Chapter : 15 : Situation At The Hidden Rain :
Location : Hidden Rain Village :
" Swish ! Shish ! "
At this moment a few figures can be seen jumping from one tree to another effortlessly .
From one glance it was quite clear that these people were shinobis .
However if one were to notice closely they would see that these people did not have any of the recognisable shinobi headbands .
Then who were they?
The answer to this question can be found by recognising the two people leading the group of shinobies .
One of them had red hair and two unique eyes that made him instantly recognisable from everyone else in the group .
The other one was a boy who looked like the leader of the group and had orange hair .
" Yahiko we have successfully rescued all the remaining people in the village . "
" So we should leave now before anyone else arrives . "
" Nagato, how many were there? "
" We found around 12 people, two adult females , 4 childrens and 6 adult males . "
" Only these many, what about the rest . "
" I am afraid we couldn't reach in time . "
From the conversation between the two their identities became quite clear .
They were none other than Yahiko and Nagato, two of the three young orphans saved and trained by the legendary sanin Jiraiya .
And the group they were leading was none other than the Akatsuki .
However this Akatsuki was different from the one it would be known for in the future.
Right now under the leadership of the young Yahiko who had yet to be targeted by Shimura Danzo and Hanzo the salamander, the organisation was still in its infancy .
They were still operating under their original ideals and had not yet gone to the extreme path that they would take after that incident .
And at this moment Yahiko had led his team on a mission to rescue some villagers from the nearby area after getting word that the village was attacked by a group of bandits .
However it seems that they were too late to save everyone .
" Sigh ! Another loss . "
The person who was most affected by this was none other than Yahiko, the young leader of the group .
Since starting the group he has been trying desperately to save as many people as possible in the land of rain .
And yet no matter what he does it seems that nothing actually helps .
Looking at the continuous falling rain that was the signature of the land they lived in , Yahiko couldn't help but let out a sigh .
Since the second great shinobi war the situation in the land of rain has been degrading day by day .
At first they were led by their ambitious and powerful leader Hanzo .
At his prime that man stood against the power of the major villages .
And yet no matter how strong individually he was at the end of the day the land of rain was never equal to any of the great villages in terms of foundation .
And that was the key factor in this situation .
Other major villages, especially the likes of Konohagakure, can fight major wars and still remain stable due to the vast amount of resources and great management skills .
This is not something that came overnight .
This foundation came through generations of hard work and proper management under the careful leadership of their leaders .
For years these villages have developed themselves in such a manner that they can go on in multi year long conflicts without feeling the massive drain on their resources .
Obviously no matter how strong or resourceful they are they will feel some amount of problems and it can certainly be seen by the tough situation faced by the hidden sand village right now .
However it was still far better than anything smaller and less powerful villages like the hidden rain village can expect .
For example it has already been a few months since the start of the third great shinobi war and by now the battles on each front are going through heavy intensity .
And yet if you go to Konohagakure or any of the major or medium sized settlements in the land of fire you will not see much direct effects on them .
The most effect that can be felt was the price hike in food and other necessary items .
And only the border region had yet faced any direct consequences of the war like enemy raids and capture .
However the scene in the land of rain was entirely different and far more devastating .
At first many people thought that the end of the second great shinobi war would finally bring peace to their land .
However they couldn't be more wrong.
Since the start of the third great shinobi war the land of rain has become a transit and a middle ground between all the great powers .
In recent months many shinobis from each side are using the land of rain to bypass each other's strongholds .
This meant frequent battles occurred between them in the land of rain turning the area into a battle zone.
While at first the outside shinobis still controlled themselves out of a fear of the legendary Hanzo .
But after multiple times not seeing any reaction from the man or any strong retaliation from the other shinobis of the land of rain they became even more arrogant and rampant .
And at this point it has become a routine for them to come inside the land of rain territory and cause trouble .
This became a very big problem for the people living in the land of rain, especially the common ones .
Because whenever there was a battle these people were the first to get under the crossfire losing their lives , families and everything else .
Due to frequent enemy attacks , poor harvest and a lack of authority has made the area extremely vulnerable to starvation , diseases and lawlessness .
In fact, right now almost most of the people in the area had either fallen victims of the fighting or the indirect consequences of it .
And most of these people did not have the resources to move out of the country or go to the cities which were safer .
So they have to unwillingly live in this land or try to get out which is equally dangerous in a time like this .
At first they had hoped that their leader Hanzo would stand up to protect them .
