Shinra looked at Kakashi with a meaningful smile tugging at his lips.
"This young man from Konoha… your name is Kakashi, isn't it? Then let me ask why are you so obsessed with missions?"
The polite question immediately cut through the imminent clash between Uchiha Obito and Kakashi.
Perhaps both boys realized, deep down, that it was shameful to quarrel in front of an enemy. Their anger faltered, replaced by a flush of embarrassment.
Kakashi turned his head, deliberately avoiding Obito's furious glare, and instead met Shinra's gaze coldly.
"Completing missions is a ninja's duty. The iron rule of the shinobi world: those who fail to complete their missions… are useless."
Shinra's smile widened, his eyes glinting with cruel amusement. To him, it was like seeing a fragile seed suppressed beneath layers of soil just waiting to burst into a brilliant, twisted bloom.
And now, he only wished to detonate it.
"Do you really believe that iron rule? Do you truly follow it from the depths of your heart?"
Kakashi's jaw shifted beneath his mask, his lips parting as if to respond. But Shinra pressed forward, his words sharp and unrelenting.
"If you truly believed in the supremacy of missions… then why did you rush forward to save your companions before your teacher even arrived? Doesn't your own recklessness contradict the doctrine you just preached?
Young man, be honest with yourself. Do you truly agree with what you're saying? Or… are you just running away?
Running away from the pain of losing loved ones… from the darkness of this world… from the near impossibility of true justice…
Or perhaps, running away from the revenge you, as a son, should have taken long ago?"
The words were poison, seeping straight into Kakashi's heart. His breath quickened, his eyes turned bloodshot, and his hand gripped his tanto's hilt so tightly his knuckles trembled.
"You… what do you know?!" Kakashi barked, stepping forward, nearly tearing free from Minato's restraining hand.
Even Obito froze.
He had never seen Kakashi like this before like a beast cornered, eyes burning crimson with rage and grief.
Minato's brow darkened, his voice heavy.
"Rain ninja, I told you don't say strange things to my disciples!"
Shinra quickly raised his hands, feigning innocence.
"All right, Lord Minato. No problem. I'll stop here."
Provoking Kakashi wasn't his true objective. It was nothing more than a cruel amusement something interesting to poke at while waiting for his real plan to unfold.
When pleasure conflicted with purpose, Shinra was not so foolish as to persist.
"Lord Minato, if you don't mind, let's depart for the border now."
Yet words, once sown, are like seeds in fertile soil. They could not be so easily erased.
Minato glanced at Kakashi, whose expression was still twisted with confusion and turmoil.
"Kakashi," Minato said softly, "don't dwell on it. I'll explain everything about the mission to the village later."
But when his eyes lifted back to Shinra, his wariness deepened.
A moment ago, he had nearly thought this boy was "easy to deal with."
Now he realized that was a dangerous misjudgment.
Why did a teenager from the Land of Rain know so much about Konoha's secrets?
No Shinra was no ordinary youth.
Minato's instincts whispered a premonition: one day, this boy would become a great calamity for Konoha.
But with Rin still in Konan's grasp, for now… he had no choice but to proceed according to the boy's terms.
The kind-hearted Minato Namikaze could not give up his disciple so easily.
Soon, the two groups arrived at the dense forest along the Rain Country's border.
Almost at the same time, Yahiko and Nagato appeared, leading nearly half of Akatsuki's current combat force.
Yahiko rushed forward, his voice anxious:
"Konan, what happened?"
In the past, Konan had rarely used her paper butterflies for emergency calls. Everyone in Akatsuki knew Nagato's body was frail, and Konan would never lightly summon him unless it was truly urgent.
So when Yahiko and Nagato suddenly received her paper butterfly, both were alarmed thinking Konan must have been in grave danger.
Yet, upon arrival, the scene wasn't nearly as disastrous as they had feared.
Konan even stepped forward calmly to reassure them.
"It's all right, Yahiko. Everything is still under Shinra's control. Please, don't be impulsive."
Yahiko exhaled in relief, but his eyes lingered on Shinra suspiciously.
Why is he so composed this time?
And… wasn't Konan's trust in him a little too natural? Almost as if it had grown into habit?
On the other side, Minato Namikaze had stiffened in surprise the moment he saw Yahiko and Nagato emerge with Konan.
He had his suspicions when he noticed Konan's striking blue hair earlier, but now, seeing the three together, he was certain.
"You three… you're Jiraiya-sensei's disciples, aren't you?"
Yahiko blinked, startled. He turned back to face Minato.
"You… you know Master Jiraiya?"
Minato nodded lightly, but kept the truth to himself.
He too was Jiraiya's apprentice but after witnessing Shinra's unnerving ability to dig into Konoha's secrets, Minato instinctively chose not to reveal more.
Thus, Yahiko unknowingly missed the rare chance to meet his senior brother.
"Then," Yahiko said with heartfelt sincerity, "when you return to Konoha, please thank Master Jiraiya for us. Tell him… the disciples of the Rain Country are working hard to uphold his ideals!"
At this time, Yahiko's gratitude for Jiraiya still shone untainted so different from the future, when Pain, twisted by darkness, would strike down the very master he once revered.
Minato simply nodded in silence.
But he made no further promises.
Had Shinra not been standing there like a looming shadow, perhaps Minato would have spoken more perhaps even tried to guide these younger siblings of his master's teachings.
But fate allowed no if.
Because Shinra was here, the encounter ended swiftly. After a short exchange, Rin was finally released, and Minato wasted no time withdrawing with his team.
Only after Konoha's group had gone did Yahiko and Nagato approach Konan directly.
"Konan… who was that man just now? Why did you feel the need to call for us?"
Konan's reply was simple, her voice steady.
"Shinra said… that was the future Yondaime Hokage of Konoha."
The forest fell into stunned silence.
So silent that even the sound of a leaf falling might have been heard.
Around them, the Akatsuki members who had rushed over were struck dumb. Then, one by one, they let out shaky breaths, as though they had only just realized they had brushed against death itself.
"D-did we just… confront the Hokage?!"
"My god… was I too loud just now?!"
"I swear, for a second, I thought I was already dead…"
Even Yahiko and Nagato's faces darkened, the weight of the revelation pressing on their shoulders.
The Hokage a storm they were far from ready to face had brushed past them today, and they had survived only by chance.
And the one who had calmly faced him… was none other than Shinra.
Then, almost in unison, all eyes turned toward Shinra the calmest figure at the scene.
The fear and tension that had been choking the air moments ago now gave way to something else.
Admiration. Awe. A respect beyond words.
"Shinra… you… are you playing such a big game? You actually dared to capture the Hokage's disciples?"
"You even confronted the future Hokage himself… and walked away without a scratch?!"
The voices trembled, half in disbelief, half in reverence.
For an instant, Shinra remained quiet. His expression unchanged, as if the ordeal had been nothing more than a casual stroll through the rain.
But deep in his heart, he couldn't help a stray thought.
He remembered another name. A figure who, in the future, would also stand within the Akatsuki organization.
That man once crossed blades with a Hokage, survived, and through that very act carved his name into legend.
Kakuzu.
And now, Shinra wondered to himself with a faint, fleeting smile
Could this, perhaps, be my own tribute to that legend?