Kyuuroku, a former Jōnin of the Mist Village, was proficient in kenjutsu and water-style ninjutsu. His chakra reserves were several times greater than the average Jōnin. Before he defected, he was one of the rare, powerful assets of the Mist Village.
After defecting from the village, he didn't immediately leave the Land of Water. Instead, he lingered, clashing multiple times with the assassination squads sent after him by the Mist Village. Each time, he annihilated the entire squad, which demonstrated his strength.
Now, however, he had never expected to find himself in such a humiliating situation—being lifted into the air, powerless, with his life and death in someone else's hands.
He looked at the young man in front of him. The man's black eyes were devoid of emotion, as if nothing in the world could penetrate them. Kyuuroku recognized that look, it was a gaze he had seen many times before. Yet none of those gazes he had seen in the past could compare to the one this man had.
This person had certainly killed many people.
Breathing became increasingly difficult, and strength slowly drained from his body. He couldn't hold onto his sword, and it fell to the ground, plunging straight into the dirt.
It was a large, double-edged sword, with a rounded tip. When viewed from the side, it looked more like a club.
"If you want me to join, shouldn't you at least give me a chance to answer?"
With his throat being squeezed and his body paralyzed, Kyuuroku was feeling increasingly uncomfortable and cursed inwardly.
Just when he thought he was going to die in such a humiliating way, Ye Zi suddenly released him, letting him fall to the ground.
By this time, the mist had already dissipated.
Sasori walked over and stood beside Ye Zi.
Kyuuroku lay on the ground, gasping for fresh air.
He had been only seconds away from death, and for the first time, he felt how close he had come to it.
Greedily breathing in the air, and once his body had regained some normal oxygen levels, Kyuuroku immediately said, "I'll join."
This time, his response was straightforward and decisive.
Ye Zi gave a cold nod, judging that this man seemed to meet the conditions for the Phantom Nine Dragons Seal.
"It would've been better if you'd done this from the start," Sasori sneered, then looked over at Ye Zi. "Do you want these bodies, or should I take them?"
Ye Zi replied, "Dead bodies aren't much use to you."
"Then give them to your summoned beast," Sasori remarked, preferring living people over corpses.
Listening to their conversation, Kyuuroku chose to remain silent.
"What kind of organization is the Akatsuki, anyway? These two... they're very strong!"
He thought to himself, still somewhat resistant to being forced into joining Akatsuki, but the sheer pressure from Ye Zi and Sasori was undeniable. The strength of the members clearly indicated the extraordinary nature of the organization, which left no room for doubt.
If the organization he was joining was strong, then Kyuuroku could accept it, as he had always revered strength.
Ye Zi summoned Shokui again, and as the cross-shaped light dissipated, Shokui appeared and, without greeting anyone, rushed toward the corpses scattered on the ground.
Under Kyuuroku's slightly surprised gaze, Shokui swiftly devoured all the bodies. After complaining, as usual, that the corpses were dead, Shokui returned to its other dimension.
Afterward, Ye Zi and Sasori took the newly recruited Kyuuroku back to the Land of Rain.
Sasori had been interested in the Blood Bamboo clan, who possessed a kekkei genkai. Since they were already in the Land of Water, he wanted to capture one of them to turn into a human puppet for testing its combat abilities. However, Nagato, like a taskmaster, forcibly ordered them to return to the Land of Rain before they could reach the clan's base.
Thus, Sasori's plans fell through, while Ye Zi was thinking about immediately going to the Land of Grass once this matter was resolved.
The three of them traveled back to the Land of Rain.
They brought Kyuuroku to meet Nagato, and after confirming that his chakra reserves met the requirements, they gave Kyuuroku a ring engraved with the character "Tō."
Since Kyuuroku didn't fully understand Akatsuki's composition yet, he didn't feel particularly honored by the gesture. He just assumed it was a routine initiation ceremony. Little did he know that, at that moment, Akatsuki had already positioned him as one of their core members.
Now, they were only two members short...
Just the thought of being so close to the full nine members excited Ye Zi. However, he remained rational—despite having all nine, Akatsuki's current resources made capturing the tailed beasts still quite difficult.
Soon after, Nagato gave Ye Zi no chance to rest, immediately assigning him and Sasori their next mission—another mission involving intervention in small nations.
