Torrential rain poured down on everyone in Akatsuki.
Both Pain and Nagato were here. There was nothing around them—no cover, no shelter, nowhere to escape the downpour. And everyone could see the red-haired Nagato.
It was hard to imagine that this gaunt, skeletal man was their true leader.
Konan immediately used Sacred Paper Emissary Jutsu to form a huge umbrella, keeping every drop of rain off Nagato.
"You don't have to do that, Konan."
Konan shook her head and stubbornly kept holding it over him.
She didn't say much. She didn't need to. She was clearly worried about Nagato's condition.
Pain, controlled by Nagato, stood bolt upright in the rain, expressionless. But Deidara and Hidan couldn't help complaining.
"Just one umbrella? Making a few more wouldn't even be a hassle, hm."
"Seriously?! Hey—hold on! Why does it feel like I'm being force-fed sugary roma—"?!"
Before Hidan could get the last word out, Konan extended her other hand, startling him. Much as he hated to admit it, her abilities really did counter him.
He had no desire to experience the misery of being revived and suffocating, suffocating and being revived again, only to suffocate all over again.
But Konan didn't attack him. Instead, she used Sacred Paper Emissary Jutsu to make a conical hat for everyone.
It didn't look like paper at all, more like woven bamboo. A curtain like white cloth hung around the brim, keeping rain from splashing down their necks.
Living in Amegakure, Konan's paper was waterproof oil paper to begin with.
"I think we should first figure out what era we're in."
The man who had stayed silent until now finally spoke. It was Itachi Uchiha, standing slightly behind Kisame.
Strictly speaking, Konoha had already cleared him of his missing-nin status, but for some reason, this time he was still included among this Akatsuki group.
Pain spoke again. "So this is what the Konoha ninja call time travel?"
He looked to Kisame. Compared to Itachi Uchiha, who came from Konoha, Kisame was obviously the more credible one.
Kisame nodded. "That's right. I've time-traveled to the era of the Third Shinobi World War before. I saw Konoha's Yellow Flash fighting more than fifty enemy jōnin with my own eyes."
"Huh?! No way!" Hidan, wearing his conical hat, peeled back the curtain at the brim to stare at Kisame. After spending a day with him yesterday, that Fourth Hokage didn't seem strong at all!
Kisame took one look at Hidan's face and knew exactly what he was thinking. He bared his shark teeth in a grin.
"All I can say is, he lives up to the Yellow Flash's name."
"Not often you give someone that kind of praise," Kakuzu said.
Sasori added, "Everyone knows the Fourth Hokage died more than ten years ago. If he's alive now, then we can only accept their so-called mission scroll and time travel story."
Konan and Nagato stayed silent.
Kakuzu looked at them. "You two are Amegakure missing-nin. You should know where to gather information around here, right?"
Konan's expression dimmed. The moment she arrived, she couldn't help remembering what Yahiko had said back then.
This country is always crying. I want to change this place.
"I know a place," Nagato said at last. "It's a good base. We'll go there first."
Konan didn't need to ask. She already knew where he meant.
Their old Akatsuki base, back when Yahiko was still alive. The place that had once filled them with confidence and hope.
After Yahiko died, they had never gone back.
Most of the others weren't familiar with Amegakure, and since Nagato was Pain, their leader, none of the missing-nin questioned him. They followed him toward the place he mentioned.
They just didn't know that this was fifteen years ago.
They thought the long-abandoned former Akatsuki secret base was empty, but the original Akatsuki members they remembered were very much alive and well.
At this moment, none of these first-generation Akatsuki members knew that they had already become thorns in the eyes and flesh in the sides of Danzō Shimura and Hanzō of the Salamander.
When they heard that the leader of Amegakure wanted to negotiate with them and use their strength to quell the war, Yahiko and the others—whose recent progress had gone so smoothly it felt unreal—didn't think too deeply about it. They even treated themselves to a celebratory feast.
Yahiko, Kyūsuke, Daibutsu, and the others got drunk, slumped over the tables, dreaming foolish dreams.
Nagato, not yet twenty and therefore unable to drink, watched them with a smile. Then he stood up and stepped outside the base to get some fresh air.
The light, steady rain was something they had long since grown used to.
"We've finally made it this far."
Nagato looked out at the rain.
This was their country. He believed that sooner or later, in their hands, it would become a better, more stable, happier place.
"Nagato."
That voice—
The good mood he'd been in vanished instantly. Nagato spun around at once.
As expected, it was that man who never dared show his face.
The masked man.
Yahiko had told him before—he had to stay far away from this person.
"What are you doing here?!"
