"I'm thinking of raising a group."
In the middle of their dinner, Yahiko voiced up with his eyes locked on Akashi.
"A group?"
Konan seemed intrigued by Yahiko's decision,
"What for?"
"To expand our works."
Yahiko grimaced,
"The scale of our current works will lead us to nowhere. To actively make changes, we need to work as a bigger force."
"Is that so."
Akashi casually muttered as he munched on a food, one that he found to be delectable.
"If that's what you believe to be needed, then go ahead."
In comparison to Yahiko who seemed solemn, Akashi was impassive. Coupled with the fact Akashi's long and wavy hair has grown to an extent where they hid his eye, he appeared as if he wasn't interested in Yahiko's subject at all.
And Yahiko, not liking such a response, found a light frown on him.
"...Is that all you got to say?"
"Am I missing something?"
Akashi frowned lightly, thinking if there was anything more to speak. He eventually sprouted a couple more,
"Stay safe. Safety matters the most above all."
Chuckling, he joked lightly,
"There aren't many doctors or health practitioners in Amegakure."
"...That isn't what's important."
Yahiko clenched his hands tightly.
"It's about peace. It's about ending wars. It's about bringing the light that lies beyond these dark clouds of never-ending rain. That's why I aim to make a group."
He gazed at Akashi with a firm look,
"It's the dream that we shared in the long past, Akashi. The reason why I thought of you as our leader, and... I still do."
Akashi looked back at Yahiko in the eye, losing a mischievous gleam in his own.
"Certainly, we've seen... the red cloud. Right, Akashi?"
"Yes, we did."
Moving his lone eye away from Yahiko, Akashi's vision wandered over the past.
"The red cloud certainly does exist. The life beyond the war exists. Peace... may exist. However, peace does not guarantee happiness."
Akashi remembered his young self, idolizing the idea of peace. It was a dream born from the unknown shinobi who saved him.
A dream. People dream because they believe that they will become happy through the achievement of it. Akashi dreamed of peace because he believed that peace would bring happiness.
As he grew and experienced gruesome battles, he learned that it was a matter of interpretation.
He could no longer view the world the way he used to in the past.
"Happiness is a relative thing, Yahiko. You may find it within the war, and you may not be able to attain it within the peace—at least that's how I think."
Akashi spoke.
"That's why I let go of the idea of peace. When I managed to return here and see you three again... I finally understood what it meant to be happy. It means to protect what is yours—ones that define who you are. To me, you three define my happiness. As long as I can continue repeating days like this, I don't need peace."
Konan smiled softly, liking the way Akashi's words sounded. The idea of family—it was the view that Konan held since the very start because above all, she feared the idea of being alone.
However, Nagato was different than her. With his parents brutally murdered and him having the mystical eyes of many uses, he always wondered about the purpose of his life, thinking that there must be a role that he must play in this world. Therefore, Nagato resonated with Yahiko's ideal of peace.
And once more, Akashi spoke,
"Everything comes with a cost of its own."
For instance, the unknown shinobi saved him at the cost of losing a chance to kill more enemies. Akashi himself managed to protect Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato in the past, at the cost of losing an eye and entering a state of a near death.
"If you wish for peace over the entire world, you must pay the price of an equivalent magnitude."
"...What if,"
Yahiko said with certitude, as if he was sure of it,
"What if I become a god?
If I were to become one, I would be able to accommodate the cost of peace—or no, I won't have to pay one at all."
There was a silence.
Konan blinked her eyes, trying to process Yahiko's words. But nonetheless, she ended up dismissing her inquiries, for she didn't wish to give rise to a potential feud that may begin if she were to do so.
"...God?"
And Akashi thought that something was off about the statement. However, he couldn't exactly pinpoint where he felt the unusualness.
"I see."
After a long pause, Akashi eventually muttered.
"Then strive to reach that goal. I will cheer you on, Yahiko."
To Yahiko, such words from Akashi felt soulless. He bit his lips as his body trembled in a subtle anger.
"...Thanks."
In the end, Yahiko mumbled.
It has been like this for three years. Ever since Akashi returned and recognized the differences in their views, the relationship had gone rather... strained.
Though no one let it out, there was an underlying tension at the dinner table.
Everyone was smiling on the outside, but it had become evident by now, that Akashi and Yahiko held beliefs that contradicted one another.
__________
A day passed by.
With Yahiko and Nagato out once again, Akashi and Konan were the only ones occupying the house, one that was built by Jiraiya during his stay.
"Iwa has a firm control over the land of grass."
Sipping a tea, Akashi muttered to himself as he gazed at the map on a table.
"Though Kumo has a strong military, the fact that they only have one way of entry into the land of fire—via the land of frost—makes their assaults quite predictable. Coupled with the fact that the current Raikage favours an all-out battle rather than a shrewd tactic, Konoha is having an easier time dealing with them than the Iwa."
Next to the map was a slip of paper, one which was used to relay information to Jiraiya.
"Iwa wants to spread the battlefield further and expand the pressure on the borders of the land of fire. To do so, they require control over Taki and here, Ame. Coupled with their suspicion that Ame sided with Konoha... there is a possibility that Ame will be caught in this war unless Hanzo acts."
Collecting his thoughts, Akashi began to write down on the slip of paper.
*The number of approaching Iwa back-ups through the route of Kusa approximately amounts to 5,000 people. Casualties are estimated to be around 1,500, with around 70 among them belonging to the ranks of jonin. Need to account for a potential flank from Taki, but no entrance of Iwa ninjas is permitted on the borders of Ame. Will continue to monitor.*
Seconds after completing his writing, the words on the slip of paper faded away, and the paper once again returned to that of a blank sheet.