However months of waiting and seeing no help coming was already starting to scramble away all the hope that remained in them .
No one understood why such a great shinobi was not doing anything while his village was getting torn apart .
Some said that the leader Hanzo was critically ill or he was waiting to launch a major counter offensive .
Some even went as far as to say that perhaps he was not even alive .
But whatever the reason was to the ordinary people the hope was already going away .
But at this point many of them started to hear about a new organisation working in the land of rain to help the people .
To most of them this was just a small organisation at best or a rumour at worst .
But as days passed by more and more people started to hear about them helping the nearby villages and localities .
This was none other than the Akatsuki led by Yahiko , Nagato and Konan .
" Don't worry Yahiko, you have done your best . "
" But my best was not enough . "
" You really need to stop blaming yourself . "
Looking at Yahiko who was feeling distressed over the incident, Nagato came over to comfort him .
While they did whatever they could to the best of their ability, their strength at this moment was far too weak to save everyone .
So no matter what they did there would always be multiple setbacks .
But with each other's encouragement they kept on with the dream of achieving their ideals.
After getting encouragement from his friend and the rest of the team Yahiko gave a small smile .
" Alright let's head back to the base. We need to treat these survivors before anything else . "
" Yes sir !!!! "
After listening to his command the rest of the group quickly took up their speed going towards their base .
Time Skip : 20 Minutes Later :
" Konan, we are back . "
After a 20 minutes of long journey the group finally reached their destination .
It was a small base camp situated at a riverside area from where water could be taken .
The camp was not very big and it could be seen that the total number of people living in the camp were no more than 60 .
And even among them most of the people were rescued civilians and other normal people from the nearby villages .
" Yahiko , Nagato you are finally back . "
At this moment Konan, who was inside the camp, came out to greet the team .
Looking at her, the previously bad mood of Yahiko disappeared in an instant as a smile graced his face .
Looking at this thing Nagato and the other members of the organisation only gave a sly smile .
To most of them it was already clear that Yahiko had feelings for the blue haired girl .
However it seems he was quite embarrassed to say it out loud .
" Well good thing you're back I needed to say something to you guys . "
At this moment Konan came up and started giving some reports .
" What is it konan ? Is everything alright in the camp "
Looking at her slightly worried face both Yahiko and Nagato asked .
" Everything is fine in the camp .... at least for now . "
Konan said as he started they started to roam around the camp .
" But the problem is that we are running out of supplies . "
Hearing this both Yahiko and Nagato became serious .
It's not like they did not know about this problem but they had not expected the situation to become this serious so soon .
" How bad is it ? " - Yahiko asked .
Hearing this question Konan looked a little distressed as she took some time to give her report .
" Sigh ! We have around 50 people in the base and most of them are civilians we manage to take out of the battle zone . "
" But we are critically running out of supplies including food , medicine , etc . "
While the organisation was indeed doing their best in saving as much as possible at the end of the day even they would have to face problems like this .
" What about our funds ? " - Nagato asked .
While working to save the people in the land of rain Akatsuki would always require funds .
That's why alongside their other activities they also take on some missions like escorting trade caravans , protecting some other properties , etc .
This way they can raise funds required to keep their operations going .
But it seems as the days go on such ways are becoming increasingly more difficult .
Since the start of this conflict less and less merchants are willing to go through this conflicted area and are just passing through other areas .
And for those who are going through this area they are less inclined to take protection from a small and unrecognised organisation like them .
" We have barely enough funds for the next two weeks . "
" And if we keep taking in more people then it may not even last for one week . "
Listening to the reports a somber expression appeared on their faces .
No matter what the situation is, supplies cannot be ignored .
And the easiest way to solve this crisis would be to stop taking in more people .
However this was not something they were willing to do as it would go directly against everything they work for .
So they have to find another way .
" Don't worry everyone, me and Nagato will take the others to find more missions . "
Yahiko quickly tried to assure everyone that things were going to be fine .
Just as he was doing that they saw someone running towards them .
" Captain Yahiko , there is news you need to hear . "
( Author's Note : Hello guys I hope you all are doing well and before ending this chapter , I would like to say that I have already released my novel - ' As An Extra I Change The Plot To Get Rewards . ' along with my other works .
So I hope all of you can read it , collect it in your libraries and support it just like you have been supporting my other works .
So that's all I had to say today and I hope you enjoyed today's chapter .
Thank you for reading . )
To Be Continued .