"Someone has been watching us?"
A few days after Konan returned to the base, she immediately sought out Nagato, who had arrived back before her. She recounted in detail what had happened during her meeting with the Fourth Kazekage, including the incident with the eavesdropper. She described White Zetsu's appearance precisely, leaving nothing out.
This unsettled Nagato considerably. It was worth noting that among their three-person group, Yahiko had always been the leader and the one who made decisions. Compared to him, Nagato's temperament was somewhat hesitant and prone to uncertainty in moments of pressure. In this respect, even Konan was steadier than he was.
"The Fourth Kazekage's analysis is sound," Nagato said slowly. "Regardless of who this opponent is, lurking in the shadows like that means they are hiding something. If they had no conspiracy, there would be no reason to operate covertly."
The revelation only deepened his unease.
The three of them were standing in a dense section of forest. Konan had deliberately brought them outside precisely to prevent anyone from observing them within the stronghold's walls.
"We do not need to concern ourselves with this person's background for now," Konan said, her voice measured and calm. "We have already formed an alliance with the Sand Village, and the Fourth Kazekage has indicated they will intervene if the situation calls for it. Our primary focus must remain on the Hidden Rain Village and Konoha."
She continued.
"Going forward, we will transmit battle reports from the Hidden Rain Village to the Hidden Sand Village in real time. The Fourth Kazekage will plan the corresponding responses from there."
"Then, when the time comes, do you believe it will be exactly as Yoru predicted?" Nagato looked toward the masked figure standing among them. "That the Hidden Rain Village and Konoha are truly moving together against us?"
"I share the same hope as the two of you," Yuji replied, his voice carrying an almost resigned amusement. "I hope my prediction does not come true. But my sense of the battlefield and my reading of this situation have never failed me."
Nagato glanced at Konan several times, something quietly shifting in his expression as he studied her. He could sense that something about her had changed since the trip, though he could not name it precisely.
"It was nothing extraordinary," Konan said, before he could ask. "The Fourth Kazekage is not as fearsome as the rumors suggest. For the Sand Village, acquiring the resources and strategic benefits that come with the Land of Rain carries enormous value. They had no reason to refuse."
She tilted her head slightly and extended one hand, letting the falling raindrops collect in her palm.
"As long as it saves Yahiko and preserves what we have built, any price is worth paying."
Nagato was silent for a long moment.
He understood what lay beneath Konan's words without her needing to say it directly. She was telling him that for Yahiko's sake, she had been willing to give up even things that should not have been hers to give.
"The Fourth Kazekage left a very strong impression on me," Konan said after a while, speaking quietly and almost to herself. "I felt, standing before him, that his strength was at least comparable to Hanzo's. If he had wanted to kill me in that room, I do not think I would have had the opportunity to resist."
Nagato was startled by this.
They had heard rumors about the Fourth Kazekage, of course. Everyone in the ninja world had. But one meeting had been enough for Konan to come away with a feeling like this. That alone said more than any rumor could.
The others remained silent.
Konan then began explaining in careful detail what she had witnessed during those moments in the office. The Fourth Kazekage had displayed three distinct and powerful abilities within a very short span of time. The first was Blood Release. The second was that extraordinary space-time ninjutsu. The third was the ability that had ended White Zetsu, something that had moved through its body at the cellular level rather than simply attacking it with chakra.
She explained this specifically for Nagato's benefit. Because although they were now allied with the Sand Village, Konan still understood very little about the Fourth Kazekage personally.
Even with allies, trust was never absolute. It was wise to gather as much information as possible about the other party's combat capabilities and make contingency plans. If the day ever came when the Sand Village turned against them, this information could at least give Nagato and Yahiko time to prepare.
As for herself, with the curse mark embedded in her heart, she already knew what her own fate would be if that day came.
Yuji, standing among them wearing his mask, joined their discussion of his own abilities with a composed expression, offering careful commentary as though analyzing someone else entirely. At the same time, he felt a quiet admiration for Konan's observational ability. She had caught more than he had expected.
He had acted during that moment in the office by covertly switching White Zetsu's underground position with an inconspicuous small object using the Room's spatial ability.
Because the action had been instantaneous and without prior warning, that specific mechanism had not been observed. From Konan's perspective, White Zetsu had appeared to simply be grabbed and yanked out of the ground by some mysterious force. But she had still caught enough of what followed to analyze the fundamental nature of a portion of the Ope Ope no Mi's capabilities.
