First Meeting with the Yahiko Trio

After an unknown amount of time, Yue woke up.

But he didn't open his eyes, hearing the crackling sound of a campfire by his ears.

He silently assessed his physical condition.

He was not injured.

"Since you're awake, stop pretending to be asleep."

A man's voice came from the side.

Yue felt no embarrassment and immediately got up.

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

He had short hair, was around thirty years old, and wore a Fire Cloud Robe.

His complexion was a bit grim, likely still recovering from his injuries.

They were in a cave, and looking out, they could see the wilderness outside.

They must have left Rain Village long ago.

"Don't you have anything you want to ask?" The man seemed surprised by Yue's quiet composure.

"No,"

Yue replied.

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

"I can guess some of the reasons,"

Yue said calmly. "As for being afraid, the gap in our strength is too great, so fear would be useless."

"Heh, I never expected that a place like Grass Village... could produce a kid with such a good mindset," the man said, amused.

The two fell silent.

The fact that he was unharmed meant the other party had no ill intentions.

At least he was safe.

As for being taken away, it was likely because he had seen the man's true face.

The investigation into Akatsuki by the people of Rain Village would not end easily. If they couldn't find him, they would surely come for him and Ryuga and Yoshitaka again. The most they could do was tell the truth, but Ryuga and Yoshitaka didn't know this person's appearance; they had only caught a glimpse of each other. Therefore, for this person from Akatsuki, there was no threat.

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

Akatsuki still needed to operate in Rain Village, and having their appearance exposed would cause some problems.

Moreover, certain special ninjutsu or techniques could easily extract detailed memories from Yue's mind.

A child would not be able to withstand the torture of Rain Village.

"I've essentially saved your life. If I left you in the village, you probably wouldn't have been able to return safely to Grass Village... and from what little I know of Grass Village, even if you were held in Rain Village, Grass would not save you... they'd more likely abandon you,"

the man said.

Yue knew he was telling the truth.

"You can leave now."

The man gestured with the burning stick in his hand.

Yue didn't move.

"Smart."

The man praised him when he saw this.

This matter was too serious for a Genin like Yue. This was Rain Village's territory, and the other party would undoubtedly continue their investigation to find this Akatsuki member. If Yue were discovered now, he would likely face danger very soon.

Staying with the man now was safer.

At least until some time had passed and the situation had calmed down.

Yue wasn't afraid at all. He felt relieved, confirming that the other party had no ill intentions. He got up on his own and sat by the campfire.

Then, his gaze slowly sized up the other person.

"You're that person from Akatsuki, aren't you?" he asked directly.

"Mm."

The man didn't deny it.

In the Land of Rain, Akatsuki had already made a name for themselves, not to mention they wore the distinctive 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 Grass Village?"

"What's so strange about that... the ninja world is full of even more outrageous things."

Yue said calmly.

"That's true."

The man chuckled wryly.

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

He turned back and asked, "Are you sure you want to follow me?"

Yue stood up. "For now, this is the only way."

Through his brief interaction with the man, Yue realized something: the Akatsuki, led by Yahiko, was not yet the 'vicious and evil' organization it would later become.

At least, the members of Akatsuki were quite kind.

It made sense. Among the trio of Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan, Yahiko's ability to lead Akatsuki and establish this group stemmed not only from his strong will that feared no difficulty. It was more so due to Yahiko's personal charisma. Currently, most of Akatsuki's members were drawn to the charm Yahiko exuded.

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

Akatsuki had not yet turned dark.

"To be honest, I don't quite trust you... You're small, but you're from Grass Village after all. I've heard a bit about your village's nature. If you were to learn some secrets and then sell them as intelligence or publicize them after returning, it would be very disadvantageous to our organization."

"If you're worried, you can place a Curse Mark on me."

Yue said coldly.

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

The man shook his head. "You don't seem like an ordinary kid. After all, I saved you, which is a debt of gratitude... You wouldn't repay kindness with enmity, would you?"

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

"You didn't save me; you got me into trouble. If it weren't for you, I might be on my way back to my village right now... Don't get things twisted and change the subject."

"Hahahaha... Interesting."

"So... is it a deal?"

"I promise."

"Let's go."

Seeing the answer in Yue's eyes, the man started walking away.

Yue quickly followed.

The two traversed the mountainous terrain in the rain.

If he were to compare this man to Shishiro's level, based on Yue's observation, this person's strength was at least Jonin-level.

And he was a Jonin without any watered-down abilities.

This could be judged from his speed of movement.

The man was clearly a native of the Land of Rain, very familiar with all sorts of terrain and environments. Whether it was deep forests or rugged cliffs, he could leap over them with the agility of a swallow. Even while injured, his speed was astonishing, a result of being tempered by his environment since childhood. Under normal circumstances, Yue would have been left far behind. However, the man had intentionally slowed down. Even so, Yue was sweating profusely from exhaustion.

But unbeknownst to Yue, his seemingly disheveled state had earned the man some admiration.

He had initially thought Yue was just a freshly graduated kid and planned to carry him once Yue was exhausted.