Ye Zi and Sasori only rested for a day in Amegakure before setting off again. Without the right candidates appearing, Akatsuki members were all forced to run missions for money. As the organization completed more tasks, its reputation spread, and many small nations began hiring Akatsuki for their missions.
In the Land of Fire, at Root's headquarters:
The same bridge, where meetings and orders were issued, remained unchanged.
Danzo stood in the center of the cross-shaped bridge, leaning on his cane. The bandages covering his right eye and arm looked rather conspicuous. As the leader of Root, Danzo's strength was impressive, but the bandages seemed out of place because he hadn't been on a mission in a long time—particularly since he hadn't removed them in a while.
Yet somehow, he had managed to keep Hiruzen and the others from paying attention to this.
"Mission failed." A figure flashed in front of Danzo and knelt on one knee.
Danzo clenched his cane tightly, his fingers turning white.
"A mistake in judgment," he said angrily, regretting not having decisively eliminated Ye Zi earlier. Instead, he had tried to use the mission to the Land of Earth to have Ye Zi killed.
How did Iwa know someone had infiltrated the village without knowing who it was? That was Danzo's doing.
His decision had not only nearly gotten Ye Zi killed but had also pushed Ye Zi out of Konoha. If not for that, Ye Zi wouldn't have killed Kato Dan, and he would have remained a valuable asset to Konoha, like Minato, making a name for himself during the Third Great Ninja War. Perhaps Konoha wouldn't have suffered such heavy losses in the war.
However, reality never aligns with "what ifs."
Danzo's regret faded quickly after his last word.
In his life, he had only ever regretted one thing. After that, nothing was worth his prolonged remorse.
"Deploy the Sixth Unit." Danzo wasn't about to abandon his plan to eliminate Ye Zi because of one squad's failure. Looking at his subordinate, he coldly added, "Even if the mission fails, someone must survive to gather intelligence."
The dossier on Raiga (A/N: Ye Zi's root codename) was still stored safely within Root. Danzo wasn't sure how much stronger Raiga had become, but he knew enough about Raiga's strength to have prepared for the worst.
"Yes, sir!" the subordinate responded decisively.
"Go," Danzo ordered.
"Yes," the subordinate replied and vanished.
Looking at the now-empty bridge, a cold, murderous intent flashed in Danzo's left eye.
.....
Minato was completely unaware of Danzo's moves against Ye Zi. He was too busy handling post-war affairs, overwhelmed with work. The country's reduced financial support for the ninja village was especially concerning, as it significantly affected the village's development.
After becoming Hokage, Minato could no longer serve as the leader of Team 7. He had entrusted Team 7 to Kushina instead.
In Minato's eyes, Kakashi, Obito, and Rin all had great potential, especially Kakashi, who was an exceptional genius in his class. Minato had high hopes for him. Entrusting Team 7 to Kushina gave Minato peace of mind.
Moreover, Rin showed decent talent as a medical ninja, and with Kushina's training under Tsunade, she could help develop Rin's skills.
Watching the village gradually return to normal, Minato felt satisfied, except for the occasional requests from Kushina, which always left him conflicted.
"I wonder how Sensei is doing," Minato mused, pushing aside some documents and rubbing his temples.
Ever since Ye Zi had been labeled a rogue ninja, Kushina had been wanting to find him, perhaps to get some answers.
Minato had never given her a definitive response, always using the excuse of Konoha's manpower shortage to delay the matter.
Now that Kushina was leading Team 7, Minato had hoped it would distract her, but it hadn't worked as much as he'd hoped.
With a sigh, he closed his eyes, deciding to take a ten-minute break.
.....
The Land of Wind.
Ye Zi and Sasori had come here to carry out a mission.
During some downtime, Ye Zi initiated a one-sided contact with Kotoe, using a clone of White Zetsu as a medium, and obtained two pieces of information.
First, one of the Three Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya, had left Konoha shortly after Ye Zi was declared a rogue ninja and had not returned since. It was highly likely that Jiraiya had gone after him.
Second, Kushina Uzumaki had been trying to find him, seemingly with the intention of bringing him back to the village. Konoha hadn't given a clear refusal, but due to a shortage of manpower, the search had been temporarily put on hold. This meant that once Konoha had enough resources, they might send a team to pursue him.
These two pieces of information were somewhat useful.
Jiraiya's actions, in particular, caught Ye Zi's attention.
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