Talking to Hanzo

Yahiko, Nagato Uzumaki, and Konan; these three were 14-year-old at this moment.

The three had become war orphans during the Second Shinobi War. Their parents had died to either Iwa Shinobi or Konoha Shinobi.

Between these 3, Nagato Uzumaki spent the most time with his parents. But unfortunately, they were killed by Konoha Shinobi.

And, because they were War Orphans, they knew the pain of losing loved ones due to war between the Great Villages. They quickly became friends after they met. It was Yahiko among them who proclaimed his great ambition to bring peace to Ame. The other two were a little amused when he proclaimed it. They knew how much of a braggart their friend was. But internally, they also wished to bring peace to Ame. So, they decided to help out their friend with this.

When they were 6 years old, they had the chance encounter of meeting the Three Legendary Sannin when they were returning after their defeat at the hands of Hanzo.

During that time, Jiraiya had stayed behind to train them. Perhaps it was because he took pity on them and wanted these war orphans to have some means of protecting themselves.

With those thoughts, he trained them for one year, teaching them basic ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu.

Jiraiya saw the Rinnegan in Nagato's Eyes and was quite shocked. He had never heard of an Uzumaki awakening the Rinnegan. Moreover, this was a Doujutsu of the legendary Sage of Six Paths.

As he heard of the naïve ideas of Yahiko, he even found himself thinking that perhaps these 3 could indeed bring peace. There was also the prophecy told to him by that old toad stating that he would teach the child of prophecy, who would either bring destruction or peace.

Believing that the inheritor of Rinnegan, Uzumaki Nagato might be that person, he taught him quite earnestly. Only after the three were capable of defeating his Shadow Clone did he leave them in Ame.

Since that time, nearly 5 years had passed. In this time, they had slowly formed a group as Yahiko helped out more people in Amegakure and spread his idea.

Slowly, people started giving them support, whether it was in terms of whatever money they could give or blessings. These people had also grown tired of relentless wars that the Great Villages waged…

Ame hadn't even been in any direct conflict with any of the Great Villages, yet the people suffered simply because it was normally the site of war.

The Akatsuki had been taking missions, amassing a certain amount of wealth and aiding these civilians who couldn't protect themselves.

Hanzo had even supported this organization, believing that it would lead to peace within his land and everyone would obey his order.

However, recently, he had been hearing how people hadn't been giving him taxes. When he sent his men over, it seemed that the members of Akatsuki protected these people.

It wasn't just in these days. This had been happening for a couple of years now. However, he had to deal with other urgent matters, whether it was to continue checking out Iwa, or the diplomacy talks with the Hokage.

He simply couldn't be bothered to deal with Akatsuki at that moment. He had sent one of his men to the Akatsuki headquarters, stating that they should show restrain.

However, the same thing happened again. It seemed as if his warning had fallen upon deaf ears.

Moreover, he had also heard rumours of how the public wished for the Akatsuki to rule the village. Although no one was openly rebelling against Hanzo's authority, Hanzo was sure that the seeds had been implanted. If this continues, the public would surely rise up against him.

For that reason, he had asked for their presence right here. He was planning on giving them a final ultimatum. To hear his order or face annihilation at his hands!

Now, as for the Akatsuki Members. All of them were struggling, wondering what they do. They knew that the shinobi standing beside Hanzo was quite strong.

Even if Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato somehow managed to keep Hanzo occupied, they still wouldn't be able to deal with these shinobi. Not only were they massively outnumbered, but their skill was also worlds apart.

Moreover, after having heard their leader's fierce words to Hanzo, they had prepared themselves for death.

And at this time, Isao said to Minato with a low voice, "Minato… I want to know about that redheaded guy. Can you come with me to talk to Hanzo."

For some moments, Minato had to think. He was wondering just who could this red-haired guy be for Isao to want to know about him.

"Alright. Let's go… Considering that Hanzo has an alliance with Konoha, he shouldn't attack us." Minato having made up his mind slowly started walking towards this group.

Isao followed him while pulling out a strange kunai from his storage seal. He was clutching that kunai quite strongly as if prepared to defend himself the moment situation turned dire.

"Hanz-sama, please stop." Minato's voice did gather their attention.

Almost all the shinobi turned to his direction, all of them wondering what this guy wanted.

Hanzo was standing at a higher ground, so he merely turned his neck a little and saw Minato and Isao. He was wearing a mask, so it was hard to see what his expression was.

He spoke with a neutral tone, "Namikaze Minato, the apprentice of Jiraiya. What do you want? Speak quickly. I am dealing with an internal matter of Amegakure!"

Upon hearing that Minato was the apprentice of Jiraiya, three members of Akatsuki stared at him curiously. He was the apprentice of their Jiraiya-sensei?

Minato nodded his head while he responded, "My acquaintance here wishes to ask something from this person." He pointed at Nagato while telling Hanzo.

Hanzo raised his brows, but he didn't understand what Minato wanted. He stared at the youth behind Minato and saw it was some uncharacteristic person. That youth was seemingly affected by the auras of Shinobi targeting the Akatsuki.

Hanzo concluded that he was quite weak…

Isao mentally calmed down as he turned towards the Akatsuki Members, "Umm… Can you tell me your name? Yes, the one with the red hair."

"Me?" Nagato was somewhat confused for some moments that Isao was talking about him. And Isao gave a nod in confirmation, "Yes, please tell me your name."

"My name is Nagato." Nagato gave out his name a little roughly. Isao frowned a little before he asked Nagato, "Your full name? Or are you not aware of it?"

Although it confused Nagato even more, he replied with somewhat proudly, "My name is Uzumaki Nagato…!"

After hearing those words, Isao's eyes widened, and the kunai nearly slipped out of his hand.

Even Minato was shocked to some extent. This man was an Uzumaki? The one from the clan which had already faced extinction.

Hanzo didn't even blink his eyes. It seemed that he was aware of this fact. He was also aware that this boy didn't possess any sealing jutsu, so it didn't matter if he was Uzumaki or not.

A warm smile spread on Isao's face as he said to Nagato, "So, you are an Uzumaki? It seems I had the right idea. Come with me, Nagato. You don't need to stay here any longer. I will lead you to a safe place."

"Come with you?" Nagato, Yahiko, Konan, and Minato seemed to have muttered at the same time.

Not just that, Hanzo and some shinobi near him frowned. It was as if this boy was ignoring their presence while taking away their target.

Well, they weren't wrong about that, this was indeed happening.

Meanwhile, Nagato curiously asked Isao, "What do you mean by going with you? I don't even know you! And I also have no idea where you are going to take me. Why would I come with you? Besides, I won't be leaving my friends here. Not in this situation."