The breeze was gentle and the sun was bright.
It was a rare sunny day in Amegakure.
Sunlight spilled through the clouds into Amegakure.
Inside Amegakure's office.
At the desk, Konan reviewed documents, occasionally picking up the tea beside her for a sip.
Nagato sat on a sofa nearby, resting with his eyes closed.
Knock, knock, knock.
Hearing the sound from the window, Konan turned her head curiously.
She found Pero floating outside, tapping on the glass.
Konan controlled a sheet of paper, sticking it to the window and pulling it open as she said irritably,
"You two idlers come to my office every day, but you never help with the paperwork."
Konan folded her arms and looked at the two idlers, thinking that after they had unified Amegakure, they had left all the administrative work to her.
Yahiko had also been sent by Pero to look after the children and could not help, so naturally she had some complaints.
"Relax, relax." Pero waved a hand, plopped onto the sofa, and propped his long legs on the coffee table, giving them a swing as he looked at Nagato.
"Nagato, other than Chibaku Tensei, don't you have any other ninjutsu that can seal a tailed beast?"
"No."
"Could you two go outside to talk? You're disrupting my work." Listening to their chatter, Konan slapped a stack of documents onto her desk.
Pero turned and pointed at Konan. "Don't talk for a moment."
He stood up, grabbed Nagato by the back of his collar, hauled him up, and walked behind the desk.
Nagato hurriedly turned his head, reaching for Pero's hand.
"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing? I'm still controlling Hanzō's body."
Pero ignored him.
"Konan, move." Pero pushed Konan aside with the back of his hand and pressed Nagato into the chair.
He lowered his head and brought his mouth to Nagato's ear.
"Here's the thing. Amegakure has been pretty busy lately, and Konan has been handling all the administrative work.
"The weather is so nice today, so I'll take Konan out to unwind and stop by the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools to see if there's any information on sealing jutsu."
Nagato opened his mouth. "But I don't know how..."
Pero picked up a stack of documents and shoved it against Nagato's chest.
"What do you mean, you don't know how? Read enough of them and you'll learn."
Nagato looked down at the documents before him and frowned.
"Plans for Establishing a New Order in Amegakure: An Institutional Proposal Based on a Framework for Peace."
He recalled how the office lights had been on every time he looked toward it from the Akatsuki base lately.
He raised his head, about to say, "This stuff..."
Only to see that Pero had already grabbed Konan and flown out the window.
Konan's voice drifted faintly back.
"Don't carry me! I can fly myself!"
Nagato's lips trembled, but the words never came out. He could only shake his head and bury himself in the work.
Half an hour later.
Nagato slumped over the desk, clawing frantically at his head.
"Aaagh! How does Konan have the patience to deal with all this?"
Konoha.
The two flew through the sky, looking at the prosperous Konoha beneath their feet.
"That's Konoha down there, right?" Konan stretched and rotated her wrists. "After flying for so long, I feel like I'm about to fall apart."
"Yeah, let's go down and have a look." Pero watched the graceful curves outlined as Konan stretched.
Noticing Pero's gaze, Konan blushed slightly and glared back at him. "What are you looking at?"
Pero shrugged, took off his Akatsuki cloak, folded it a few times carelessly, and put it into his system storage before holding a hand out to Konan.
"?" Konan frowned at Pero's hand, vaguely guessing his intention.
"Give me your cloak. We'll get beaten up if we go in wearing these."
Konan rolled her eyes at Pero. Her Akatsuki cloak gradually turned into sheets of paper and merged into her body.
A backless top gradually emerged, with tight pale-purple trousers below and a small metal ring through her navel. She swept her right hand over her waist, putting away her Amegakure forehead protector.
Seeing Pero's slightly dazed gaze, Konan slapped his hand down. "Don't think I don't know what you're thinking."
"Let's go."
Coming back to his senses, Pero took Konan through Konoha's barrier and found a deserted patch of woods to land in.
The moment he landed, Pero felt several gazes settle on him. Looking around, he spotted Konoha's Anbu ninja in the surrounding trees.
Pero was in a good mood today and did not want to get violent. As long as they did not bother him, they could leave each other alone.
Pero strolled along with Konan, watching the streets grow increasingly lively.
"If only the Land of Rain could be this peaceful." A trace of envy crossed Konan's eyes before her gaze turned resolute.
As they ventured farther in, Pero saw a sign that was both familiar and unfamiliar-Ichiraku Ramen.
Pero stepped forward to greet the owner.
"Hey! Ōtsutsuki Ichiraku."
