Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 206 First Attack

"Brother Li, you didn't kill those two Iwagakure ninjas, did you?" Yahiko looked at Li Yao anxiously, afraid that Li Yao would say he did.

"No," Li Yao said. "I know what's important, so after finding out why they attacked us, I had a friendly conversation with them and then let them go."

"That's good." Yahiko breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid that the deaths of people from the three major countries would cause even greater hatred, making communication and exchange difficult.

At this moment, Xiao Nan noticed Li Yao's question about why they were attacked and quickly asked, "Brother Li, why did they attack us?"

Li Yao replied, "The three great powers believe that our Akatsuki organization rose to prominence in the Land of Rain because other great powers were supporting us behind the scenes. They are afraid that we will launch a sneak attack on them during the war, so they came to investigate whether we are a puppet organization secretly supported by the hidden villages of other great powers."

"This..." Yahiko, Konan, and the others hadn't expected this reason. They were just trying to develop their business properly, but they had become a thorn in the side of others.

"For this reason, they killed our comrades!!"

"I don't accept it."

"...They cannot have died in vain."

"Those bastards must pay the price."

The fact that their companion died simply because the three major powers suspected their organization of being a puppet secretly supported by each other was unacceptable to many present.

This reason made them feel even more insulted in the eyes of the three major powers.

The three great powers didn't value their lives at all; they killed twenty-six of their companions simply because of suspicion.

"Brother Yahiko..." Everyone turned their attention to Yahiko, awaiting his choice.

However, facing the expectant gazes of everyone, Yahiko shook his head and said, "Using killing to stop killing will only bring about a greater reaction of hatred, which is not what our Akatsuki organization should do."

"So...did they just die in vain?" someone immediately retorted.

"No." Yahiko said firmly, "As long as we unite as one and continue to strive for peace, when the day comes that we bring peace to the Land of Rain and the ninja world... their deaths will not have been in vain."

"Otherwise, if we deviate from the Akatsuki's peaceful ideals today, then... they will have truly died in vain, and all our previous efforts will have been meaningless."

"But..." Some people were still unwilling to accept it. Their companions had died in vain, and they could only watch and do nothing.

Yahiko said, "I will go to negotiate with the ninjas of the three great nations, make them admit their mistakes and apologize, and stop being hostile to our Akatsuki organization. Only by resolving hatred can we usher in peace; otherwise, there will be no end to it, and peace will never come."

It must be said that Yahiko has great leadership qualities.

After his speech on the concept of peace, most of the people present calmed down. Although there was still hatred in their eyes, they no longer mentioned taking revenge on the ninjas of the three great nations.

But... how many people will remain loyal to an organization that cannot avenge the sacrifice of its comrades, no matter how strong its ideals are?

It is foreseeable that after the decision made in today's conversation is announced, the Akatsuki organization will suffer its first major loss of members.

Sure enough, that very evening, three of the high-ranking officers told Yahiko of their decision to leave the Akatsuki organization.

"I'm sorry, Brother Yahiko, we still can't forget the harm that the three great nations caused us."

Despite their understanding and even hope for the peace that Yahiko spoke of, the more the three of them thought about it after returning home, the angrier they became.

They still couldn't forgive the ninjas from the three great nations for killing their comrades.

They couldn't just sit idly by and let the ninjas from the three great nations safely evacuate.

"But..." Yahiko wanted to persuade the three of them again.

"Take care." Perhaps fearing Yahiko's persuasive words, the three didn't give him a chance to continue and immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to leave.

Li Yao shook his head as he watched from the side.

Yahiko's idea was too naive.

Hatred is the foundation of what makes a person human. There is no world without hatred. If there were, it would be a world of infinite Tsukuyomi.

Mutual understanding is indeed needed to resolve hatred.

However, mutual understanding is predicated on mutual respect and caution.

Only when there is mutual respect and fear can the two sides of animosity sit down quietly to negotiate and eventually reach an agreement based on mutual understanding.

When you kill and eat a fish, do you and the fish understand each other?

No.

Therefore, in the eyes of the strong, it is only natural for you to be killed and eaten like a fish.

In that situation, is it even possible to expect mutual understanding between the strong and the powerful?

impossible.

