"..."
Nagato looked rather grim. It wasn't that he hadn't been on guard; he simply hadn't expected the man's next move. He had also been lost in thought just now, and the man claiming to be his "father" had approached without the slightest malice, which was how he had managed to pull it off.
But none of that was the real issue. The real issue was that, judging by what had happened earlier, he might well have missed an important opportunity.
Under normal circumstances, he should have left. No matter what, he needed to stop letting himself be led around by the nose. Yet the person this self-proclaimed father wanted to take him to see was precisely the one Nagato had intended to find. It was all like a script, arranged long in advance.
"I can walk." Nagato forced down the turmoil inside him and spoke calmly. Then, with a little effort, he easily broke free of his "father's" arms.
Apparently, although his body had shrunk, his strength hadn't disappeared. The discovery brought Nagato some relief. This was the first time in ages he had encountered anything so bizarre.
Yet the man beside him paid no attention whatsoever to the extraordinary strength the child had used to escape his embrace. Instead, he exclaimed in shock, "Son, did you just speak?!"
Nagato: "?"
The man crouched down. His slightly trembling hands reached for Nagato's shoulders, but he was afraid of frightening the child, so they stopped in midair. This rough-looking man was now so overcome with excitement that tears welled in his eyes.
"Good, good, good... this is wonderful... sweet boy, could you say something else? Anything at all, even a single word." As he spoke, the man looked at Nagato with an almost pleading gaze.
"..."
Faced with that look,