Not long after, Minato overheard the tense, diplomatic conversation between Orochimaru and Konan and learned a few shocking things.
'Jiraiya-sensei... never once mentioned having disciples hidden in the Land of Rain,' Minato thought to himself, his blue eyes widening slightly. 'So, this is exactly where Sensei disappeared to during those three years he abandoned the Village...'
Konan's expression remained perfectly calm, but a look of genuine, painful nostalgia flashed in her pale purple eyes at the mention of the Toad Sage.
She didn't answer Orochimaru directly. Instead, she turned her gaze toward the other side of the rocky valley.
A young man with bright orange hair was walking quickly toward them through the drizzle, followed closely by several rogue ninja wearing the exact same black robes adorned with red clouds.
"I am Yahiko. I am the founder and leader of the Akatsuki Organization," the orange-haired youth announced. He gave a bright, disarming smile. Despite the deep, agonizing fatigue in his brow from fighting a constant guerrilla war, there was an absolute, unyielding sense of vitality in his eyes.
"Thank you, everyone from Konoha, for successfully escorting this batch of medical supplies across the border. The current situation in the Land of Rain is catastrophic... these antibiotics and bandages will save thousands of innocent lives."
Orochimaru's golden vertical pupils narrowed slightly as he looked the boy up and down, dissecting his psychology.
His gaze lingered for a moment on those iconic black cloaks with the red clouds.
"The Akatsuki Organization... I have read the ANBU intelligence reports," Orochimaru paused, a dark smile curling his lips. "A rogue, paramilitary organization active deep within the Land of Rain, whose entire political philosophy is to... bring peace through understanding."
Kiyohara stood silently by the carriage, quietly analyzing the historical scene.
At this point in the timeline, the Akatsuki Organization was infinitely far from becoming the apocalyptic, international criminal syndicate of S-Rank Rogue Ninja it would eventually mutate into. Right now, it was just a desperate, pacifist civilian organization struggling to survive in a war-torn, rotting country.
'It seems Danzo hasn't officially allied with Hanzo the Salamander to set up the trap yet,' Kiyohara pondered.
In the original lore, the Akatsuki's tragic fall into darkness was inseparable from the direct political interference of Konoha's Darkness of the Shinobi, Danzo Shimura.
Danzo's silver-tongued paranoia stoked the deep-seated political unease in Hanzo's heart. He convinced the paranoid dictator that the Akatsuki's growing civilian popularity was a direct threat to his iron-fisted rule, and therefore, Hanzo decided to eradicate them.
Meanwhile, Yahiko and the Akatsuki naively believed they had finally gained diplomatic recognition from the Hidden Rain Village and were about to sign a peace treaty.
As a result, they walked completely unarmed into a brutal ambush orchestrated by Hanzo and Root ANBU. In the end, Yahiko chose to commit suicide on Nagato's kunai to save his friends. The trauma instantly snapped Nagato's sanity, transforming him into Pain, and shifting the Akatsuki's philosophy from peace through understanding to peace through absolute suffering.
Kiyohara wasn't entirely sure how strong Yahiko physically was right now; he only knew the boy's corpse was terrifyingly powerful after being reanimated as the Deva Path.
"Once the inventory is checked, the logistical handover can be completed," Konan turned to Jirobo, the head of the merchant caravan, and began ruthlessly verifying the number of wooden crates.
Yahiko stepped closer to Minato and Orochimaru, his smile fading into something much more serious. "Actually... we've encountered a bit of a tactical problem. The Amegakure (Hidden Rain) Hunter-Nin patrols have been incredibly active nearby recently. We just received word from an outer scout that a kill squad might be moving toward this exact valley. For your own safety, please evacuate back to Fire Country as soon as the handover is complete."
Orochimaru's pale tongue slid out to lightly lick his lips. "Hanzo's Hidden Rain Village?"
"Yes," Yahiko nodded, his expression grim. "Lord Hanzo is currently deeply paranoid regarding all non-Amegakure armed forces operating within his borders. Our Akatsuki Organization is currently classified as an unstable rebel faction. But... I truly believe that if we can just talk to him, we will be recognized as an official, peaceful entity one day."
"Heh heh... since we are already here, dealing with the Amegakure patrol to avoid collateral damage to the supplies should also fall within the operational scope of our escort mission," Orochimaru smiled darkly.
The Legendary Sannin. This seemingly honorable, world-renowned title was actually a mark of disgrace to Orochimaru.
He, Tsunade, and Jiraiya had only received this grand title as a mocking consolation prize because they were the only three Konoha ninja to survive a one-sided slaughter against Hanzo the Salamander during the Second Great War. Orochimaru harbored absolutely no good feelings toward Hanzo or his dogs.
"This... is not quite appropriate," Yahiko shook his head stubbornly. "Konoha and Amegakure are not currently in a state of open war. If you execute their patrol, it might cause an international incident."
