"Chase them! At all costs— bring those two back to me!"
Seeing Konan and Nagato soaring into the sky, Shimura Danzō roared in fury, ordering the Konoha shinobi to pursue.
The instant he saw Nagato's Rinnegan, he had already decided that those eyes would become his.
And now, the cooked duck was about to fly away—Danzō was livid.
But despite his order, only the Root members stirred; the other shinobi stood unmoved.
Seeing this, Danzō snapped, "You fools! Are you planning to rebel?!"
A Nara clan ninja stepped forward and said gravely, "Lord Danzō, Minato's condition is dire. The Nine-Tails could go berserk at any moment."
"We must help him suppress it first."
Others quickly nodded in agreement.
"That's right, the Nine-Tails takes priority! Those two from Amegakure are irrelevant right now!"
"Exactly—if the Nine-Tails goes wild here, how many of us will die?"
"As the commanding officer, can't you tell what matters most?"
Faced with their righteous anger, Danzō clenched his fists in silence. In the end, he had no choice but to relent.
After all the recent battles, Namikaze Minato had earned immense respect in everyone's hearts.
If Danzō ignored the situation now, it would only spark outrage.
After a long pause, he turned to a nearby Root operative and said coldly, "Find Hanzō of the Salamander. Tell him to uproot the Akatsuki entirely. In exchange, Konoha will withdraw its forces from Amegakure."
The Root ninja nodded. "Yes, sir."
Once the operative departed, Danzō quickly distanced himself from Minato's location.
He planned to wait until the Nine-Tails was fully suppressed before questioning Minato personally.
Just who in this ninja world could injure Minato Namikaze so badly?
——
——
Land of Rain
Nagato and Konan sat side by side beside a dying campfire, sorrow written across their faces.
After a long silence, Nagato rasped, "It's my fault. I failed to protect Yahiko."
Konan tried to comfort him. "Nagato, it's not your fault. No one could've foreseen Konoha's suddenly attack."
"What matters now is what we do next."
They had returned to the Akatsuki's base, only to find it completely abandoned, the place scarred by clear signs of a battle.
Across the entire Land of Rain, wanted posters bearing their faces were plastered everywhere.
The world was vast—yet it seemed there was nowhere left for them to exist.
Nagato drew a deep breath and said solemnly, "Maybe Yahiko's path was wrong. People can't truly understand one another."
"We'll… need to find another path."
Konan was silent for a moment, then said softly, "Let's go to the Hidden Cloud Village and find Yuzuru Uchiha."
"He said before that if we ever had nowhere else to go, we could seek him out."
As the image of Yuzuru Uchiha surfaced in her mind, her expression turned complicated.
He had a fearsome reputation, yet had readily agreed to their plea for the Cloud's withdrawal from Amegakure.
At the same time, it felt as if his eyes had already seen the ending they were now living.
If only they had trusted him a little more back then—would Yahiko still be alive?
Nagato tossed another log into the fire, his gaze hardening. "Then we'll go to the Hidden Cloud Village."
"I want to see what kind of thoughts that man—who foresaw our fate—truly has."
With only the two of them, avenging Yahiko or realizing his dream was nothing but a fantasy.
For now, seeking refuge with Yuzuru Uchiha was their best choice.
"Then let's not delay. We'll head for the Hidden Cloud right away."
Having made up their minds, Nagato and Konan set off under the cover of night toward the Cloud's territory.
Unbeknownst to them, a white figure silently sank into the ground nearby.
——
——
Land of Grass
Yuzuru Uchiha walked alone along the road to Kusagakure.
It was now the fiftieth year of Konoha—about the time Karin was to be born.
At this point, Karin's mother should have already settled in the Land of Grass.
So Yuzuru planned to visit Kusagakure; if she was there, he'd bring her back to the Cloud Village.
"Be a good girl, eat something."
He crushed a soldier pill into powder and fed it to Ajisai, helping her wash it down with water conjured by Water Release.
The taste was unpleasant, and Ajisai frowned tightly, but still swallowed it obediently.
"Good girl."
Yuzuru patted her back gently, rocking her until she drifted off to sleep.
Once she was asleep, he activated Kamui and placed her into his personal dimension.
Then he stopped walking.
From the trunk ahead, a white humanoid figure slowly emerged.
"Hello~"
The strange white creature waved enthusiastically.
Yuzuru frowned.
White Zetsu.
Seeing no response, the creature jogged over, waving its arms dramatically in front of him. "Hey, hey, Yuzuru Uchiha!"
Yuzuru recovered and slowly spoke: "What are you, and what is your purpose in coming to find me?"
White Zetsu grinned. "I am not 'what.' My name is White Zetsu."
"As for why I'm here…" His grin widened. "If you are willing to answer one question for me, I will tell you beforehand."
"What question?"
White Zetsu leaned close, eyes shining. "Can you tell me what the sensation of… the human urge to defecate feels like?"
"…"
Yuzuru's lips twitched.
'Great. The real White Zetsu.'
"Hey, hey! Why aren't you saying anything? I'm really curious what that feeling's like!"
Yuzuru steadied his expression. "Say one more stupid word, and I'll throw you into a latrine."
White Zetsu's pupils shrank; it stumbled back several steps.
He might be curious—but he certainly didn't want to experience it.
"It was Uchiha Madara who sent me. He said he wants to discuss something with you."
"As a fellow Uchiha, you must've heard of Uchiha Madara, right?"
Feigning confusion, Yuzuru asked, "Uchiha Madara? I thought he died long ago."
White Zetsu smirked proudly. "Madara's alive—he's been watching the whole world all this time."
"Come with me. I'll take you to him."
Turning around, White Zetsu began to lead the way.
Yuzuru pondered briefly, then followed.