"And me!"

Konan wiped away the tears that had welled up on her face at some point. A happy smile graced her face as she looked at Haruki like the most devoted believer.

"Haruki!"

"Don't forget!"

"And me!"

"I want to join you too!"

Nagato stared intently at Haruki.

"Me too."

His voice was deep, as if devoid of emotion but only Nagato himself knew how excited he was.

Haruki's words were like a nail, deeply hammered into his body, making his body settle firmly on the ground, no longer like a drifting duckweed.

Haruki looked at Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato, a brilliant smile blossoming on his lips.

"That's great."

He reached out and embraced them deeply.

At this moment, Konan found their hearts pressed tightly together, incredibly warm.

[Ding!]

[System detected Nagato's Affection Value +10000.]

[Ding!]

[System detected Yahiko's Affection Value +10000.]

[Ding!]

[System detected Konan's Affection Value +10000.]

[Currently collected Affection Value totals 30000. Your Love Curse growth value has risen to 44.1%.]

Himura watched the four embracing children, tears welling in his eyes.

How touching!

What genuine emotion!

What firm belief!

Himura looked at Haruki, and he finally understood why Yahiko and the others loved him so deeply. This child possessed a powerful personal charm. Everyone would be conquered by his charm.

Wasn't Himura himself a living example?

"Do you mind if I join too?"

Himura raised an eyebrow, a playful smile on his face, but his eyes were more serious than ever.

Haruki immediately looked at Himura.

Himura looked at him earnestly. "My ideal is the same as yours, but before, I hadn't met anyone with the same ideal as me. Now it's different."

Haruki smiled. "If you're willing to join, that would be wonderful."

"The more people there are to change the world, the better."

Haruki reached out to Himura. Himura firmly clasped Haruki's hand. Smiles appeared on both their faces simultaneously.

In the time that followed, Himura introduced himself to them in more detail.

"I actually come from Iwagakure, and you probably know why I appeared in the Land of Rain." Himura's voice was filled with helplessness.

"Back then, Iwagakure and Amegakure were at war. I fell in a battle, and I thought I would die, but I miraculously survived."

"Do you know who saved me?" Himura's eyes were slightly red.

Haruki and the others all looked at Himura, waiting for his answer.

"It was an old woman from the Land of Rain. She was a refugee during the war. She had lost her husband, son, daughter-in-law, and grandson. She had nothing left to lose."

"She came to search for money left on ninja corpses. She no longer cared about life or death, so she felt no fear. But she didn't find money. Instead, she found me, still with a little life left."

"She originally didn't plan to save me, but she said I was the same age as her son. How she wished someone had saved her son's life like that on the battlefield. Although no one did, she saved me."

"I lived. When I was able to stand up, she died at the hands of a ninja. It was then that I truly realized how terrifying war is. So I decided not to return to Iwagakure and settled down in Kikyogahara."

"I know a unique Fuinjutsu that can hide the village, and that's how I helped the people here avoid the war."

"This place is a pure land. I don't want the flames of war to spread here."

"..."

Himura briefly finished his story.

"We are all people whose everything has been destroyed by war." Haruki offered a comforting smile to Himura.

His expression was firm. "This country, and the entire Ninja World, still have countless people like us who have lost everything due to war, their souls scorched by flames. We must pull them out, pull the entire Ninja World out of the quagmire of war."

[Ding!]

[System detected Himura's Affection Value +3000.]

[Ding!]

[System detected Nagato's Affection Value +4000.]

[Ding!]

[System detected Yahiko's Affection Value +4000.]

[Ding!]

[System detected Konan's Affection Value +4000.]

[Currently collected Affection Value totals 15000. Your Love Curse growth value has risen to 45.6%.]

Himura looked at Haruki, nodding emphatically, his face radiating an unprecedented glow. Only at this moment did he feel truly alive.

"If we want more and more people to understand our ideals and join our team, shouldn't we give this team a name?" Himura looked at Haruki expectantly.

"Yes!" Yahiko was the first to jump up.

He said enthusiastically, "Our team will definitely shock the entire Ninja World in the future."

Haruki: "..."

He fell silent.

Yahiko was right, the Akatsuki would indeed shock the entire Ninja World in the future but not in the way Yahiko himself imagined.

"What name should we think of?" Konan also joined in.

She felt as if she suddenly had a goal.

After thinking seriously for a moment, she looked at Haruki. "Haruki, do you have any ideas?"

Haruki thought to himself, 'Isn't this Yahiko's task?'

He looked at Yahiko, and found Yahiko also looking at him expectantly.

"Haruki is the one who proposed this idea, so he must already have a name in mind." Nagato spoke unexpectedly.

Haruki: "..."

Nagato, you're not bad. Indeed, silent men should not be underestimated.

"Akatsuki."

"How about that?"

Haruki spoke amidst everyone's anticipation.

"Akatsuki?" Yahiko asked, a hint of confusion flashed in his eyes.

"Yes, Akatsuki. Akatsuki is the period after the darkest hour of the day, when the sun is about to rise and light dispels darkness." Haruki looked at them and said earnestly.

Sorry, Yahiko, I've taken your spotlight again.