The Angel of God Takes the Field Personally

Amegakure.

The relentless downpours shrouded this gray country like an iron curtain.

At the very top of the tower, six indifferent-faced bodies stood silently in the darkness like corpses.

Only the orange-haired man in the center, whose body was covered with black gravity rods— Deva Path Pain, had a cold, rippling light emanating from his Rinnegan.

On the stone table in front of him lay a secret report, damp with rain.

The edges of the paper were crumpled.

"Itachi Uchiha - Tsukuyomi backlash, both eyes severely damaged, unable to use Mangekyo Sharingan for at least three months."

"Kisame Hoshigaki — His Samehada was torn apart by his bare hands, seven ribs were broken, and his internal organs were displaced; he barely escaped with a crippled Susanoo."

"Sasori of the Red Sands - Dead in battle. The Hundred Puppet Performance was destroyed in one strike, its core self-extinguishing."

"Deidara - captured alive. C4: Garuda is ineffective against the target."

Deva Path Pain's finger stopped at the last line.

The ripples on the Rinnegan contracted extremely slowly.

This is the worst battle loss ever recorded since the founding of the Akatsuki.

Four S-rank missing-nin.

Two elite teams.

One died, one was captured, and two were seriously wounded.

And the cause of all this --

"Naruto Uzumaki, 12 years old, Hidden Leaf Special Jōnin."

Pain put down the secret report.

The sound of rainwater flowing through the pipes echoed inside the tower.

It's very quiet.

It was so quiet that you could hear the faint echo of water droplets falling onto the stone wall.

"Nagato."

A cool, clear female voice came from behind me.

Konan emerged from the shadows.

Short blue hair, amber eyes, and a face so exquisitely beautiful it seemed unreal.

Her lips were pressed into a thin line, her gaze fixed on the secret report.

You saw it.

Pain did not turn around.

I saw it.

Konan's voice remained unchanged, "Itachi and Kisame are our strongest field team. Sasori's Hundred Puppet Performance can conquer a country. Deidara's C4 is a nuclear-level area-of-effect annihilation technique."

She paused for a moment.

"The combined fighting strength of these four people is enough to launch a frontal assault on the defenses of any ninja village."

Pain remained silent.

"And they lost to a twelve-year-old child."

Konan's tone remained calm, but her right hand unconsciously clenched the piece of paper on her sleeve.

The rain outside the tower suddenly intensified.

Raindrops pounded against the metal pipes, making a dense, crackling sound.

Pain finally spoke.

The voice was soft, but every word carried undeniable weight.

"This is not an ordinary Yang Release."

He raised his hand, his five fingers spread, and the ripples of his Rinnegan slowly rotated.

"My Rinnegan can sense his Chakra fluctuations... the purity and concentration of that chakra have surpassed the realm of humans."

"Six Paths Level?"

Konan's pupils contracted slightly.

Pain did not answer.

But his silence itself is the answer.

The air grew heavy.

Konan took a deep breath.

"Nagato."

Her voice suddenly took on a resolute tone, "We can't wait any longer."

Pain turned around.

Of the Six Paths faces, only the Deva Path's Rinnegan stared directly at her.

"Itachi is seriously injured, Kisame, Sasori is dead, and Deidara has been captured—he still has our ring and organization intelligence on him."

Konan spoke slowly and deliberately, "If Hidden Leaf could pry the location of Amegakure out of Deidara— "

He won't tell.

Are you sure?

Pain fell silent again.

Konan took a step forward.

The ripples of the Rinnegan were reflected in his amber eyes.

"Let me go."

Where to?

"Hidden Leaf."

The sound of the rain almost drowned out her voice.

"I Paper Clone to infiltrate and find out everything about Naruto Uzumaki —his weaknesses, his limits, and the people around him."

Konan spoke quickly, but every word was extremely clear. "We need intelligence. Real, firsthand intelligence. Not secondhand information, not remote sensing."

Pain stared at her.

Long time.

"Hidden Leaf has just experienced an invasion, so our alert level will be raised to the highest level."

"I know."

"He could sense Itachi and Kisame approaching from seventeen kilometers away."

"I know."

