Do you think my reasoning's wrong?"

"Gulp!"

Taichi swallowed and spoke with difficulty. "You inferred all that just because his expression was off? Aren't you afraid of being wrong?"

"If I'm wrong, I'm wrong! Only by planning for the worst can we keep ourselves safe while still completing the mission.

Like I said, war is a last resort. The best strategy is to outwit the enemy. We should avoid fighting whenever possible. Explosive Tags and Kunai are expensive."

Kakashi nodded slightly. "What's your plan?"

"Since their expressions changed when they heard about the Akatsuki, we'll go straight to asking people for intelligence on them, and play Akatsuki members while we're at it."

At that, Uchiha Yan lowered his voice and explained his plan.

By the time he finished listening, Kakashi felt thoroughly unsettled. He seriously suspected that this guy had fooled the Third Hokage.

Pure-hearted? As innocent and childish as Obito? It was all a lie.

Taichi also looked at Uchiha Yan with a strange expression. He was now certain that this guy's loud public sobbing last time had been an act.

No wonder the Uchiha Clan has been acting strange lately. This guy led them astray. Every one of them is acting, and they're even better at it than I am.

"Hey! What's with those looks? Don't you two know how to act?

When the fighting starts, just make one hand seal a second instead of five, throw your Kunai more slowly, and exaggerate your expressions. That's all."

"That's not a problem, but how am I supposed to play someone being hunted down?"

"Then you hide in the crowd and gather intelligence. I'll do the acting!

Taichi, remember! Don't speak unless the crowd is talking.

All right! Let's leave the village first and come back in a bit!"

As the three left the village, Nagato received the intelligence as well. His face filled with suspicion. He couldn't understand why Konoha wanted intelligence on the Akatsuki.

"Konan, has anything happened in Konoha lately? Why would they ask Hanzō for intelligence on the Akatsuki? Could it have something to do with the Nine-Tails?"

"I know!"

Before Konan could speak, half of Zetsu's head emerged from the ceiling:

"To ease tensions between Konoha and the Uchiha, Hiruzen Sarutobi identified the culprits behind the Nine-Tails incident as the Akatsuki and Madara Uchiha's successor.

They delivered this letter to cement that story, while also threatening the Land of Rain into having Hanzō keep Iwagakure and Sunagakure occupied for Konoha."

??????

Nagato's head was full of question marks. Were they being made scapegoats? No, that wasn't quite right.

"Heh! Just as underhanded as Hanzō. As expected of the Hokage.

Forget it! Don't bother with them. They wouldn't dare attack Amegakure anyway."

"But Kakashi won't leave without seeing Hanzō. If this goes on, sooner or later he'll find out Hanzō is dead."

"So what? Does a god need to fear Konoha?"

"Nagato!"

Ever since they killed Hanzō, Konan had felt that Nagato had grown arrogant. Now, she couldn't help speaking up to remind him:

"Let me go meet Kakashi. Most people can't see through a Paper Clone."

"Just a reminder! One of Kakashi's teammates has the Byakugan."

"What a nuisance. We should just kill them all..."

"Wait..."

Zetsu suddenly spoke. "They've left the village. Looks like they've abandoned the mission?"

"Zetsu! Do you even know how to gather intelligence? One moment, Kakashi wouldn't abandon his mission even if it killed him, and the next, you're saying they've given up.

What? Is toying with me that much fun?"

"You can't blame me! That Hyuga kid keeps his Byakugan active the whole time. White Zetsu can only follow from a distance and can't hear what they're saying.

Hey, hey, hey! Something's wrong. Why did Uchiha Yan turn into an Akatsuki member? And now he's changed back?

Ah, ah, ah! Wait! Why is Kakashi wearing Akatsuki clothes too?

Ah, ah, ah! Why is Uchiha Yan rolling around in muddy water? Why is he spitting blood?

Ah, ah, ah! Why is he slashing his own clothes with a Kunai and blasting himself with a Fireball?

Hey, hey, hey..."

"Would you stop yelling!"

Zetsu's shouting gave Nagato a headache, and his face was full of irritation:

"Do you even hear what you're saying? Who would blast himself? He'd have to be insane to roll around in the mud."

"It's true! Kakashi has transformed into an Akatsuki member and is hunting Yan down.

Wow! Amazing! Kakashi used Earth Release to block Uchiha Yan. That was close! Uchiha Yan nearly died.

Huh! Wait! Why have they gone back into the village? And where did that Byakugan kid go?

Whatever! Uchiha Yan is screaming so miserably, and his curses are awful. He's even cursing eighteen generations of Kakashi's ancestors.

Wow! Uchiha Yan spat out another mouthful of blood. Didn't that attack miss? Where did the blood come from?

Ah..."

Veins bulged on Nagato's forehead, and his eyes filled with murderous intent. From somewhere, he took out a black sphere and slowly set it in the air.

Beside him, Konan's expression changed drastically at the sight. "Nagato, have you lost your mind?!"