First Meeting with Yahiko's Trio

After an unknown amount of time, Yue woke up.

But he did not open his eyes. He heard the crackling of a campfire beside him.

He silently assessed his physical condition.

He was uninjured.

"Since you're awake, stop pretending to sleep."

A man's voice came from nearby.

Yue was not embarrassed in the slightest and immediately sat up.

The person sitting by the fire was a member of Akatsuki.

He had short hair, looked to be around thirty, and wore a Fire Cloud Robe.

His complexion was somewhat poor. His injuries probably had not fully healed yet.

They were inside a cave, and beyond it lay the wilderness.

They must have left Amegakure long ago.

"Don't you have anything to ask?" The man was somewhat surprised by Yue's calmness and composure.

"No."

Yue answered.

"Aren't you curious why I abducted you? And aren't you afraid I'll kill you?" The man smiled.

"I can guess some of the reasons."

Yue said flatly, "As for whether I'm afraid, the gap in our strength is too great. Being afraid would be useless."

"Heh, I never expected a place like Kusagakure... to raise a brat with such a decent temperament." The man laughed.

The two fell silent.

The fact that nothing had happened to him meant the other party bore him no ill will.

At the very least, he was safe.

As for why the man had taken him away, it was probably because Yue had seen his true face.

Amegakure would not let the investigation into Akatsuki go. If they could not find him, they would surely come looking for Yue and Ryuga's group again. The three of them could only tell the truth, but Ryuga and Yoshitaka did not know what this man looked like, and they had merely passed each other by. Therefore, they posed no threat to this Akatsuki member.

Only Yue, who knew his appearance, was a little troublesome.

Akatsuki would continue operating in Amegakure. If his appearance was exposed, it would cause some trouble.

Moreover, certain special ninjutsu or methods could easily make Yue reveal the memories in his mind in detail.

A child could not withstand Amegakure's torture.

"I suppose I saved your life too. If I left you in the village, you probably wouldn't have been able to return safely to Kusagakure... And from what little I know about Kusagakure, even if you were detained in Amegakure, Kusagakure wouldn't come rescue you... They'd be more likely to abandon you outright."

The man spoke.

Yue knew he was telling the truth.

"You can leave now."

The man waved the fire poker in his hand, gesturing toward the exit.

But Yue did not move.

"Smart."

The man praised him when he saw that.

This matter was far too serious for a Genin like Yue... This was Amegakure's territory. In order to find this Akatsuki member, they would definitely continue investigating. If Yue went out now and was discovered, danger would likely find him soon enough.

For the moment, staying with the man was safer instead.

At the very least, he needed to wait until the heat died down.

Yue was not afraid at all. Once he relaxed and confirmed that the other party meant him no harm, he got up on his own and sat beside the campfire.

Then, he slowly sized the other party up.

"You're one of Akatsuki, aren't you?" he asked directly.

"Mm."

The man did not deny it.

In the Land of Rain, Akatsuki had already made a name for itself. Besides, they wore highly recognizable Fire Cloud Robes.

"What's your name?"

"Yue. Fuma Yue."

"The Fuma Clan?"

"Mm."

"Interesting. How did someone from the Fuma Clan become a ninja of Kusagakure?"

"What's so strange about that... There are plenty of more absurd things in the ninja world."

Yue said indifferently.

"That's true."

The man smiled helplessly.

Then he walked to the cave entrance and glanced at the sky outside.

Turning back, he said, "Are you sure you want to follow me?"

Yue stood up. "For now, this is my only option."

Through his brief contact with the man, Yue had realized something. The Akatsuki led by Yahiko at present was not yet the vicious organization it would become later.

At the very least, Akatsuki's people were all rather kind.

Thinking about it, that made sense. Among Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan, Yahiko had become Akatsuki's leader and founded the organization with his own hands not only because of his powerful will to fear no hardship. More importantly, it was because of Yahiko's personal charisma. Most of Akatsuki's current members had been drawn in by the charm Yahiko displayed.

Thus, a group of like-minded companions had gathered together.

Akatsuki had not yet fallen into darkness.

"To be honest, I don't trust you very much... Though you're just a little runt, you're still from Kusagakure. I've heard a little about what your village is like. If you learn some secrets and go back to sell them as intelligence or spread them everywhere, it would be very detrimental to our organization."

"If you're worried, you can place a cursed seal on me."

Yue said coldly.

"Hahahaha... Akatsuki can't do something like that. It's not our style. If the leader found out, he'd definitely scold me."

The man shook his head. "You don't seem like an ordinary brat. I did save you, after all. That counts as a favor... You wouldn't repay kindness with enmity, would you?"

"Let's consider it an agreement between us. Keep this a secret for me."

"You didn't save me. I was dragged into this because of you. If it weren't for you, I might already be on my way back to the village... Don't reverse cause and effect to twist the issue."

"Hahahaha... Interesting."

"So... it's an agreement?"

"I agree."

"Let's go."

After looking into Yue's eyes and receiving his answer, the man set off.

Yue hurriedly followed.

The two traveled through the mountains in the rain.

Judging by Shishiro's level, Yue estimated that this man was at least a Jonin.

And not the watered-down kind, either.

That much could be determined from his speed alone.

The man was clearly a native of the Land of Rain and was extremely familiar with every type of terrain and environment. Whether it was dense mountains and forests or rugged cliffs, he could leap across them as lightly as a swallow. Even while injured, he was astonishingly fast. That was the result of being tempered by the environment since childhood. Under normal circumstances, Yue would have been left far behind long ago, but the man deliberately slowed down. Even so, Yue was drenched in sweat from exhaustion.