"His Yang Release can burn away all Yin Chakra. Your Paper Clone-- "

"So I won't go near."

Konan interrupted him, "I will only observe, not make contact, and not reveal myself. My Paper Release is more difficult to detect than any Sensory Ninjutsu in terms of concealment."

She raised her right hand.

Between the five fingers, an exquisitely crafted white paper butterfly quietly took shape.

Its wings are as thin as cicada wings, almost transparent in dim light.

You know what I'm doing.

Pain's voice lowered.

It is no longer the indifference of Deva Path, but something softer.

Konan looked at him.

"I know."

She said, "But our goal has never changed. If this Naruto Uzumaki at that level, then we need to understand him even more."

The paper butterfly in my hand flutters its wings.

"Yahiko's dream cannot die in an area lacking information."

Pain closed his eyes.

Five seconds.

"You must not reveal your true identity."

"Um."

"Find their weaknesses and then retreat."

"Um."

"If discovered—immediately self-destruct your clone."

"I know."

Pain opened his eyes.

The ripples on the Rinnegan resumed their calm rotation.

Go ahead.

Konan didn't say anything more.

Her body, starting from her toes, transformed piece by piece into white origami.

Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of sheets—ultimately converging into a white stream of paper that poured out of the tower's window and merged into the torrential rain.

Pain stood alone in the darkness.

The light from his Rinnegan illuminated his withered face.

"Naruto Uzumaki..."

The whispers were swallowed by the sound of rain.

Five days later.

The Land of Fire.

Konoha.

Uzumaki Residence.

The moonlight, as clear as water, bathed the newly planted cherry blossom trees in the courtyard.

Since Bai bought this mansion, the once empty and desolate courtyard has taken on a warmer, more homely feel.

Naruto lay half-reclined on the wooden floor of the corridor, his head resting on Tayuya's lap.

Temari sat to the side, a Wind Release scroll from Sunagakure lying open on her lap, but her gaze kept drifting towards Naruto's face.

"What are you looking at?"

Naruto closed his eyes, a slight smile playing on his lips.

Temari looked away.

"Who's looking at you?"

She lowered her head, her fingers turning the scrolls faster.

There was a suspicious pink tinge at the tip of her ear.

Tayuya a soft hum, her slender fingers casually toying with Naruto's tousled blond hair. "Naruto, this kind of stubborn woman is the easiest to deal with—"

"Tayuya, shut up!"

"Oh? Your tail got stepped on?"

Naruto listened to the two women bickering above him, the corners of his mouth curved into an even wider smile.

A night breeze swept through the corridor, carrying the fragrance of flowers and trees from the courtyard.

Quiet.

Feeling comfortable.

But Naruto's right index finger tapped the wooden board very lightly twice from an angle unnoticed by anyone.

His Sage Body sensed something and told him something.

The wind tonight... has a different feel to it.

What is it?

He couldn't tell at the moment.

So faint as to be almost nonexistent.

It was as if a very thin layer of paper, an unseasonable scent, had suddenly appeared in the air.

Naruto's eyes were not open.

His breathing remained steady.

But deep in his mind, the system's radar flashed silently.

[Unknown higher life form detected... Signal extremely weak... Analyzing...]

[Analysis failed. Target Chakra fluctuation is below the detection threshold.]

[The host is advised to remain vigilant.]

Naruto's lips curled up slightly.

That adds a bit more interest.

And thirty meters directly above the Uzumaki Residence in the night sky—

Countless white paper pieces, almost blending into the moonlight, are slowly and silently gathering into a human-shaped outline in a way that is invisible to the naked eye.

His amber eyes gleamed for a fleeting moment in the darkness.

It went out again.

Konan's Paper Clone floated above the roof, her gaze piercing through the thin gaps in the tiles—

I saw the lazy profile of the blond boy in the hallway.

Her first thought was:

--Is this the monster that wiped out more than half of the Akatsuki?

He looks like... just a brat surrounded by women.

Her second idea hadn't even taken shape yet—

In the corridor, the blond boy with his eyes closed moved his lips slightly.

Silent.

But Konan's lip reading clearly distinguished the mouth shape.

"... I can smell you."

Konan's Paper Clone scattered instantly.