"The Fourth Kazekage's space-time jutsu should have a distance limitation," Konan said, her voice quiet but deliberate, as though working through each piece of a puzzle. "Furthermore, his Blood Release poison is extraordinarily potent. But if what the Kazekage told us is true, that the eavesdropper had fused with Senju Hashirama's cells, then the regenerative strength of those cells would ordinarily resist common toxins.
The fact that it was eliminated so completely suggests the poison operates through a fundamentally different mechanism than anything we have encountered before."
Nagato listened carefully, saying nothing.
Yuji stood among them and listened to the two of them analyzing his techniques and working through countermeasures, feeling the strange quality of the moment acutely. He joined the discussion occasionally, appearing to offer his own analysis of the Kazekage's abilities.
But if one listened carefully, it was not difficult to notice that he was simply echoing the tail end of whatever Konan had just said, adding nothing that she had not already observed herself.
"Someone is coming."
Nagato suddenly raised his head, his perception catching something at the edge of the forest. The discussion came to an abrupt end.
An organization member appeared quickly through the trees and found them. Yahiko had something he needed to discuss with both Konan and Nagato.
After Konan and Nagato departed with the member, Yuji let out a slow breath of relief. Fortunately the topic had been interrupted when it was. If they had continued much longer in that direction, he would have found it increasingly difficult to keep repeating the ends of Konan's sentences without drawing attention to himself.
Time moved forward steadily.
Konan maintained her own private contact with the Sand Village, keeping the channel of communication open without involving Yahiko or Nagato in the details.
At the same time, the three of them had been quietly investigating the stronghold's environment, attempting to locate White Zetsu. But after the incident at the Sand Village, White Zetsu had become considerably more cautious.
Through a Wood Release transformation technique, it had been absorbing the chakra of certain Akatsuki members and performing replication and disguise, blending seamlessly into the crowd without arousing any suspicion whatsoever.
Only Yuji could see through it.
Even Nagato and Konan had not noticed.
White Zetsu's ability to integrate so perfectly stemmed from years of long-term surveillance. It understood Akatsuki's rhythms and habits better than most of its own members did. And Yuji had not yet exposed it. He was still waiting for the right moment to bring the truth before Nagato. Stirring things prematurely would only complicate what needed to happen next.
On the other front, Akatsuki's liberation campaign throughout the Land of Rain continued to advance. By this point, the Hidden Rain Village appeared increasingly unable to contain the organization's growth.
But this declining trend, examined carefully, was not what it appeared to be. Although Hanzo was old, his fundamental nature and his abilities had not dulled. If he had genuinely wanted to crush Akatsuki with everything available to him, the scale of the conflict would have expanded dramatically rather than fragmenting into the scattered localized battles that had been the pattern.
The Hidden Rain Village's apparent weakness was being performed deliberately, designed to deceive Akatsuki into believing they were gradually seizing control of the Land of Rain and becoming its dominant force.
And Akatsuki had been believing exactly that.
This had led the organization to progressively underestimate the true strength still held in reserve by the Hidden Rain Village. Once Akatsuki's leadership had sufficiently lowered their guard, a proposal for a peace conference or negotiation would seem entirely natural.
Akatsuki would no longer approach it with excessive caution. They would believe the Hidden Rain Village had simply been cornered and forced into making concessions. Then, in the small window of vulnerability that created, the Hidden Rain Village would spring its trap and launch a concentrated strike.
This kind of insidious setup was absolutely not something the Hidden Rain Village could have conceived on its own.
Upon examining it closely, the fingerprints of Shimura Danzo were unmistakable. By this point, Konoha had already endured a significant setback with the Hidden Stone Village's retreat and the cessation of the Hidden Cloud Village's attacks.
Konoha was only half-committed to its remaining fronts. The only meaningful threat it still had to manage was the lingering influence of Madara's faction. This had given Konoha the time and the energy to turn its attention toward events unfolding outside the primary arena of war. And it had also given Konoha the breathing room to prepare something far more targeted.
Specifically for Danzo.
After all, that old man had previously attempted to move against him. Yuji remembered it clearly and had never set it aside. He was by nature a cautious person, particularly where outside threats were concerned. There were certain accounts that still needed to be settled.
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