Yahiko's return messed up all of Konan's plans.
Well, to be honest, Konan didn't really have many plans anyway. Her fighting ability was decent, stronger than some people at least, but when it came to thinking, Konan was totally hopeless.
It wasn't that she was stupid, it's just that she was never used to using her head.
She never had that habit before, and after getting tricked by Orochimaru once, she became even less willing to think.
Because no matter how much she thought, there was always someone above her who could crush her. Since that was the case, why bother thinking at all?
So when this problem showed up, Konan's first thought was to go find Nagato. But Yahiko's return made her change her plan.
And when Yahiko heard about White Zetsu waking up, unlike Konan, he didn't rush into action right away.
Yahiko's talent wasn't that great, not strong at all.
Compared to real geniuses, Yahiko looked plain, even calling him ordinary would be too generous.
The only thing that set him apart was his natural charm as a leader. Even back when they were under the pressure of "Demi-God Hanzō," there were still people willing to follow Yahiko and fight back with him.
Yahiko had the aura a leader should have.
You could say the original Akatsuki only existed because of Yahiko's lead. Without him, the group wouldn't have even formed.
And now, even though Yahiko didn't look much different from before, after staying on Shanks's ship for so long, even Zabuza—who was an assassin—had gained political and strategic ability strong enough to crush several Hokage-level leaders.
Not to mention Yahiko himself.
Don't be fooled by how Shanks, Shisui, and Amado usually speak carelessly. The things these three discussed were always major events that could shake the whole ninja world.
Of course, they usually just talked about it and then dumped the rest onto Haku, who would then go find Yahiko and the others.
Yahiko and his team were happy to play the role of workers. After all, not everyone gets such chances.
Right now, Yahiko was like a hardened player stepping down from the highest level.
And the key point was, unlike Haku, Yahiko didn't carry those overly kind morals that didn't fit this world.
If a person has no morals, then they can't be controlled by them.
That's always the truth.
The path Haku chose wasn't wrong, but to keep walking it, he had to be strong enough.
Yahiko didn't need that.
"Is it him?"
"Other than his unstable mind, there's not much difference."
Jusuke spoke.
"Itachi with Indra's power is really something else. The effect of the genjutsu is this strong?
He probably can't even gather chakra properly anymore."
Yahiko checked White Zetsu's condition. The genjutsu Itachi had cast on Black Zetsu had been completely transferred onto him.
Otherwise, in that situation, Black Zetsu wouldn't have escaped so easily.
"So you're the real leader of the Revolutionary Army?"
White Zetsu looked at Yahiko. His voice was weak, but firm.
"By the way, you still owe us one. If we hadn't pushed Black Zetsu into that corner, he wouldn't have released you."
"I don't think Black Zetsu has the vision to see the whole picture. At least for now, this isn't the best time yet."
Yahiko looked at White Zetsu and spoke calmly.
Since they were going to do this, they might as well go big.
"Funny, as if your Revolutionary Army treats us any better. To you, we've always just been disposable pawns."
"We were before, but not anymore.
For us now, not only you, but even we ourselves can be sacrificed."
Yahiko didn't deny the past, but now, since the White Zetsu had earned some standing, Yahiko was ready to treat them the same as others.
"If you don't trust me, then at least you can trust Shanks, right?"
"Do you think Shanks sees any difference between White Zetsu and ordinary people?"
Yahiko didn't believe there was anything about him worth trusting, but Shanks was different.
Because Shanks had done it before—he really treated everyone equally.
When Yahiko brought up Shanks' name, White Zetsu's expression finally changed.
That's right, he had overlooked something—Nagato was also from the Uzumaki clan. He might not be as strong as Shanks, but he was still from that bloodline.
And chances were, his relationship with Shanks wasn't bad.
At that moment, it felt like White Zetsu had grabbed onto something.
And it wasn't really his fault.
It looked like everyone knew about this, but in truth, only a few people knew about the connection between Shanks and the Revolutionary Army.
One was Kakuzu, the other was Itachi.
The rest had noticed something strange here and there, but Hidan didn't care at all, and Kisame wasn't the type to dig into this stuff.
The end result was that Black Zetsu didn't really know the truth about the Revolutionary Army, and neither did most others.
They just took their pay and did the job.
Meanwhile, Black Zetsu and Obito had to be extra careful not to blow their cover.
But in the end, they still got exposed.