Orochimaru gave a low, echoing laugh. "As long as no one is left alive with a pulse to report back to Hanzo... who will possibly know Konoha was involved?"
Yahiko was silent for a few agonizing seconds. In the distance, sharp, hostile chakra fluctuations could already be faintly felt. The Amegakure assassins were indeed approaching, and very quickly.
"...I understand," Yahiko finally nodded, compromising his pacifism for the sake of the medicine. Orochimaru was Jiraiya-sensei's closest friend, so Yahiko foolishly chose to trust the snake.
"Then, please hide in the canopy first. The Amegakure's target is us, and they will attack us directly. Once they enter the ambush kill-zone, please execute your crossfire."
Orochimaru nodded slightly. The Konoha group immediately dispersed and vanished into the environment.
Kiyohara leaped silently onto a lush, rain-slicked branch and observed the valley entrance through the gaps in the leaves.
Kakashi crouched low behind a massive boulder on the opposite flank, his hand already resting on the hilt of his white chakra blade.
Minato Namikaze's figure flawlessly merged into the shadows; if one wasn't actively, desperately searching for his chakra signature, his physical presence couldn't be detected at all.
Five minutes later, eight Amegakure Hunter-Nin appeared silently at the valley entrance.
The leading assassin wore a wide bamboo hat and had two specially made, heavy metal umbrellas crossed in an 'X' on his back. He was a plump, overweight man, but his footwork was exceptionally, terrifyingly agile. Each step precisely avoided splashing the puddles on the ground.
"Yahiko. The rebel leader of the Akatsuki Organization," the pale, plump Amegakure Jonin sneered coldly. "Lord Hanzo has issued a direct order: this is your final warning. Disband this illegal militia immediately... or die."
Yahiko stood firmly before the wooden medical crates, refusing to back down. "The Akatsuki Organization exists purely to help the starving civilians of the Land of Rain! It will not pose a military threat to Lord Hanzo's political rule. We only want to heal people and bring peace through dialogue!"
"Pathetic and naive," another Amegakure Jonin sneered beneath his rebreather. "Any uncontrolled, armed militia is a threat to the state. Since you've chosen treason..."
He formed a rapid sequence of hand seals. "Water Release: Water Clone!"
Four liquid clones materialized instantly from the puddles and lunged directly at Yahiko alongside the original body.
Almost simultaneously, the plump Jonin pulled the two heavy metal umbrellas from his back and threw them high into the rainy sky with a violent spin.
"Ninja Art: Shower of Senbon!"
The umbrellas snapped open in mid-air. The lethal mechanisms activated, and thousands of poisoned senbon poured down like a metallic rainstorm, blanketing a massive area of the valley.
At that exact millisecond, Yahiko also moved.
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
He took a massive, deep breath, his chest swelling visibly, and violently spat out a surging, highly pressurized torrent of water from his mouth.
This was no ordinary C-Rank jutsu; the sheer volume and kinetic impact were far beyond the standard parameters. The surging tidal wave not only instantly obliterated the four Water Clones, but the backwash also formed a dense, physical water wall that deflected the vast majority of the poisoned senbon.
Kiyohara observed analytically from the tree.
The official canon databooks recorded Yahiko's chakra affinities as Fire, Wind, and Water, with an absolute specialty in Water Release. Now, seeing it firsthand, his mastery over fluid dynamics was indeed exceptional, and his raw chakra reserves were massive.
In the original story, he died so pathetically easily mainly because he completely, foolishly trusted Hanzo's word. He believed that Konan and Nagato would be allowed to live if he surrendered his own life, and so he willingly chose to commit suicide by throwing himself onto the kunai in Nagato's hand.
But right now, the Amegakure assassins possessed numerical superiority.
The remaining six Chunin attacked simultaneously, launching various lethal Water Release ninjutsu from different flanks, aiming to crush Yahiko and Konan in a crossfire.
"Execute them," Orochimaru whispered coldly.
Kiyohara's figure vanished from the branch.
Konoha Body Flicker Technique.
His physical body turned into a scattering blur of wet leaves. In the next microsecond, he materialized flawlessly behind an Amegakure Chunin.
A flash of a black blade.
The ninja sword pierced cleanly through the man's ribs, directly severing his heart.
Blood erupted with a sickening squelch. The Chunin didn't even have the biological time to register the pain before his eyes widened and he collapsed face-first into the mud.
Almost simultaneously, Kakashi's figure burst into the center of the battlefield like a jagged silver lightning bolt.
The deafening, apocalyptic chirping of the Chidori pierced the air as blinding blue-white electrical light condensed violently in his right hand.
Kakashi didn't foolishly charge the Jonin in the front; instead, he flanked a Chunin on the left who was busy weaving seals for a Water Dragon.
"Chidori!"
His lightning-wreathed palm pierced effortlessly through the man's ribcage. Kakashi withdrew his hand expressionlessly, bringing with it a massive spray of boiling blood and charred tissue.
