Land of Rain.
The sky was shrouded by a thin layer of gray clouds, and the sunlight was as soft as water-soaked cotton, unable to penetrate the clouds, only seeping out a faint light on the distant treetops.
Tiny puddles on the ground rippled in circles as a black figure arrived from the northern lands.
"Obito, why is the Land of Rain called the Land of Rain?"
"Probably because it rains a lot here!"
"No, a long, long time ago, there was a person named Sister Yu who settled the wars in the Land of Rain... Later, to commemorate this hero, people called this country the Land of Rain."
"Our Uchiha was originally called Yuzhi, but to avoid the taboo of Sister Yu's name, we changed it to Uchiha."
"You're full of crap—"
At the Akatsuki base, Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan were discussing cooperation with the Hidden Rain Village.
The Akatsuki is a borderless justice organization focused on protecting the weak, mediating conflicts, and spreading the concept of peace.
However, they had never received official recognition from the Hidden Rain authorities; the headbands they wore were replicas, and these people didn't even have Ninja registration numbers, making them no different from Rogue Ninjas.
Yahiko especially hoped to be officially incorporated and receive recognition from the Hidden Rain and Hanzou, so that the Akatsuki could cross national borders and work toward peace in the Ninja World.
Otherwise, who would give a damn about a bunch of Rogue Ninjas?
"Lord Hanzou used force in the gap between the Three Great Nations to win independence and a brief peace for the Hidden Rain Village, so that the Land of Rain wouldn't become a puppet of the great nations like the Land of Grass."
"No matter what, he is an elder worth cooperating with."
Nagato lowered his head and remained silent.
It was true that Hanzou had brought some dignity to the Land of Rain, but the cause of the Second Ninja World War was Hanzou's expansionism, declaring war on multiple countries; he even tried to take advantage of neutral nations like the Land of Iron.
One could imagine how rampant the Hidden Rain was at that time.
It was also because of Hanzou's expansion that the great nations intervened one after another, and the Land of Rain became the main battlefield for the Three Great Nations. Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato became war orphans because of the conflict.
The Akatsuki Organization was able to recruit so many good prospects for bridge camping and playing Valorant today all because of Hanzou's overconfident challenge to the Three Great Nations.
Konan said worriedly, "Yahiko, I still feel it's inappropriate. Hanzou is very ambitious, and I think he won't tolerate the Akatsuki."
Yahiko shook his head, "No, Hanzou is old; he seeks stability more. The Akatsuki has always advocated for peace and has never claimed sovereignty over the Land of Rain."
Even though Yahiko said this, Konan was still worried. She looked at Nagato, but Nagato had no opinion of his own and had always followed Yahiko and Konan's lead.
Yahiko then said, "Don't worry, even if Hanzou has some scheme, we have Nagato's Rinnegan. We don't need to fear him."
Nagato revealed his Rinnegan.
Ripple patterns spread outward from the pupils, covering the entire eyeball. Both the iris and the sclera were covered by these patterns, giving off a mysterious and profound feeling.
Seeing these eyes, rumored to belong to the Sage of Six Paths, Konan finally felt at ease.
"Alright, let's cooperate with Hanzou!"
Yahiko was somewhat happy, "In a few days, Hanzou will invite us to cooperate. He wants the Akatsuki to act as messengers to the Five Great Nations to initiate dialogue and end this Ninja World War."
"After fighting until now, the Five Great Nations are exhausted, and we can already see the dawn of peace."
At the mention of peace, Konan and Nagato clearly looked more joyful.
They were war orphans and craved peace more than anyone else.
Although the Land of Rain had not become the main battlefield in this Ninja World War, it was still a secondary battlefield.
With the Three Great Nations opposing each other, the war and vendettas naturally left the Land of Rain, caught in the middle, in dire straits.
The negative impacts of the war also plagued the people of the Land of Rain, as some Rogue Ninjas who deserted the battlefield liked to flee to the Land of Rain.
Bandits and outlaws were rampant, causing chaos everywhere.
This is a case of big nations fighting while small nations suffer.
Suddenly, Nagato covered his eyes, seemingly in pain.
