In front of "Nonō," Konan voiced the worries that had been troubling her over the past few days...
She had actually seen them!
Those "ringed eyes" that evil Uchiha had mentioned...
Nagato had them.
It had happened not long after she and Yahiko first met Nagato.
Nagato's bangs usually covered his eyes, so they couldn't see them.
But one night, Nagato had woken from a nightmare with a terrified cry, and Konan had seen circles inside his eyes!
Combined with Nagato's frightened, contorted expression, the sight had scared Konan too.
Just as she was about to ask Nagato what had happened, she suddenly passed out.
In her daze, she had also seen a figure walk into the cave where they were sheltering at the time, but...
"But I'm not sure whether that was a hallucination... Maybe it was all just a dream from the start," Konan said, troubled.
She had originally treated it as a dream too. The following day, she had even gone out of her way to check Nagato's eyes, making him blush with embarrassment.
But... his eyes had been perfectly normal, with ordinary pupils.
Only when Akaseki mentioned those "ringed eyes" a few days ago had Konan started worrying about it again.
After hearing her out, Akaseki sank into thought too...
"Nonō... Is Nagato in danger?" Clearly, Konan didn't believe Nagato was that "ninja targeting Konoha."
"Don't worry. It was probably just a dream... Well, human memory is a strange thing. Your memories of that dream must have grown hazy, and then you heard Akashi Uchiha mention 'ringed eyes,' so your mind connected the two!" Akaseki reassured her with a very reasonable explanation.
Konan breathed a sigh of relief. "So... that's what happened?"
"Exactly. You don't need to think about it anymore," Akaseki stressed.
"Okay! I understand."