He hadn't expected that although the boy was panting, he never once fell behind.

The two, one after another, covered a vast expanse of the Land of Rain in just one day.

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

What worried Yue was that upon reaching this area, he found some corpses... indicating that a battle was taking place here.

The scale was unknown.

But it felt quite brutal.

Yue followed the man to the outskirts of the deserted village. The man cautiously scanned the surroundings, then made a bird-like sound in the darkness.

After waiting quietly for a minute, another person, also wearing a Fire Cloud Robe, suddenly darted out from a direction Yue couldn't see, landing in front of them.

It was an Akatsuki contact.

"Were you followed?"

The newcomer stared sternly at the man.

"No." The man nodded, his tone regretful. "However, the mission failed... He escaped back to the Village Hidden in Rain, and I almost got exposed."

"Who is this?"

The newly appeared Akatsuki member glanced at Yue and frowned.

"Just a kid I picked up. Don't worry, he's not from the Village Hidden in Rain."

The man explained.

"An orphan?"

"We'll explain when we meet the leader."

"Okay."

Immediately, the two Akatsuki members entered the village along a strange route.

They didn't enter from the direction of what appeared to be the 'main gate'.

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

Yue said suddenly, following behind the two.

Then he pointed at the man. "I was dragged into this by him."

"…"

The man's mouth twitched.

After a moment, the three entered the village.

The entire village was pitch black, overgrown with weeds, and not a single light could be seen.

But the small paths could still be vaguely discerned.

The Akatsuki members who had just appeared pushed open a decaying courtyard gate and entered a clearing.

As soon as he entered, Yue's breath hitched.

Looking around, in the open space within the courtyard, stood a large number of Akatsuki members clad in simple Fire Cloud Robes.

Some were even seated on the eaves, looking down at them from above.

Everyone was in a different posture, and as the three of them appeared, all eyes focused on them.

The reason Yue reacted so strongly was that he hadn't expected so many Akatsuki members to be here. In his memory… there were only a few members of Akatsuki.

The Akatsuki of today was clearly different from later generations.

Moreover, everyone was wearing Fire Cloud Robes, which created a rather striking visual impact.

"Yo, Sousuke, you're back."

Before Yue could get a good look, a hearty and enthusiastic greeting came from nearby.

He followed the sound and saw a 'big boy' with a bright smile and a gentle aura waving at them.

He had distinct orange hair.

Beside him sat a woman, bandaging his wound.

"Don't move around."

The woman chided lightly.

The former grinned sheepishly.

Yahiko and Konan!

Yue recognized them immediately.

He let out a breath. Before coming, he never would have imagined that this mission in the Land of Rain would lead him to meet these two plot-important characters.

And they weren't just minor figures.

"Leader." Sousuke replied and walked over.

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

"Who's the little kid trailing behind you?"

"Are you injured?"

As soon as they appeared, the other Akatsuki members also asked in a flurry of voices.

Some curious gazes swept over Yue.

Yue didn't crowd over with the man, but stood in place with a blank expression.

He knew his limits… some information was better left unheard; sometimes, being too curious wasn't a good thing.

"You failed?"

Sousuke exchanged mission details with Yahiko, then sighed, but didn't blame his companion.

Instead, he poked his head out and tilted his head to look at the stoic Yue. "I see, no wonder you look so unhappy… anyone would be unhappy if they were dragged into something like this by you."

"…"

Yue heard that sentence clearly.

"You're Yue, right? Hello, my name is Yahiko, nice to meet you." Yahiko showed a mouthful of pearly white teeth and smiled at Yue.

Yue remained unmoved.

"…"

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

"Hahaha… Leader, you've been ignored by a kid!"

"This kid is so cool, he looks so arrogant."

"He's quite stylish."

The people around Yahiko openly mocked and teased him.

Yahiko didn't mind, just awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

Konan finished bandaging his wound and, without a word, walked over, took Yue's hand, and crouched down in front of him.

Like a caring older sister, she said gently, "Don't be scared... we're not bad people. Rest well tonight, and when we have time, we'll safely escort you to the Land of Grass."

Looking at the face so close to him, feeling the atmosphere in the courtyard.

Yue finally spoke, "Could you find me a place to sleep, please? Thank you, I'm a bit tired."

"Hiss..."

The Akatsuki members gasped.

They had expected Yue's first words to be a question or a plea, something filled with strong emotion. After all, he was just a child.

But no one expected him to be so calm... showing no discomfort with the new environment or the group of strangers he'd suddenly encountered.

They were Akatsuki, after all! Not just a bunch of villagers.

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

"Oh?"

Hearing him say that, everyone became even more curious about Yue.

Konan patted Yue's head and led him by the hand towards an empty room.

At this moment, Yue finally saw the last member of the trio.

Nagato.

He was sitting in the shadows in front of the empty room's door, not drawing much attention.

Their eyes met, and Nagato, with his somewhat thin frame and red hair, smiled and nodded in greeting.

Yue gently nodded back.

"It seems... at this time, they still held onto hope and were full of vitality."

Thinking of the future, his mood became complicated.