Of course, that was the conclusion you reached when you considered things from a place of goodwill. If you looked at them with suspicion, Mount Myoboku's actions seemed downright sinister.
Sage Katsuyu hadn't been very clear about what, exactly, it meant by acting half-heartedly. There was no way to figure out the purpose behind these sacred places' actions based on the information they had so far.
"Bring the food! Where is it? Why isn't it ready yet? What's the matter with you people in Amegakure?!"
As Nagato was thinking, Tsunade's booming shouts came from the next room, interrupting his train of thought.
She sounded completely self-righteous, like some spoiled lord, with no sense at all that she was a prisoner.
Nagato sucked in a cold breath. He suspected the old woman thought she was in a restaurant.
And a restaurant that didn't charge, at that...
For a moment, Nagato, Konan, and Zetsu exchanged bewildered looks, along with the androgynous one.
What had happened here? Was this still their heavily guarded headquarters? White Zetsu's eyes were full of confusion.
Nagato cleared his throat. He couldn't let these two gluttons keep setting such a bad example. Taking the lead, he left the hall and headed for the room next door.
"Oh? Someone finally showed up? Bring the food! I'm still hungry!"
Tsunade was holding court at the dining table. When she saw several figures appear in the doorway, she didn't bother to check who they were. She slapped the table with a series of loud bangs and kept shouting for food.
The dirty bowls and plates piled on the table in front of her were stacked as high as a small hill. Her pounding sent them clattering as if she'd activated some kind of system.
Nagato's face darkened.
He walked in with Konan and Zetsu. Good grief. The meeting table that had been in this room was now covered in dirty bowls and plates. The sight was almost too much to bear.
There was a huge pile in front of Tsunade, and an even bigger one over by Hinata. At a glance, Hinata seemed to have more dirty dishes than Tsunade.
Two bottomless pits. Amegakure had taken a serious loss this time.
Konan sucked in a breath. She'd seen this sight before, but it still shocked her. Apart from Jiraiya, could everyone from Konoha eat this much? No wonder it was the strongest village in the Shinobi World. The ninja in the other four great nations' villages probably ate just as much. No wonder those nations were always trying to start wars! If they didn't fight, could they even afford to feed all those gluttons?
White Zetsu looked thoroughly disgusted. This room used to be spotless. What had it turned into? Being an androgynous one was better; it didn't need to eat or even use the bathroom. Unfortunately, nobody cared what it thought.
When Tsunade and Hinata saw that the person who'd arrived was Nagato, their expressions froze. Hinata had it easier. She was demure by nature and had a pile of dishes to hide behind, so she only had to shrink back a little, which looked fairly natural. Tsunade was different. She was the bold type, and she'd even propped her feet up on her chair while eating. When she saw Nagato, she reacted like an elementary school student who'd just spotted her teacher, quickly lowering her feet and sitting up straight. The reaction was painfully stiff.
Shameless! That was Nagato's thought as he glanced at the old woman, at a loss for words.
Tsunade had turned herself into a woman in her twenties, while keeping her usual twin tails. Sitting beside Hinata, she hardly looked old at all. It made him wonder whether she had any sense of shame. Didn't she find it embarrassing to act so young?
Her mental age was a mystery, too. It seemed to change with her appearance, yet always stayed below the age she looked. Now she stared at him blankly, a smear of grease still at the corner of her mouth, like a little kid who'd forgotten to wipe her face. There was even something oddly cute about her expression.
No wonder she was a legendary whale in the gambling world, using this trick to dodge gambling debts all over the place for more than a decade. Her skin must have grown as thick as a wall. He walked toward Tsunade with a cold expression.
Tsunade's blank look turned uneasy. "What are you going to do?"
Nagato said nothing. He simply reached out with his right hand.
"Don't! I'll tell you myself. Whatever you want to know, I'll tell you!"
After being subjected to the Human Path's mind-reading several times, Tsunade had finally realized how terrifying the red-haired man's ability was. There was no way to keep the information in her mind from him.
But her words did no good. Nagato still pressed a hand to her head and activated the Human Path's ability. "No need. I prefer doing it myself."
Reading someone's memories directly with the Human Path was much quicker and more convenient than listening to them explain. After Tsunade had eaten so much of their food, he figured he should at least get something useful out of her mind to make up for the loss. Otherwise, it would be a terrible deal.
Medical Ninjutsu was out of the question. There was too much to learn, and he couldn't master it in a short time. It was time to take a look at Strength of a Hundred, Yin Seal, Creation Rebirth, and the Strength of a Hundred Technique. They were all useful jutsu.
As the Human Path's ability took effect, Tsunade gritted her teeth, looking uncomfortable.
When Nagato released her, she was already covered in sweat. Then he turned his gaze to Hinata. Now that he had the Byakugan, he could learn the Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist, too. It was weak as hell, but better than nothing, right?
Hinata looked terrified and covered her head with both hands.
She looked as though Nagato was about to do something awful to her. Remembering how Tsunade had reacted, Nagato pressed his right hand to Hinata's head and activated the ability, watching her curiously.
Then he saw her eyes widen and lose focus, drool running from the corner of her mouth.
No wonder Tsunade resisted so much earlier, Nagato thought. The Human Path's ability deals with the soul, so having your memories read must feel awful.
To Nagato's enemies, the Human Path was the most dangerous of the Paths of Pain, because it acted directly on their souls.
Once the Human Path's ability took hold, they felt as if their soul had separated from their body and was now in Nagato's grasp—a terrifying experience. Nagato didn't even have to do it deliberately. If his control slipped even a little, the ability would kill his target outright. It was like giving them a taste of how close death could be.
Just look at Tsunade now, wiping the cold sweat from her face while glaring furiously at Nagato. That was enough to show how awful it felt. Unfortunately, Nagato wasn't the sort to spare a thought for his enemies. When he needed to read their memories, he did it however was most convenient. He certainly wasn't going to show them any mercy.
Soon, he had obtained the method for using Gentle Fist from Hinata's mind. He closed his eyes and sorted through the memories he'd acquired.
When he opened them again, a green, leaf-shaped mark had appeared on his forehead.
"Huh? You mastered the Yin Seal in an instant?!" White Zetsu exclaimed in surprise. As the Akatsuki's intelligence officer, it recognized the mark on Nagato's forehead at a glance.
"It's just a Sealing Jutsu," Nagato said dismissively. Then he placed a hand on Konan's shoulder.
The Human Path's ability didn't require him to press a hand against someone's head. He only needed to touch their body.
When Nagato read someone's memories, he liked to hold their head. It brought the Chakra in his hand closer to their brain, of course, but more than that, he simply enjoyed the "pat on the head" pose. It was one of his little quirks.
He didn't need to do that with Konan. Nagato activated the Human Path's ability again, passing along the jutsu information he'd obtained from Tsunade and Hinata.
"So this is the level these techniques are on?" Konan asked softly. She was receiving the memories, not having them read, so she felt no discomfort. "These aren't techniques that just anyone can master. And you learned them so easily?"
The Yin Seal and its Release, Creation Rebirth, and the Strength of a Hundred Technique were all Sealing Jutsu and techniques with an S-rank learning difficulty. A normal person would be considered a genius if they mastered them in a few years. It was impossible to learn them as effortlessly as Nagato had.
That was because Nagato hadn't actually learned them in an instant. He hadn't suddenly become some peerless genius. He was just forcing them into shape with his Sage Body.
Before you continue