Chapter 398: The Sage of Six Paths' Eyes

After encountering Ye Cang, Muyue and the others encountered no further trouble and safely delivered the client to the destination.

"You're really reliable. If I ever go to Konoha to post a mission again, I'll definitely request Muyue," the middle-aged client gave high praise to Muyue's professional ability.

As an ordinary person, he didn't know much about ninjas, but Muyue was visibly strong—extremely dependable.

To express his gratitude, the middle-aged client wanted to treat Muyue and the others to a big meal at a famous local restaurant.

Muyue asked Obito and the others for their opinions, but in the end they politely declined the middle-aged client's kindness.

Normally Obito would have been happy to go for that big meal, but he was a bit concerned about the Akatsuki in the Land of Rain.

The four of them decided to do some investigation on the Akatsuki on the way back.

Since the intel on the Akatsuki came from Naruto Uzumaki and Yamato, they still had to keep it hidden from Muyue.

"We can ask Muyue-sensei for a certain degree of freedom, but we shouldn't stray too far from him. That way Muyue-sensei can support us with the Flying Thunder God Technique, and we won't run into trouble," Kakashi shared his idea.

Kakashi thought investigating was fine, but given how chaotic the Land of Rain was, they shouldn't go too far.

Otherwise, if they ran into another strong Cloud or Stone ninja, it would be troublesome.

"We can let Obito bring it up, say he wants to take pictures of the Land of Rain's scenery," Shisui suggested.

"I do want to photograph the Land of Rain's scenery." Obito nodded. "Rin, how about you don't come? Stay by Muyue-sensei's side."

Rin Nohara was the weakest among them; most of her abilities were focused on healing, and her ability to handle danger was far below theirs.

"I'll stay with Muyue-sensei and help cover for you guys," Rin Nohara agreed with a soft smile.

She was self-aware and tried not to add burden to Obito and the others.

The four acted on their plan immediately. Obito, holding his camera, said to Muyue with a slightly embarrassed expression:

"Muyue-sensei, now that the mission is done, can I find some places to take souvenir photos? I won't go far from the team, and I'll bring Kakashi and the others along."

"Go ahead," Muyue agreed readily.

Muyue also wanted to investigate the Land of Rain further, and slowing down their return was part of his plan.

"Hehe, Muyue-sensei, you're the best!" Seeing Muyue agree directly, Obito cheered with a chuckle.

"Be careful, don't go too far." Muyue smiled and patted Obito's head as a reminder.

Although he would definitely send shadow clones to protect his students, Muyue still hoped they would stay more vigilant.

Obito nodded eagerly like a chick pecking at rice and thumped his chest, saying he was fine.

With the goal achieved, Muyue's team split up: Muyue and Rin Nohara together, while Kakashi, Obito, and Shisui formed a group to investigate the Akatsuki.

Obito and the others asked residents of several villages and towns, but either they didn't know or they spoke well of the Akatsuki.

"The Akatsuki are all good ninjas. They even helped drive away rogue ninjas from our village before."

"The Akatsuki? I hear it's a decent ninja organization. Hiring them to deal with mountain bandits is more cost-effective than going to a ninja village."

The more they inquired about the Akatsuki, the more confused Obito and the others became.

"Could it be a name collision? Maybe these two Akatsuki aren't the same one?" The more Obito heard, the more he felt the Akatsuki was a kind ninja organization, not a terrorist one.

"Hard to say." Kakashi shook his head.

Because of Shisui's earlier intel, he thought it was the same Akatsuki, but now Kakashi was uncertain.

If they were just accumulating power, the Akatsuki wouldn't need to go this far, organizing members to do good deeds everywhere.

That was pointless. As a ninja organization, even if they did a hundred good deeds, if they did one or two bad ones, their reputation would not hold.

Accepting commissions and earning money is the correct way to gather strength.

"Maybe these two Akatsuki are the same organization—the current Akatsuki is indeed a kind ninja organization, while the future Akatsuki is indeed a terrorist organization," Shisui said after thinking.

People change. Being kind now doesn't mean they'll be kind later, and being evil in the future doesn't mean they were in the past.

Shisui felt it was like Itachi Uchiha—though Itachi would annihilate the Uchiha clan in the future, now Itachi was just a naive child who still spoke unclearly.

