Chapter 19

The plan created by Blake was actually much more simple than it might have seemed. They couldn't fight on Hanzo terms, so they had to run away somewhere. Blake predicted that they would have shinobi patrolling both the main village and the surroundings areas. Therefore, Blake aimed to confuse his opponents to give them some time to get a head start out of the village.

Most of the present shinobi in Akatsuki could create 2 clones, whilst a few could create 3. Blake used that to his advantage. By masking a few people with transformation jutsu, Blake created four identical teams in his command, including the real one. Then, Akatsuki stationed some dummies on the river by going through secret tunnels.

The plan began with them plunging a bunch of oil into the canals and lighting it on fire. It was a good distraction, without being actually destructive to the city, for Yahiko made sure it was not. As soon as fire plagued the village, they began to run. They kept running for hours, and Blake had to summon Nightmare one time to carry him, as he wasn't able to keep up with the Akatsuki anymore.

Nevertheless, they reached the designated cliff eventually, and, just like Blake wanted, Hanzo was already nearby. Blake had done a thorough research of the map, and he knew about the existence of this abyss. He had an image of it in his mind, yet it looked much more frightening than in his imagination. Was that the aftermath of a Tailed Beast bomb?

Cough, cough. Nevertheless, it would have been the worst place to fight, with the Akatsuki facing the cliff into the abyss. Thankfully, Blake prepared the Akatsuki for this. Actually, Konan put in much more work into this than he did. He simply gave a blueprint and the main idea.

A wingsuit.

Since the abyss had a constant flow of wind from below, it wasn't a far fetched idea. Even if they didn't glide that well, they would at least make it to the other side and plant their feet into the wall on the other side.

Konan made sure it was going to work. After stealing some tough clothing from the village, Konan created suits for all of the Akatsuki members, which she fortified by adding her own chakra infused papers inside. Once they jumped, Konan fortified that same paper so that their wingsuits wouldn't bend and let the air pass through.

It was not the best plan, but they had to get to sand somehow, and they did. Blake also threw a bait for Hanzo in order to make sure that the monster would keep following them, despite them entering the territory of a neighbouring Village. It would take a while before Hanzo caught up to them again, so Blake could finally take a breather.

"Damn, I forgot why I hated running." Blake stopped in his tracks, hunching over, whilst everyone simply stood with their hands on their waist, breathing heavily. Blake wiped the sweat from his brow.

"I should have included more sprinting into the training repertoire." Nagato said, not even phased by the running. Though he kept turning back to look at the cliff that was still visible, where Hanzo still stood, looking at them.

"On a scale of 1-10 how mad do you think he is right now?" Blake asked.

"10" Yahiko answered.

"You think he has some ninjutsu to get to the other side?"

"I hope not. I mean the chasm is huge, there is no way someone can just jump. His summon can't fly either."

Blake nodded and smiled. "Then we are good for now. The first step of the plan is complete. Let's continue onto the second."

Yahiko nodded. Blake calmly removed the wingsuit from his body, putting back a cloak on his body. Nightmare appeared behind him in his full glory. After eating the stones brought back from the dungeon, Nightmare had grown taller and its muscles seemed to ripple with his every movement. Anyway, he looked more scary than before that even Akatsuki began to grow uncomfortable around him again.

Slowly, Blake slid of the headband on his shoulder and strapped it to his forehead, cracking his neck slightly. The Akatsuki were looking at him, and Blake, for an instant, felt like the leader, for everyone was waiting for him to say what they were going to do next. He turned left to see Yahiko smiling at him.

"Then we proceed as planned." Blake declared as everyone began to move. He nudged Yahiko on the shoulder when everyone began to remove their wingsuit. "Are you okay with this?"

"I am the leader, but you are our strategist, Blake." Yahiko said, stripping off. "During missions like this one, you are our leader. Don't feel bad."

Blake smiled back at him, then nodded towards Nagato and Konan. "Then let's begin."

Hopping onto the back of his summon, Blake held tightly onto the neck of Nightmare, as the creature sprinted away from the group. It looked funny from the side, that was for sure, but Blake was too tired to care about how he looked right now. The summon wasn't fast, that was for sure, but it was tolerable.

Beside Nightmare, two shinobi run. Kyūsuke and Daibutsu. Both were core members of the Akatsuki and were pretty strong. Kyusuke was the man with strange blue lines on his face, who had threatened him when he was captured by the Akatsuki. Daibutsu was a much more calm and collected man, despite having the build of a bear, standing at the height comparable to Nigthmare. They were much stronger than Blake, which was a great thing, for he needed protection.

"You guys ready for this?"

"Yeah." Kyūsuke answered promptly

Daibutsu simply nodded.

-

Yahiko had never seen sand. He was a war orphan and he did everything in his abilities to survive. Moving towards a different village during those unstable times was an impossible feat for a child, so he had stayed in the Rain Village. Surviving. Afterwards, when the Akatsuki was formed, he could travel a bit further, but most missions were not that far from the main Village.

