"Lord Akira, she's from the Mist Village…"
Hearing that Akira wanted to take Karin with him, the ANBU agents from the Mist Village became noticeably anxious. They had spent a lot of time and effort chasing her down. Now, just when they were about to capture her, Uchiha Akira had stepped in. It was like playing a game, spending hours getting the boss down to low health, only to have Akira show up and steal the kill.
Who wouldn't be upset?
"I'm not negotiating with you. I'm telling you how it is. If you don't like it, go ahead and fight me," Akira said calmly, glancing over at the Mist ANBU with his Sharingan now fully activated, the three tomoe spinning lazily in his eyes.
Faced with Akira's overwhelming presence, the Mist ANBU hesitated. In the end, the weight of his reputation was too much. They lowered their heads, not daring to challenge him.
"Since it's Lord Akira who's taking her, we won't interfere," one of the ANBU said, and just like that, they turned and left without hesitation.
After all, this was the same Uchiha Akira who had taken down the Tsuchikage's leg years ago, and who now could summon forests with Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees. Retreating from this mission didn't seem so dishonorable.
"You still here? Do you want to be buried in the ground?" Akira turned his gaze toward the rogue Mist ninja who had been fleeing with Karin.
Upon hearing that, the rogues didn't dare say a word. They quickly scattered and fled.
Karin looked at Akira, a faint smile tugging at her lips.
For most of her life, she had been treated like nothing more than a tool. Whenever someone was injured, they'd just bite her to heal, leaving her body covered in bite marks.
But, well… if it were Akira who had to bite her, she wouldn't really mind. In fact, she'd probably feel a little happier about it.
"Alright, you can leave now," Akira said, cutting through her thoughts. He gave Karin a dismissive wave, indicating she was free to go.
Sure, Karin's healing ability was useful, but to Akira, with his own regeneration, her skills weren't exactly necessary. He had saved her partly because he pitied her situation and could easily grant her freedom. It was no big deal to help someone when it was that easy.
The other reason was to show off his intelligence network to Konan. Now that his goal was achieved, he saw no need to force Karin to stay with him.
"What? You want me to leave?" Karin, who had been daydreaming about being useful to Akira, felt like someone had just dumped a bucket of cold water over her. She was shocked.
"What? You don't want to leave?" Akira asked, raising an eyebrow at her surprised expression.
"I… I don't have anywhere to go," Karin admitted quietly, lowering her head.
She had spent her entire life as a tool for others, a walking first-aid kit, and while she had suffered through it, she'd never had to survive on her own. Now, the thought of being alone terrified her.
"If that's the case, you can stay with me for now. When you want to leave, you're free to go anytime," Akira responded with a shrug. He didn't mind. While he didn't necessarily need her abilities, they were still useful, and it wasn't like he was in a hurry to get rid of her.
Besides, Uzumaki clan members were incredibly rare nowadays—practically an endangered species.
After a brief exchange, Karin agreed to stay with Akira, and the group continued on their journey toward Iwa Village.
To Karin, it seemed like she had just swapped one group for another, something she had grown used to over the years. However, this time was different. In the past, she hadn't had any choice in the matter. This time, Akira had given her the freedom to choose.
"This kid really knows how to win people over," Konan thought, watching Akira closely.
The idea that he had no ulterior motive was laughable. Of course, Akira was interested in Karin's abilities—what ninja wouldn't be? But his approach, pretending he didn't care whether she stayed or left, was a clever way to gain her loyalty.
For someone so young, his strength and intelligence were terrifying. It didn't bode well for the Akatsuki to have such an enemy.
But the most frightening thing about him was his intelligence-gathering ability.
Konan still had no idea where Akira got his information from, but it was frighteningly accurate. He had known things even she didn't.
And then there was the matter of Nagato's Rinnegan. Akira had said it wasn't his originally—someone had implanted it. Who? Even Konan didn't know.
