章節 11: Chapter 11 - Conspiracy.

"Everything is as usual, gloomy, wet and slippery," Yuusuke mentally said, feeling the fine rain trickling down his body. It wasn't the first time he had set foot in the Hidden Rain, he had been here several times during the Third Shinobi World War.

An imperceptible, thin layer of the chakra of the element of fire covered the entire surface of the young man's body. When small drops of rain touched the layer of chakra, they all burned up. They burned rather than evaporated, the temperature of the chakra of the fire element was so high that the water did not have time to turn into a gas state, otherwise Yusuke would have become like a steam locomotive.

The Konoha delegation did not have to wait long after arriving, and was soon met by the head of the village, Hanzo salamanders himself. This was clearly not their first meeting, as Danzo and Hanzō greeted each other in a friendly manner. Since the rain didn't touch Yusuke, his unspoiled appearance stood out from the others, which immediately caught the attention of the Head of the Hidden Rain Village. Yuusuke also looked at him, their eyes met, but soon Hanzō turned away and continued his conversation with Danzo.

Hanzo Salamander is a muscular man of above average height with long blond hair that falls to the middle of his back. On the right side of his face he has a small scar, which he most likely received in battle. He has unusual eyes, with dark sclera and light irises.

This man got his name because of his past. Once upon a time, a poisonous salamander lived in his village. After her death, Hanzō transplanted her poison gland into himself as a child, wanting to gain more power and train his body to produce poison. After that, the villagers became afraid of Hanzo, as almost everyone who interacted with him died from poison or was poisoned. Therefore, the future leader had to wear a respirator that protects people from his own poison.

***

After the delegation followed Hanzō to the Hidden Rain residence, they were quickly sorted into rooms, while Danzo and Hanzō left somewhere.

Yusuke wasn't interested in secret conversations between the two. He was given a task that required his presence only at official negotiations, so that the Third Hokage would then receive a full countdown.

Of course, if Yusuke were indeed a loyal shinobi of the Third Hokage, he would no doubt have tried to find out all the details of their secret meeting. However, the young man had no plans to become the personal dog of Hiruzen Sarutobi, who, without the slightest regret, purposely sent him on this extremely dangerous mission.

Meanwhile, in Hanzo's secret chamber, Danzo sits in a chair with his eyes closed, with two shinobi behind him as guards. Across from him sits Hanzo, frowning, reading the document handed to him first.

"These demands are too ruthless! According to these requirements, my village will not be able to restore its strength even after five years!!" Hanzo said in a grim voice, giving Danzo an ice-cold look. Danzo had no regard for Konoha's interests at all, and even before the official meeting began, he revealed the contents of Hanzo upcoming deal.

With his eyes still closed, Danzo slowly replied, "I can make a pretty big concession to your village, but you'll have to pay some price for it."

Hanzo Salamander looked at Danzo and after a while said words that surprised the second: "I don't need you to make concessions to me, just help me in one thing, and I will agree to all these conditions!"

Danzo was stunned, his closed eyes wide open, he was well aware of the bad temper of the person in front of him, but now, he was actually ready to agree to these absurd conditions.

Danzo originally planned to sell some of the village's interests, make concessions, and allow Hanzō to covertly fund his organization. But now that Hanzō agreed to the terms, Danzo became very interested to know what the so-called *favor* was that even a powerful shinobi like Hanzō Salamander could not handle on his own.

"What exactly should I do?" Danzo asked with a slight squint.

"Have you ever heard of an organization called Akatsuki that preaches a ridiculous philosophy of peace?"

"Can't you destroy some small organization with your power?"

"Things are not so simple Danzo, one of the three leaders of this organization is not so simple. According to the information, the red-haired leader possesses the legendary reincarnation eyes of the Sage of the Six Paths!" Hanzo said in a solemn voice, looking Danzo straight in the eyes.

"Are you sure?!" Hearing his words, even a reserved person like Danzo couldn't control his emotions.

Seeing the greed in the interlocutor's eyes, the corners of Hanzo's mouth, hidden under the mask, lifted slightly: "If you believe the description from the legends, then these are indeed the legendary eyes of reincarnation. Their strength remains a mystery, but just recently, I got in touch with them and checked everything. And now, I can say with confidence that with your help, I can easily destroy them all! When we are finished with them, each of us will take one eye. With that, I don't think you'll have a problem getting the position of Hokage."

"I agree to help you, but are you really sure that you can handle the owner of the legendary eyes?" Danzo asked with a frown. Although he was greedy for power, he was no fool, and he never considered a shinobi with the legendary eyes of the mythical Sage of the Six Paths to be someone to joke with.

In response, Hanzo bared a ferocious grin, "Truth be told, if this was a head-on clash, I wouldn't be so sure of victory. However, I have found their weak spot, and with the help of your people, we can take full advantage of it.

"Okay, then I'll be here for a few days, but I need every detail of your plan, every last detail!" Danzo said in a deep voice. He never completely trusted anyone and Hanzo was no exception, the last thing he wanted was to become a tool in his hands.