So the White Zetsu who stayed with Black Zetsu obviously didn't know a thing about the Revolutionary Army's real situation either.
Forget him—even the World Government didn't have proof.
You say Shanks is allied with the Revolutionary Army? Why not say Shanks is allies with Konohagakure too?
And now, the Revolutionary Army had teamed up with the pirates. That kind of alliance was the only real deal.
But even that has an expiration date, so no one bothers thinking too much about it.
Now, after Yahiko spoke, White Zetsu instantly figured it out—the Revolutionary Army and Yahiko couldn't be trusted.
The World Government and the pirates? Even less.
But in this world, there was still one man worth trusting.
Not because of his character, but because he was strong—so strong that everyone under him would be treated the same.
This was a chance, but also something that could be used against them.
White Zetsu's eyes turned deep. Betting could mean all the White Zetsu end up as tools for the Revolutionary Army—or it could mean finding that one sliver of hope.
Don't bet, and it's all up to fate!
One wrong move, and he could drag countless of his kind into the abyss. Even worse, White Zetsu knew that when it came to wits, he was no match for humans.
"The price… what price do we have to pay?"
White Zetsu looked at Yahiko, as if making up its mind about something.
Of course, just making up your mind isn't enough.
"It's not time to pay the price yet. Not everyone gets to bargain.
Right now, you don't."
A trace of coldness flashed across Yahiko's face.
"Stay with us for a while. Then I'll see if you can really work with us."
At this moment, Yahiko seemed like a completely different person, someone even Konan found unfamiliar.
Still, she didn't think much about it.
As for Yahiko, this was just a small trick he was playing.
Talking about trust in front of White Zetsu was pointless. Instead of doing that, it was better to make himself look like the bad guy.
Being openly bad can also win trust.
That's what Yahiko had learned.
In times like these, being a good guy is the least trustworthy role.
Still, Yahiko wasn't really a bad guy. If the White Zetsu could hold off the World Government's forces and draw their attention away, that would be enough.
Besides, his real destination this time was Kumogakure in the Land of Thunder.
Since the new era began, the Land of Thunder has done plenty, but it hasn't stood out much.
For a place that big, what it's done so far doesn't really match its size.
But that's only because the Land of Thunder has been holding back.
Unlike other countries, the Land of Thunder replaced its Daimyo with someone far more aggressive.
The previous Daimyo of the Land of Thunder had a good relationship with Kumogakure, and both followed the same policy.
Focus on building up the military.
What? No talent? That's not a problem.
Just throw money at it—lots of money.
On the surface, the Land of Thunder's Daimyo seemed happy to just do his job, but in truth, he didn't dare do anything else.
But what nobles can't do doesn't mean the ninja village can't.
We nobles might not become sages, but taking over other countries' Daimyo positions? That's not impossible.
So I'll just keep pouring money into Kumogakure. That's all I need to do. Keeping this money won't do us much good anyway.
It's just Kumogakure's bad luck. If those ninjas had gone to the black market and found Amado…
Kumogakure might already be ruling the skies by now.
You know, Amado even messed with the World Will.
What we have now is just that thing from the Land of Snow. By the time of Boruto, "god techniques" were already the most refined way of using the World Will—powers that could twist reality itself. If that's not the World Will, what is?
But even without finding Amado, it didn't change the Land of Thunder and Kumogakure's plans.
After the new era began, the Land of Thunder and the Land of Iron became close allies, and Kumogakure has strong ties with the Land of Snow too.
The whole northeast of the ninja world is basically united like a solid block. It looks like a full-blown rebel force.
And so far, no one has found out what they've been up to.
A few days later, Yahiko and his four companions, led by the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, arrived at Kumogakure Village.
On the towering mountains, fortresses had been built between the peaks.
Samurai, pirates, bounty hunters, merchants…
Everyone except the Marines could be seen here. There were even some nobles in Kumogakure Village.
"…"
Seeing this, Yahiko finally understood why they sent him here. If this isn't rebellion, then what is?
"Don't overthink it. Kumogakure Village is a special case. Just think of this place like the Land of Waves."
"Right now, the Raikage isn't here. Everything in the village is handled by Mabui and Lord Dodai."
With that, the Two-Tails Jinchuriki led them and pushed open the first gate of the Raikage Building.
And when Yahiko saw what was inside the Raikage Building, even he froze.
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