The orange-haired boy wearing a black cloak and the blue-haired girl walked side by side on the streets of Konoha. As they strolled towards the Hokage Building, they chatted about one thing or another. The conversation mainly focused on what happened a few minutes ago.
.
"That Hinata Tamaki, who is he? Looking at his bossy look, he is clearly bullying us, Akatsuki. Now we have to rely on them, Konoha. Just thinking about it makes me angry."
Konan's face has not calmed down until now. It is full of frost, which makes Yahiko next to him smile bitterly. He may have wanted to persuade him, but he didn't know how to explain Hinata Huan's neurotic behavior, so he had to keep silent at the moment.
In the final analysis, although he behaved very politely in front of Minato and others, Yahiko was not a Konoha ninja after all, and this relationship was still on a bad level. Faced with this conflict that was obviously bullying, he actually felt uncomfortable.
"Yahiko, when do you think we, Akatsuki, can replace the Hidden Rain Village and truly become the masters of the Land of Rain?"
Unexpectedly, he didn't hear Yahiko's reply. Xiaonan, with her beautiful eyes slightly raised, pouted unconsciously, and changed the topic out of some unknown reason.
"Maybe it will take a few more years."
Yahiko replied casually without thinking too much. Feeling Konan's focused gaze on his face, he couldn't help but pause slightly, stopped for half a step, looked at the girl next to him briefly, and then continued as if nothing had happened:
"I guess we still have to wait for the teacher to make up his mind about the specific time. After all, we can't defeat Yugakure with force alone, and Hanzo is not an enemy that Akatsuki can deal with."
Yahiko's words reminded Xiaonan again of the man who changed her destiny. She frowned and thought for a while, then noticed that Yahiko was gradually walking away, and her frown deepened.
After running a few steps and catching up with his companion, Xiao Nan approached Yahiko and whispered: "Yahiko, are you hiding something from me?"
At this time, there were pedestrians passing by, and the bustling noise made Yahiko unable to hear clearly what Xiaonan said for the first time. It was not until the latter repeated it twice that he sighed helplessly:
"Can I have..."
Before he finished speaking, Yahiko looked at Xiaonan glaring at him fiercely. Yahiko hesitated again and again and decisively changed his words: "Okay, I have been thinking about the tasks that the teacher once assigned to us."
"That red-haired boy? Uzumaki Nagato?"
"Yes, you said that it has been so many years, and there is no news about Uzumaki Nagato. How can we report to the teacher?"
Perhaps he was really worried about this matter. Yahiko waved his hands irritably, then rubbed his forehead and sighed as if he had a headache:
"The main thing I'm worried about now is that if we fail to complete this task, will our various benefits in the future be implemented as scheduled?"
Pointing to some construction buildings in the surrounding area, Yahiko did not wait for Konan to reply, and asked himself: "There is a May 26 Incident in Konoha now, and they themselves are overwhelmed, so how can they have time to take care of us?"
"If you don't say anything else, let's talk about Danzo. Although that old guy is dead now, his attitude towards us was never very friendly. I think this reflects Konoha's view of us Akatsuki.
"
"Teacher is not in Konoha this time. I originally wanted to use my senior brother's connections to make this trip smoother, but you have also seen the appearance of Hinata Tamaki. It is really difficult."
"I heard that the acting Hokage is a woman? Alas..."
Seeing Yahiko sighing, Konan suddenly felt angry. She stopped, reached out and grabbed Yahiko's sleeve, raised her other hand slightly, and wanted to slap Yahiko.
But after thinking about it, she finally restrained the strong impulse. Xiaonan pinched Yahiko's arm hard. When the latter screamed in pain, she said with frost:
"Yahiko, why are you so unambitious? Can we Akatsuki survive without Konoha? What about your dream of bringing peace to the Land of Rain and saving all the people of the Land of Rain?"
Realizing that Konan's tone was not right, and his eyes flashing with cold light, Yahiko trembled all over and immediately stopped crying in pain. He subconsciously wanted to say "I lost to reality", but the existence of reason still allowed him to reply honestly.
:
"It's not that I don't have ambition, it's just that I can't help it..."
While rubbing his red and swollen arm, Yahiko looked aggrieved, looking at Konan's dissatisfied expression, hesitantly said:
"I can only say that Konoha succeeds and Konoha fails. Relying on the resources provided by Konoha, our Akatsuki did develop very quickly in the early stage, but..."
As if thinking of something unspeakable, Yahiko pursed his lips with a bitter look on his face, and then continued with melancholy:
"Because of this, most people in the Country of Rain now believe that we, Akatsuki, have colluded with Konoha and are Konoha's spokesperson in the Country of Rain. No one is willing to believe our sincerity."
"What's even more hateful is Sansho Hanzo. That guy knows that we have a teacher behind him. He can be tough or soft, so he ordered the Amegakure ninjas from Manyu no Kuni to spread rumors about Akatsuki..."
Gritting his teeth fiercely, Yahiko clenched his fists at some point and waved forward in a venting manner, as if he could hit Hanzo in this way, while Konan silently watched the performance of his companions, and listened after a moment.
To a breathless voice:
"They say that we, Akatsuki, are Konoha's minions and bastards, pretending to be kind to the people, but just to accumulate prestige in an attempt to conspire with Konoha to destroy the Rain Country one day in the future..."
"Listen, how unpleasant it is to hear! With the strength and power of Amegakure, they are targeting us with all their strength. If Akatsuki can develop on its own without relying on Konoha, it will be a disaster!"
Yahiko's anger is obviously not fake. Due to their understanding over the years, Xiaonan knows that Yahiko has indeed been exhausted by Amegakure's public opinion offensive in recent years, and may have suffered a bit of a nervous breakdown.
After all, the Rain Hidden Village is backed by the name of the Land of Rain. Even if it does not rely on force, money, manpower, reputation, and reputation are enough to make Akatsuki extremely uncomfortable. For example, it can completely ruin Akatsuki's reputation by spreading rumors.
In the final analysis, it is impossible for a non-governmental organization to fight against the official organization. If Sanshou Hanzo hadn't been too afraid of their teacher, Akatsuki would have been destroyed overnight.
The naked and cruel reality is before his eyes, and Yahiko's frustrated appearance is not only due to dissatisfaction with the status quo, but more importantly, the serious conflict between the reality of his dream and the actual situation.
Xiaonan feels that with Yahiko's temperament, he will never be so fragile when facing setbacks. Unfortunately, since rumors can continue to ferment, it proves that there must be soil for them to hatch:
That is, Akatsuki does have a connection with Konoha. This connection is real and cannot be washed away. It is also the main source of Yahiko's feeling of powerlessness at this time.
In addition, there are four words: "conspiracy destroyed"...
Slightly closing her eyes, Xiaonan stopped, with an expression on her face filled with indescribable complexity: Based on her understanding of the teacher, this rumor may really become a reality one day in the future.
Moreover, the probability is not small.
Otherwise, as the Hokage, why should the teacher use Konoha's resources to help Akatsuki develop with money, people and efforts?
Really, just for a Uzumaki Nagato?
So, who are the Akatsuki? A bunch of traitors?
"Konan, Xiaonan, the Hokage Building is almost here, why did you stop?"
A slightly tired male voice sounded in her ears. Xiaonan opened her eyes and stared at the face in front of her that seemed to have adjusted her emotions and was putting on a urging expression. She thought for a moment and said calmly:
"Yahiko, no matter what decision you make in the future, or what decision the teacher makes in the future, I will always be by your side."