Chapter 25: Yahiko's Four-Man Team
Drip. Drip.
Rain poured from the dark sky, fine but relentless.
A lone figure quietly made his way through the downpour. Sparse trees surrounded the area, while a river rushed noisily in the distance.
He glanced around carefully, making sure no one was following him before continuing onward.
He looked just like an ordinary refugee from the Land of Rain, trudging through the downpour with his head lowered.
So that's the spy hidden beside Hanzō. I never would have guessed it would be him.
Is he from Iwagakure or Konohagakure?
Yahiko, Konan, Nagato, and Kyūsuke followed the man from a distance.
Thanks to the Akatsuki's efforts, they had finally uncovered a lead: a spy who had infiltrated Hanzō's inner circle.
There had been no time to notify Hanzō, so they had been forced to act on their own and follow the spy here.
"It looks like the enemy has launched a major operation," Konan said quietly. "We can't allow him to pass Hanzō-sama's intelligence to the enemy. If that happens, the Land of Rain's position will become even weaker."
"Yeah. Based on what we've seen, they should have reinforcements nearby. I'll scout ahead first."
Kyūsuke, the black-haired young man, formed a hand seal.
Bang!
"Summoning Jutsu!"
The moment the technique was activated, countless small rats appeared and scattered in every direction.
Konan formed a hand seal as well.
A flock of paper cranes flew from her hands and scattered throughout the surrounding area.
They had brought even more people with them to follow the spy.
Yahiko's expression became serious.
"We finally found a lead. I never expected a spy to infiltrate the upper ranks of Amegakure."
"What should we do?" Nagato asked.
Yahiko glanced at him.
"Let's see if we can defeat the enemy and intercept the intelligence."
…
Coo. Coo.
The figure ahead imitated the call of a bird native to the Land of Rain. The rhythmic sound drifted through the rain.
Rustle.
As he looked around, he suddenly noticed insects crawling out from beneath his feet.
They arranged themselves into a secret code.
Then the ground slowly split open.
Four figures emerged from beneath the earth.
The spy's eyes widened in alarm.
"We've been discovered. Your mission ends here. Ryūma, Zē, Fūjin—take him away. I'll hold off the enemy."
Gōenji's Sharingan slowly rotated as he looked toward a particular direction.
His teammates showed no surprise whatsoever.
Fūjin's insects had already detected the people following them.
The spy's expression became nervous.
He hadn't expected to be discovered despite taking such careful precautions.
Someone had been following him all along, yet he hadn't noticed a thing.
"Let's go."
Ryūma gave the order.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The three shinobi grabbed the spy and immediately used Body Flicker to retreat.
Gōenji remained where he was, one hand gripping the hilt of his sword.
"Friends hiding in the shadows, stay quiet and don't cause me any trouble, all right?"
He didn't rush to attack.
His gaze had already locked onto them.
That distinctive chakra signature.
For now, he simply wanted to buy his teammates enough time to escape.
Besides, his Body Flicker Technique was extremely fast now, and with the Sharingan supporting him, escaping wouldn't be a problem.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The instant his words fell, countless shuriken descended from the sky, shooting toward Ryūma and the others in the distance.
The shuriken were white, slicing through the curtain of rain with terrifying speed.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique."
Gōenji's left hand blurred as he formed the seals one-handed.
He opened his mouth and expelled a massive fireball.
Sizzle!
Whoosh!
The fireball tore through the rain and intercepted every incoming shuriken.
"You've got some skill, but I'm not letting you catch them."
The moment Gōenji saw the white shuriken, he understood.
Akatsuki.
Konan.
But why were they here?
Even if they had come this far, wouldn't Hanzō have discovered them? And once he did, Amegakure's forces should have hunted them down.
Fine. Let's see what these future masters of the shinobi world are capable of right now.
Judging by their current ages, Yahiko and the others should only be one or two years older than him.
Gōenji didn't take them too seriously.
He already knew quite a bit about the three of them, and with his current strength, he was confident that he could at least escape.
As long as he didn't kill them—and didn't force Nagato to summon the Gedo Statue.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three figures rushed toward Gōenji, attempting to pass him and pursue the spy.
Boom!
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
A wave of flames swept across their path, forcing the three to slow down and turn toward Gōenji.
He smiled.
"I'm right here. Don't underestimate me. Beat me first, then go after them. Understand?"
The newly learned Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation was far more powerful than the Great Fireball Technique.
Its power was greater, its range wider, and its temperature higher.
It was an extremely difficult Fire Release technique to master.
For Gōenji, however, it was only moderately challenging.
He had learned it surprisingly quickly.
His talent for Fire Release was simply too absurd.
Learning Fire Release techniques was no longer something he needed to spend much time worrying about.
Yahiko's eyes fell upon Gōenji's Sharingan, and his pupils contracted.
The Uchiha clan's reputation had existed throughout the shinobi world for generations. Naturally, Yahiko knew what those eyes represented.
"You're from Konoha. Why are you deliberately provoking this war? Don't you know how many people are going to die because of it?"
His voice carried anger and frustration.
The other three also slowed down, surrounding Gōenji from four directions.
Hearing that, Gōenji smiled.
"Well... you're right. War does take countless lives, and I want peace too. After all, who doesn't want to live without having to worry about dying?"
He paused.
"But peace is nothing more than a beautiful ideal right now. Perhaps when I become Hokage, I'll seriously consider how to bring it about. For now, though, let's finish the mission first."
What nonsense.
He had come from a relatively peaceful world. After experiencing several months of war himself, how could he possibly fail to understand the value of peace?
The comparison was obvious.
Unlike the people of the shinobi world, who were dragged into wars every few years, people in his previous world could go their entire lives without experiencing one.
The First Shinobi World War.
The Second.
And now the Third.
If one day he really became Hokage, perhaps he would take the matter of peace much more seriously.
But right now, there was something more important.
Complete his mission.
Then grow stronger as quickly as possible.
Otherwise, all his ideals would be meaningless.
"...You're right," Yahiko said quietly. "But we're not letting you leave today."
His expression darkened.
Even Konoha shinobi longed for peace, yet they had still been forced onto the battlefield.
The Akatsuki still had a long way to go before achieving its ideals.
Yahiko's gaze hardened as he stared at Gōenji.
The others did the same.
They couldn't keep talking.
If the spy returned with the intelligence, the consequences for the Land of Rain would be enormous.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two of them formed hand seals while the other two threw shuriken as a feint.
Gōenji swept his eyes across them, instantly analyzing their movements and hand seals.
As expected of a genius. His hand-seal speed is already far beyond that of an ordinary jōnin... and at this age, too.
This was the period when their strength would grow the fastest.
Yahiko and the others already seemed to be approaching jōnin-level strength.
But...
Still too slow.
Gōenji formed seals with one hand.
His hands blurred, leaving afterimages as his fingers moved faster than their eyes could follow.
Before they had even finished forming their seals, Gōenji had already completed his own.
A shinobi battle was a contest of speed.
By the time the incoming shuriken reached him, Gōenji had already completed his technique.
"Fire Release: Rocket Propulsion."
His body exploded forward in an instant.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu."