The Child Who Never Grows Up

Konan nearly laughed aloud, out of sheer anger.

She had seen plenty of strange things and heard of all sorts of unfathomable ninjutsu, but this was just too absurd.

Could it be... that the other party was trying to interfere with her by this means, using some so-called future to influence her decisions in the present?

But the question was, why do this?

If they really wanted to interfere with her, there were plenty of more direct and effective ways. Why go to all this trouble to sneak into her room and leave behind a so-called "future diary"?

What was the point of doing something so much trouble for so little gain?

The more Konan thought about it, the stranger it seemed.

"Forget it. Whatever the other party's motive..." She gave a cold laugh. "I'll see what this so-called 'future diary' has to say."

She turned to the first page.

The page was densely covered in neat, clear writing, but each stroke seemed to carry such force that it might pierce straight through the paper.

[I took this diary and became the sixth village chief.]

[Though they called me the village chief, I had no idea what I was supposed to do. I only became chief because there was no one else left here.]

[As I remember it, this weeping country saw only one sunny day. Twenty years ago, Lady Angel used countless Explosive Tags to blast away the dark clouds. That was the first time I saw the sun and a rainbow. That day, everyone wept for Lady Angel.]

[I was little then. I didn't understand why all the adults were crying, or what Lord Pain and Lady Angel's departure meant for this village and this country. I thought everything would go on just as it had before.]

[Lady Angel told us about Konoha... no, that man was called Naruto Uzumaki. I remember his name because he defeated Lord Pain and earned their trust. Later, he brought the Fourth Shinobi World War to an end and was hailed as a hero.]

[Naruto Uzumaki promised Lady Angel that once he became Hokage, he would change the state of the Land of Rain and bring peace to it.]

[After the Fourth Shinobi World War ended, peace did indeed come to the Shinobi World. The Five Great Shinobi Countries set aside their differences and worked together to prosper. Everywhere flourished. But the Land of Rain alone was swept into a corner of memory.]

[Naruto Uzumaki had long since forgotten his promise. Right after the war ended, the Five Great Shinobi Countries had sent people here, too, but it turned out they were all liars! Without Lord Pain and Lady Angel, the Land of Rain no longer had the standing to speak with the Five Great Shinobi Countries.]

[By now, Amegakure had long since become a ruin. The people who wanted to survive had all left. Only then did I understand.]

[To the people here, Lord Pain and Lady Angel were...]

[Hope.]

"Absurd!"

Konan instinctively refused to believe the diary, but on closer thought, some of its reasoning seemed to hold together.

If she really reached the point where she had to use countless Explosive Tags, it could only mean that Nagato was gone, while the masked man was still around.

If Nagato were gone, she truly wouldn't have the confidence to become the new leader. It was also possible she would place her hopes in someone else.

All her work and ideals had been about becoming a bridge, supporting them as they moved forward and as peace drew closer.

The Mysterious Masked Man used Space-Time Ninjutsu to make himself immune to attacks, but that ability had to have some kind of limit. Just as her Dance of the Shikigami couldn't change shape freely once it got wet with oil, and maintaining its shape required a continuous expenditure of chakra.

From what Konan had observed, the Mysterious Masked Man was slower when transferring his own body than when absorbing someone else. That might be one of his weaknesses. His ability to become immune to attacks at will surely had a time limit, too, though she had no idea what the specifics were.

Then there was the Fourth Shinobi World War mentioned in the diary. That wasn't hard to deduce.

With Nagato and herself gone, the Mysterious Masked Man would take control of Akatsuki. And their shared goal was to collect the Nine Tailed Beasts.

Collecting the Tailed Beasts meant becoming enemies of the Five Great Shinobi Countries. Since Nagato had lost to Uzumaki... Naruto, that meant things had already reached the point where they were collecting the Nine-Tails.

At that point, it would be no surprise for the Five Great Shinobi Countries to form the Allied Shinobi Forces and join forces to take down the Mysterious Masked Man.

And the Land of Rain, reduced to ruins...

Konan closed her eyes. She could understand how people without power had no right to be heard. But... why would the future Nagato choose to trust Naruto Uzumaki? Just because he had lost?

It couldn't be that simple.

After sorting through her thoughts, Konan turned to the second page. There, she found the answer.

[Today is... I've forgotten. Even though this is a diary, I don't remember to write in it every day.]

[Hyuga Kiyonari. I will remember that name forever.]

[He was the first person from one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries who didn't carry an umbrella, the first to sit with me in the rain and chat in a muddy puddle. He was also my first friend from one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries.]

"As a Konoha Ninja, he told me many 'truths.' Though I couldn't tell whether they were true or false, I thought there was nothing left in the Land of Rain that would interest him."

[The 'Dawn' led by Lord Pain had failed. While trying to capture the Nine-Tails, he had lost to Naruto Uzumaki, a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and his own junior.]

[But Hyuga Kiyonari said that Lord Pain... no, I should call him Lord Nagato... had actually lost to himself, to the person he had been as a boy.]

[He saw his own reflection in Naruto Uzumaki, and a conviction even stronger than his own. So he chose to entrust him with the future. And to break the chain of hatred, Lord Nagato used some kind of jutsu to revive all the Konoha villagers who had died in that war.]

"Revive them... It was that jutsu, the Rinnegan's jutsu."

Konan's pupils contracted sharply, and her resolve began to waver.

Anyone who didn't know the Rinnegan well enough couldn't possibly know that jutsu existed. But if someone knew the Rinnegan well enough, why go to such lengths to deceive her?

And there was Nagato's name...

She continued reading.

[Hyuga Kiyonari told me that Naruto Uzumaki wasn't a suitable Hokage. His dream was less about becoming Hokage than about becoming a hero.]

[After the Fourth Shinobi World War ended, peace did indeed come to the Shinobi World. Naruto Uzumaki finally won the recognition he had longed for and became a hero who broke the chains of hatred, beloved by everyone.]

[But after he became the Seventh Hokage, just as he had wished, he was always happy to appear on TV shows, in news interviews, and at ribbon-cutting ceremonies for new shop openings.]

[At last, I understood. Naruto Uzumaki was a child, a child who never grew up.]

[Because children's dreams were always so innocent, pure, and captivating. When tired adults, worn down by reality, saw a child, they always chose to believe that the child would have a brighter future than they did.]

[But if a child couldn't take the first step, he would never become an adult.]