Chapter 208: Becoming Reality
The rain fell relentlessly.
Pakura leaned against the iron railing of the base's second floor, staring at the distant steel towers being swallowed by the rain and mist.
The words Kitahara Kaede had spoken echoed incessantly in her mind.
"Overthrow the old world with absolute power."
If he truly could do it...
Footsteps approached from behind.
"Pakura, what are you looking at?"
Konan stepped up beside her. Her blue-purple hair looked somewhat dull in this weather. She followed Pakura's gaze outward, but saw nothing but a curtain of rain.
Pakura turned her head.
"Konan," she spoke suddenly. "If one day there were truly no more war in this world, what would you most want to do?"
Konan froze, a faint blush quickly creeping onto her cheeks.
"I..." she stammered for a long moment, unable to find the words.
Seeing her like this, Pakura couldn't help but smile.
"Alright, you don't have to say it." Pakura shifted into a more comfortable position against the railing. "You probably just want to live a quiet, peaceful life with Yahiko, right?"
Konan's face reddened further. She didn't argue, only offering a soft, barely audible hum of agreement.
In that instant, Pakura saw a spark in her eyes—a glimmer of hope for the future.
"What about you, Pakura?" Konan turned to her. "What do you want to do in the future?"
The smile on Pakura's face faded slightly. Kitahara Kaede's face flashed uncontrollably in her mind, along with those words:
"Your life is more important than anything."
Pakura lowered her eyelids. "Me... I..."
A series of hurried footsteps interrupted her. Yahiko and Nagato walked up, one after the other. Yahiko strode forward and stopped in front of them.
"Pakura, get your things ready. We have an external mission; you're coming with us."
There was a note of excitement in Yahiko's voice. "Our negotiations with Lord Hanzo have been progressing very smoothly. He's already started assigning us missions to clear out rogue samurai in the surrounding areas."
He looked at Nagato, then at Pakura.
"This proves he's starting to trust us. As long as we handle these tasks well, the security authority of the Land of Rain will eventually be handed over to us."
"When that happens, the Land of Rain can truly achieve peace!"
Pakura looked at Yahiko, seeing the pure, unwavering certainty of the future etched upon his face.
Kitahara Kaede's voice rang in her ears once more: *'Conflict will happen soon.'*
Pakura sighed inwardly. These three young people were very good to her. Because of that, she had tentatively suggested an alliance with Konoha.
Unfortunately, Yahiko had refused.
Pakura didn't want them to repeat her own mistakes. But she knew all too well that some walls must be crashed into personally before one learns to turn back.
In the end, Pakura said nothing and simply nodded, accepting the mission.
Yahiko turned to Konan, his tone instinctively softening. "Konan, you stay at the base today." He pulled several scrolls from his vest and handed them over. "There are some miscellaneous requests here; distribute them to the others later. We can't leave the base without someone in charge."
Konan took the scrolls and nodded obediently. "Be careful."
Yahiko gave her a smile and turned to head downstairs. "Let's go. We'll make this quick."
Nagato and Pakura followed. Konan remained on the balcony, watching them until they disappeared into the rain.
***
The border of the Land of Rain.
The battle ended quickly. A dozen corpses lay scattered across the muddy ground.
Yahiko flicked the blood off his kunai before sliding it back into his leg pouch. "All cleared?" he asked, glancing around.
"None slipped through," Nagato replied, stepping up beside him. Pakura emerged from the opposite side.
Yahiko let out a breath of relief. "The reward for this mission is substantial. This should keep the organization's finances stable for a while." He patted Nagato on the shoulder. "Let's go back to the base."
Just as Yahiko turned around, a kunai shot toward them from the front-side with extreme speed!
*Thwack!*
The kunai slammed into the ground right in front of the three of them.
Yahiko's reflexes were lightning-fast; he leaped backward instantly. Nagato and Pakura simultaneously dove to either side. All three had already assumed defensive stances while still mid-air.
But no further attack followed. A deathly silence fell over the area, broken only by the falling rain.
Yahiko frowned, staring at the kunai embedded in the earth. A slip of paper was tied to the handle.
Yahiko waited a moment, confirming there were no ambushes in the vicinity, before stepping forward to pull out the kunai and untie the note.
As his eyes scanned the contents, he froze in place.
"Yahiko?" Nagato sensed something was wrong and hurried over. "What is it? What does it say?"
Yahiko didn't speak; he simply handed the note over. Nagato took it, and Pakura leaned in to look.
There was only one sentence on the paper:
[Konan is in our hands. If you don't want her to die, come to the canyon ten kilometers to the southeast.]
No signature. No conditions.
Pakura's heart sank. Kitahara Kaede's prediction had come true.
Nagato's expression shifted instantly upon reading the note. He looked up sharply at Yahiko. "Konan was captured? How is that possible!"
Nagato paced the spot in agitation. "The enemy must have planned this. They struck when we were out on a mission and short-handed."
"What do we do now? Do we charge straight in?"
Yahiko forcibly suppressed the panic in his eyes. "Yes, but first, we do this."
He bit his thumb and quickly formed a sequence of hand signs.
*Poof.*
A palm-sized messenger bird appeared in his hand.
"Since the enemy dared to leave a note, it means they've already laid a meticulously planned trap there." Yahiko quickly wrote an instruction and stuffed it into a small tube on the bird's leg. "Message Kyūsuke first. Tell him to lead everyone capable of fighting at the base to the outskirts of the southeast canyon immediately for support."
The bird beat its wings and vanished into the curtain of rain.
Yahiko turned to Nagato and Pakura, his expression becoming incredibly cold.
"We'll go first. I don't care who did this—I will not allow them to hurt Konan."
The three of them immediately raced toward the direction specified in the note.
A moment later, a figure appeared silently where they had just been standing.
Kitahara Kaede watched the direction in which Yahiko and the others had vanished.
The board was set. Now, he only had to wait for the right moment to act.
He took a step, his figure blurred, and he vanished from the spot.