The next day, when Konan found Shiba Seika, he was training hard in the only practice ground at the Akatsuki Organization's base.
Over the past few months, his instinct for survival had driven Shiba Seika to become as disciplined and diligent as possible.
Ever since he'd received the system's first reward and become a true ninja, Shiba Seika hadn't let up on his training for a single day.
Whenever he didn't have a mission, he often spent the entire day at the base's practice ground.
He couldn't help it. Training might be hard, but not training would get him killed...
Hard work paid off. He'd made rapid progress over the past few months, not only quickly mastering and integrating the basics of Taijutsu and Kenjutsu granted by the system, but also learning several Water Release and Lightning Release techniques through sparring and exchanges with other members of the organization.
Watching Shiba Seika now—his stance steady, his steps and swings sharp, his retreats and movements increasingly fluid—Konan couldn't help feeling conflicted.
"You've improved again, Seika."
She praised him wholeheartedly.
Why couldn't a hardworking, ambitious, clever, and capable member like him understand our ideals? She couldn't help sighing inwardly.
"You flatter me, Big Sister Konan. Did you need something?"
Shiba Seika figured he was probably around the same age as Konan. But they were both orphans and didn't know their exact birthdays, so they couldn't say for sure who was older.
Since Shiba Seika was happy to call her "Big Sister," Konan didn't refuse.
"Seika, Yahiko has assigned your teammates other duties. For the next few days, I'll be working with you on your missions."
Shiba Seika immediately smiled.
"So you're taking your turn as my persuader, Big Sister Konan?"
"..."
Caught out at a glance, Konan turned away in slight embarrassment. One hand drifted behind her ear and touched the paper flower at her temple.
The gesture looked especially sweet and charming from fourteen-year-old Konan, with a grace all its own.
Shiba Seika deliberately paused to enjoy her faintly reddened profile before continuing.
"Tell me, then. What mission are you planning to give me?"
Konan tilted her head. "You're not angry, Seika? They pulled your squad away so suddenly."
Why would I be angry? You're worth so much more than they are! You have no idea how important you are, Big Sister Konan!
Shiba Seika wasn't angry at all. In fact, he was quite pleased with Yahiko's arrangement.
He knew that whether he intended to change the Akatsuki Organization or take it over in the future, breaking up the trio of Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato would be a crucial step!
The others were just bit players. If events followed their destined course, every member of the early Akatsuki Organization would eventually die in the purge orchestrated by Hanzō and Danzo.
Only Konan and Nagato had the incredible potential to survive and grow into Kage Level powerhouses!
You think you're here to persuade me, but you don't realize you're the one I'm really after.
Big Sister Konan, I've been planning for ages how to show you what the adult world is really like!
"It's an honor to go on a mission with you, Big Sister Konan."
"...There's no need to flatter me so much. Let's talk about the mission first."
After Konan explained the details, Shiba Seika had a general understanding.
Their main goal was to investigate a merchant from the Land of Rain named Ando.
Ando did business in a town not far from the Akatsuki Organization's base. Not long ago, Akatsuki had driven off the rogue ninja who came to plunder the town and protected its residents. For some reason, though, Ando hadn't appreciated their help. Instead, he'd repeatedly sabotaged Akatsuki's efforts to purchase supplies.
Recently, some townspeople had even come forward to report that Ando was secretly hiring outside ninja and plotting something.
After explaining the mission, Konan sighed. "Seika, you know Yahiko has never been good at handling situations like this, where we might fall out with the people living nearby. And the resident who came to report this still has no concrete evidence. So once again, we'll have to rely on your good judgment.
"But please promise me you won't use extreme methods to solve this one. All right?"
Shiba Seika smiled. "I'll take this mission seriously."
He said he'd take it seriously, but made no promises.
Konan opened her mouth, but in the end said nothing more.
She had a kind and resilient heart, but she still wasn't very good at Talk Style.
Especially not when facing Shiba Seika, whose mind was far older than his body.
After that, Shiba Seika did indeed take the mission very seriously, just as he'd promised.
That very afternoon, he set off for the town ahead of her, visiting people, gathering evidence, and looking into the details.
By evening, he'd already formed a basic picture of what was going on.
If all he wanted was to complete the mission, he could have started closing in on the target then and there.
But he clearly wanted more than that!
He planned to use this perfect opportunity to open Konan's eyes and let her see the truth of the world.
So he deliberately hid the results of his investigation. For the next few days, he continued rushing around with Konan, making a show of searching.
He gave their target plenty of time to let his guard down.
To avoid wasting time while keeping up the act—and to distract Konan so she wouldn't notice anything amiss—Shiba Seika kept looking for chances to ask her about ninjutsu.
"Big Sister Konan, how do you distribute Chakra when you use the Clone Technique? You use Paper Clones, right? It's fine—even if I can't learn your Bloodline Limit, I can still learn from your technique."
"Big Sister Konan, do you have any special tricks for throwing Paper Shuriken? You hide Explosive Tags in them? That's a good idea. Why are you telling me not to learn it? Too underhanded? No, I think it's great. What an artistic technique."
"Big Sister Konan, how do you control the air currents when you fly?"
And just like that, three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Konan never found a chance to persuade Shiba Seika to believe in their dream. Not once...
Instead, she realized that she and Shiba Seika were growing closer and closer.
She was getting used to going on missions with Shiba Seika, to his diligence, to his questions, to the orderly way he analyzed things during missions and his calm, unhurried thought process.
No one could say for sure who had drawn whom in, or whose first impression of the other had quietly shifted along the way.
Then, one day, Shiba Seika confirmed through his own secret channel that their troublesome target had finally, as expected, made contact with the Iwagakure Ninja.
In a sense, this could already be considered a betrayal of the Land of Rain!
The moment he confirmed the news, Shiba Seika couldn't help grinning.
The time for friendship and Bonds was over.
Now it was time to let innocent Big Sister Konan feel the truth of this Shinobi World.
Before you continue