The red-masked figure was Yuji.

After entering the Land of Rain, he had immediately begun searching for Akatsuki. Beyond relying on the Sand Village's intelligence network, he had also spent considerable time traveling through the Land of Rain years earlier when earning money through trade, which meant locating Akatsuki's core operating areas and active battlefields was not particularly difficult.

He had been observing the battle between Akatsuki and the Hidden Rain Village from the sidelines throughout. Beyond watching Yahiko and Nagato as the central figures, he was also searching for another presence he expected to find.

White Zetsu.

Just as he had predicted, White Zetsu had been concealed in a secret location nearby from the beginning, silently observing Akatsuki's every movement. The figure was hidden in a grove of trees not far from the battlefield.

Because Yuji could not afford to reveal his true identity, he had disguised himself carefully. The method he used to kill the Hidden Rain commander had been entirely ordinary, not drawing on any of his more recognizable signature abilities.

Looking at the broader picture, Akatsuki's rise overlapped in timing with portions of the Third Great Ninja War. Furthermore, Yuji had previously devoted essentially all his energy and attention to the Sand Village's development, leaving him with very little time to monitor the situation in the Land of Rain or involve himself in Akatsuki's storyline.

As a result, he did not have a particularly detailed understanding of the specific events and experiences that had shaped Akatsuki's development up to this point.

His appearance here today was driven by one purpose: ensuring that Akatsuki would not obstruct the Sand Village's plans.

Swoosh.

Yahiko immediately threw the kunai in his hand toward the masked figure.

Yuji casually raised his hand and caught it.

This caused Yahiko's expression to grow considerably more guarded.

Bang, bang, bang.

Konan and Nagato immediately moved forward, surrounding the injured Yahiko protectively, with the other Akatsuki members watching the masked figure with sharp vigilance.

At the same time, the surviving Hidden Rain fighters who had witnessed their commander's death attempted to flee in that instant.

Yuji's figure shifted slightly and vanished from Konan and the others' field of vision.

All they could see was the mysterious figure moving at extraordinary speed, appearing at the side of each Hidden Rain fighter in turn like a ghost, killing each target with direct and overwhelming physical force alone as he passed through them.

The terrifying physical power and chakra fluctuations radiating from each strike left the Akatsuki members momentarily frozen, unwilling to act rashly.

After all, they had just come through a long and brutal battle. Everyone's condition was significantly depleted.

Bang.

When Yuji struck one of the Hidden Rain fighters and the target attempted to block, he simply swept his arm horizontally. The Hidden Rain ninja was sent flying in a clean arc into the trees beyond the battlefield. While still airborne, the sound of cracking bones carried clearly through the rain.

Although Yuji could not freely display his Blood Release abilities without risking identification, activating the Red Scale alone to enhance his physical state was something an outside observer would find difficult to attribute to any specific technique.

He had been genuinely busy with various responsibilities over the past several years and had almost no spare time to dedicate to physical training in any focused sense.

But whenever a free moment presented itself, he would sharpen his body without fail, maintaining his consistent focus on breathing-based and cellular-level conditioning. Combined with the passive increases that came with his continued physical development, relying solely on the Red Scale enhancement, his taijutsu output was already something ordinary ninja could not withstand.

He sent the last Hidden Rain fighter flying with a kick and slowly lowered his right leg.

He turned around slowly.

Behind him lay the Hidden Rain fighters in various states of defeat.

This caused Yahiko and the others to regard him as though facing a major threat.

"Who are you?"

Yahiko noticed something unusual and gestured to Konan and the others not to be too tense, then opened his mouth and asked directly.

The mysterious figure had not attacked the scattered Akatsuki members around them. Furthermore, the two sentences the mysterious figure had spoken earlier carried a depth of meaning that was difficult to dismiss.

It was clear this person held no hostility toward their organization.

But this mysterious person was very strong.

Not ordinarily strong.

"I am simply a passerby with a good heart who happened to help you out," Yuji said with a relaxed smile.

Then his tone shifted.

"Actually, speaking of which, is Akatsuki still looking for new members? Allow me to put myself forward. Would you consider letting me join?"

