Companionship

As Nagato and Konan's mixed bath came to an end, Konoha's meeting was still underway.

"That concludes the intelligence my clansmen have provided regarding the two intruders."

Fugaku finished speaking, and unrest swept through the chamber as people whispered among themselves.

"Repelling people and ninjutsu in an instant? Hey, that ability can't be a joke, can it?"

"If that intruder hadn't infiltrated the Uchiha clan and had instead wreaked havoc across Konoha like the others, could the Third and Fourth have killed him so easily?"

"Who knows..."

At that moment, Yamanaka Inoichi said thoughtfully, "Setting aside the enemy Captain Fugaku mentioned who could repel attacks, the other intruder killed by the police force seems to match the appearance of Luonai, the envoy of the Kazekage from Sunagakure!"

The moment those words were spoken, everyone's expressions changed.

"Hey, Luonai came to Konoha carrying the Fourth Kazekage's peace agreement. Was he... was he used too!?"

"Minato..." Sweat beaded on Hiruzen's face as he looked at the silent Minato beside him.

At that moment, Danzo unconsciously lowered his head...

Luonai... had been killed by Dingmao, a subordinate from the Root whom he had dispatched.

But Dingmao had lost contact immediately after completing his mission. That very night... Dingmao and Luonai had simultaneously attacked the village as two of the intruders.

Of everyone present, only he knew that the Rinnegan belonged to Nagato of Amegakure. But... how Nagato had made all six people possess the Rinnegan and attack Konoha, he had no idea.

Discovering the truth behind Nagato's power was also why he had attended this meeting!

"Heavens, what in the world... is this!?"

"Why does it feel like the more we discuss and analyze this, the further we get from any definite intelligence on the enemy!?"

"Fourth Lord, do you have any leads?"

"Sorry... I truly can't make heads or tails of it either." Minato shook his head, looking equally bewildered.

Yet an even more terrifying cloud of doubt settled over everyone's hearts.

Fear came from the unknown; that was indeed true.

Just as everyone was at a loss, Shikaku Nara, who had remained almost entirely silent since the meeting began, raised his head. "There is a possibility that has lingered in my mind for several days now..."

"Swish!" In an instant, everyone's gaze, including Danzo's, focused on his face.

"Are you serious, Senior Nara?" Guy stood up directly, but immediately realized he had overreacted. After saying, "Sorry," he sat back down.

The chamber was so quiet one could hear a pin drop. Everyone waited for Shikaku to reveal his answer.

After gathering his thoughts, Shikaku said, "As everyone knows, on the night of the attack, the Ino–Shika–Cho Formation encountered that enemy capable of absorbing ninjutsu and chakra."

Shikaku cast a glance aside. "Ah, that would be Dingmao, a member of Root's Seventh Branch..."

"..." Danzo kept his eyes lowered and made no response.

Shikaku continued, "When I restrained him with my shadow, Inoichi used the Mind Body Switch Technique on that enemy to coordinate with the Ino–Shika–Cho Formation's tactics. However... the Mind Body Switch Technique failed for the first time ever."

"At the time, Inoichi concluded that the other party had no 'mind.'"

"At that moment, a term surfaced in my mind. A term that sent a chill through my entire body."

"Gulp!" Someone swallowed and slowly asked, "What term?"

Shikaku lowered his gaze and clenched his hand.

"Corpses."

What...!?

Shikaku's sudden utterance of those two words startled even Inoichi. "Shikaku, if they're corpses, wouldn't that be the Human Puppets we initially imagined?"

Shikaku said, "You could put it that way, but they cannot be lumped together."

Hyuga Hiashi said in a deep voice, "That is rather baffling, Head of the Nara clan. Could you explain it more thoroughly?"

"Of course." Shikaku said, "A Human Puppet is a corpse made into a controllable puppet. Its essence is a Puppet Technique long passed down in Sunagakure. Human Puppets may also be 'mindless,' but... they possess no consciousness."

"But what were the enemies we encountered like? Every one of them moved and spoke like a living person. That is the greatest difference between them and Human Puppets."

"Therefore, I believe the enemy's technique... differs from Puppet Technique. It is a technique on a higher level."

"Based on the intelligence gathered so far, I will make the following tentative deduction... The enemy's ability is a technique that grants their own consciousness to the dead, allowing them to act like living people."

"The intruders appeared to be six people, but in truth, they all carried the will of a single person."

His deduction made everyone shudder the more they considered it.

"Then... wh-who exactly are the intruders?"

"I don't know, but there are only two possibilities."

Shikaku's gaze once more flicked toward Danzo.