"I'm here to advise you to part ways with Yahiko and the others immediately, and join me in carrying out the great 'Eye of the Moon' plan. Otherwise—"
"You're threatening me?!"
"Yahiko is too naive. What good is understanding other people's pain? No one will naturally understand the suffering you've endured."
Nagato stared at the masked man warily.
He trusted Yahiko completely. There was no way he would believe this man's nonsense.
Sensing the vigilance in his eyes, the masked man let out a cold laugh.
"You really think people long for world peace the way you do? Sooner or later, you'll learn what reality truly is."
"Ridiculous…"
"Nagato, you possess the Rinnegan. I can tell you its true purpose. Come to my side and serve me."
"Enough! No matter what you say, I will believe in Yahiko's ideals! I will act according to Yahiko's will!"
"What a shame. Even with the Rinnegan, you're still nothing more than a mere mortal, Nagato."
The conversation ended badly. Like a ghost, the masked man passed straight through Yahiko's body and disappeared into a swirling vortex in the void.
"Then wait. After you've tasted true despair, you'll understand that naive choices lead nowhere."
Those final, ruthless words left Nagato with a trace of unease in his heart.
"What's wrong, Nagato? Was someone just here?"
Yahiko, likely woken by Nagato's voice, came out to look for him. He hadn't drunk much and treated Nagato like a younger brother.
"No one. It was just me," Nagato said, lying. He knew Yahiko didn't want him anywhere near the masked man.
Yahiko smiled at him. "Pack up and get ready. Don't be late for the meeting with Hanzō-sama."
"Yeah!"
Thinking of the peace that was about to arrive, Nagato, one of Akatsuki's founding members, felt the same excitement as Yahiko.
Who could have imagined they'd gain the Amegakure leader's recognition so quickly?
Negotiating alongside the Kage of the Five Great Shinobi Nations?
There was fear, but when he thought about striving for peace across the entire shinobi world, he couldn't suppress the excitement rising in his chest.
Daibutsu and Kyūsuke were still asleep. Yahiko smiled.
"Let them sleep a bit longer. We'll head out."
"Alright."
"Come to think of it, Konan's really late. She still hasn't come back."
"She should be back soon. Maybe the investigation turned out to be harder than expected."
They were still too young back then. Ever since learning ninjutsu from Jiraiya-sensei and gaining the ability to protect themselves and survive, everything had been moving in a good direction.
So much so that they were beginning to forget.
To forget just how cruel the ninja world really was.
...
They had no idea how long they'd been gone when the ninja rat bit Kyūsuke awake from his hangover.
After taking the scroll, Kyūsuke read it carefully, the sense of unease in his chest growing heavier with every line.
"Hey! Where are Yahiko and Nagato?!"
"Huh?" Daibutsu woke up groggily. "They already left, didn't they? Today's the day they're supposed to meet Hanzō, the leader of the Amegakure ninja village."
"This is bad!! Wake everyone up, now!!"
"What happened?!"
"No time to explain! Hurry! Wake everyone up! I'll explain on the way!!"
Kyūsuke, Daibutsu, and more than a dozen former Akatsuki members snapped fully awake from their drunken haze and rushed out without hesitation.
...
Meanwhile, Konan and Nagato, slowed by Nagato's injured leg, were walking at the back of the group behind Hidan, Kakuzu, and the others.
The familiar scenery stirred memories of Yahiko in both of them.
How could Obito Uchiha's promise to revive Yahiko not move their hearts? But they were no longer the naive youths they once were. This ninja world was full of danger. They would walk the road to peace first, and only then bring Yahiko back. That way, he would be pure, and the one most worthy of becoming a god.
"Hey!! That hurts!!"
Hidan's loud, irritated voice suddenly rang out from ahead.
Konan had been lost in thought. With no powerful enemies sensed nearby, she had let her guard down.
Someone was here?
Probably refugees looking for a place to stay.
"Ah, sorry, we're in a hurry." Kyūsuke was still young himself. When he looked up and saw the man with the foul expression, and the tall, intimidating figure beside him who clearly wasn't someone to mess with, he quickly apologized.
The group all wore straw hats, their faces half-hidden, looking travel-worn and vaguely threatening.
Kyūsuke thought to himself that they couldn't afford to waste time here.
The lives of Brother Yahiko and Nagato depended on whether they could catch up and stop them from meeting Hanzō of the Salamander.
What he didn't know was that although his apology didn't immediately earn Hidan's forgiveness, it made Konan and Nagato, standing at the very back of the Akatsuki group, widen their eyes in shock.
In that instant, they both remembered Minato Namikaze's words.
—"The mission reward for an A-rank mission scroll is time travel."
"Kyūsuke?!!"