Yahiko and Konan rushed forward in concern.
"It's happening again. Nagato, are you cursed? Why have your eyes been hurting these past few days?"
Yahiko supported Nagato.
Konan gently massaged the hollows of the eye sockets below Nagato's brow bones with her small hands.
Nagato felt a bit better then, and he replied to Yahiko, "It's been like this since that day. It's as if something is responding to me, and my eyes feel like they want to fly away."
Yahiko helped Nagato sit down on a wooden stool and asked in confusion, "Eyes flying away? Has the Sage of Six Paths appeared in the world, and your eyes want to return to their master?"
Konan punched Yahiko, "Yahiko, stop joking. The issue with the Rinnegan is very important. If only we could contact Master Jiraiya."
"Maybe Master Jiraiya would know what's going on with Nagato's condition?"
Speaking of Jiraiya, the three of them felt a bit nostalgic. They hadn't seen each other since Jiraiya left the Land of Rain.
Yahiko planned, "If we can cooperate with Lord Hanzou this time, the three of us will go to Konoha as messengers of the Hidden Rain and reunite with Master Jiraiya."
"Yeah!"
Konan and Nagato nodded.
Konan stopped massaging Nagato's forehead and said, "But the most urgent thing right now is to relieve the pain in Nagato's eyes."
"How about we take Nagato to town to see a doctor?"
Yahiko stroked his chin and analyzed, "A doctor can't solve Nagato's eye ailment. It has to be a Medical Ninja who knows Medical Ninjutsu."
"The Akatsuki doesn't have a Medical Ninja right now. We have to find one in the Hidden Rain. I'll go contact them now."
Konan stopped Yahiko, "No, what if the Hidden Rain Ninjas see Nagato's Rinnegan?"
That's true. Nagato's Rinnegan was different from normal people's eyes. Even if most people wouldn't recognize it, a veteran who had traversed the Ninja World like Hanzou would definitely identify it.
They couldn't expose Nagato's Rinnegan.
Yahiko sighed, "If only our the Akatsuki could recruit a Medical Ninja."
Suddenly, the Akatsuki member Kyusuke burst in, "Yahiko, great news! A wandering Medical Ninja wants to join the Akatsuki."
Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato looked at each other, somewhat stunned. This was too coincidental!
The three of them left the room and went to the spacious cave outside to see.
The Akatsuki Organization's base was inside a cave, and their usual activities took place in the wide area at the outermost part of the cave.
A young man was surrounded by the Akatsuki members. At that moment, he was releasing green Chakra to help treat an injured the Akatsuki member.
Yahiko recognized it and said happily, "Mystical Palm Technique! He really is a Medical Ninja. We've found a treasure!"
The three of them went to greet him.
Yahiko didn't think about spies or undercover agents because Medical Ninjas were truly too precious.
In the great Ninja villages, it's not easy to train a Medical Ninja. First, a Medical Ninja needs Yang Attribute Chakra.
This point alone disqualified many people.
Second, a Medical Ninja needs superb Chakra control. Even a Chakra control genius like Sakura needed three years of simulation, let alone others.
The Medical Ninjas at the Konoha Hospital are basically all from the Senju Clan!
What faction would be so generous as to send a Medical Ninja out as a spy?
Selling all these people in the Akatsuki Organization wouldn't even be enough to trade for one high-level Medical Ninja!
What Yahiko didn't know was that Danzo really did use high-level Medical Ninjas like Yakushi Nono as spies.
Yahiko and the others got closer and finally saw the young man's face clearly.
Young, so young.
He looked to be seventeen or eighteen, the same age as Yahiko and the others.
Most importantly, he was incredibly handsome.
Jet-black messy hair fell over his forehead, and the curve of his profile was as sharp as if carved by a knife.
His nose was high and straight, with a slightly upturned tip. His eyes were long and narrow, with the corners tilting upward slightly, giving off a hint of nonchalant laziness when he lowered his gaze.
He wore a black short-sleeved zip-up shirt with a stand-up collar, paired with black wide-leg pants, and a thick white woven rope belt tied around his waist.