In conclusion, he had never seen sand, nor ocean, nor anything of the particular. Only rain. A perpetual downpour from heaven. It was peculiar for him to see such an expanse of nothing but sand. And, more than that, why was it so hot? It was night, so the sky was abysmal, yet it featured stars, which were a rare sight in the centre of the village.

He knew that he had to focus on the mission, but he couldn't contain his mesmerisation. He glanced at his teammates running behind, who were staring at the sky with the same blaze in their eyes. Yahiko smiled. It seemed that he wasn't the only one. Others were the same.

"Do you feel the heat, friends?" Yahiko said, drawing their attention. Everyone stopped, looking at their leader. Not the leader of this mission, but the one who had created the organization. The one who was the flame of the Akatsuki. He looked over them with a calm gaze.

"I am usually not the type to give speeches. Nevertheless…" Yahiko looked over his comrades one last time, before gazing upwards. "This is the first time I am seeing stars so vibrant. And this is also the first time that I am walking on dunes, with no rain in sight."

The others nodded, some being in the same situation.

"I know that we are currently being chased by Hanzo and I know that despite everything going smoothly so far, you are all scared. I am scared too. No, actually, I am terrified." Yahiko said calmly. "Most of the plan wasn't devised by me, but by Blake. And even though I trust him, it's hard to put your life in the hands of another person without being emotional."

"Cough, cough." Yahiko coughed deliberately. "Anyway, I am getting sidetracked. What I wanted to say was that I am absolutely terrified. Not because of Danzo, but because of these dunes. Every time I look up, I realize that I have so much of this world left unexplored, so much yet to uncover." Yahiko glanced at Konan, but quickly turned his gaze away.

The entire group looked up at the sky.

"I am not ready to die yet, especially in the hands of a warmonger." Yahiko's pupils widened. "And I am sure none of you want to face death yet either. So, drop all of those doubts within your mind and concentrate. You know what to do…and we are going to succeed."

The group nodded, smiling cheerfully. Konan smirked, whilst Nagato genuinely smiled.

"That's it? It doesn't feel like you guys are ready for this at all. Come on, let's hear some noise."

The Akatsuki cheered.

"Okay, not that loud, we are still being chased. What are you guys. stupid?"

Everyone gave him a side-eye as Yahiko chuckled. After letting his gaze pass over the sky one last time, Yahiko concentrate on the mission. Exchanging a few more words, the Akatsuki continued to run, checking the location of the stars and the map held by Konan to make sure they were going the right direction.

Eventually, Yahiko told everyone to stop. They had reached their destination. In fact, Yahiko wasn't sure whether that was true, for there was nothing in sight but sand. Yet, the location of the stars seemed correct. Hanzo the Salamander still hadn't caught up, but Yahiko was sure it was just a matter of time. The man had some great trackers in his team.

"I have just checked. We are in the right spot. Sand Village shinobi should be quite a distance away, still, if Blake was correct with his calculations." Nagato walked up to Yahiko, having been sent as a scout.

"Let's hope he was. It would truly become a mess if the Sand Village joined in." Yahiko shrugged.

Nagato seemed to want to say something more as he left his mouth hanging opened for a few seconds. Yahiko put a hand on his shoulder. "You are doing a great job so far. Keep the jutsu activated, especially when Hanzo shows up."

Whilst Yahiko talked, he kept looking over the horizon. Finally, he saw a red flare appear in the distance, flying into the sky. Seeing it, Yahiko began to act immediately. "You know the drill. We have practised." Yahiko addressed the entire group.

Everyone nodded. Their pace suddenly lowered drastically, as instead of running, they begun to slid across the sand, removing chakra from their feet. It was a simple yet peculiar movement, with Yahiko being in the lead, sliding through the sand. Blake had said that it was an essential part of the plan to not disturb…that creature, or rather, a monster.

Yahiko continued to slide together with his team, followed by Nagato and Konan in the back. They were moving at a past face, despite their strange movements and the fact that each member of the Akatsuki was still admiring the scenery. It was quite nice before they realized how freaking how it was, and how little water they had remaining with them. The thing that completely ruined the moment was when Nagato shouted in the back of the group.

"South! 6 o clock! Hanzo and his group are advancing at a rapid pace towards the us!"

"Another group incoming incoming from the West! 9 o clock! They are trying to surround us!"

Yahiko glanced up. Indeed, two groups were practically flying towards them, unhindered by the sand. And in the front of the first group was Hanzo, who was running like he was on steroid, eyes void of emotion. Yahiko halted only for an instant. "Let's continue sliding! Don't let them surround us! Don't get scared and start running, only sliding!"

