"Konan..."
Pain Rin's hand was a corpse's hand, devoid of any warmth, an icy-cold hand. She could not feel the warmth of Konan's palm... but—
"What is this warm feeling in my heart?" Nagato murmured, stirred by emotion.
Konan kept running while holding Pain Rin's hand.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, an explosive roar came from the forest ahead, the only route leading to the Rain Country, startling birds into flight.
"Are ninjas fighting up ahead?"
Konan stopped and released Pain Rin's hand.
Pain Rin said, "Judging by that commotion, they're quite formidable."
Konan immediately formed hand seals, intending to use Dance of the Shikigami to investigate.
Pain Rin stopped her. "No need. Let's go take a look ourselves."
With that, she took Konan's hand and began running ahead.
Konan's eyes flickered slightly as she looked at the small hand holding hers.
What was wrong with me just now? Saying something like that... wasn't I practically making Nagato think that I... that I was open to being pursued...?
She was overthinking it... Nagato, who had been single from birth and clueless about romance in both dimensions, naturally interpreted Konan's hand-holding as nothing more than friendship-level concern.
"Hehe... holding hands using Pain Rin and Konan isn't bad either~ After all, we've even bathed together before~ Though the mist kept me from seeing the important parts clearly."
Near the forest where the battle was taking place, the two hid behind swaying shadows of trees and looked ahead.
There, in a clearing among the trees, stood a tall, slender man. He had short hair, and a mask covered his nose and mouth. The visible contours of his face were sharp and cold. A gray headscarf was tied around his forehead, and only a pair of dark green pupils showed on his entire face... his gaze utterly