Chiba felt a little strange when the White Snake said that the White Snake Sage should know Yahiko was in Ryūchi Cave.

According to what Chiba knew of the White Snake Sage, he was eccentric, cunning, temperamental, difficult to serve, and very malicious.

Chiba was actually prepared to be reverse-summoned back to Ryūchi Cave at any time.

If Chiba's circumstances were truly unsuitable at that time, he would not have let the White Snake bring Yahiko to Ryūchi Cave.

Since the White Snake Sage knew, would he allow Yahiko, who had no contract, to stay in Ryūchi Cave?

It was a bit strange.

However, Chiba didn't overthink it and said to the White Snake, "You've worked hard. You don't need to trouble yourself any further. Spit him out."

Yahiko was once again spat out by the White Snake.

"Alright, Chiba-sama, don't forget our promise, okay? I'll head back to Ryūchi Cave now."

Chiba nodded, "Mm, I won't forget. You can go back."

The White Snake transformed into smoke and vanished from the spot.

Chiba squatted beside Yahiko, looking at the sticky and very fishy Yahiko, his brows furrowed slightly with a hint of disgust.

Chiba checked Yahiko's body; he was still very weak, but his life was no longer in danger.

Chiba wanted to lift Yahiko's clothes to check the condition of his wound.

Suddenly, Yahiko woke up and grabbed Chiba's hand, which had already lifted his clothes.

Their eyes met, and Yahiko looked at Chiba blankly, "What are you doing?"

Chiba expressionlessly released Yahiko's clothes and replied, "Nothing."

Yahiko looked around, "Where is this place? Where is the divine messenger?"

Chiba's eye twitched.

Yahiko really took the White Snake as a messenger of a god?

Chiba explained, "That snake isn't a divine messenger; it's my summoning beast."

Yahiko's eyes widened, disbelievingly, "A summoning beast?! Then..."

Chiba continued, "That's right, you're still alive. You didn't die."

Yahiko suddenly stared intently at Chiba.

The next second, Yahiko directly swung a fist towards Chiba's face.

Chiba raised a hand and easily caught Yahiko's fist, then subdued Yahiko with a counter-move.

Yahiko struggled angrily, "I know you! You're the person who stood beside Danzo that day!"

Chiba scratched his cheek, feeling annoyed, "Hey, I saved you."

Yahiko said angrily, "Saved me? You've captured me!"

Chiba said helplessly, "Sure enough, just as the White Snake said, you're an idiot. Capture you? What value do you have now for me to capture? Moreover, if I hadn't gone easy, Nagato and Konan would have died on the spot then.

You thought your suicide would make Hanzou spare them. Hanzou never intended to spare any of you three from the beginning."

Yahiko stopped struggling, his brows tightly furrowed as he asked, "What exactly happened?!"

Chiba told Yahiko about the situation at that time.

Seeing that Yahiko no longer intended to resist, Chiba released his hand.

Yahiko clutched his head, looking in great pain, "Why? Why is this happening? Why would Hanzou-sama, who clearly also desired peace in the Shinobi World, betray us?"

Chiba sat on a chair and said to Yahiko, "Because your Akatsuki has already infringed upon the interests of most people."

Yahiko looked at Chiba blankly, "Infringed upon... interests? But isn't peace in the Shinobi World in the interests of most people?"

Chiba sneered, "Hey, you're the leader of an organization, how can you be so naive?

Indeed, peace in the Shinobi World is in the interests of most people, but you must know that most people are ruled under the control of that small handful of people.

If you infringe upon the interests of that handful of people, it means you have already infringed upon the majority of people who are ruled by them."

Yahiko's eyes were still filled with confusion.

After thinking for a moment, Chiba explained to Yahiko, "Let me first explain why Hanzou would want to eliminate you. He's the easiest to understand because the existence of your Akatsuki affects his rule."

Yahiko didn't understand, "We never thought about wanting any ruling power."

Chiba smiled, "You may not have thought about it, but your actions are provoking him, forcing him to think in that direction. Within Hidden Rain Village, an uncontrolled organization has emerged, which no ruler can tolerate.

Your Akatsuki is growing stronger day by day, and a large portion of its members are Ninja from Hidden Rain Village. These Ninja were originally Hanzou's subordinates, and now they've been brought into your organization. In Hanzou's eyes, these Ninja have betrayed him.

Tell me yourself, how could Hanzou possibly tolerate you? Truly, the fact that he didn't move against you from the very beginning already means he has a good temper."

Yahiko's mouth opened and closed, finally only able to whisper, "We really didn't mean that..."

Chiba ignored Yahiko's mumbling and continued, "Now, let me tell you why Konoha cooperated with Hanzou. The Shinobi World War has been ongoing for many years now.

Due to various circumstances, the current situation is somewhat stalemated, but one thing is certain: the Five Great Nations have all suffered significant losses, and no Ninja Village has benefited from this war.

You should also be clear about why this war started, right?

Konoha was too prosperous, and Hidden Stone Village and Kumogakure joined forces, wanting to tear meat from Konoha's body.

But it's clear now that Hidden Stone Village and Kumogakure have failed, and Konoha's situation has improved.

Konoha was under so much pressure and suffered such great losses before. Now that the situation has finally improved, how could the war just stop? Konoha definitely wants to gain benefits from the upcoming war to compensate for its previous losses.

If there's peace now, how can those losses be compensated? Therefore, for Konoha, you, as an uncertain factor dedicated to peace, must be eliminated."

Chiba glanced at the stunned Yahiko, picked up a glass of water, took a sip, and then helped Yahiko summarize, "Actually, even if it wasn't Konoha, even if you truly initiated peace talks, the final outcome would only be failure.

As one of the instigators of the war, Hidden Stone Village, how could they agree to peace when their objective hasn't been achieved?

Now, the Third Kazekage of Sunagakure is missing. If you were to propose peace talks at this time, it's very likely that those guys would believe your Akatsuki killed the Third Kazekage and are using it to try and initiate peace talks.

So, no matter what, as long as your Akatsuki wants to initiate peace talks, the final outcome will only be annihilation!"

Yahiko was dumbfounded now. He thought that as long as everyone was willing to sit down and talk properly, resolving their conflicts, they could achieve peace.

In his view, no one would like war.

But now, after hearing Chiba's explanation, Yahiko felt his worldview shatter, as if after he proposed peace talks, their Akatsuki would have no way out.