An angel with broken wings, a canary's cage
The moment Konan's Paper Clone reverted to human form, Naruto's palm was already pressed against the back of her neck.
It's not an attack.
It's about holding down the prey.
With fingers gathered, precisely positioned on the meridian points on both sides of the cervical spine.
The temperature of his palms was abnormally high—it was the residual body temperature from the Perfect Sage Body constantly circulating Yang Release Chakra, at least forty-two degrees Celsius.
"Cough--"
Konan let out a short, sharp sound.
It wasn't because of suffocation, but because when the back of his neck was pressed down, the Chakra circuit experienced a 0.3-second interruption at the same instant.
Just 0.3 seconds.
Her knees buckled slightly.
Naruto gave her no chance to catch her breath.
With his left hand maintaining control behind her neck and his right hand gripping her shoulder blade, he shifted his weight forward, pulling her down from the wall and firmly pressing her onto the roof tiles.
The moonlight was mostly swallowed up by the clouds.
The silhouettes of the two people almost overlapped in the darkness.
Konan is lying on her back.
Short blue hair fell among the gray tiles, and amber eyes reflected the face of the blond boy looking down at him.
Very close.
She was so close that she could count the number of the other person's eyelashes.
"He came to peep at me while I was taking a shower in the middle of the night."
Naruto's voice came down from directly above, carrying the languid steam unique to someone who had just finished soaking in a hot spring.
"Sister Angel, your hobby is a bit improper."
Konan's back tensed.
Her hands immediately tried to Hand Seals —but as soon as her palms touched, the hand behind her neck tightened its grip slightly.
It's not pain.
It's a tingling sensation that travels from the cervical spine to the whole body, like someone has directly turned off the main switch of an electrical circuit.
Don't bother.
Naruto pressed a pressure point on the back of her neck with his thumb.
Konan trembled.
She felt a surge of scorching energy flow into her from that point of contact, spreading along her meridians. Wherever it passed, her carefully condensed Chakra was like ice meeting boiling water—not shattered, but melted.
Yang Release).
The purest and strongest life energy was directly poured into her Chakra network, forcibly "heating" all the nodes into a dormant state.
Konan's arms lost their strength and drooped onto the tiles.
My fingers unconsciously curled up twice, then relaxed again.
--I can't move anymore.
An idea popped into her head.
This was a thought she had never had in her thirty years as a ninja.
"You..."
I only realized I was trembling when I spoke.
It's not fear.
It's the feeling of loss of control that arises instinctively from the body after the Chakra is depleted—like a person suddenly having their skeleton removed, leaving only a skin.
Konan bit her lower lip.
Stay calm.
"Nine-Tails Imp"
She stared into Naruto's eyes, her voice low and cold, "Kill me if you want. Nagato will destroy your entire Hidden Leaf— "
"Pain?"
Naruto interrupted her.
His right hand moved away from her shoulder blade and rested casually on the tile beside her ear.
He leaned down even further.
The distance between the two was about a fist's width.
"You little bird with broken wings."
His breath brushed against her forehead.
"They don't even know what real suffering is."
Konan's pupils contracted slightly.
It wasn't because of a threat.
It was because of the tone in that sentence—not sarcasm, not intimidation, but a statement that bordered on pity.
It's like stating a fact.
She didn't like that tone.
"Put--"
Before she could finish speaking, Naruto's left hand slid down from the back of her neck.
His palm traced down her spine and stopped between her shoulder blades.
Then--
It was lifted up.
Konan was lifted off the roof tiles, and the back of her head rested against a broad, hot chest.
The bath towel wrapped around her waist exuded the scent of sulfur from the hot spring.
The outline of her bare chest and abdominal muscles, visible through her thin paper-like outer garment, conveyed an undeniable heat.
Konan's mind went blank for a moment.
It's not a mental technique.
It's not Genjutsu.
It was a pure, overwhelming masculine aura emanating from the physical realm, a biological shock to a woman Chakra was depleted and who was utterly defenseless.
Her fingertips were icy cold.
My ears felt like they were on fire.
"What—what are you going to do!"
The voice was half a tone higher than she had expected.
After realizing this, Konan clenched her teeth even tighter.
Naruto looked down at her.
On her profile, outlined by the moonlight, the corners of her mouth slowly curved upwards.
He extended his right hand.
He hooked her chin with his index finger.
The movements are light, yet the force is undeniable.
What are you doing?
His voice was low, hot, and tinged with a hint of amusement, pressed between the two of them.
"Now that we've captured a rare species of angel—"
He gently brushed his fingertip along her jawline.
"Of course, you'd put him in my cage."
Konan's breathing stopped for a full two seconds.
The next instant, her body was lifted into the air.
She was picked up horizontally and carried in her arms.
One arm goes under the knee, the other arm clasps around the shoulder and back.
At the waist.
The princess carry pose.
Her face was only three inches away from Naruto's collarbone.
The dry, scorching heat enveloped her from all directions.
"Open..."
It's very light.
It's not much bigger than a mosquito.
Konan herself wasn't sure whether it was a protest or something... she didn't want to admit.
Naruto did not answer.
He carried her as he leaped down from the roof ridge, his bare feet creaking softly on the wooden floor of the corridor.
Then he strode into the depths of the mansion.
The basement of the Uzumaki Estate.
It provides comprehensive coverage including sound insulation, Chakra wave isolation, and Gathering Spirit Formation.
When Konan was put down, her back touched soft fabric—a long bench covered with a thick blanket.
The room was dark, with only a dim yellow light coming from an oil lamp in the corner.
Naruto stood in front of her.
Against the light.
The golden, tousled hair and the silhouette of the bare upper body were bathed in a warm hue.
"Rest now, angel sister."
He reached out and pulled a thin blanket over her, draping it over her casually.
The movements were as gentle as if soothing a frightened cat.
"Talk to me again when you've thought it through."
Turn around.
The footsteps faded into the distance.
The door closed very quietly.
Only the faint hissing sound of the oil lamp flickering remained in the room.
Konan lay on the bench.
A thin blanket covered her shoulders.
Her Chakra pathways are still dormant.
Aside from blinking and breathing, the body is almost unable to make any other movements.
But her heartbeat--
It's unbelievably fast.
His amber eyes were fixed on the ceiling.
The lingering warmth from where the pressure was applied to the back of my neck hasn't dissipated yet.
In my mind.
The system alert sounded.
[Ding--Target: Konan (Angel of God) Affection level is changing...]
[Current Affection Level: +20 (Confusion of Imprisonment)]
[Cumulative Favorability: 60]
[System Assessment: Target 'Chakra is completely sealed; physical escape is impossible. It is recommended that the host, over the next 24 hours, cultivate a Stockholm Syndrome-like dependency through a combination of "caregiver behavior and occasional forceful contact." The target's psychological defenses are rapidly crumbling.]
Naruto leaned against the wall in the corridor.
He was fiddling with a piece of white paper in his hand—the one Konan had left in his bathrobe pocket three days ago.
I'm sixty.
He chuckled silently.
"Nagato, oh Nagato..."
The piece of paper was blown by the wind and spun around on his fingertips.
"Your most precious angel is now in my cage."
He put the piece of paper into his pocket.
Are you coming to rescue me or not?