Yet unbeknownst to him, his seemingly miserable state had already earned the man's admiration.

He had thought Yue was merely a brat who had just graduated, and he had planned to carry Yue once he ran out of strength.

But he had not expected that although the boy was panting heavily, he never once fell behind.

One after the other, the two crossed a vast stretch of the Land of Rain in just a single day.

Finally, after night fell, they arrived at an abandoned old village.

What worried Yue was that after reaching this area, he spotted several corpses... It meant fighting was taking place here.

The scale was unknown.

But it seemed rather brutal.

Yue followed the man to the outskirts of the deserted village. The man cautiously scanned the surroundings, then made a sound in the darkness that resembled a birdcall.

After waiting quietly for a minute, someone wearing the same Fire Cloud Robe suddenly sprang out from a direction Yue had not noticed and landed in front of them.

He was Akatsuki's contact.

"You weren't followed, were you?"

The newcomer stared sternly at the man.

"No." The man nodded, his tone regretful. "But the mission failed... He escaped back to Amegakure, and I nearly got exposed too."

"Who's this?"

The newly appeared Akatsuki member glanced at Yue and frowned.

"A brat I picked up along the way. Don't worry, he isn't from Amegakure."

The man explained.

"An orphan?"

"I'll explain once we see the leader."

"Fine."

Then, the two Akatsuki members led the way into the village along a strange route.

They did not enter from the direction that looked like the main entrance.

"I'm not an orphan, thank you."

Yue, following behind the two, suddenly spoke.

Then he pointed at the man. "I got dragged into this because of him."

"..."

The man's mouth twitched.

Soon after, the three entered the village.

The entire village was pitch-black, overgrown with weeds, without the slightest trace of light.

But a few paths could still vaguely be made out.

The Akatsuki member who had just appeared led them to push open a rotten courtyard gate and enter an open area.

The instant he stepped inside, Yue stopped breathing.

Looking around, he saw a large number of Akatsuki members in simply made Fire Cloud Robes standing in the courtyard's open space.

Some were even seated atop the eaves, looking down at the three of them from above.

Everyone stood in a different posture, and as the three arrived, their gazes converged on them.

The reason Yue reacted strangely was because he had not expected there to be so many Akatsuki members here. In his memories... Akatsuki only had a handful of members.

The Akatsuki of this era was clearly different from the one in later years.

And with everyone dressed in Fire Cloud Robes, the visual impact was quite striking.

"Yo, Sousuke, you're back."

Before Yue could examine them more closely, a bright, enthusiastic greeting rang out.

He followed the voice and saw a big boy with a brilliant smile and a gentle aura waving at them.

He had distinctive orange hair.

Beside him sat a woman who was bandaging his wounds.

"Stop moving around."

The woman scolded lightly.

The former smiled sheepishly.

Yahiko and Konan!

Yue recognized them at a glance.

He let out a breath. Before coming here, he never could have imagined that this mission to the Land of Rain would allow him to meet these two characters from the story.

And they were far from ordinary characters.

"Leader." Sousuke responded and walked over.

"Hey... Sousuke, why did it take you so long to get back?"

"Who's the brat behind you?"

"You're injured?"

As soon as they appeared, the other Akatsuki members began firing off questions.

Some curiously swept their gazes over Yue.

Yue did not follow the man over. Instead, he stood in place with a blank expression.

He knew his limits... Some information was better left unheard. Sometimes, being too curious was not a good thing.

"The mission failed?"

Sousuke explained the mission to Yahiko. Afterward, Yahiko sighed, but he did not blame his companion.

Instead, he leaned halfway forward and tilted his head at the unsmiling Yue. "I see. No wonder you look so unhappy... Anyone would be unhappy if they were dragged into something like this by you."

"..."

Yue had heard that clearly.

"Your name is Yue, right? Hello, I'm Yahiko. Nice to meet you." Yahiko flashed a broad white grin at Yue.

Yue remained unmoved.

"..."

Yahiko said, "What should I do, Konan? He doesn't seem to like me."

"Hahaha... Leader, you got ignored by a little brat!"

"This little guy is so cool. He looks pretty smug, too."

"He certainly had style."

The people around them laughed and teased Yahiko without restraint.

Yahiko did not mind. He only scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

After Konan finished bandaging his wounds, she said nothing. She walked over, took Yue's hand, and crouched in front of him.

Like a caring older sister, she said gently, "Don't be afraid... We're not bad people. Get a good night's rest, and when we have time, we'll safely send you to the Land of Grass."

Looking at the face so close before him and feeling the atmosphere in the courtyard,

Yue finally spoke. "Please find me somewhere to sleep. Thank you. I'm a little tired."

"Gasp..."

The members of Akatsuki sucked in a sharp breath.

They had assumed Yue's first words would be a question or a confession, carrying some intense emotion.

After all, he was just a little brat.

But no one had expected him to be so calm... He showed not the slightest discomfort toward his new surroundings or this sudden encounter with a group of strangers.

They were Akatsuki, after all!

Not some cluster of villagers.

"Don't treat him like an ordinary kid," Sousuke reminded them, not at all surprised.

"Oh?"

With that, everyone became even more curious about Yue.

Konan patted Yue on the head, took his hand, and led him toward an empty room.

Only then did Yue finally see the last member of the trio.

Nagato.

He sat in the shadows before the empty room's door, not particularly noticeable.

Their eyes met. The red-haired Nagato, who looked somewhat thin, smiled and nodded in greeting.

Yue gave a slight nod in return.

It seemed... at this time, they still held hope in their hearts, full of youthful vigor.

Thinking of the future, his feelings were somewhat complicated.