Konan's unique Paper Release also unfolded in the chaos.
"Dance of the Shikigami: Paper Shuriken!"
Hundreds of pieces of crisp white paper flew violently from her wide sleeves. They transformed into rigid, aerodynamic shuriken shapes in mid-air and shot ruthlessly toward another Rain ninja.
The paper weapons seemed fragile, but with her dense chakra reinforcement, they possessed armor-piercing lethality no less than forged steel.
The Amegakure ninja hurriedly threw up a Water Formation Wall to defend, but the chakra-infused paper actually violently penetrated the liquid barrier, leaving several deep, bleeding lacerations across his chest and arms.
The plump Amegakure Jonin's pale face changed drastically. "An ambush! It's a trap! Fall back! Retreat—!"
He couldn't even finish his desperate command.
A blinding yellow flash streaked past his peripheral vision.
Minato Namikaze's figure materialized out of thin air like a ghost. His specially forged, three-pronged kunai was already buried hilt-deep into the spine of the Jonin who was preparing to counterattack Konan.
"When... when did you—?!" The Jonin looked down at the bloody tip of the kunai protruding from his own chest, feeling his lungs fill with fluid.
Minato smoothly withdrew the blade, and his figure vanished instantly again, reappearing behind another fleeing Chunin.
"Konoha's Yellow Flash... and Orochimaru of the Sannin!" The plump Jonin finally saw the full situation clearly, his voice breaking with absolute terror. "Retreat! Scatter and retreat immediately!"
But it was entirely too late.
Orochimaru's horrifying figure slowly rose from the mud directly in front of him, causing the Jonin to freeze instantly in paralyzing fear.
"Since you are already here... do not bother leaving," Orochimaru hissed hoarsely.
In the next moment, Orochimaru's neck suddenly, sickeningly elongated. His head shot forward like a biological cannonball.
The plump Jonin had absolutely no time to react before Orochimaru's jaws unhinged and he bit savagely into the side of the man's neck.
"AGH—!"
Highly concentrated neurotoxin was injected directly into the carotid artery.
The Jonin's skin turned necrotic black at a visible, terrifying rate. He struggled in vain, foaming at the mouth, as the heavy umbrellas fell uselessly from his hands.
Orochimaru's neck retracted smoothly, returning to its original anatomical state, as if the grotesque scene had never happened.
Kiyohara recognized this gruesome technique as the Soft Physique Modification. By violently altering his own skeletal and muscular structure, Orochimaru had gained the impossible flexibility of a snake, allowing him to perform strikes that mathematically surpassed human limits.
The remaining skirmish ended in seconds. Genma's senbon flawlessly blocked the escape route of two Chunin trying to flee up the valley walls, pinning them in place for Kakashi to execute.
Kurenai utilized an auditory genjutsu in advance to paralyze a Rain ninja who was attempting to flank Konan. Kurenai's mastery of illusions was clearly vastly superior; the opponent's counter-genjutsu was violently interrupted before it could even take shape in his mind.
Kiyohara manipulated his iron sand to rapidly condense into three massive, heavy javelins.
"Magnet Release: Sand Iron Great Spear!"
The black, hyper-dense spears whistled through the air, violently piercing the chest of the final Amegakure Chunin and literally pinning his corpse to the solid rock wall.
The slaughter was over.
Kiyohara calmly sheathed his Tachi. Without a word, he habitually walked toward the fresh corpses. He unsealed a large, empty scroll from his tactical pouch and immediately began looting the spoils—confiscating forged weapons, encoded scrolls, cash, and even stripping the relatively intact waterproof cloaks from the dead.
His physical movements were highly skilled, mechanical, and rapid, clearly demonstrating this was not the first time he had plundered the dead.
Yahiko and Konan watched this cold, pragmatic scavenging with highly complicated, disturbed expressions.
Konan frowned slightly at the disrespect to the dead, but wisely said nothing.
Yahiko stepped forward and bowed deeply to Orochimaru and Minato.
"Thank you all for your intervention. Without Konoha's assistance, we would not have survived this ambush so smoothly today."
Orochimaru waved his pale hand dismissively. "Consider it a simple transaction. We helped you slaughter your pursuers, and you saved yourselves the trouble of subsequent retaliation from Hanzo. And of course... Hanzo will never know Konoha was involved in this sector."
He looked coldly at the stripped corpses strewn across the bloody mud. "No survivors left to talk. But the Hidden Rain command will eventually deduce that this specific Hunter-Nin squad has gone missing. When that time comes, they will inevitably intensify their search grid. The rest of your survival will depend entirely on your own abilities."
Minato added, his tone sympathetic but brutally realistic. "Yahiko-kun. I deeply admire the pacifist philosophy of the Akatsuki Organization. But in this rotting era... philosophy alone is not enough to stop a kunai."
Yahiko nodded solemnly, his fists clenched tight. "I understand the reality. Thank you again."
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