At a Root base in the Land of Rain, Aburame Ryoma reported to Danzo after receiving some information.
"My lord, Hanzō seems to be indulging Akatsuki's activities. Does he really think he can rely on a group of young people to end the war?"
Danzo narrowed his one visible eye slightly. "Hmph, Hanzō is just trying to use Akatsuki to ease the conflicts within his country. Even if we don't act, he'll move against them sooner or later.
"But we can't let Akatsuki continue to grow unchecked. The war can't end just yet."
For Danzo, the later the war ended, the greater the damage to Konoha, and the greater Hiruzen Sarutobi's responsibility would be.
Only then could he seize the opportunity to attack Hiruzen and force him to resign and take the blame.
"What should we do next?"
The first thing he thought of was sowing discord, Root's specialty.
Danzo pondered for a moment, then said, "Send some men disguised as Akatsuki members to kill a few of Hanzō's clansmen. Then we'll go have a talk with Hanzō."
The method was very simple, but effective.
Once an organization like Akatsuki continued to grow and the wielder of the Rinnegan came into his own, if they joined forces with Hanzō, they might actually turn Amegakure into the sixth great ninja village.
A weak Land of Rain was what the three countries of Wind, Fire, and Earth wanted.
He could not stand by and watch.
He had to act immediately.
"Understood. I'll make the arrangements right away."
Three days later, Hanzō and Danzo held a historic meeting, with a batch of corpses laid out in the open space beside them.
"How could this happen?"
Hanzō could hardly believe that someone in the Land of Rain had dared to kill his clansmen.
"I'm very sorry as well." Danzo's expression was utterly sincere.
"We of Konoha are seeking ceasefire negotiations with Iwagakure. We found these bodies on our way back, and since they were your clansmen, we brought them here."
"Who did it?"
"I'm afraid it was... Akatsuki!"
"Akatsuki?"
Hanzō shook his head at that. He had actually been keeping an eye on Akatsuki's development himself.
"Impossible. I've looked into this organization. They're a group of young people who advocate peace. Why would they do something like this?"
But Danzo said, "Lord Hanzō, you've been too indulgent with them. That created a hidden danger and ultimately led to this tragedy. They've been possessed by desire.
"They're plotting to overthrow the village's authority. If this continues, they'll take the village from you."
Talk of "overthrowing authority" and "taking the village" struck directly at Hanzō's deepest anxiety.
Who wouldn't be afraid?
Seeing Hanzō remain silent, Danzo continued, "Although Akatsuki has many members now, they're ultimately nothing more than a rabble. I'm willing to offer my help in wiping them out."
"What do you want?"
Hanzō knew full well that the man before him was no kind soul who would travel a thousand miles just to help someone.
"Simple. I'll help you strengthen your rule over Amegakure, and you'll provide assistance when I need it," Danzo said truthfully.
One reason he was helping Hanzō was to expand his own influence, so that when he became Hokage in the future, he would have an ally who could provide military assistance when Konoha waged war abroad.
The other was to snuff out the Rinnegan and continue weakening Amegakure, keeping the Land of Rain locked in internal strife.
"An alliance?" Hanzō murmured.
Danzo had truly come at just the right time. Hanzō was currently in the awkward position of having both his strength and his grip on power decline.
If he could form a political alliance with Danzo, nothing could be better.
The two old geezers exchanged a glance, each seeing the other's desire for power. At that moment, their alliance was formed.
As for whether Akatsuki had really killed his clansmen, that no longer mattered.
Even if they hadn't, they had to be the ones.
"As far as I know, Akatsuki has quite a few people. Do you have a good plan?" Hanzō asked.
Danzo smiled. "I've already gotten to the bottom of it. Akatsuki's leader is a young man named Yahiko. Everyone else was deceived into joining by him.
"As long as we get rid of him, Akatsuki will naturally disband."
When it came to using underhanded schemes against people, Root were professionals.
Hanzō extended a hand in invitation. "Come inside and we'll talk."
The two turned and walked into the room to begin plotting. As Danzo passed Aoki Tsuki, he gave him a seemingly casual glance.
Aoki Tsuki kept his eyes lowered and his expression composed, pretending not to know him.
He was currently working part-time for Root, so Danzo was effectively his part-time boss. Danzo had surely seen his photograph.
Not long after the two went inside, Hanzō summoned Aoki Tsuki again.
"Lord Hanzō, what are your orders?"
"You're more familiar with Akatsuki's situation. This is Lord Danzo from Konoha. Tell him about it," Hanzō said.
"Yes." Aoki Tsuki turned to Danzo. "Lord Danzo, the situation is as follows..."
He gave an account using information that was already common knowledge, maintaining a strictly businesslike manner.
Danzo had already investigated Akatsuki thoroughly enough and naturally had no need for him to spout nonsense. That was indeed the case.
After Aoki Tsuki finished, Danzo said, "I didn't expect Lord Hanzō to have such a talented man under him. Why not have him handle communications between us from now on?"
He was taking the opportunity to put Aoki Tsuki in a key position, where he could act openly as a spy.
What a crafty old bastard.
Hanzō gave it no thought and nodded. "Aoki Tsuki is one of the village's outstanding talents. Having him handle this would indeed put my mind at ease."
