Chapter 28: The Amegakure Trio

—What is the greatest advantage of a transmigrator? Besides knowing the world's development trends, the most important thing is understanding the personalities of the main characters!

Hypocrites, upright gentlemen, conspirators—no matter how well they hide, they cannot escape the transmigrator's eyes.

After all, they've read the original work.

The world's development might change due to the transmigrator's involvement, but the main characters' personalities are hard to alter.

Yuto knew very well what Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato were like inside.

At least for now, these three are positive figures.

Among them, Yahiko, as the founder and leader of the Akatsuki, can almost be seen as a young Naruto Uzumaki—passionate, valuing friendship, persistent about his dreams, resilient, and very... naive.

Yuto knew that meeting these three posed no danger.

He glanced at the tense Takeda Takeshi and Kaoru Asano before him and smiled lightly, "Do you know why I came to Amegakure? And why I want to meet your leader?"

Takeda answered with undisguised pride, "In recent years, no shinobi from other countries have come to Amegakure without being interested in our leader. Even assassins here to make money don't mind getting information about him... It's more valuable than a human head."

He spoke openly and honestly.

"The Akatsuki, huh... Alright, you've convinced me." The tension slowly faded, and Yuto took a few steps back, creating a safer distance, "I'll give you your life back now."

Takeda and Kaoru both sighed in relief. That distance was too close for a close-combat expert like the Hyuga clan.

"It's great to solve problems without fighting..." Takeda muttered, but after Kaoru discreetly pinched him, he said seriously, "Friend from Konoha, where do you want to meet? We can leave a radio."

"That's not necessary." Yuto shrugged, "I'll go with you directly, is that convenient?"

Takeda was stunned for a moment. 'Does this guy trust us so much? Not afraid of an ambush? Have we already achieved world peace?'

"What? Is it inconvenient?" Yuto asked.

"No, it's fine. Kaoru and I need to return to the base for treatment anyway. If you don't mind, come with us."

Supporting each other, they walked into an alley, with Yuto leisurely following behind, looking more relaxed than the two in front.

The buildings in Amegakure are very distinctive—tall and sharp steel structures, with narrow alleys flanked by straight metal walls—The narrow paths are used to create great psychological pressure.

They weaved through the alleys and finally entered a large underground tunnel, walking for over thirty minutes.

"Don't worry, Amegakure's underground complex is huge," Takeda explained kindly, "It's always rainy here, so the city's drainage system has to be the best in the world. It's been expanding for years, and even maintenance workers don't know all the hidden places."

"Why do you hide underground?" Yuto was curious. He knew that at this time, the Akatsuki had a good relationship with Hanzō of the Salamander and wasn't targeted.

"We're not really hiding..." Takeda said nonchalantly, "Rent on the surface is too expensive."

"Huh?" Yuto didn't understand for a moment.

"As a shinobi from Konoha and a big clan, you wouldn't know the cost of everyday life." Takeda was very patient.

"Ninja tools cost money, medical treatment costs money, training costs money, food costs money, and so do propaganda and combat... The Akatsuki is quite large now, and we need a lot of money. We can't afford to rent such a large place. Luckily, the village's underground structure is vast, very convenient, though it feels a bit like we're living as rats..."

Takeda suddenly groaned, falling silent.

His subordinate had pinched him again.

Yuto found the duo amusing—a straightforward captain and a cold, sharp-tongued subordinate. In modern terms, they had a strange chemistry.

He thought this period of frugality left a deep impression on Konan and Nagato. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been so desperate to exploit Kakuzu after turning dark, showing a pathological desire for money.

As they spoke, they arrived at a steel gate.

"This is the place. On the way, I sent a message to the leader. They're waiting inside."

"They?" Yuto's tone and expression were like a professional actor's, showing just the right amount of surprise and curiosity.

"Yes, officially, our Akatsuki has only one leader, but in truth, all three are worthy of our loyalty."

Takeda pushed open the steel door, and he and Kaoru entered first, followed by Yuto without hesitation.

Inside stood three young people.

The leader had orange hair, a tall build, and a handsome face, looking like a forthright person.

Next was a young woman with purple hair, very beautiful but with a cold expression, and a paper flower in her hair.

The last was a red-haired guy with his head down, long bangs covering most of his face. One could only see his pale skin, nose, and lips.

—Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato!

'So young, they look only about four or five years older than me...' Yuto thought, calmly observing them.

"Leader..." Takeda, supported by Kaoru, walked over to Yahiko and said, "This is the shinobi from Konoha, he..."

Yuto removed his dark goggles, revealing his pure white eyes, "I'm Yuto Hyuga."

"Oh... A member of the Hyuga clan? This is my first time seeing these eyes up close," Yahiko smiled, "Thank you for trusting us. Even here in Amegakure, many shinobi refer to the Akatsuki as rats."

"Rats don't protect civilians. I've seen Takeshi-san's actions; he's a responsible and brave shinobi." Yuto said with a small smile.

"Haha... uh." Takeda laughed foolishly, once again receiving a harsh pinch from his subordinate.

After inspecting Takeda and Kaoru's injuries, Yahiko sent them for treatment.

In the large steel room, only the Amegakure trio and Yuto remained.

When interacting with outsiders, Yahiko usually took the lead. He cleared his throat and smiled, "Yuto Hyuga... I know you, a genius of the Hyuga branch family, the Hyuga's Jewel, and a disciple of Konoha's Tsunade-hime."

Yuto's expression remained calm. It had been three months since he apprenticed under Tsunade. If the Akatsuki didn't know this information by now, it would mean Konan was utterly useless, doing nothing but wasting resources.

"I didn't expect Takeda to encounter you, such good fortune..." Yahiko paused, then said solemnly, "Yuto-kun, I would like you to deliver a letter to one of the Sannin in Konoha."

(End of Chapter)