Everyone shouted in affirmation, as they continued moving, their pace slow compared to Hanzo's. Thankfully, they were still far. Yahiko glanced towards a man on his side, nodding at him, who nodded at back. "It's time, do it."

The man's face turned into a smile, as he stopped moving suddenly, glancing back. As Yahiko glanced back, he saw a clone of his comrade reveal himself from beneath the sand. The clone was still far away from the Hanzo group, whose faces could be barely distinguished within the distance.

However, that was enough.

The man standing next to Yahiko formed a handseal, as the area around the clone suddenly exploded, for the clone had put fire bombs around himself. The explosion was great, though useless, in the eyes of Hanzo. Whilst he run, he stared at the smoke extending towards the sky, trying to understand the meaning of that explosion.

He knew the Akatsuki weren't stupid and their every action had a meaning. Were they trying to inform someone that they have been spotted by creating this explosion? At night, in this complete dark, it would be hard to spot the smoke. Was it something deeper then?

Hanzo turned back for a second to make eye contact with the transformed Danzo. It seemed like the man was as equally confused. They were… before they heard the bellow. The sound was strange, yet frightening. It was like the God had descended upon the world and shouted in a terrifying, unfamiliar sound. It was something they never heard before.

The entire group stopped, with Hanzo being the first one to do that. The Akatsuki stopped too. A great distance between the two group, yet both could see each other in clarity. Yet, the leader of Akatsui stood in confidence, knowng what was to come, whilst Hanzo couldn't reflect that same strength.

"What is happening?"

Hanzo heard someone say from behind, yet he didn't respond, for that terrifying shrieking filled their ears again. They felt the ground tremble as their hearbeat increased. The matellic shrieking didn't stop, as the group continued to look around, for it felt like the sound was coming form the heaven itself.

"3…what the…3 o clock!"

Hanzo looked back. His face broke into a frown, despite being hidden with the shades of the mask. Closing and reopining his eyes again, he made sure he wasn't seeing things. "Prepare yourself." He mumbled, understand that it wasn't a dream, but the reality that they were about to face.

'It seemed like Fate itself has come to test the prowess of mine' Hanzo thought.

-

Blake was having an okay time. The silence of the dunes was pretty tough on him, but overall it was a nice change of the scenery. Finally being able to step outside and not get soggy from the pain was pretty amazing. In fact, the sand itself felt so much…grander than what he had seen on Earth. And the stars were so big, so near, as if you could touch them with your hands.

As smoke extended from Blake's mouth, he stood up from his sitting position on the top of a dune, his white hear glistening from the starlight. Looking down at his two comrades, who were sitting below him, he put on a serious expression. He spit out of the cigarette from his mouth. "It is time, friends. He is here."

At that moment, they saw another person sitting on the dune opposite of them, joined by a peculiar, fully pale creature. The man had an orange mask covering its face and a fully black coat, whilst the white creature was naked. Blake stared hard at the man before him, seeing his uncaring movement, as if the man barely paid any notice to them.

"The Unseen Death, is that what everyone calls you?"

Blake heard the man, or rather, Obito Uchiha open the conversation.

"Blake is just fine." Blake shot back at the man, finally forcing Obito to turn hs face towards him. Within the mask, Blake saw the sharingan of three tomoe. The sight of the stars and the darkness behind Obito together with his crimson eye made the scene terrifying. And Blake would have been terrifying, if he hadn't prepared himself for this moment.

"You have a calm reaction to my appearance. You are a variable that I didn't expect to appear in the grand schemes of things." Obito Uchiha proclaimed, finally standing up and looking at Blake was standing on the opposite dune. He gave no attention to the two ninjas below. "However, whatever you are planning to do with Hanzo, as I am sure you have a plan, will have to be discarded."

"And why is that?"

Obito wasted no time answering. "Because it is time for you to die."

"I see." Blake had a pretty calm demeanour despite Obito's words. "Normally, I would have been scared shitless, facing the infamous Madara Uchiha." He paused for a second to let Obito take in the information. "However, I knew you were going to come and try to stop the plan somehow, for you desire Nagato to awaken the true power of his eyes, am I right?"

"How do…"

"Wait, I am not finished." Blake stopped Obito in the middle of his words. "Are you so naïve that you thought that I haven't taken you into account? I am not involve with the plan with Hanzo at all. In fact, I am pretty sure Hanzo is not having a good time right now at all."

Obito remained silent for a little while, yet it didn't seem like he was that affected. "I see. Well, you got me, but so what? Once I finish you up, I will just go there and ruin your plans anyway. Or do you think that you can stop me, Madara Uchiha?"

"Me? Don't make my laugh. What am I, suicidal?." Blake looked down at the two shinobi standing beneath him, as he nodded at them. Suddenly, they exploded into smoke, revealing two different people. Konan and Nagato, prepared to fight in their full glory. Then Nightmare spawned next to Blake, puffing out air from his nostrils. "They are going to stop you, Madara Uchiha."