Danzo's conspiracy

As Liumu and Jiraiya approached the border of the Land of Rain, watching the rain gradually give way to clear skies on the horizon, countless thoughts ran through Liumu's mind as he frantically worked out the current timeline.

Jiraiya should have been around twenty-three or twenty-four at this point, which meant Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan were already approaching seventeen or eighteen.

By then, under Yahiko's leadership, the original Akatsuki had already achieved considerable success in the Land of Rain, which was under Hanzō's control.

If Liumu's calculations were correct...

Abruptly, Liumu stopped in his tracks and stood on a tree trunk, his gaze fixed. Puzzled, Jiraiya looked back at him and asked curiously, "What's wrong?"

Liumu did not know how to answer his teacher's question, because according to his calculations, Yahiko and the others would encounter Hanzō soon.

And when that happened, Hanzō would take Konan hostage and threaten her life, causing Yahiko's death.

Nagato, in turn, would unleash the power of the Rinnegan because of his close friend's death and summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, ushering in the era of the later Akatsuki.

Seeing the usually irreverent Liumu suddenly turn serious, Jiraiya sighed, bit his right finger, and summoned a pale green toad, which he placed in Liumu's hands.

"This is Toad Wu. If you run into any trouble, have him come find me."

Liumu's eyes narrowed slightly at those words. Watching Jiraiya leave alone, he perhaps already had some guesses.

The original story had never specified exactly when Yahiko died, showing it to the audience only as a memory.

To find out the exact timing, Liumu had to get information from someone familiar with the situation in the Land of Rain.

Five days passed.

Within the Land of Rain, Liumu covered his face with a black cloth and reached out to knock the man before him unconscious.

Watching the mist gradually rise around him, Liumu pushed lightly off his toes and vanished from the spot.

"Danzo, you again!"

As Liumu darted across the rooftops, his expression was icy, and a bone-chilling cold radiated from him.

According to the information he had just obtained, Hanzō had already left with his men several days earlier.

As he remembered it, the Land of Rain occupied a crucial strategic position at the junction of the Lands of Fire, Wind, and Earth. Worried that its growing strength would threaten the future balance of power among the great nations, Danzo had incited Hanzō to intercept the Akatsuki on their way to a meeting.

The Akatsuki was still very weak at this point. Against an expert of Hanzō's caliber, they had no room to fight back.

And this incident would also bring about both Yahiko's death and the fall of the demigod.

Yet Danzo, the mastermind behind the conspiracy, would walk away unscathed, leaving no trace.

"Wait for me. This senior fellow student I haven't even met had better not kick the bucket before I get there."

Boom!

High in the mountains, a violent explosion echoed throughout the canyon. Thick smoke billowed, and shattered rocks flew.

Before a group dressed in flame-cloud robes, the thick smoke nearby gradually dispersed, slowly revealing the enormous figure of a black salamander.

On its back, Hanzō, wearing a gas mask, held Konan by the neck with one hand and looked down imperiously at the black-clad group below.

"Let Konan go! Come at me if you've got the guts!"

The yellow-haired Yahiko held a shuriken, his eyes filled with anger as he watched his longtime friend's expression grow increasingly pained.

"If you want to save her, kill yourself with the shuriken belonging to the red-haired boy beside you."

The Akatsuki's growing strength was a major worry for Hanzō. Seeing its leader, Yahiko, actually move toward the red-haired boy after hearing his words, the corners of Hanzō's mouth slowly rose beneath his mask.

"No! You can't!"

Seeing this, the red-haired Nagato hurriedly stepped back and hid the shuriken in his hand behind his back.

"Yahiko, don't listen to him! You're the leader of the Akatsuki, our one and only leader! You can't just die like this!"

Nagato practically screamed himself hoarse, the bulging veins on his forehead looking particularly fierce.

"But..."

Faced with Nagato's desperation, Yahiko suddenly revealed a warm smile. The instant Nagato saw it, his pale face froze.

"If I can't even protect you and Konan, how can I talk about creating the peaceful world we dream of?"

Just then, Yahiko suddenly quickened his steps. Before Nagato could fully register what was happening, he grabbed Nagato's shuriken and moved to plunge it into his own torso.

Yet at that very moment, a projectile streaked past like lightning. With a clang, Yahiko's shuriken was knocked several meters away.

"Whew, that was close!"

"Who goes there?!"

Hanzō, who had been watching his goal come within reach, suddenly heard a young boy's relieved voice from beneath his feet.

Yahiko froze, and Nagato finally reacted. He turned to look at the young boy beside Ibuse's feet, and surprise appeared on everyone's faces.

"A... child?"

The sudden appearance of five-year-old Liumu in such a situation was certainly disconcerting. But before anyone could sort out their confusion, Liumu pushed hard off both feet, shooting toward Hanzō like a cannonball as he drew his right fist back to his waist...

"Serious Series: Serious Punch!"

Bam!

Pfft!

The mask shattered, his eyes rolled white, and a spray of blood burst from his mouth, scattering across Ibuse's back.

Liumu did not pause. He immediately darted toward the falling Konan, caught her around the waist, and slowly descended to the ground.

"Konan!"

"Konan!"

Cries rang out one after another as Nagato, Yahiko, and the other Akatsuki members hurried over and gathered around Konan.

Fortunately, Konan was only a little short of oxygen. After a few heavy breaths, color gradually returned to her face.

"Watch out!"

Just then, someone in the crowd shouted. Behind Liumu, Ibuse spat a cloud of dense black mist from his mouth.

"It's poisonous! Run!"

Ibuse's poison came from his venom sac, and it could kill as soon as it entered the bloodstream. Inhaling such an enormous cloud of poisonous mist would mean certain death.

Liumu was closest to Ibuse, and the moment the poisonous mist erupted, it cut off every route of escape.

Seeing that the boy who had just saved his companion was about to die, Yahiko shouted desperately, his voice cracking as he rapidly retreated.

Just as everyone had given up hope, an impatient voice suddenly rang out from deep within the poisonous mist.

"Oh, sorry. I killed your master and actually forgot about you."

"Normal Punch!"

Boom!

Another explosion of bloody mist rang out. Then Liumu slowly emerged from the poisonous cloud, strange flames radiating from his body. Before everyone's eyes, the poisonous mist Ibuse had released actually seemed to be absorbed by the boy.