Paper flowers drifted through the air unnoticed. Konan's entire attention was fixed on the unconscious Yahiko.
Keeping the paper flowers aloft had drained most of Konan's strength. Worn down by worry, she held on only a little longer before she fainted too.
The Wandering Ninja did not pause. He headed straight for the house, with Nagato still in his way.
"Move, brat, or I'll kill you."
Nagato seemed frozen with fear. He stood motionless, though turmoil raged inside him.
It felt as though he had returned to the night his parents died, when he had watched them be killed and could do nothing.
"You little bastard. Die."
The Wandering Ninja drew his long blade and slashed at Nagato.
Fear and anger surged through Nagato. Instinctively, he threw up both hands to shield himself.
"Aaah!"
Boom!
The Wandering Ninja was hurled backward the instant he charged in, as though an enormous force had struck him.
His bones shattered. He was dead.
Nagato gasped for air. The violent shock had blown his bangs to either side, revealing a strange pair of eyes.
Concentric ripples filled them, utterly unlike ordinary eyes.
The ground around him looked as though some force had swept it clean. Mud and rainwater sprayed outward, leaving a two-meter circle around Nagato bare.
Only several seconds later did the rainwater slowly flow back in.
A figure appeared in the distance, hurrying toward them. It was Jiraiya.
He had heard the commotion on his way back and picked up his pace.
The first things he saw were Yahiko and Konan lying unconscious and the Wandering Ninja sprawled where he had been thrown. Jiraiya's heart lurched.
Over the past few days, he had grown close to the three children. He rushed to Yahiko and checked on both him and Konan.
He breathed