Nagato, stunned senseless by a single punch, collapsed into the muddy water. Black-red bloody foam mixed with saliva and filthy chunks of internal organs gurgled from his mouth. His once-arrogant Rinnegan were filled with dazed confusion. His swollen cheeks burned with pain, and air whistled through the gaps where two teeth had been knocked out. Just as Yoru shook the black grime from his gloves and strode forward with a cold sneer, preparing to land another punch on Nagato's mummified old face, a piercing sound of paper scraping suddenly tore through the air overhead. Countless stark-white sheets surged into the cramped basement like a blizzard beast unleashed by a madman, sweeping down upon them.
White paper danced through the air, carrying a chokingly dry scent of pulp and talcum powder that masked most of the blood stench on the ground. Amid the endless flurry of paper, a cold and beautiful woman in a black cloak patterned with red clouds slowly descended. The enormous wings behind her, folded from countless sheets of white paper, beat awkwardly beneath the low ceiling. Konan's eyes were red-rimmed, and large beads of cold sweat mixed with tears slid down her pale cheeks. With her arms spread wide, she stood firmly in front of Nagato.
"Yoru! Don't you dare touch him again!" Konan's voice had completely changed from overwhelming grief, hoarse like iron scraping against sandpaper. Her hands formed seals rapidly before her chest, her fingertips trembling from exertion until blood seeped from beneath her nails. "I have six hundred billion Explosive Tags here, made with every bit of funding and material from the entire village over all these years! Take one more step, and I'll blow this entire place apart! We'll all be blasted to pieces in this sewer together!"
"Konan... cough, cough... don't be