The rain followed them on the way back, but none of them paid attention to it.
The village was already far behind when Yahiko finally broke the silence.
— That… — he began, taking a deep breath. — That was too fast.
Konan walked beside him, her expression serious, her mind still trapped in images that refused to fade. Shadows moving without sound. Bodies falling without resistance. A power that did not ask permission to exist.
— Fast — she agreed. — And clean.
Nagato followed a step behind, his eyes lowered, lost in thought. Since the end of the mission, something inside him felt different. Not fear. Not disgust.
Clarity.
Kuro walked ahead of them, as always, maintaining the same precise distance. Neither too close nor distant enough to feel absent.
— You achieved what you went there for — he said without turning around. — The ledger. The routes. The names.
Yahiko tightened his grip on the book.
— We did. — He hesitated. — But the price…
Kuro stopped.
He turned slowly.
— The price was paid the moment you accepted the mission — he replied. — Not now.
The silence that followed was not tense. It was heavy.
Konan spoke first.
— You killed without hesitation.
— Yes.
— Without trying to capture. Without interrogation.
— Yes.
She held his gaze.
— And you would do it again.
— I would — Kuro confirmed. — Because that man was not a variable. He was a recurring problem.
Yahiko frowned.
— You decide who deserves to live?
Kuro did not answer immediately. He observed Yahiko's face, then Konan's, and finally Nagato's.
— No — he said. — I decide who cannot be allowed to continue existing if you want real results.
Nagato lifted his gaze.
— And if our goals ever conflict with yours?
A faint, almost imperceptible smile crossed Kuro's face.
— Then you'll have to decide whether you still walk with me.
Yahiko let out a short laugh.
— You speak as if that decision is already made.
— It isn't — Kuro replied. — But it's close.
Amegakure welcomed them back under its usual gray sky.
The Akatsuki building felt smaller now. Not physically — but symbolically. After what they had seen, after what they had done, that place no longer represented only an ideal.
It represented responsibility.
They gathered in silence, the ledger open on the table. Familiar names. Involved villages. Routes crossing borders without respect for flags or treaties.
— This explains a lot… — Konan murmured.
— And exposes a lot of people — Yahiko added. — If this leaks, the world explodes.
Nagato closed his eyes.
— Or truly changes.
Yahiko looked at him.
— You believe that?
Nagato opened his eyes slowly.
— I believe that continuing as we are guarantees only one thing. — He inhaled deeply. — More war.
Silence fell again.
There was no disagreement. Only the weight of the choice.
Konan closed the book.
— If we use this… — she said — there's no going back.
Yahiko nodded slowly.
— And we can't pretend we never saw it.
They exchanged looks.
Then, almost at the same time, they turned to Kuro.
He stood leaning against the wall, hands in his pockets, watching without interference. There was no pressure. No hidden command.
The decision had to be theirs.
— You don't want to lead — Yahiko said suddenly.
Kuro lifted his gaze.
— No.
— Then what do you want to be?
— The limit — Kuro replied. — The thing that keeps you from becoming what you hate… or from failing because you tried to be too good.
Konan took a deep breath.
— That's dangerous.
— Yes.
— For us — she continued — and for you.
Kuro nodded.
— Everything worth doing is.
Nagato stepped forward.
— If we accept… — he began — the Akatsuki changes.
— It does — Kuro confirmed.
— We won't be just an idealistic group anymore.
— No.
— We'll be a real force — Yahiko finished.
Kuro did not smile.
— You'll be an organization the world will be forced to acknowledge.
Thunder rumbled in the distance, echoing over Amegakure.
Yahiko closed his eyes for a brief moment.
When he opened them, there was resolve there.
— Then we stop pretending good intentions are enough.
Konan nodded.
— We stop reacting. It's time to act.
Nagato clenched his fists.
— Our way.
They all turned to Kuro.
— You're part of this — Yahiko said. — Not as a leader. Not as an owner.
Kuro observed the three of them for a long second.
Then he nodded.
— Then it's decided.
The shadows around the room seemed to stretch slightly, almost imperceptibly.
Not in threat.
But in recognition.
That night, the Akatsuki did not change its name.
It did not change its symbol.
But it changed its nature.
And from that moment on, the shinobi world began moving toward something new.
Something not born from blind hope.
But from conscious choice.
Author's Note
Thanks for reading!
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