Are People from Konoha All Like This?

Of course, such thoughts are the result of considering things from a benevolent perspective. If one were to speculate from a malicious angle, the actions of Mount Myoboku would be quite treacherous.

Sage Katsuyu did not specify exactly what she meant by "half-baked actions," so it is impossible to analyze the true motives of these holy lands based solely on current intelligence.

"Bring the food! Where is the food? Why isn't it ready yet? What is wrong with you people in Amegakure?!"

While Nagato was deep in thought, Tsunade's powerful shouting echoed from the next room, interrupting his train of thought.

Her voice sounded completely righteous, as if she were the master of the house, showing no awareness of being a prisoner at all.

Nagato drew a sharp breath, feeling that this old woman must have mistaken this place for a restaurant.

And a free one at that...

For a moment, Nagato, Konan, and White Zetsu, plus the dual-natured being, stared at each other in silence.

What was happening here? Was this still their heavily guarded headquarters? Confusion filled the eyes of White Zetsu.

Nagato coughed lightly, feeling he could no longer allow these two gluttons to ruin the atmosphere here. He took the lead, walking out of the hall and heading toward the adjacent room.

"Hm? Someone finally came? Bring the food, I haven't had enough!"

Tsunade, who was busy waving her arms about at the dining table, didn't notice who had arrived at the door. She slapped the table with a loud "bang," continuing to shout for food as she did so.

The pile of dirty bowls and plates stacked on the table in front of her was as high as a small mountain, clattering as she slapped it, as if she had activated some sort of system.

A black line immediately appeared on Nagato's forehead.

He walked in with Konan and Zetsu. Good heavens, the conference table originally used for meetings in this room was now covered in dirty bowls and plates; it was truly an eyesore.

There was a huge pile in front of Tsunade, and an even larger one in front of Hinata. At a rough glance, did Hinata have even more dirty dishes than her?

Two bottomless pits; Amegakure was taking a massive loss on this.

Konan gasped. Although this wasn't the first time she had seen this sight, it still felt shocking. Aside from Jiraiya, was everyone in Konoha this capable of eating? No wonder it was the strongest ninja village in the world. The ninjas in the other four great nations were probably much the same; no wonder these great nations were always thinking about war! If they didn't fight, would these gluttons even be able to get enough to eat?

White Zetsu's expression was full of disgust. This room used to be spotless; what had it become now? It was better to be a dual-natured being; not only did one not need to eat, but one didn't even need to defecate. Unfortunately, no one here cared what it thought.

When Tsunade and Hinata saw that the visitor was Nagato, their expressions froze. Hinata was fine; she was naturally reserved and hid behind the pile of dishes, so a slight flinch looked quite natural. Tsunade was different; she was the bold type, and while eating, she had even stepped onto her chair. Seeing Nagato was like a primary school student seeing a teacher; she quickly took her foot off the chair and sat up straight, her reaction appearing very stiff.

Shameless! That was Nagato's inner thought. He glanced at the old woman, Tsunade, truly not knowing what to say to her.

At this moment, Tsunade had actually transformed herself into the appearance of a woman in her twenties, keeping her signature twin-tails. When sitting with Hinata, she didn't look old at all. It made one wonder if she had any sense of shame; didn't she feel embarrassed to act so young?

Moreover, her mental age was a mystery; it seemed to change along with her appearance, forever remaining below her apparent age. At this moment, she stared at him blankly, with oil stains still on her lips like a child who didn't know how to wipe her mouth, her expression even looking a bit cute.

As expected of the legendary "fat sheep" of the gambling world who had used this trick to dodge gambling debts all over the world for over a decade, her skin must have been as thick as a fortress wall by now. He walked toward Tsunade with a cold expression.

Tsunade's blank expression suddenly turned panicked: "What are you doing?"

Nagato didn't speak; he simply extended his right hand toward her.

"Don't do this, I'll do it myself. I'll tell you whatever you want to know!"