"Relax, it is to my advantage if you know everything, because the key to the success of this plan is your people. Out of everyone I know, your people are the best when it comes to espionage. I need your people to infiltrate their organization and capture one person, the target has a very close relationship with the owner of the legendary eyes," said Hanzo agreeing with the claims of the other side.

"Okay, send someone to tell me when to move out," Danzo replied with a nod of his head.

"Agreed, oh, by the way, I was very interested in one shinobi from your group. He seems to have good strength, the rain couldn't even touch him." Hanzō suddenly remembered Yuusuke and since they had already discussed all the important matters, he decided to satisfy his curiosity. Moreover, in his opinion, the stronger his allies are, the easier they will be able to accomplish their plan.

In response, Danzo chuckled coldly and reluctantly replied, "This guy was sent by the Third Hokage to keep an eye on me, so don't count on him for that. You must have heard of him, Yusuke Uchiha known to everyone as the Fire Swordsman."

After learning Yusuke's identity, Hanzo nodded and didn't say anything else. He thought that Yuusuke was an expert from the Root under Danzo and planned to use him, but since it was different, there was no point in finding out anything else about him.

***

Yusuke didn't know anything about Hanzō and Danzo plot against Akatsuki, the next day Yusuke attended the official negotiations between the villages, and although the whole process was very boring, there was something strange about it that made Yusuke alert.

Negotiators on both sides pretended to bargain, but at the end of each point, Hidden Rain always made concessions. It was quite anomalous, after all, Hanzo Salamander could be anything but a weakling, and even if he was now on the side of the defeated nation, he shouldn't have acted like that.

Most likely these two clowns have already made a secret agreement, Yuusuke thought looking at the ongoing circus in front of him and the two rats' inept acting. Unfortunately, no matter how hard he tried, he never came up with a decent idea of what kind of deal they could make.

Once all the terms of the agreement were negotiated, Hanzō and Danzo signed it, and the delegation's mission to Konoha was nearly complete.

"Danzo-sama, mission completed, when do we set out for the return journey?" Yusuke asked, showing formal respect for Danzo since Hanzō was still around.

"We'll stay here for a few more days," Danzo replied in a cold tone, giving the youth a deep look.

"May I know the reason?" Yusuke asked in a no less cold voice with slight anger in his eyes.

"I'm the leader of this mission and I don't have to explain anything to you, just do what I say." Danzo parted his large sleeves and snorted coldly. With those words, he ignored Yuusuke and left. The two shinobi following Danzo gave Yusuke a fierce look. One of them was Yamanaka Fuu, who was punished by Danzo after their attack at the camp failed.

Yuusuke did not react to them in any way, he did not care about these losers, all his thoughts were now occupied with unraveling the reason for their delay in this place.

It was a very important period of time, because in a little while the Fourth Hokage would be chosen. As a person to whom this election was of the utmost importance, Danzo under normal circumstances would not have lingered here at such a time. After all, the old man must be well aware that the Third Hokage sent him here at such a time for a reason, he was simply removed from the path.

Under normal circumstances, it would have been better for Danzo to return as soon as possible after the negotiations, rather than wasting time staying in Hidden Rain Village. This could only mean that the purpose of Danzo being here was more important than supporting Orochimaru's campaign for the Fourth Hokage.

In the following days, Yusuke tried to secretly spy on Danzo, however, Danzo was worthy of being the leader of the number one spy organization in the shinobi world, and placed his men so well that Yusuke was never able to get close to him, and was almost discovered several times.

"Danzo-sama, it seems that someone has been following us for the past few days, we've been trying to trap him, but we haven't been able to do so," Yamanaka Fuu reported, Danzo bowing his head.

"I don't think it's Hanzo's people, it's more likely Yusuke Uchiha," Danzo said with a cold snort. "Ignore him, report on how the plan is progressing?"

"Everything is almost ready, we have taken control of several members of the Akatsuki organization, so once the plan begins, Hanzo and I will be able to capture the target with ease."

"Very well, Hanzo also arranged a meeting time with the leader of this organization, this is a once in a lifetime chance, I must get this eye, only in my hands can it show its true power, only I am worthy of them! Danzo said in a calm voice. However, his slightly trembling voice betrayed the excitement he felt at that moment.

"But if the person who was secretly following us is really Yusuke Uchiha, won't he turn on us and ruin our plans?" Yamanaka Fuu asked with a worried expression.

Yamanaka Fuu did not consider Yusuke a threat to their plans, but he hated Yusuke, who made him lose face in front of his comrades and the head. If he could get rid of him with Danzo help, that would be good.

Danzo waved his hand, "He's just one person, there's no reason to panic, his power here is very limited, but once I get the eye of reincarnation, he'll be the first one I destroy!"

***

Three days later, Yuusuke, who was secretly spying on Danzo, noticed that the Root members had suddenly moved out in full force and realized that they had finally decided to make their move. What surprised Yuusuke was that this time even Danzo dressed up in the official Hidden Leaf shinobi uniform.

At the same time, in the valley near Hidden Rain Village, Hanzo and Yahiko officially met. Standing next to Yahiko were Nagato and Konan, and behind them was a group of Akatsuki members.