Guidance

Yuehua Ai was not a person skilled at communicating or expressing his emotions. His mental suppression and the complex thoughts churning within him kept his state of mind perpetually low.

Although he appeared normal, Yuehua Ai always felt a profound sense of alienation from this still-unfamiliar world and the innocent youths around him.

The mindset of a player among NPCs made it difficult for Yuehua Ai to truly integrate into this world. His thought patterns remained those of his past life—those of the lonely Lu Beichen. He craved connection yet feared it; he longed to build bonds while simultaneously wanting to sever them.

Because of the impermanence of life and worldly affairs, he was always afraid that the emotions he invested would ultimately result in nothing but heartache.

The death of his parents and the future death of Yahiko turned the innocent Nagato into the terrifying Pain, yet deep down, Nagato remained that sensitive, simple child. He had merely built thick walls around his heart out of fear of being hurt.

Yuehua Ai's heart was much like the future Nagato's; both possessed sensitive souls, only they had erected defensive fortifications later on.

After the birth of Pain, it was Naruto's persistence during the destruction of Konohagakure that helped Nagato find himself again. As for Yuehua Ai, he quietly broke down the barriers between himself and the others the moment he witnessed their unyielding defiance against the rogue ninja.

Whether it was the courage to face the strong or the bonds between companions, the answers the youths gave when faced with the choice between life and death deeply shocked Yuehua Ai.

Although his past life had been stable and the society orderly, people were somewhat indifferent, and trust was scarce; it was often interests, not emotions, that connected people.

The Naruto world was not a beautiful place. War was everywhere, everyone lived in fear, and the land was saturated with death and blood. Many lived in dire misery. Yet, in this world that had nothing to offer but extraordinary power and was far inferior to his past Earth in every other aspect, Yuehua Ai discovered an existence that transcended life and death. It contained trust, possessed persistence, and wrote of defiance. It was the bond between companions—a connection that even the coldest death could not sever.

Previously, as a bystander, Yuehua Ai had not felt much regarding the youths' bonds, viewing them as nothing more than ordinary friendships. But after experiencing everything that had happened, he finally truly understood the depth of their feelings.

In the Naruto plot that Yuehua Ai knew, there was one point that had always puzzled him: the bond between Nagato and Yahiko. Nagato had once told Naruto that there were two unbearable pains in his life: one was his parents being killed by Konoha ninja, and the other was the death of Yahiko.

He could more or less understand the pain of losing parents, but he had never felt anything regarding the loss of a companion. No matter how good a friend someone was, they were ultimately an outsider. There were many pains in life; what did losing a friend really amount to?

Yuehua Ai had always thought this way, but after experiencing the fight against the rogue ninja alongside the youths and witnessing Yahiko's self-sacrificial spirit, he felt something entirely different. He finally understood the significance of Yahiko to Nagato and Konan.

Although Yahiko was not a perfect leader, he was undoubtedly a great one. His character was firm, decisive, and positive. While passionate, he was never reckless; once he had a goal, he would charge forward, and for the sake of his companions, he would disregard his own life. His only imperfection was his tendency to trust others too easily, which eventually led to them being ambushed by Hanzo and Danzo, forcing them to commit suicide.

He was not a perfect leader, but it was precisely because of this imperfection that Yahiko was able to attract such a following.

In his conduct, he possessed impeccable decisiveness and a sense of responsibility. His confident smile inspired trust, and his unwavering determination commanded conviction.

In this chaotic world, the main reason Nagato and Konan were able to survive was Yahiko's leadership. Although Yahiko's power could not compare to Nagato's Rinnegan, Yahiko's existence had always been the pillar of support in the youths' hearts.

In the depths of Nagato and Konan's hearts, Yahiko's position was irreplaceable. This was also the reason why, after Yahiko's death, Nagato transformed into Pain to carry out Yahiko's ideals.

Having survived the test of life and death together, the youths clarified their bonds, and Yuehua Ai finally unlocked the shackles of his heart. He knew he was no longer Lu Beichen; everything from his past life had vanished the moment he died. In this life, he was simply Yuehua Ai, and by his side were companions worth cherishing.

Because of the sudden encounter with the rogue ninja Xiangyuan, the youths had all suffered significant injuries while fighting back, but fortunately, no one's life was in danger.

Because Yuehua Ai had self-taught the refinement of chakra early on, his physical constitution was excellent, and his recovery ability was far stronger than that of an ordinary person. Although he had suffered a significant shock when attacked by Xiangyuan, with his recovery rate, he was mostly healed in less than three days.

Nagato and Konan's injuries were even lighter than Yuehua Ai's, consisting only of superficial wounds that did not affect their mobility. Although their injuries were not serious, Nagato's mental state was much worse than Konan's, and though he tried his best to hide it, he could not deceive Yuehua Ai.

Yuehua Ai felt it was necessary to have a heart-to-heart with Nagato.

Among the group, Yahiko was the most severely injured. He had multiple fractures and serious internal injuries. While he hadn't reached the point of internal hemorrhaging, his condition was far from optimistic.

Fortunately, Yuehua Ai had studied medicine deeply in his past life. Although his specialty was at the cellular level, performing bone setting or suturing wounds was easy for him. Due to the lack of medicine, Yahiko's recovery was slow, but everything was steadily moving in a positive direction.

In the days since everyone was injured, Nagato and Konan had been responsible for taking care of the group. In this abandoned city, although there wasn't much of value left behind, as their search area expanded, they still found some things, at least enough to ensure the youths' survival.

Perhaps due to the presence of natural energy or chakra, it had to be said that the physique of people in this world was generally stronger than that of his past Earth.

"It takes a hundred days to heal a broken bone" was a common saying in his past life. Although medical advancements and sophisticated equipment had significantly shortened treatment times, a typical fracture usually took at least two months to heal.

But it was different here. Yuehua Ai knew exactly how severe Yahiko's injuries were, as he was the one who had set the bones. Based on his experience, he had estimated it would take over a month for Yahiko to regain mobility, but to his surprise, in less than a month, the injuries were nearly healed.

Although Yahiko still felt a dull ache at times, after Yuehua Ai's examination, he found that the bone fusion was excellent; as long as he didn't engage in strenuous exercise, there would be no issues. Moreover, compared to the skeletal injuries, the internal trauma had healed even better—and internal injuries were far more serious than bone fractures.

Yahiko's severely damaged internal organs had finally returned to normal after a month of recovery. Symptoms like visceral spasms, respiratory arrest, and coughing up blood had completely vanished. Based on Yuehua Ai's observations over the last few days, Yahiko would be completely free of the effects of his injuries within days, and judging by Yahiko's still-positive and optimistic attitude, the group would be back on the road before long.

Before continuing their search for the Sannin, Yuehua Ai had one more important matter to resolve: unlocking Nagato's heart.

The rain was falling as it always did, though today it was unusually light, the drizzle drifting like catkins. The youths were hiding in a partially collapsed small building; most of the rooms inside were relatively intact, and they had been staying there for nearly a month.

With Yahiko's injuries improving, he looked much better than the dying man he had been. With his spirits restored, he began to think about and plan the group's next steps.

As for Konan, now that the pressure of everyone's injuries had eased, she was once again focused on playing with and studying the origami in her hands, trying to fold more patterns.

Nagato sat alone on the balcony of the top floor, gazing at the quiet curtain of rain. Only when his companions were not around did he appear so burdened.

Yuehua Ai walked onto the balcony. His movements were small and his footsteps light. Nagato, lost in his own inner world, did not notice his arrival for a moment.

"Nagato!" Yuehua Ai's small hand patted Nagato on the back, and Nagato jumped in surprise.

"Ah! ...It's you, Ai." Nagato turned his head abruptly, and upon seeing it was Yuehua Ai, he visibly relaxed.

Seeing Nagato's startled expression, Yuehua Ai found it somewhat amusing.

"Nagato, you've been troubled by something these past few days, haven't you?"

"Ah! ...How could that be..." Nagato started to deny it, but seeing Yuehua Ai's skeptical expression, he lowered his head, thought for a moment, and changed his tone.

"...Well, I'm just worried about Yahiko's injuries..."

Yahiko is already nearly healed; you're using such a flimsy excuse to brush me off, Yuehua Ai thought, curling his lip.

"I don't believe that for a second. You might be able to fool Konan with that, but you can't hide your worries from me."

Yuehua Ai gave a mischievous smile, and without waiting for Nagato to deny it, he continued:

"It's because of that day, isn't it? That ninja who attacked us. Nagato, you're worried about your eyes, aren't you!"

Nagato's body trembled, and he looked at Yuehua Ai in disbelief.

"You... how did you know?"

Yuehua Ai spread his hands. "It's easy!"

"I am a Celestial Being, after all. I observe the past and the present, understanding both what has been and what is to come. No secret can be hidden from me, let alone those little thoughts of yours!"

Watching Yuehua Ai's smug expression, Nagato found it quite amusing. He wanted to reach out and pat the other's head, but his hand stopped just as it began to move. Having spent so much time together, he knew Yuehua Ai disliked being touched on the head—well, Konan was the exception, of course.

Nagato smiled. Although Yuehua Ai's behavior was always full of surprises, he didn't believe for a second that he was some kind of Celestial Being. Still, the fact that he could guess his inner thoughts because of his eyes was truly clever.

Seeing the skeptical smile on Nagato's face, Yuehua Ai felt a bit sheepish. The "Celestial Being" bit might have been going a bit too far; after all, he was just an ordinary transmigrator who happened to know a bit of the plot.

Yuehua Ai gave Nagato a frustrated pat. Even if he had been acting a bit over the top, the other man didn't have to be so dismissive! He felt quite annoyed at the moment.

Yuehua Ai huffed twice. "While claiming to observe the past and present might be an exaggeration, I do know quite a few secrets. At the very least, I understand your eyes very well, Nagato. Otherwise, why would I have said I envied them the first time we met?"

"What? Could it be that you really..." Nagato froze instantly. He stared blankly into Yuehua Ai's eyes, his expression filled with both longing and apprehension.

Yuehua Ai met Nagato's gaze calmly. Hearing the disbelief in the other's tone, he crossed his arms and gave a firm nod.

"I said it was true, didn't I? Your eyes, Nagato, are the legendary Rinnegan..."