"Konoha is lucky to have a shinobi like you," Yahiko said, completely sincere.
Byakuya fell silent for a long moment at those words. "The ninja world is lucky to have someone like you, too."
"Shuten-doji, would you consider joining Akatsuki? We really need talent like yours."
Yahiko quickly added, "We won't reveal that you're a Konoha shinobi. You can keep wearing the mask and operate with us."
Byakuya refused outright. "I won't become a traitor to Konoha."
"You misunderstand—it's not treason."
"I still won't join Akatsuki."
Yahiko sighed. "Alright… that's Akatsuki's loss. I guess I wasn't capable enough to win you over."
Konan jumped in angrily. "Yahiko, someone like him could never understand our pain. Without feeling that suffering firsthand, he'll never grasp how precious peace really is."
"Konan, that's enough."
"…Yes."
Yahiko looked back up at the eerie Shuten-doji mask. "Our teacher is Jiraiya of Konoha. If you return to the village, could you pass on our greetings to him?"
"If I run into Jiraiya-sama in the village, I'll deliver the message."
"See you."
"Take care."
Byakuya patted Tagorihime's terrifying serpent head. "Let's go."
The blue-black serpent changed direction, gliding across the desert and quickly vanishing from Yahiko's group.
Nagato spoke quietly. "Actually… it's me who's powerless."
"He was right," Yahiko said seriously. "If we want Konoha and Iwagakure to sit down and talk, we need the military strength to force them to abandon war."
Konan shook her head. "Whether it's Konoha or Iwagakure, they both have overwhelming power. Surpassing them… how easy do you think that is?"
Yahiko already had a plan in mind, but he kept it buried for now.
For the time being, they'd have to try a different approach.
"We need to find more shinobi who share our ideals. We'll make Hanzo hand over real power and let Akatsuki rebuild Amegakure."
Nagato nodded, deep in thought. "An individual or even an organization has limits to its power. But if we had a whole village… patiently raising powerful shinobi who truly love peace, we could eventually bring real peace to every nation in the ninja world."
Yahiko's eyes shone with hope. "No more war! No more hunger! No more families torn apart and forced to flee their homes!"
"No more war! No more hunger! No more families torn apart and forced to flee their homes!"
Konan and Nagato quietly repeated Yahiko's words.
This was their ideal—the founding faith of the early Akatsuki.
---
"Byakuya, those three are so strange," Tagorihime said. "How can they believe in something so impossible?"
"They're willing to act on those beliefs. For that alone, we should respect them. Even if, in my opinion, such naïve ideals will only lead them further down a twisted path until they cause something irreversible."
Tagorihime's sweet voice asked, "If it were you, Byakuya, how would you bring peace to the ninja world?"
"Collect the Tailed Beasts."
"Huh?"
"The Tailed Beasts are the strongest forces in the ninja world. Gather them all and use their power to deter every nation into accepting peaceful diplomacy."
"That would require starting an unprecedented war, wouldn't it?"
"Exactly."
"Is there any other way? Collecting the Tailed Beasts sounds way too hard."
Byakuya said wistfully, "Decades ago, Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara actually could have achieved long-term peace. Unfortunately, limited by their vision, they only chose to create the ninja villages—which, by a cruel twist of fate, caused the scale of war to explode geometrically."
"Senju Hashirama? Uchiha Madara? My sisters mentioned them. They were the strongest shinobi of the Warring States era."
"Yeah. Hashirama had the Senju physique and Wood Release kekkei genkai. Madara had the Sharingan."
"How could those two have brought long-term peace to the ninja world?"
Byakuya said softly, "By uniting the Senju and Uchiha clans—along with all their allied clans—to conquer and unify every nation under a single system."
"Eh?!"
Tagorihime's head spun from the sheer scale of the idea.
"Byakuya's way of thinking is so unique… Would you actually try it?"
Byakuya laughed. "If I started moving, would Miss Tagorihime support me?"
"We're good friends! Of course I'd support my good friend."
"Thank you."
"Ah! So… you weren't joking?"
"Haha—forget what I just said. My Nindo is 'lay low'… keep laying low until I can stand confidently in the ninja world."
"You're already so strong, Byakuya."
"Not enough. This mission was full of close calls. I need to keep raising my strength."
"Next, the focus is crystal clear: fully master Earth nature transformation and shape manipulation, then learn Earth Style jutsu."
"I also need to learn the Hidden Mist Jutsu. It's perfect for both supporting attacks and covering retreats."
Tagorihime took a long detour, eventually reaching the coastline.
The pair stood on the rocky shore, gazing out at the restless, crashing sea.
"Can you swim?" he asked.
"I can!"
"Catch some seafood. Tonight we're having a seafood feast!"
The moment food was mentioned, she perked up instantly. Before Byakuya could say another word, she dove into the ocean and vanished.
Tagorihime really was capable.
She returned with two fat tuna, a pile of scallops, plus clams, octopus, crabs, shrimp, and more.
Byakuya found a suitable old tree near the shore, carved it into a long table, chairs, bowls, and chopsticks—
Tagorihime used her Transformation Jutsu to become the sweet girl in the blue-black dress and helped him prepare the ingredients.
Looking at the tuna on the table, then at the sweet girl, Byakuya gave her a strange glance.
Feeling his stare, Tagorihime smiled sweetly. "What is it, good friend?"
"You can even catch tuna?"
"Mm-hm. I have scales—they protect me from water pressure."
Most tuna live between 100 and 400 meters deep. Calculating the pressure, it wasn't completely impossible.
But the fact that Tagorihime could chase down tuna in the open ocean was ridiculous.
You're a snake, not a sea serpent.
It looked like he needed to completely revise his understanding of Tagorihime's abilities.
He selected the belly.
His ninja blade flashed like lightning.
Before long, he had several plates of tuna sashimi sliced to exactly 3 millimeters thick.
He could have cut it thinner, but this thickness was perfect for texture.
The rest of the tuna was pan-seared or braised.
Clams and scallops were stir-fried together with the special soy sauce he'd brought from Konoha. Too bad he hadn't packed glass noodles.
Octopus, crab, and shrimp were simple—boiled, then served with Byakuya's special dipping sauce.
Tagorihime had been drooling the whole time, barely able to wait.
When he finally said "Dig in," she attacked like a whirlwind.
The starry sky glittered like glass.
One human and one serpent lay full and content on the fine-sand shore.
"Burp~ Bya~ burp~ Byakuya, when you get back to Konoha~ burp~ you'll get lots of mission rewards, right?"
"Yeah, probably. But it also exposed part of my strength. Last time in the Land of Rivers, I reported everything to that old goat Danzo without hiding anything. This time I'll have to be selective."
"Won't they investigate what you actually did?"
"They can't."
"Burp~ Konoha's intelligence~ burp~ people should be pretty~ burp~ capable. After all, it's the rich Land of Fire's village."
Tagorihime finally stopped burping.
"You forgot? As long as you and Senior Pakura don't say anything, no one knows my real strength."
"Good friend, are you still going to keep laying low?"
"Lay low!! I have to lay low!! My Nindo is laying low! But not the kind where I swallow humiliation! The upright, 'a clear conscience fears no shadow' kind of laying low!! Like you said, with my current strength, hiding like an ostrich would be too pathetic!"
---