A Night of Rest

After a day of traveling, night had fallen once more, and the moon hung high in the sky.

Nagato and Konan made camp outside a valley in the southern part of the Fire Country.

Nagato set down the branches he had gathered along the way from his arms and said with a smile, "Konan, let's rest here for a while. You must be tired after all this traveling too."

Konan said, "I'm fine. We should go find Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Fugaku right away. This concerns your plan, doesn't it?"

"There's no rush. The place they went to isn't somewhere they can leave anytime soon."

Nagato smiled, crouched down, and began building a fire rack out of branches.

Konan helped beside him and asked curiously, "Where exactly did they go?"

"Bellflower Mountain."

At the mention of that place, Konan's expression changed slightly. "That was... the most brutal battlefield during the final stages of the Third Shinobi World War! They say more than ten thousand ninjas from all nations died there!"

"What... are they doing at Bellflower Mountain?"

"They said they were clearing the traps left behind by the ninjas during the war. I don't know the details, but it's undoubtedly a massive undertaking."

The fire rack was complete.

The burly Pain—Preta Path set down the wild boar he had hunted, then retreated into the distance to keep watch.

The campfire was lit, and the boar was placed over it.

Nagato sat cross-legged on the ground. While waiting for the meal, he took out a fragment of the Scroll of Seals.

"This, this is...!" The moment he opened it, he could no longer remain calm.

Konan came up behind him and looked over his shoulder, only to be equally shocked. "The Flying Thunder God Technique? The signature technique of Konoha's Yellow Flash?"

"That's right. Unfortunately, this page was right at the division between it and the main body of the Scroll of Seals, so it isn't complete..."

Nagato's Rinnegan scanned the page as he marveled, "How exquisite! What kind of structure was inside that silver-haired hedgehog's brain when he created this technique...?"

"If it's incomplete, can it still be learned?"

"It can, but there will probably be flaws. It would be difficult to use in high-intensity combat, but it should be more than enough for everyday applications."

In the firelight, Konan watched Nagato's focused profile, her eyes flickering.

Lately, she often found herself watching him like this without realizing it...

"Konan, look at this!!"

When Nagato turned around, their faces were nearly pressed together... their eyes met!

His face... turned red.

"Uh... I, I..."

Konan smiled. "Didn't you have something to show me?"

"R-right! Look! This technique! Isn't it perfect for you?" Flustered, he handed her the Scroll of Seals.

Konan did not immediately take it. Instead, she sat down beside him, brushed a strand of hair aside, took hold of the other end of the scroll, and looked over.

"This page?"

Their shoulders were pressed together.

Nagato could feel the change in his heartbeat.

This won't do... I need to stay calm. If I lose my composure, I'll give myself away.

"Yes, that page."

"Let me see..."

The moment she looked... she was utterly stunned.

She was completely shaken by the principles of the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags recorded on the page.

Her orange eyes trembled, and sweat slid down her cheeks.

"Unbelievable. Explosive tags could be used like this? I finally understand why Konoha is called the strongest of the Five Great Nations..."

"Ah!" She suddenly realized something. "I'm sorry, Nagato."

Nagato asked strangely, "Why are you apologizing to me?"

Konan said guiltily, "B-because your parents, after all, were..."

Nagato said, "Ah, that. It's true that my parents died at the hands of Konoha ninjas, but it's also true that Konoha is powerful."

"One matter is one matter."

Not wanting this topic to ruin the mood, he slid his finger to another page. "Konan, let's look at this technique instead!"

The technique separated from the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags was called Night Netherworld Spider Lily.

Its principles were very similar to Orochimaru's Cursed Seal, but Night Netherworld Spider Lily was a Cursed Seal power that manifested at night... The caster would assume a form that existed only in darkness and gain unprecedented power.

Just as Nagato wondered why a technique with such a high level of taboo had never appeared in the original story... he saw the annotation on the final page and understood why.

It turned out that the technique called Night Netherworld Spider Lily was incomplete. By its nature, it was more suited for women, and it carried tremendous risks for the user. In theory, one had to master Sage Art in tandem with it to truly control it.

Women, Sage Art... those two conditions alone were enough to make it vanish from the shinobi world.

Nagato's curiosity was greatly stirred. Since it mentioned Sage Art, was the developer of this technique also Tobirama Senju? Why would he develop a forbidden technique specifically for women to practice?

Well, if he got the chance in the future, he would ask him in person.

Konan seemed to have become interested in this Night Netherworld Spider Lily as well.

"Sage Art... is that the inheritance from the sacred land of Mount Myoboku that Master Jiraiya once mentioned?"

"Probably." Nagato smiled inwardly. Sage Art isn't limited to Mount Myoboku. There are also Shikkotsu Forest and Ryūchi Cave.

But Konan... probably had no affinity with Sage Art.

What Nagato never could have imagined was that... later, in order to completely master the Black Butterfly form granted to her by Night Netherworld Spider Lily, Konan truly went to train in Sage Art at the most dangerous of the three great sacred lands!

Because of that... she even went through a brush with death.

Of course, that was a story for another time.

On the fire rack, the roasting boar sizzled as fat dripped into the flames.

The mouthwatering aroma whetted both their appetites.

"Konan, let's eat..."

"Mm~!"

In ninja survival training, lighting a fire in the wilderness was a grave taboo.

But Nagato had done it deliberately. He was hoping to be discovered, since that would let him replenish the Human Path he had lost.

Yet until the meal was over, no ninja came to disturb their peace...

What a shame, what a shame.

After setting up the tent, Konan asked, "Nagato, aren't you resting?"

Nagato was sitting cross-legged, looking at a page from the Scroll of Seals in his hand.

"Mm. This technique is very effective against eyes. It might come in handy in the coming battle with those two Uchiha."

Konan said with a complicated expression, "No matter when it is, don't push yourself too hard. You aren't alone."

"Mm, I understand, Konan."

After entering the tent, Konan lay down on the makeshift bed.

She had not slept soundly for three days and nights.

It was time... to get some proper rest.

By the faint glow of the candle, she looked through a gap in the tent at the reassuring figure outside and softly said, "Good night, Nagato."

"Good night." Nagato's gentle reply came from outside the tent.

Konan blew out the candle and closed her eyes.

No one could predict what the future would bring...

Cherish the present and let nature take its course.

A hundred miles away, at Bellflower Mountain on the border of the Fire Country, two figures from different generations stood together, looking out over the desolate scene before them.

After the Battle of Bellflower Mountain ended, the recovery of the bodies of the fallen ninjas from the Fire, Cloud, and Sand forces alone took a full ten days and ten nights.

Because Bellflower Mountain lay within the Fire Country, Cloud and Sand had no intention of kindly helping Konoha clean up. After recovering their own fallen, they withdrew completely.

They left behind countless traps for Konoha's ninjas to deal with.

This mission carried enormous risk to life. Even after Minato succeeded as Hokage, he had struggled over whom to send to carry it out.

Of the two figures from different generations, the younger was a slightly curly-haired boy. With his bright Sharingan, he looked at the elder beside him.

"Uncle Fugaku, why did you volunteer to the Fourth Hokage and accept this mission?"