At this time, even Hanzo's Shinobis didn't dare to shoot out any Jutsu at Araki. They were rushing towards Hanzo and checking if he was fine or not.
As Yahiko walked to Araki's side, he asked him, "Are you really going to save us?"
Yahiko was aware that Hanzo had quite a lot of authority. He could even ask the Hokage to tell Araki to hand over the Akatsuki members since it was Ame's internal matter.
The Hokage wouldn't want to anger Hanzo over such a matter, so he was naturally going to agree.
It could become quite a bit of troublesome situation for Araki.
But, Araki replied while shaking his hand, "Don't worry about these small matters too much."
The markings over his face had disappeared. It was as if they were never there. Perhaps, only a few shinobi other than Hanzo had seen those black markings before they disappeared.
It didn't matter to Araki if they had seen it or not. Even if they did, it's not like they could relate it with Sage Mode. And by any chance even if Hanzo did relate it to the Sage Mode, it wouldn't matter.
Araki believed himself to be strong enough to deal with anyone in the world.
But… there was something he figured out from that small fight against Hanzo. Even after using Sage Mode, his physique wouldn't be able to compare to that of the Third Raikage. There was still some distance between them.
If he used Senjutsu, his reaction speed and strength might be above the Third Raikage... but his physique wasn't as good as the Third Raikage's. Well, it mattered little.
Araki wanted to crush that man's pride. He boasted of his invincible body, right? Araki planned on tearing it apart into small pieces, slowly and then feed it to the dogs.
Well, fortunately, he still had a year or two left to simply work on his physique. He tried to keep his dark thoughts under control as he led all of the Akatsuki Members, Minato, and Isao to Konoha.
Many of the Akatsuki members were reluctant to leave Ame. It couldn't be helped since they had been born in this place and grown up here. They wanted to first lead Ame to peace, but it seemed it wouldn't be possible at the moment. If they remained here, Hanzo would just target them again.
Meanwhile, for some time during their journey, Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato didn't talk to Araki at all. Instead, they were talking between themselves.
Yahiko said to Nagato with a small smile, "Looks like you have somehow managed to save us."
"I didn't do anything. I still don't know why the Senju Clan Head would come to protect me. And not just that, he even offended Hanzo just to protect us." Nagato truthfully replied as he truly had no idea.
Konan said with a small smile, "It's a good thing he appeared though. I don't think any of us would have walked out of that encirclement alive."
"I guess…" Yahiko let out a nervous laugh as he remembered that close call. It was as if fortune blinked on them…
"So, who will go and ask Senju Araki of the reason why he saved us? I think it would be better to get it out of the way." It was Nagato who asked this question.
"I am the leader, so I guess I will ask him." Yahiko decided to be the one to ask Araki about his intentions.
During their next break, Yahiko approached Araki while Nagato and Konan followed him closely.
"Umm… My name is Yahiko. I wanted to ask you something, Senju Araki-sama." Yahiko said to Araki, who had been thinking of something at the moment.
"Hmm?" He let out a sound in question, "Alright, speak. And also, just Araki is fine."
"Alright, Araki…" Yahiko was a little uncomfortable by the only calling in Araki. Still, he placed it in the back of his mind, "Why did you want to save Nagato? Or even us? Do you need his assistance or something?"
Araki raised his brow in question. At that moment, understanding struck him like a thunderbolt.
He shook his head and responded, "Not really. I wanted to save him because he is an Uzumaki. Simple as that. And since he couldn't leave you guys, I figured bringing you all would be better. I personally know how stubborn the Uzumaki Clan Members are."
"You know other Uzumaki Clan Members?!" Yahiko was excited upon hearing that. Did this mean Nagato still had his family?!
Araki was a little taken aback by his excitement. He wondered why this kid was getting so excited. It's not like it was his own family…
Araki indifferently shrugged, "My grandmother was Uzumaki Mito so I can be considered part Uzumaki. Besides, my wife is also an Uzumaki, so you can already consider two Uzumaki here."
He naturally wouldn't say tell him that all the people in the Senju Clan Manor were also Uzumaki, including Isao.
Even Nagato's eyes widened in surprise. He never thought he would see someone from his family again. A few years ago, he had heard of the destruction of the Uzumaki Clan. At that time, he did hold a bit of interest in going over to the Uzumaki Clan, but… it was suddenly attacked by the Three Great Villages and annihilated!
Just thinking of it made him clench his fists in anger. His own parents were killed by Konoha Shinobi. His clan was destroyed by the Three Great Villages; it was like this whole world was rotten to the extreme.
So, hearing that he could find meet some of his clan members, Nagato was beyond happy.
"Hello…" Nagato came out of his hiding position and greeted Araki rather politely.
Konan decided to follow him as well.
"Hmm…I was wondering when you were going to appear from your hiding place." His words surprised them, they were quite sure of their concealment skill. Did he still manage to sense them?
"Don't think of it too much. I am a sensor. No matter how good you are, you can't hide from me." Araki told them quite casually.
Nagato and Konan understood, they nodded their head before walking next to Yahiko.
It was at that moment did Araki's eyes locked with Nagato's eyes, and he raised his eyebrow, "Hoh…Purple Eyes with ripples…"
"Is that the Rinnegan?" Araki asked them a bit naturally and noticed that the three of them stifled upon hearing his question.
After some time, Nagato replied with a heavy voice, "Yes…These are known as Rinnegan. At least that's what Jiraiya-sensei called these eyes."
"Jiraiya-sensei? You are Jiraiya's students, huh? I keep getting more surprises out of you three." Araki had a small smile on his face as he said to them.
The three of them kept on staring at Araki, wondering what he was going to do. Seeing their tensed expression, as if they were ready to fight or flight, Araki couldn't help but chuckle.
"You are too tense. It's not like I have anything against you three so relax a little." Araki told them to relax while waving his head.
"This… You really don't want Nagato's eyes, right? Even though these are the same eyes held by the sage-" Before he could speak any further, his mouth was forcefully shut off by Konan.
She whispered to him quickly, "Stop being stupid. Since he doesn't want it, then don't give him reasons to take it. It would be good for us to hide some things."
"Hmm? These are the identical eyes to the Sage of Six Paths, yeah I know that. You don't need to suffocate poor Yahiko for that."
At this, the eyes of the three widened, how did he know of that? Did they give away far too much information?
Araki responded to their unspoken question, "I know someone who had personally seen the Sage of Six Paths in his life. He mentioned the details of Rinnegan to me. So, it's natural for me to know of this. And don't worry so much, the only thing I want to do is fight him when he has mastered those eyes. Perhaps the fight against the legendary Rinnegan would just be enough to make me serious." A smirk appeared on Araki's face as he seemed excited about the prospect of facing these legendary eyes in a battle.