Even though they had only exchanged a few words, Shisui didn't think the current Yahiko was a madman who'd steal the Tailed Beasts from the Five Great Nations.

"That's very possible." Kakashi looked thoughtful.

Although he is only ten years old this year, Kakashi has indeed experienced quite a few things, and some things can really change a person's character drastically.

"So is it or isn't it?" Obito was confused by Shisui's words.

Neither Shisui nor Kakashi answered Obito's question — the key information was too scarce at the moment, and they were only speculating.

"What a pain. If only we could ask them directly," Obito sighed.

Whether it was because Obito's mouth was blessed or their luck had finally turned, while they were gathering information, they happened to run into Yahiko and others who were out maintaining public order, and even witnessed Yahiko in action.

"That orange-haired man using Water Release is Yahiko, the leader of the Akatsuki," Shisui said quietly.

Since Yahiko had once introduced himself, Shisui knew who he was.

"He shouldn't be the one Muyue-sensei said could kill you in an instant, right?" Obito rubbed his chin and said.

The strength Yahiko displayed was not weak, but saying he could kill Shisui in an instant was too far-fetched.

Obito didn't feel that aura of a powerhouse from Yahiko; he was even less impressive than that Sunagakure hero Pakura they had met earlier.

"That red-haired person next to him is very strong!" After entering the Transparent World, Kakashi saw the massive amount of chakra inside Nagato's body and his pupils sharply contracted.

This was definitely the most terrifying chakra Kakashi had ever seen — even stronger than Muyue's chakra.

But Kakashi soon stopped focusing on Nagato's chakra, because he discovered something even more astonishing. Just by looking with the Transparent World, he felt an extreme threat from Nagato's eyes.

Sensing something, Nagato looked in the direction of Kakashi and the others. Seeing the Konoha chunin vests and forehead protectors on them, Nagato furrowed his brow.

"Yahiko, a few Konoha shinobi have come over there," Nagato reported this information to Yahiko.

He didn't really like Konoha shinobi, but he wouldn't attack them recklessly.

"Hey, Konoha shinobi over there, we've already spotted you," Yahiko shouted directly toward the direction Nagato had indicated.

Yahiko didn't have any strong animosity toward Konoha shinobi, and since Konoha shinobi had saved members of the Akatsuki a while ago, he didn't mind being peeked at.

"What should we do? Go out, or just leave?" Obito looked at Kakashi and asked.

Kakashi took out the Flying Thunder God kunai from his ninja tool pouch, glanced at it, and put it back. Then he split off a Shadow Clone and sent it running at full speed toward where Muyue was.

Kakashi was not someone who wanted to stand under a dangerous wall. If Muyue hadn't been nearby, he would have left without hesitation.

"Let's go take a look, but we need to keep our distance — especially be careful of that red-haired person," Kakashi replied.

Then the three of them emerged from the shadows together and looked at Yahiko and Nagato.

"They're the Konoha shinobi who helped me before," the tall, thin shinobi immediately said when he saw it was Kakashi and the others.

"What a coincidence," Yahiko said, a little surprised.

"Thank you so much last time. This is our Akatsuki leader, Yahiko," the tall, thin shinobi introduced Yahiko.

Yahiko looked over Kakashi and the other two, and found Shisui oddly familiar. After thinking a bit, he remembered meeting him once before while eliminating bandits, and there had even been a small misunderstanding.

"So it's you. The ninja world really is small. We met once before in the River Country — do you remember?" Yahiko smiled and greeted Shisui.

Shisui nodded in acknowledgment.

"I've heard that your organization is a ninja organization that pursues peace and stability," Kakashi said after thinking about his wording.

Since Yahiko was being so friendly, Kakashi felt he could try to probe for some information.

"That's right. The Akatsuki was founded to bring peace to the Rain Country and the entire ninja world," Yahiko replied happily.

He believed that the more people who knew the Akatsuki's dream, the closer the Akatsuki would be to achieving it.

"Although we still have many shortcomings, I believe that as long as we keep working hard, we will surely succeed," Yahiko thought of the man named Sōsuke.

These days, Yahiko had been diligently protecting villages outside, not only to spread the Akatsuki's fame but also hoping to encounter Sōsuke again.

But that Sōsuke guy came and went without a trace — not only had Yahiko never seen him again, he hadn't even heard any news about him.