"First, someone within our ranks is secretly manipulating everything where we cannot see, much like darkness beneath a lamp... Of course, this conclusion is based on absolute rationality. Emotionally, I naturally do not believe it."

"Second, and this is the possibility I favor. The intruder never truly infiltrated Konoha from beginning to end, but remotely controlled those corpses and toyed with us in the palm of their hand!"

"The final result was that although we gathered our strength and eliminated four of them, it had no effect whatsoever on the intruder himself. We even had part of the Scroll of Seals stolen!"

Choza Akimichi said indignantly, "Damn it! So the intruder really was after the forbidden techniques created by the previous Hokage of Konoha!"

"To conceal his true objective, he even wreaked havoc throughout the village. This is utterly outrageous!"

"No, perhaps that is not the case." Under everyone's shocked gazes, Shikaku made another astonishing deduction. "Combining the intelligence on all six enemies, the strongest was undoubtedly the one capable of repelling attacks. It would not be unreasonable to regard him as the primary combatant among the six, but..."

Shikaku paused. He had not wanted to spell out what came next in public, but it would not be difficult to deduce with time afterward. It was better to say it plainly now.

"After the battle began, the enemy deployed their primary combatant against the Uchiha clan. What does that indicate? The Scroll of Seals was not his objective, or at least, not his main objective!"

"As for... what exactly that enemy did within the Uchiha clan, I have no way of knowing."

"Based on the available intelligence, this is as far as my analysis can go."

In the silence... everyone's eyes once again turned toward Uchiha Fugaku.

The corners of Danzo's mouth lifted faintly. Excellent. As expected of Konoha's sharpest mind, Shikaku Nara. Thanks to you, many of the doubts I could not understand have become much clearer.

"Just as Mr. Shikaku said, there is only one intruder." At that moment, Minato took over, drawing everyone's attention back.

"Yet the abilities displayed by each person were different, which is also quite concerning. But there is no way to analyze the truth any further. The enemy was very cunning and left behind no material evidence for us to examine. Still, that night's rain truly came at the worst possible time."

"Rain..." The word Minato mentioned caused Hiruzen's expression to shift slightly.

He slowly lowered the pipe in his hand.

Seeing his expression, Minato asked, "Third, what is it?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage known as the Professor of Ninjutsu, slowly said, "I merely recalled a technique. It is a forbidden technique originating from Amegakure, called the Rain Tiger at Will Technique. It can infuse rainwater with chakra for broad-range sensing..."

Fugaku lowered his eyes and quietly clenched the cuff of his sleeve.

Sweat covered Minato's face. "You mean..."

Hiruzen said gravely, "The enemy may be a Rain ninja, or at least, someone who once came from Amegakure! Perhaps... if we ask Hanzo, the leader of Amegakure, then we might..."

"Enough, Hiruzen."

At that moment, Danzo cut him off. "Hanzo of the Salamander ruled Amegakure, which served as the battlefield for the three great nations during the war. Hiruzen, do you really naively believe he would help us, the former 'invaders'?"

"..." Hiruzen put the pipe back into his mouth and said nothing more.

Realizing it was unsuitable to continue the meeting any longer.

Minato concluded, "It seems that analyzing the available intelligence to this extent is already our limit. From now on, we must strengthen our defenses, especially in the field of sensory detection. We must improve it..."

He silently thought, It seems... I should also specifically improve the Senjutsu I am not good at.

Amid a stifling and oppressive atmosphere, Konoha's meeting came to an end.

Meanwhile, Nagato returned to the Jizo Temple in the Land of Rice, where Konan had been waiting for quite some time.

At this moment, Darui, Samui, and C were nowhere to be seen in the corner.

Konan said, "When I returned, the three of them had already slipped away while we were gone."

"As expected." Nagato asked, "By the way, why aren't you staying at an inn?"

Konan said, "In a comfortable place like an inn, I always unconsciously want to fall asleep..."

She slowly leaned her back against a stone pillar and sat down, saying lazily, "Nagato, don't stay up with me. Get some rest. We cannot let down our guard at tomorrow's meeting with Orochimaru."

"No, I said I would keep you company." Nagato sat down beside Konan.

He could not help looking worriedly at the dark circles appearing beneath Konan's eyes again.

He possessed the constitution of the Uzumaki Clan. Though it was difficult, he could endure it... but Konan could not. It might not be obvious now, but if she kept this up for a year, something would happen, wouldn't it? Setting aside her body, her mental state even more so...

It was precisely because of this concern that he decided to accompany Konan throughout the entire process as she completed that forbidden technique.

Konan's training in Night Netherworld Spider Lily had reached its third sleepless night. The trial had only just begun...