Having experienced the baptism of the Human Path's soul-searching a few times, Tsunade finally understood how terrifying the ability of this redhead was. In front of him, it was impossible to keep any information in her mind secret.

Unfortunately, saying that was useless. Nagato pressed his hand onto her head and activated the power of the Human Path: "No need, I prefer to do it myself."

Reading information directly using the power of the Human Path was much more convenient and faster than listening to someone explain it with their mouth. He felt that since Tsunade had eaten so much of his food, he had to get something good out of her head to break even, otherwise, it would be too much of a loss.

Medical ninjutsu was out of the question; it was too vast and complex to learn in a short time. Strength of a Hundred, Yin Seal, Creation Rebirth, and the Strength of a Hundred Technique were worth a look; they were all excellent ninjutsu.

As the power of the Human Path activated, Tsunade gritted her teeth, looking quite uncomfortable.

When Nagato let go of Tsunade's head, she was already drenched in cold sweat. He then turned his gaze toward Hinata. With the Byakugan, the Gentle Fist of the Hyuga clan was also worth acquiring. Although it was weak as hell, it was better than nothing.

Hinata's eyes filled with terror, and she covered her head with both hands.

She looked as if Nagato was about to do something to her. Having seen Tsunade's precedent, Nagato curiously watched Hinata's reaction as he pressed his right hand onto her head to activate the ability.

Then, he saw her eyes widen, her gaze unfocused, and saliva dripping from the corner of her mouth.

No wonder Tsunade was so resistant before, Nagato thought. The power of the Human Path is inherently related to the soul; the feeling of having one's soul searched must not be very pleasant.

To Nagato's enemies, the power of the Human Path was the most dangerous ability of Pain, because it acted directly upon the enemy's soul.

Once controlled by the Human Path, the enemy would have the terrifying experience of their soul and body separating, held in Nagato's grasp. He didn't even need to do it intentionally; if his control were slightly weaker, this ability would kill the enemy instantly. It could be said that it allowed the enemy to experience the feeling of life and death hanging by a thread.

Looking at Tsunade, who was wiping the cold sweat from her face while glaring fiercely at Nagato, one could tell how terrible this feeling was. Unfortunately, Nagato was not the type to consider his enemies; when it was time to search a soul, he would do it. He would do whatever was most convenient and would never feel pity for his enemies.

Soon, he obtained the method for using the Gentle Fist from Hinata's mind. He closed his eyes and organized the memories he had acquired.

When he opened them again, a green willow-leaf-shaped mark appeared on his forehead.

"Hm? You mastered the Yin Seal in an instant?!" White Zetsu, standing to the side, showed a look of surprise. As the one responsible for intelligence in the Akatsuki, it could tell at a glance what the thing that appeared on Nagato's forehead was.

"It's just a sealing technique," Nagato said dismissively, then placed his hand on Konan's shoulder.

His Human Path ability, of course, did not require him to hold someone's head to activate it. He only needed to touch the other person's body.

The reason Nagato liked to hold people's heads when searching their memories, besides allowing the chakra in his hand to be closer to their brain, was mostly because he enjoyed the "patting the dog's head" posture. It was just a bit of his own twisted sense of humor.

There was no need for that with Konan. Nagato activated the Human Path ability again, transmitting the ninjutsu data he had obtained from Tsunade and Hinata to her.

"Is this that level of technique?" Konan said softly. She was the one receiving the memories, not the one being soul-searched, so she didn't feel the slightest discomfort. "This isn't a level that ordinary people can master; you actually learned it so easily?"

The Yin Seal and its accompanying Yin Seal Release, Creation Rebirth, and the Strength of a Hundred Technique were all S-rank sealing techniques and ninjutsu with high learning difficulty. For a normal person to learn them in a few years would already be a genius-level performance; wanting to reach the level of instant understanding like Nagato was impossible.

Because Nagato didn't actually understand it instantly; he hadn't suddenly become some peerless genius, he was simply brute-forcing it with his Sage Body.