At dusk, in the quiet room of the Rain Village’s high tower, Konan opened her eyes, her hand gently resting on her forehead. Fragments of memories from the previous night flooded her mind…
After a moment, she lifted the blanket and saw that she was now dressed in a clean white robe.
Her orange eyes narrowed. “Last night, I remember Naruto wanted to bring a woman from the village, but I stopped him. After that…”
Taking a deep breath, Konan sat up and began to prepare her makeup.
No woman dislikes makeup, and even the cold and elegant Konan was no exception. She applied light purple eyeshadow and adorned her hair with a light blue paper flower. The lip piercing below her lips was something she wore on the day of her coming-of-age ceremony.
After finishing her makeup, she got out of bed to change clothes.
The white robe slipped off, neatly folded and placed in the wardrobe.
In front of the mirror, her graceful figure was fully revealed. Her fair skin, like spring snow, glowed with a sheen. Her taut abdomen, with a navel ring, was a secret even Nagato didn’t know.
She put on a backless fishnet top with a zipper, changed into light purple tight pants, and draped a black cloak embroidered with white-edged red clouds over her shoulders. She tied the Rain Village forehead protector to the right side of her waist.
This was her constant attire, convenient for battle and highlighting the Akatsuki’s principles and her identity as a Rain Village ninja.
Stepping out of the room, Naruto was already waiting in the corridor.
Konan looked at Naruto’s back and asked, “Didn’t sleep all night?”
Naruto nodded slightly and then turned around, saying, “Konan-nee, I’m sorry about last night…”
He apologized because he felt that making Konan accompany him and his shadow clones in the rain all night was the reason she fell ill.
Konan lowered her eyelids and said softly, “It’s okay, you did well…”
Naruto didn’t think much of it and smiled, “Let’s go eat something.”
In the Rain Village’s kitchen, the food was already prepared, mostly catering to Naruto’s tastes.
Konan, who usually ate light vegetarian dishes, only paired her meals with grilled fish.
“I’ve received new information. Akatsuki is planning a series of major actions…”
During the meal, Naruto shared the information he had extracted from White Zetsu’s mind with Konan.
Konan’s beautiful eyes narrowed. “They’re going to such great lengths to target you…”
Naruto sighed, “Yes, Tobi is a master strategist, adept at manipulating people’s hearts. I must admit, his plan hits right at the weak spot.”
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“Additionally, we need to establish our own intelligence department.”
“Akatsuki has numerous White Zetsu that can be deployed across the ninja world, monitoring every move…”
Naruto’s expression turned serious. “Honestly, it was pure luck that I got wind of Akatsuki’s plans this time. Otherwise, it could have been disastrous…”
“We can’t go on like this. We’ll eventually be on the defensive, so we need to complete this task quickly…”
Konan put down her chopsticks, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and said seriously, “Leave this task to me.”
Naruto asked, “Will it be difficult?”
Konan replied, “The Rain Village has reserve ninjas, separate from Akatsuki. I plan to gather them and select suitable talents.”
Naruto nodded, “Yes, if there are promising talents among them, they can be trained and given important responsibilities.”
After the meal, Naruto and Konan went to the seaside of the Rain Village, where Kisame was resting on a nearshore reef, evidently having just emerged from the water.
“Thank you, Kisame. I’ll assist with the next task…”
Naruto landed on the water and formed hand seals.
—Summoning Jutsu!
Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!
White smoke rose, and various amphibious summoning beasts—crabs, squids, crocodiles, turtles, octopuses, jellyfish, and even Manda—were summoned!
Unlike in the realm of reincarnation, these creatures had large black rods embedded in their bodies, and their eyes projected Naruto’s Rinnegan!
The Rinnegan’s Animal Path summoning technique enhanced the summoning beasts, retaining their chaotic consciousness and combat instincts, acting on Naruto’s chakra… and they could share vision with Naruto!
Naruto specifically instructed Kisame, “When your chakra is depleted underwater, you can replenish it through them. Absorb as much as you need, don’t worry about my chakra loss!”
“Understood, this makes things much easier for me…”
Kisame stood up, merged with Samehada again, and dove into the sea.
Konan said, “The Rinnegan’s summoning beasts act on the caster’s chakra. Logically, they can’t be too far apart, but depending on the need, there are two modes of operation. You can pre-allocate chakra to the summoning beasts, so distance isn’t an issue, but once the allocated chakra is used up, they will stop moving…”
Naruto said, “I understand. After all, they are technically dead. For now, let’s use the second mode of operation…”
Naruto clasped his hands together and allocated the appropriate amount of chakra to each summoning beast through the black rods.
Once done, he waved his hand, and the summoning beasts entered the sea!
Konan asked, “Are you going out?”
Naruto replied, “Yes, Akatsuki has major plans, and we need to speed up our progress. Before Orochimaru returns, we must wrap up the unfinished plans…”
Konan stepped forward, and Naruto placed his left hand on her shoulder, activating the Flying Thunder God Technique.
“Let’s go to the Hidden Cloud Village.”
Swish!
They instantly arrived at the foot of Thunder Mountain in the Hidden Cloud Village.
But instead of going up the mountain, they first went to a nearby place.
From White Zetsu’s mind, Naruto knew that Akatsuki had successfully hunted the Eight-Tails, and Killer Bee had met a tragic end.
Killer Bee, who was an old acquaintance of Naruto’s past life, had shared some pleasant times with him.
The Thundercloud Gorge remained unchanged, but the carefree figure rapping poorly was no longer there.
At the peak of Thundercloud Gorge, Naruto placed a paper flower, removed his mask, and closed his eyes in mourning.
“Uncle Bee, without a doubt, my return altered the course of history, indirectly leading to your demise.”
“For that, I truly feel regretful.”
Naruto looked at the drifting clouds in the sky, his expression somber and solemn.
“But even after experiencing that hellish future, I can’t naively promise to protect everyone this time…”
“I will continue to move forward, in my own way, unwaveringly!”
“In the future, more people will fall on this path because of me, directly or indirectly…”
“I don’t know if this is right or wrong, but this is the only thing I can do now!”
Naruto wasn’t cold-hearted; he had just seen too many people die before his eyes, like ants, and knew the strength of that clan. Naivety would only lead to more deaths…
Konan gazed at Naruto’s back, knowing the immense burden this weathered young man carried on his shoulders.
At this moment, she genuinely wanted to witness and follow him to the end!
After mourning, Naruto put his mask back on, regaining his fierce aura!
He declared resolutely, “Inform the Hidden Cloud Village: either prepare what I want or be ready for a full-scale battle. At midnight tonight, Akatsuki will pay a visit!”