Therefore, Yahiko's ideal was destined to be in vain.

Only strong strength can form the basis for mutual understanding.

Hashirama Senju understood this very well, which is why he fulfilled his wish and established the ninja village.

Yahiko hasn't realized this yet, which means the road to realizing his ideals will be very difficult.

the next day.

At the entrance to the demon's tongue atop the tower, Yahiko said, "I'm leaving the Land of Wind in your care, Brother Li and Sister Yezi."

"No problem," Li Yao said with a smile. Xiao Yezi nodded and stood beside Li Yao.

"Let's go find the ninjas of Konoha." Yahiko looked at Konan and Nagato, who nodded in agreement.

The five then split into two groups to search for people from Sunagakure and Konoha.

……

Southern part of the Rain Country.

Inside a black rock cave.

Two ninjas from Sunagakure sat cross-legged on the ground, forming hand seals.

The two sat down, each with a black sealing pattern connecting them to an Akatsuki member between them.

The Akatsuki members emitted wisps of steam.

The two Sand Village members were using memory probing techniques on this Akatsuki member.

After a while, the two Sand Village ninjas stopped and said to the young ninja sitting next to them, "Lord Kazekage, we've found all the high-ranking members of Akatsuki."

"Are there any people from Konoha or Iwagakure?" Fengxing asked, his gaze sharpening.

"I didn't see any." One of them shook his head and said, "The leader of Akatsuki is called Yahiko, an orphan from the Land of Rain. The other four core members are also orphans. I didn't see any people from Konoha or Iwagakure."

"I see!" Feng Xing frowned and pondered for a moment, then said, "It seems the only option is to talk to the leader of Akatsuki."

Over the past two weeks, they have secretly learned various intelligence about the Akatsuki organization from the minds of seven Akatsuki members.

Unfortunately, these Akatsuki members were not of high status, and their memories showed no trace of whether Iwagakure or Konoha were supporting them behind the scenes.

To find out the true situation of the Akatsuki organization, the only way is to talk to its leader.

As for how to communicate?

The young man, Fengxing, gripped his katana and smiled slightly, but the smile froze halfway through before it could fully bloom.

"who!"

Feng Xing suddenly stood up and turned around, drawing his katana instantly and swinging it towards the cave entrance.

Clang!

In an instant, a sharp slashing wind blade shot out from the katana and flew towards the cave entrance.

"Huh!"

Li Yao's eyes lit up. This young Sand Village ninja had incredibly strong Wind Release chakra. The wind blades released from his katana were no longer simple wind blades, but possessed extremely sharp attributes like slashes, making them much stronger than ordinary wind blades.

Faced with this attack, Li Yao raised his hand and slashed, sending a wind blade at the attacker.

Clang!

hiss!

The two wind blades collided instantly, but the massive wind blade, which Li Yao channeled even more Wind Release chakra into, was sliced ​​apart after a brief stalemate.

"Not bad, not bad!"

Li Yao dodged in a flash, and looking at the smooth, fine cuts that had slashed the ground and the cave ceiling, his gaze toward the young Sand Village ninja grew increasingly satisfied.

I never expected to be so lucky.

I just found the Earth Release clone, and now the Wind Release clone has arrived too.

"Earth Release - Earth Dragon Lift!"

"Earth Release: Sand Transformation Technique!"

The two Sand Village ninjas immediately used Earth Release to lift themselves up after Li Yao and the young Sand Village ninja Kazekage clashed. At the same time, they turned the rocks above the cave into sand.

Boom!

The cave collapsed, and Li Yao retreated. The small rocky hill in front of him turned into a pile of sand and exploded. The young Sand Village ninja and two other Sand Village ninjas landed to the side in mid-air.

Only then did the three of them get a clear look at Li Yao and Xiao Yezi's faces.

"Lord Fengxing is one of the five core members of the Akatsuki organization. Their names are unknown, but Akatsuki members generally refer to them as Brother Li and Sister Yezi."

Having just discovered the identities of Li Yao and Xiao Yezi from the Akatsuki members' memories, the two Sand Village members quickly spoke to the boy in the middle, Feng Xing.

(End of this chapter)