"You're you, and he's him. Even if Konoha suspects him of something, that suspicion would surely be directed at him alone."
"As long as your conscience is clear, the higher-ups won't give up on you after they've investigated."
Liumu crouched in the corner, looking at Anko about two meters away as he did his utmost to persuade her.
"But..."
Anko had just begun to speak when, unexpectedly...
"But what! Why worry about so much?"
Liumu simply stood up and told her, "At worst, I'll vouch for you. With my reputation in Konoha, vouching for you shouldn't be a problem."
"Besides, Konoha is your home. Can you really bear to leave it like this?"
Anko: ...
"What about your friends? They'll definitely be thrilled to see you."
Anko: ...
"You must not have had Teuchi's ramen in ages. He recently introduced a new one, and it's especially delicious. Don't you want to try it?"
Anko: ...
"What about snacks? Like shumai, grilled fish, sticky rice dango, octo..."
Liumu: ???
As he mentioned dango, he saw Anko's body visibly tremble.
So Liumu cautiously spoke again. "Dango..."
Anko trembled.
"Dango!"
Anko trembled again.
"Dango, dango, dango!!"
Anko: (Gulp, gulp, gulp!)
Liumu: ヽ(ー_ー)ノ
Sure enough, Anko was a confirmed foodie.
"I haven't had dango in so long. I want red bean ones, sticky rice ones, pork floss ones, cream ones..."
Liumu: ...
Liumu was speechless.
Had he known she was this easy to lure, Orochimaru wouldn't have needed to tie her up at all. Couldn't he just have brought her a few skewers of dango at regular times every day?
"How do we get out?"
Anko reached out and knocked on the metal door, then turned to ask Liumu.
"Do you know about what's happening in the Land of Sound? Every detail!"
Anko