Like Tsunade earlier, Nagato started to speak, then stopped—ultimately saying nothing.
After all, he was an Uchiha. An Uchiha being mentally… off—wasn't that perfectly reasonable?
He'd explain everything to Konan after the guy left.
By now Nagato had been thinking a lot.
He'd always been a tinkerer and a creator; otherwise he wouldn't have bolted rocket fists and a head-mounted laser onto Asura Path's body. So he'd already decided: on one hand, he'd study Uchiha Yorin—see how that man planned to "save the world." On the other, he'd recruit talent and expand Akatsuki's strength. Then, when the day came to fight Yorin again, they'd all dogpile him without "honor" or "codes of the road."
Just picturing that guy getting mobbed and beaten to his knees made Nagato a little excited.
…
Daydream over.
When Nagato came back to himself, he saw Uchiha Yorin holding Konan's hand and—reading her palm.
Nagato: "What the—"
He couldn't help blurting out, but Yorin ignored him completely. Still holding Konan's hand, Yorin said earnestly:
"So, Konan-nee, see this line across your palm? That's a 'Calamity Stroke.' Not great."
Konan: "What, exactly, is 'not great' about it?"
Maybe it was Yorin's serious face; with his fingers on her soft, delicate hand, she didn't find it strange at all, and asked just as seriously: "Then, Yorin-san—what does it mean?"
Yorin: "As the saying goes—'A crosswise line in the center of the palm means lonely, poor youth.' Think about it—true?"
Konan: "It is… So, Yorin-san—any way to fix it?"
Yorin: "There is—two more lines of the 'commentary': 'If you seek wealth and rank, then 'cut off' the original husband and marry another.'
"So Konan-nee, I think you should take a step forward. Seeing you like this—Yahiko wouldn't want it… Hey—hang on, Nagato, I'm talking to Konan-nee here."
Nagato: "Enough, Yorin-kun. We're at Akatsuki HQ. If you want a cloak, I can have one made. But what do you intend to do next? Or… have you not thought that far?
"If you haven't—shouldn't you head back to Konoha for now?"
His Rinnegan-ringed eyes watched Yorin with full suspicion.
He couldn't control who Yorin duped—but he could stop him from duping Konan. Before dying, big bro entrusted big sis to him; he had a duty to find her a good match.
If Konan could find happiness of her own, Nagato would bless her.
Was Uchiha Yorin that "happiness"?
Like hell.
On the left side of his face it read heartless rake, on the right shameless flirt—absolutely not good husband material.
Yorin: "Oh, I have a plan—this is Orochimaru-sama, who is about to defect from Konoha.
"Your Akatsuki—big, small, long, short—fits Orochimaru-sama's 'nesting' needs perfectly. Bring him in. As for Orochimaru's secret lab—Nagato, we'll leave it with you."
Orochimaru: "I'll be counting on you, Nagato-kun."
Nagato: "Mm…"
He considered:
"If it's Orochimaru—dangerous, yes—but his research and his combat power are useful. If I can turn that to my use…"
He nodded. "Of course. Orochimaru-sama?"
Orochimaru: "No problem."
Jiraiya: "Hold on."
Orochimaru was fine—but Jiraiya wasn't. Hearing that Orochimaru was going to defect, he got anxious fast.
Yorin: "You can say your farewells in a bit, Master Jiraiya. Right now the priority is Hanzo the Salamander—we crack that fossil and avenge our brother Yahiko!"
On the road earlier, Yorin had already confirmed Hanzo was alive.
For whatever reason, Nagato had stayed holed up grinding levels, leaving Hanzo alone.
Yorin figured he wanted to "make it a moment"—wait until he'd perfected his "divinity" and then twist Hanzo's head off for the banner ceremony.
But now that Yorin was here, that head was his to take.
Hanzo might be a fallen phoenix that can't beat a rooster anymore—but once, the demi-god had a few "nails" worth of steel; perfect whetstones to sharpen Yorin's blade and boost his XP.
Tsunade raised an objection from the side:
"As Konoha shinobi, is it really okay for us to attack Amegakure?"
She didn't actually object to the attack—she worried about being caught and giving the other great villages a pretext to declare war on Konoha.
That would be… troublesome.
Yorin gave her a "don't be dense" look: "How could it? We're not Konoha shinobi. We're Akatsuki members. The one who killed Hanzo is Yorin, the new leader of Akatsuki.
"If the other villages want to pursue it, they can pursue Akatsuki. What's it got to do with Konoha?"
At that, Konan brought out several brand-new black cloaks with red clouds and handed them to the group. Spare robes for the Paths—perfect for now.
So.
Do they follow Yorin's plan to help Akatsuki seize Amegakure and kill Hanzo?
Orochimaru—no objections as usual.
Jiraiya hates fighting—but for Konoha—and to avenge his disciple Yahiko… He can't lay hands on Danzō yet. Hanzo? Easy.
Tsunade… didn't have enough reason not to go after Hanzo.
And with all teammates set on smashing Hanzo—Tsunade wasn't close to the man; she wasn't going to go against the group to protect him.
More importantly—it was Yorin's plan.
He'd charged cloaked in thunder and flame and laughed in victory—Tsunade was drawn in. That allure was no less potent than when he lay soft and weak in her arms, a beautiful tragic youth.
If earlier Tsunade had been swayed in a moment, after the fight with Nagato she was completely drawn in.
She had high expectations for Yorin—she was desperate to see just how far he could go.
Can he?
Revive the Senju—so outrageous. Conquer the world—so outrageous. Restore peace to the world—so outrageous. Can Uchiha Yorin really do it?
Yorin's answer, of course: Yes.
With a classic, easy raid as his answer, he wordlessly answered her again.
…
In a corner of Amegakure no one could find, an aged Hanzo trembled at the Akatsuki crowd before him.
"Who are you?!"
He looked no different from any senile old man.
Yorin felt a little disappointed. Hanzo—no longer fit to be his opponent.
He turned to look at Nagato. Compared to Yorin, Nagato's feelings were surely more tangled. Once, he'd idolized Hanzo.
"Truly…"
If he were a bigger man, he might have smiled in release—but now all he could do was look at Hanzo with complicated, disdainful, trash-seeing eyes.
If they fought, Hanzo wouldn't last a round. Seeing him so foolish and decrepit, Nagato almost didn't want to kill him.
In that instant of hesitation, Yorin's blade flashed—and took Hanzo's head.
It rolled with a clatter; Hanzo's eyes remained wide, disbelieving—
a pathetic, absurd end that only underscored Yorin's point:
Time, decay, death—against those forces, peace built on personal power is meaningless.
Nagato drew a deep breath. "Yahiko."
He thought: Whatever else—this is your vengeance.
Then Yorin spoke: "Not enough blood."
"One more."
"Shimura Danzō still lives."
Lightning speared down from the heavens. Purple light glazed Yorin's handsome, delighted face. "Half a revenge is no revenge at all.
"Yahiko was Akatsuki's former leader—without full redress, my new-leader seat won't be steady.
"But you, Nagato—and you, Konan—cannot kill him.
"Because he's Konoha.
"If Danzō dies—he dies by Konoha's hand."
~~~
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