Kakashi observed all the Akatsuki members, then turned his gaze back to Yahiko, who was excitedly describing the future of the Akatsuki.

"What exactly happened to turn an Akatsuki like this into a terrorist organization that seizes tailed beasts?" Kakashi felt heavy-hearted.

When Yahiko talked about the Akatsuki's dream and future, all the Akatsuki members looked filled with longing — it was hard to fake unless they had rehearsed it in advance.

Although Kakashi didn't know what would happen, he guessed it must be a very tragic event.

"War should not exist." Obito agreed with Yahiko's words.

Obito also wanted to end war, to make Konoha and the Land of Fire peaceful, so that no more ninja would die in war.

"Do you really think so?" Yahiko's eyes lit up as he looked at Obito.

If it weren't for Obito's identity as a Konoha ninja, Yahiko would have invited Obito to join Akatsuki on the spot.

Yahiko had infected some ninja and brought them into Akatsuki, but more often he faced disapproval and ridicule of his dreams and goals.

"My dream is to end war and become Hokage." Obito puffed out his chest and lifted his head.

Although Kakashi always said he wasn't cut out to be Hokage, Obito believed he could do it.

"Keep working hard and you'll succeed. When that time comes, we can cooperate and bring peace to the ninja world even faster." Yahiko said with a hearty laugh.

At that moment, Obito felt incredibly agreeable toward Yahiko, thinking he was a very good person to get along with.

As long as you think I can become Hokage, then you are my good partner.

Because they still had to go to other places to check the situation, though Yahiko wanted to talk more with Obito, he had to leave.

"Goodbye. I hope that when we next hear of each other, we will both be famous across the ninja world." Yahiko bid farewell.

He truly hoped that like-minded people like Obito would become Hokage; the Five Great Shinobi Villages had great influence in the ninja world.

"Definitely. Just wait for the name Uchiha Obito to spread throughout the ninja world!" Obito said his name just before parting.

The three watched the Akatsuki ninja leave, then ceased their investigation of Akatsuki.

After this exchange, Kakashi could basically confirm that the current Akatsuki and the future Akatsuki were completely different things, and the investigation was a waste of effort.

No matter what they might become in the future, right now they were a group of ninja striving for peace.

Still, Kakashi found Akatsuki somewhat troublesome.

As for Uchiha Itachi, they could choose to guide him from childhood and thereby change the future.

But Akatsuki was not so easy to handle; the ninja in Akatsuki were much older than them, and there was also a red-haired ninja of unknown strength.

Obito didn't think that much. What he wanted most in his heart right now was to let Muyue and Nohara Rin survive the Third Shinobi World War, and then for Minato not to die in the Nine-Tails' rampage, and for the Uchiha not to be wiped out.

After returning to the team, Kakashi could never forget those eyes that had given him a fatal sense of danger. He drew that unique eye on paper and tentatively asked Muyue about it.

"Muyue-sensei, I saw this on a mural somewhere in the Rain Country. It feels very peculiar. Is it some kind of special local culture?" Kakashi asked nonchalantly.

Obito looked at Kakashi in confusion. When had Kakashi secretly gone to look at a mural alone? Weren't they always gathering information on Akatsuki?

Muyue took the paper that Kakashi handed over, thought for a moment, and replied, "It has many names: the Sage's Eye, the Eye That Controls Life and Death, the Rinnegan. It is the eye of the Sage of Six Paths."

Kakashi showed a shocked expression. He had thought it might be a very powerful kekkei genkai, but he didn't expect it to be so significant, actually related to the Sage of Six Paths.

Although most people worship the Sage of Six Paths as a deity, the Sage of Six Paths is not a fictional myth but a real person. Because he founded Ninshu, he is considered the progenitor of ninja.

"Huh? The eye of the Sage of Six Paths?" Upon hearing it was the eye of the Sage of Six Paths, Obito hurriedly leaned in to take a look.

Kakashi didn't give Obito that opportunity. To prevent information from being exposed, Kakashi pulled Obito aside for combat practice.

Even Shisui couldn't stay calm upon hearing this; the Sage of Six Paths was too special to ninja.

A bit of diarrhea, so I'm a little late. Because I stayed up until 4 AM, my mental state is a bit poor. If there are mistakes, you can leave a comment in that paragraph. When I wake up, I'll fix them.