He spread both arms out to the sides and shrugged his shoulders casually.

These words left Yahiko and the others momentarily speechless.

"I apologize. If you killed these Hidden Rain fighters in order to join us, I am afraid we cannot accept that."

Yahiko said this directly.

He had read the situation. This mysterious figure was not ordinarily ruthless. It was not even a matter of cruel nature. It was something closer to a fundamental indifference toward the value of life itself. A person of this kind, however powerful they might be, was simply not someone who walked the same path as Akatsuki.

"I see."

Yuji was entirely unsurprised. He scratched his head lightly.

"A bit of a shame then."

His tone carried a faint trace of amusement.

His attention shifted internally as he observed the three of them.

They had all trained under Jiraiya at some point, and although they had not learned any particularly extraordinary secret techniques from him, their potential as ninja had been developed to its fullest extent. Of the three, the greatest threat was without question Nagato.

Yuji's gaze swept across the three of them, reading the chakra movements within their bodies clearly.

Without revealing his true capabilities, killing Nagato would simply not be achievable.

He calculated quietly.

Based on his observations, including his careful study of the battle he had just watched, he could assess that all three were currently operating at the level of elite Jonin. The primary reason they had reached this level was their foundation built through Jiraiya's teaching.

The secondary reason was the enormous volume of practical combat experience they had accumulated through continuous fighting within the Land of Rain under genuinely harsh conditions.

The intensity of conflict within the Land of Rain was still far below that of the Great Ninja War between the major villages. In other words, on this particular stage, the experience Yahiko's group could gain was naturally limited, and their growth speed would not be as rapid as it might otherwise be.

However, Akatsuki's sheer frequency of combat engagements was extraordinary, potentially even exceeding the battlefield experience accumulated by ninja of equivalent villages during the Great Ninja War. This in one sense allowed them to compensate for quality through accumulated quantity. Combined with their natural potential having been developed to its fullest already, even in a lower-intensity environment they were capable of rapid growth.

The other contributing factor was that for Akatsuki to have developed to this point under constant suppression by the Hidden Rain Village, the conditions they had faced in the early days must have been extraordinarily brutal. Constant danger and conflict with genuinely dangerous opponents had provided an additional layer of mental and psychological tempering for all three of them.

This was already the later period of Yahiko's time as leader of Akatsuki. That all three had reached this level was entirely natural.

Yuji's eyes flicked briefly in the direction of the forest where White Zetsu was concealed.

White Zetsu's abilities were extraordinarily difficult to neutralize. Blocking information from reaching him was nearly impossible. And Yuji could not move against him directly without alerting Madara to his presence.

What he could confirm was that up to this point, despite the Sand Village's complete transformation, White Zetsu had not been monitoring the village from the shadows. It appeared that within Madara's current plans, the Sand Village was not considered a priority concern.

The direction of Madara's focused attention was almost certainly Konoha, Akatsuki, and the Hidden Mist Village. Although it was also possible that the scale of the Sand Village's changes had produced a degree of caution or uncertainty on Madara's part, or perhaps a fear of exposing himself.

Whatever the reason, having Madara's attention remain away from the Sand Village was unquestionably advantageous.

He returned his thoughts to the immediate situation.

Their current strength was elite Jonin level in technical classification, but given the specific nature of all three individuals, they could not be measured by ordinary elite Jonin standards. Furthermore, with other Akatsuki members present, prioritizing the elimination of Nagato without revealing his true capabilities was simply not something he could accomplish here.

Revealing his true strength and killing Nagato would carry an immediate consequence. Madara would come looking for him. Setting aside the matter of disrupting Madara's plans, Nagato's Rinnegan alone was something Madara would never allow to fall into anyone else's hands.

Yuji ran through the calculations quickly in his mind.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Yoru. I hold no hostility toward you."

Yuji moved slightly closer, smiled, and raised both hands in a gesture of openness.

"Since joining Akatsuki is not possible, I would like to propose a business arrangement instead."

"A business arrangement?"

Yahiko had settled his composure.

"What kind of business?"

"I have in my possession a quantity of Sand Village medicinal resources. I wonder whether you might be interested."

Yuji said it simply.

...

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