Folding the slip of paper and placing it in his pocket, Akashi turned his eye to the side where a third piece of paper lied.
On the paper, there was a sketch—one that depicted the Amegakure.
It was a hand-drawn map that Akashi drew by himself. While patrolling around the outskirts of Ame to look out for potential sneaking in from the outside, Akashi drew out the locations and layouts of the village for one sole purpose: to locate his past home, one where his parents used to live.
It took a great deal of retrospective thinking and effort, but alas, through the process of elimination, he became confident that he's finally found the location.
Taking in a light breath to refresh his mind, Akashi stood up and called,
"Konan."
"Yes?!"
From the back, Konan returned in a loud voice.
"I'll be heading out for a while. If I'm not back within five hours, you know the protocol."
"Got it!"
Putting on a bamboo hat, cloak, and a small pouch containing necessary tools, Akashi left the house, alone.
...
Plop.
The puddles rippled as the rain continued to pour down. The water sparkled and splashed over Akashi's cloak. Unbothered by it, however, he calmly walked through the dark woods in solitude.
Plop.
That abrupt attack of Shimura Danzo, one which took the lives of his parents, still lived fresh in Akashi's mind. However, though it hurt to think of such memory, he was able to tolerate the pain.
Moving beyond the past, Akashi silently walked in peace.
Why was he bothering to visit such a place?
There were many reasons. One was a curiosity. Two was a nostalgia. Three was the potential to attain more information regarding 'Energy Release'.
And perhaps, he was feeling insecure to some extent.
Frankly speaking, Akashi didn't know what to think of Yahiko and Nagato. Just as how they felt as if Akashi changed, Akashi couldn't understand their thought processes—after everything that he's gone through.
A home is a place where you can let all your worries down and rest. It is a firm background.
Home is what Akashi wanted. That was Akashi's goal and interpretation of happiness. It was something that he'd lost upon the deaths of his parents and regained through his three friends.
And therefore, those three were the ones that Akashi valued the most. They were the reasons why he endured through everything to return to Amegakure.
And truth be told, Akashi felt suffocated when in the household. He felt as if he was not being himself, acting and hiding his inner self to avoid fights as much as possible.
He felt estranged.
"Maybe it's time... to set out again."
Maybe he was the problem. If he was gone from the picture, nothing would change.
"Question is, where—"
Akashi stopped.
His sharp eye, peaking through his messy hair, took a careful look around the surrounding woods.
"...You folks again?"
Instantly revealing a kunai in his hand, Akashi threw it into the darkness. With a frightening speed, the kunai struck the wood—the area right next to where a figure or person was present.
Subsequently, ten individuals revealed themselves around Akashi. All of them were wearing the forehead protector that had the symbol of Amegakure engraved.
The moment Akashi recognized this, he frowned, for this wasn't the first time he's met them.
One standing in front of Akashi, seemingly the leader of the group, then spoke,
"Akashi. We've come to retrieve you as per Hanzo-sama's order."
"I believe that I refused the offer before."
While engaging in a conversation, Akashi's mind quickly darted to the matter of 'how the enemies managed to find him.'
'They were waiting for me in this area as if they knew that I'd come. If they were following me from the start, I would've noticed right away.'
"Hanzo-sama's rule is absolute in the land of rain."
The leader of the group revealed a sharp-looking ninjato—a straight sword—from the sheath at his back.
"We believe that we've given you enough chances. Not obeying Hanzo-sama's order means... rebellion."
Akashi, with nothing but calmness in his eye, continued thinking,
'No, I cannot rule out the chance of them having followed me since the start. No matter how strong my senses are, they have limits of their own. Though I ensured to lose tracks before making my way back to the house,'
What about Yahiko and Nagato, who let their enemies escape alive at every single chance?
Akashi felt his eye widening.
'Don't tell me...'
This meant a couple of things. One, Hanzo figured out the connection between Yahiko, Nagato, and Akashi himself. Two, their base was found out. Three, Konan was potentially in danger right now. Four, Yahiko and Nagato themselves may be in danger of their own.
"Rebellion?"
While thinking, Akashi said coldly on the outside,
"Since when was I, a lowly one who lives outside the walls, considered one of Hanzo's?"
"Anyone who lives under the rain is required to obey Hanzo-sama."
The leader of the group replied robotically, before the ten ninjas simultaneously collapsed onto Akashi.
CLANG—!
The sparks flew, signaling the start of a battle of one versus ten.
__________
"And hence, it has begun."
Sitting at the highest tower of Amegakure, Hanzo stated as he gazed at the dark, rainy sky.
"Akashi of the 'Red Blade'... everything makes sense now—of why you refused to join me over and over again."
Red Blade, a notorious bounty hunter. Two duo with one having the eyes speculated to be legendary eyes that the Sage of the Six Paths himself used to possess. Finally, a girl at their house, who seems to have received the trainings of their own.
After the duo, Yahiko and Nagato, released their enemies alive, the ninjas of Amegakure captured and tortured them for the information. Eventually, they gained the lead regarding the duo, tracked them, and found not only the house hidden at the outskirts of the land, but also that Akashi, Konan, and those two were connected.
Furthermore, Hanzo deduced that based on the fighting style of Yahiko and Nagato, they were spies from Konohagakure; though this didn't explain why they were guarding the borders and dealing with stray ninjas.
Ultimately, in Hanzo's point of view, they were threats to Amegakure.
"...Anything that goes against me is considered a tumour of Amegakure. And be it whoever, they shall be dealt with."
Hanzo was fully armoured, meaning that he himself intended to go into the battle.
Turning around, he marched out of the room, leaving nothing but the noise of heavy rain just outside.
Operation 'Red Blade' has started.