Hearing the unfamiliar name, the owner looked around his stall in confusion. There did not seem to be anyone else.
He raised a finger and pointed at himself.
"Me?"
"Have you remembered my name wrong, sir? My name is Teuchi."
Then he picked up the strainer in the pot, noodles bouncing inside it.
"Would you like a bowl of ramen?"
"Give me two of the same, Iruka's favorite."
"Oh! You know Iruka, young man? Got it, two bowls of tonkotsu ramen."
Soon, two bowls of ramen were served, with milky-white broth and noodles topped with lightly golden Japanese chashu that gave off a delicate aroma.
Pero raised his eyebrows at the smell, then lowered his head and dug in.
Mm... no wonder this place got the most screen time in Naruto. It's really good. No wonder the shop lasted from the start of the story all the way to Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.
After eating and drinking their fill.
The well-rested pair prepared to set off again.
Just as they left Konoha, Pero noticed someone following them out.
He paused, then vanished instantly.
Seeing Pero disappear, the Anbu ninja tailing them inwardly sensed trouble.
An unfamiliar presence appeared behind him, and the Anbu ninja felt as though he had plunged into an ice cellar.
He closed his eyes and turned around.
He dropped to his knees at lightning speed, lowered his head, and presented a scroll with both hands.
"Lord Pero! This is the intelligence that lord instructed me to give you!"
Cold sweat streamed down him as he trembled all over, his eyes darting around the ground.
He recalled what Lord Minato had told him: Pero could be trusted.
Pero took the scroll and waved the ninja away.
"Thank you, my lord."
The kneeling ninja vanished in a flash.
Pero opened the scroll and skimmed it.
Tsk, I already heard all this intelligence while you were discussing it.
His eyes flashed red, and the scroll turned to black ash, scattering over the ground.
A short while later.
Pero and Konan flew over the strait between the Land of Fire and the Land of Whirlpools, arriving safely at the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools.
Konan looked at the ruins covering the ground, seeming to glimpse the Land of Whirlpools' past prosperity within them.
"Even the strongest nations can suffer destruction. Ninja villages are no exception, are they?"
Pero looked around, his mouth never stopping either.
"Because the Land of Whirlpools possessed extremely powerful sealing jutsu, the nations outside feared them, but also wanted to obtain their sealing jutsu."
"Greed and fear destroyed this country."
As he spoke, Pero saw through layers of obstructions to a secret chamber hundreds of meters beneath the center of the ruins.
Pero beckoned, signaling Konan to move farther away.
Seeing Konan fly into the sky, he crouched and plunged both hands into the earth.
His bio-electric field spread out, instantly enveloping a vast mass of earth.
He straightened and lifted gently.
Rumble...
The ground let out a thunderous rumble as Pero effortlessly lifted hundreds of meters of earth.
He gently set the enormous mass of earth aside, crushing a swath of ruins.
Watching this miracle from the sky, Konan sucked in a breath, thinking that even the strongest Earth Release probably could not accomplish anything on this scale.
She raised both hands and patted her cheeks, focusing her attention.
In a flash, Pero moved into the secret chamber at high speed.
There was an altar inside, with a wooden stand supporting a scroll atop it. Pero picked it up, paused, then vanished again.
The next moment, he appeared beside Konan and casually tossed her the scroll.
"Here, the Uzumaki's secret techniques. Take it back to Nagato."
Catching the scroll, Konan opened it curiously and discovered that it recorded all the Land of Whirlpools' secret sealing techniques.
She also learned from it that the Adamantine Sealing Chains were a kekkei genkai sealing jutsu unique to the Uzumaki Clan, and that every red-haired Uzumaki Clan member knew this technique.
"Wait here a moment. I'll be right back."
The instant he finished speaking, Pero vanished.
Hearing his voice, Konan raised her head and looked around, but could not see Pero anywhere.
"You!! Not again!!"
Outside Konoha's office.
While listening to an Anbu ninja's report, Minato pushed open the door to the Hokage's office.
He found the guards inside drenched in sweat, looking at him with terrified eyes.
Minato turned his head toward the chair beside the window.
The chair slowly turned around.
Pero's face appeared before Minato.
Minato let out a sigh of relief.
"Mr. Pero, what do you want to do?"
"I received your intelligence."
"On the day Kushina gives birth, someone will probably come to cause trouble. I'll play with him."
Hearing this, Minato felt reassured.
But at the next sentence, his pupils contracted.
"When the time comes, give me the Nine-Tails, and leave Madara Uchiha to me too.
Madara Uchiha... was still alive?
Before you continue