Akira also mentioned the man in the mask. Could he really know his identity too? Not even she or Nagato knew for sure.
And then there was the Moon's Eye Plan. Was it all just a lie? Whose lie?
For the first time, Konan felt like the world was far deeper than she had ever imagined. The Akatsuki—an organization she had helped create—was it possible that she didn't know it as well as Akira did?
"Hey, you're Karin, right? An Uzumaki?" Naruto suddenly chimed in, moving closer with a friendly grin.
Karin looked at Naruto and smiled politely. Sure, he wasn't nearly as handsome as Akira, but his smile was infectious. "Yes, my name is Karin."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto introduced himself.
"Uzumaki!?" Karin's eyes widened in surprise. Was he really part of the Uzumaki Clan too? But with that blond hair, he didn't exactly look the part.
"My mom was from the Uzumaki Clan. I take after my dad," Naruto explained, noticing Karin's glance at his hair.
"Ah, I see." Karin nodded, understanding. At least half of his bloodline was Uzumaki, and with a name like Uzumaki, he was practically family.
Sticking with this group seemed like the right choice after all.
"So, Lord Akira, where are we headed?" After traveling for half a day, Karin finally asked.
"We're on our way to Iwa Village," Akira replied casually.
"Iwa Village? As in, one of the Five Great Nations' hidden villages? Are we going there to discuss something important?" Karin asked, clearly impressed.
Negotiating with one of the Five Great Nations was no small feat, especially with a village like Iwa, which was even stronger than her former home, the Mist Village.
"You could say that. We're going to extort them," Akira said with a straight face.
"Uh, Lord Akira, that's Iwa Village, one of the Five Great Nations. We're going there… to extort them?" Karin's worldview seemed to shatter a little.
Was he seriously planning to shake down an entire village?
"Yep, that's the plan," Akira responded calmly, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
The confidence! The audacity! Karin could hardly believe it, but damn, she was impressed. This guy had style.
She and Naruto chatted endlessly along the way, their Uzumaki stamina keeping their energy high.
When they stopped to rest for the night, Akira quickly formed some hand signs, and an intricately designed wooden house rose from the ground. Each person even got their own room.
Karin was once again blown away by his abilities. "Weakness really does limit the imagination," she muttered to herself, marveling at the comfort they enjoyed even while traveling in the wilderness.
After three more days of travel, Akira had performed several more life simulations. He had successfully mastered Wood Release: Flowering Trees World and saved the final simulation for later, knowing that Pain's Six Paths were expected to appear soon.
"N-Naruto, get ready," Akira said, his tone suddenly serious.
"Wait, you think the Iwa shinobi are going to attack us?" Naruto asked, surprised.
Weren't they supposed to be delivering a war criminal to Iwa? Why would the village attack them?
"It's not Iwa. It's the Akatsuki," Akira corrected, shaking his head.
"The Akatsuki? They're coming here?" Naruto's expression grew tense.
Everyone in the ninja world knew about the Akatsuki by now. The organization was practically synonymous with rogue shinobi, evil, and immense power.
"Akatsuki? Who's coming?" Konan couldn't stay silent anymore.
What was this? How did Akira know about the Akatsuki's movements before they even arrived? How did he know about this ambush?
"The Six Paths of Pain," Akira answered, glancing at Konan.
"Nagato's personally coming?" Konan asked, now fully understanding.
Of course, it made sense. Nagato and Konan had grown up together; they were more than just comrades—they were family. It was entirely reasonable that Nagato would come to rescue her himself.
Still, while she would have normally been thrilled at the idea of Nagato coming to save her, right now, she wasn't so sure.
There were still too many unanswered questions.
What exactly was Akira's source of information? How did he know so much? And if they didn't figure that out, wouldn't he always be one step ahead of the Akatsuki?
How could they possibly win against him like this?
So, despite knowing that Nagato was on his way to rescue her, Konan found herself feeling strangely reluctant to leave.
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Note: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 270+ at patreon.com/Emik01.