A Night of Rest

After a day of travel, night had fallen again, the moon hanging high in the sky.

Nagato and Konan settled outside a ravine 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."

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

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

Nagato smiled, crouching down and beginning the task of building a fire rack from the branches.

Konan helped him from the side and asked curiously, "Where exactly did they go?"

"Kikyo Mountain."

Konan's expression shifted slightly at the name. "That was... the most brutal battlefield during the final stage of the Third Shinobi World War! They say that, combined, the nations lost over ten thousand shinobi there!"

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

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

The fire rack was complete.

The burly Pain of the Preta Path set down the wild boar he had caught, then retreated into the distance to stand watch.

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

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

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

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

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

Nagato's Rinnegan swept over the page as he praised it endlessly. "This is truly exquisite! What exactly was inside the head of that silver-haired porcupine who created this technique...?"

"Can it still be learned if it's incomplete?"

"It can, but there will probably be flaws. Using it in intense combat would be difficult, but it should be more than enough for everyday use."

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

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

"Konan, look at this!!"

When Nagato turned around, his face was almost pressed against Konan's... 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 take it immediately. Instead, she sat beside him, lightly swept back a lock of hair, and grasped the other side of the scroll as she turned her gaze to it.

"Is it this page?"

Their shoulders rested together.

Nagato could feel the change in his heartbeat.

This won't do... I need to stay steady, stay calm, or I'll give myself away.

"Yes, that's the page."

"Let me see..."

And that glance... was enough.

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

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

"Unbelievable. Explosive tags could actually be used this way... I finally understand why Konoha is called the strongest among 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..."

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

"One matter is one matter, and another is another."

Not wanting that subject 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 resembled Orochimaru's Cursed Seal, but Night Netherworld Spider Lily was a power of the Cursed Seal that manifested at night... The user would take on a form available only in darkness and gain unprecedented strength.

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

It turned out that Night Netherworld Spider Lily was incomplete. By nature, it was better suited for women, and it posed immense risks to its user. In theory, one needed to master Senjutsu alongside it to truly control it.

Women, Senjutsu... Those two conditions alone were enough to ensure it vanished from the Shinobi World.

Nagato was intensely curious. Since it mentioned Senjutsu, was the developer of this technique also Tobirama Senju? Why would he develop a forbidden technique specifically for women to cultivate?

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

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

"Senjutsu... Is that the inheritance from the sacred land of Mount Myoboku that Master Jiraiya once mentioned?"

"Probably." Nagato smiled inwardly. Senjutsu isn't limited to Mount Myoboku. Besides Mount Myoboku, there are also Shikkotsu Forest and Ryūchi Cave.

But Konan... probably had no affinity with Senjutsu.

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

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

Of course, that was a story for later.

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

The mouthwatering aroma stirred both of their appetites.

"Konan, let's eat..."

"Mm~!"

In shinobi survival training, lighting a fire in the wilderness was a major taboo.

But Nagato had done it deliberately. He was hoping to be discovered, since that would be the perfect opportunity to replace the Human Path he had lost.

Yet until their meal was over, not a single shinobi came to disturb their peace...

What a pity. What a pity.

Konan finished setting up the tent and asked, "Nagato, aren't you going to rest?"

Nagato was sitting cross-legged, reading a page from the Scroll of Seals in his hands.

"Mm. This technique is very effective against eyes. It may come in handy in the upcoming fight against those two Uchiha."

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

"Mm, I understand, Konan."

After entering the tent, Konan lay down on the simple bedding.

For three days and three nights, she had not had a proper night's sleep.

It was time... to sleep well.

By the faint glow of the candle, she looked through a gap in the tent at the back that made her feel safe and softly said, "Good night, Nagato."

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

After blowing out the candle, Konan closed her eyes.

No one could predict what the future held...

She would cherish the present and let nature take its course.

A hundred li from there, at Kikyo Mountain on the border of the Fire Country, two figures from different generations stood side by side, looking over the desolate scene before them.

After the Battle of Kikyo Mountain ended, it took the Fire, Cloud, and Sand forces a full ten days and ten nights simply to recover the bodies of the fallen shinobi.

Since Kikyo Mountain was located in the Fire Country, the Lightning and Sand forces were not kind enough to clean up after Konoha. Once they had recovered the bodies of their own dead, they withdrew completely.

They left behind countless traps for Konoha shinobi to deal with.

The 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 bright Sharingan eyes, he looked at the elder beside him.

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