Meanwhile, Yahiko was heading back to the Akatsuki with Konan and Nagato, in high spirits.
Just then, Nagato's expression changed, and he hurriedly said to Yahiko and Konan:
"Someone's following us. Be careful!"
Hearing this, Yahiko and Konan immediately stopped as well. The three turned around to see who was following them.
However, after waiting a while without anyone appearing, Yahiko called out:
"I know you're here. Come out!"
Minato Namikaze stepped out from behind a tree. Just as he had nearly caught up with Yahiko's group, he had realized that simply rushing up and saying his piece would probably make it difficult to earn their trust, let alone get them to listen to him.
So when Minato noticed that they had all stopped, he hesitated over whether to approach and persuade them.
But when he heard Yahiko call out, he knew he had no choice but to show himself, and only then did he step out from behind the tree.
With a sunny smile, Minato waved to the three in greeting:
"Hello. I'm a student of Master Jiraiya. My name is Minato Namikaze."
All three looked surprised, seemingly not having expected one of the ninja they had met earlier in Konoha to be Jiraiya's student.
However, Yahiko did not immediately believe him. After all, Minato had been following them and had not shown himself right away, which made his behavior somewhat suspicious.
Seeing their expressions, Minato knew his appearance had been too abrupt and had aroused their suspicions. But he had never interacted with the three before, nor did he have any token from Jiraiya. For the moment, he did not know how to prove his identity.
None of that mattered now, though. What mattered was stopping the three from going to Hanzō, so Minato said:
"You can't go