The two settled the matter just like that, without asking Aoki Tsuki himself for his opinion.
Even so, he still needed to make his position clear.
"Thank you for placing your trust in me, Lord Hanzō. I won't disappoint you," Aoki Tsuki promised, kneeling on one knee.
Just like that, he rapidly rose from an ordinary outer guard to become the liaison between Hanzō and Danzo, with direct access to the top.
That way, he would not be sacrificed on a whim.
And to ensure he received timely and accurate information about Hanzō, Danzo would not easily sell him out either.
His safety was assured, and the benefits naturally wouldn't be lacking.
The two old geezers moved quite quickly. Having reached an agreement during the day, they split up and got to work that evening.
The western district of Amegakure.
"Yahiko, everyone's getting tired."
"Yes. One day, the exhaustion will pile up and wear away their ideals."
"Do you mean everyone will forget what they're fighting for?"
Yahiko fell silent for a moment, then suddenly said, "Nagato, will you become Akatsuki's leader? I'm not cut out to be a leader, but you're different... You possess the symbol of a hero. It will become a new ideal for everyone."
"What... Do you want to use my Rinnegan? But having these eyes has always caused me pain."
"I understand, but there's someone by your side who can help you control its power. Konan will always be with you," Yahiko said with a smile.
"Yahiko, you..."
Nagato was shocked. Konan and Yahiko liked each other, and Nagato liked Konan too. Between friendship and love, he had chosen friendship.
Now, for the sake of his ideals, Yahiko was actually offering to give Konan up to him under the pressure.
He couldn't accept that.
He didn't want to destroy the friendship between the three of them because of this, and lately Yahiko had always sounded as though he were putting his affairs in order.
Could he have had a premonition about something...?
Just then, Kyūsuke came running over. "Boss, bad news. Hanzō has sent a messenger."
Yahiko and Nagato exchanged a glance and immediately gathered everyone to receive the messenger.
Danzo had changed into an Amegakure ninja's outfit. When he saw Yahiko, he said, "Are you Lord Yahiko, the leader of Akatsuki?"
"Uh, yes... That's right."
"I am Hanzo of the Salamander's deputy. My name is Kanzō. I hear that you advocate resolving problems peacefully without resorting to force. Lord Hanzō entrusted me with a letter for you."
Danzo handed Yahiko the confidential letter he had prepared in advance.
After reading it, Yahiko exclaimed in surprise, "Is this true?"
Danzo smiled and replied, "Yes. Lord Hanzō heard of your deeds and was heartened. He would like to meet you.
"He hopes to entrust you with the task of negotiating peace with the three countries surrounding the Land of Rain in the future."
"Please tell Lord Hanzō that we understand."
Without giving it much thought, Yahiko quickly agreed, as though afraid of missing this hard-won opportunity.
Heh... Young people really are easy to fool, Hanzō sneered inwardly.
"Then I'll take my leave."
After Danzo left, the members of Akatsuki cheered, celebrating the moment. Akatsuki's ideal was finally close to being realized.
Yahiko looked out at the curtain of rain and said with emotion, "So many people sacrificed themselves for this moment. At last, we haven't let them down."
Nagato reached out and patted Yahiko on the shoulder. "Yahiko, your determination to understand other people's pain moved Hanzō. Look how happy everyone is. Akatsuki has found its ideal again.
"Everyone is willing to follow closely in your footsteps. We don't need any symbol of a hero."
"Yeah. We weren't wrong. I hope everything goes smoothly tomorrow."
"You're worried about..."
Nagato naturally also recalled what their previous contact had said, and he couldn't help growing worried as well.
"Well... Whatever the problem is, we'll deal with it when we get there tomorrow. We have to seize this opportunity, and besides, what that guy said might not be true," Yahiko replied.
They both knew that whether the meeting was a trap or not, they had no choice, because Akatsuki was also close to being unable to carry on.
They had to accept the olive branch Hanzō was offering them at this moment.
At that point, everyone gathered around. Yahiko said, "Nagato and I will go to the meeting tomorrow. The rest of you stay at headquarters, just in case."
"Will you be all right? Boss, let's all go together..." Kyūsuke said worriedly.
"Don't worry. If so many of us went together, we'd scare Hanzō."
Of course, Yahiko couldn't let so many people go together. If they were all caught in one fell swoop, Akatsuki would truly be finished.
"That's true, hahaha..." Everyone laughed.
Yahiko looked around and asked, "By the way, where's Konan?"
"She went to patrol District Seven. She probably won't be back until tomorrow morning," Nagato replied.
"Is that so? It's rare for something this good to happen... Anyway, Akatsuki has taken an important step. Everyone, forget your duties today and have a good rest."
So everyone began to celebrate, raising cups together and drinking until they were thoroughly drunk.
Meanwhile, Konan had just arrived at the patrol point when she discovered that the Akatsuki members stationed there had been killed.
She went forward to investigate, but the corpses suddenly swelled up and sprayed out a large amount of poisonous mist, knocking her unconscious in an instant.
When she woke again, she found herself locked in a dim dungeon, with several Amegakure ninja guards watching her from outside.
"Where is this...?"