The reactions he received were inconsistent.
Some were warm like fire, others tender like water.
If one were to describe Konan's voice, it was like a flower.
"Hmph... mm..."
Konan's small face was taut with tension.
Shimizu didn't mind, simply watching the scenery outside the window quietly.
In the original work, the emotional storyline of the trio was tortuous. In both the manga and novel versions, Yahiko and Konan had mutual affection; the feeling was there. The anime version added some melodramatic plot points, allowing Nagato to intervene. When Konan held Nagato's hand, Nagato blushed mysteriously, while Yahiko hid behind a tree, saying nothing.
But regardless of what the reality was, at this moment, the choice was no longer up to Konan.
A large hand stroked Konan's head.
A gust of wind blew outside, shaking the branches and leaves. Konan's heart felt equally blown about, desolate and bleak.
In the end, she did it.
She betrayed herself.
She only hoped that Shimizu would honor the agreement, heal Yahiko's injuries and Nagato's legs, and let the Akatsuki organization return to how it was before. Back to the times when everyone struggled together for true peace.
Akatsuki Base.
Yahiko leaned against a section of ruins. The rain outside had grown heavier.
Early this morning, Yahiko discovered Konan was missing. Nagato had also disappeared. It wasn't until he asked Kyūsuke that he understood: Nagato had taken men to raid Amegakure.
"Sigh."
Yahiko sighed heavily. He didn't know how many people would be sacrificed. Revenge was justified, but it shouldn't involve others. Nagato had ruthlessly killed people just because they heard his real body. There shouldn't have been only this one solution.
Yahiko spread open his left hand; it was trembling uncontrollably. He immediately covered his left hand with his right to stop the shaking.
To this day, he remembered accidentally killing an Iwagakure ninja. That was the first time he had stabbed someone. Although that person had rushed at him, it was undeniable that the result was caused by the kunai in his hand. Just recalling the sensation of stabbing into flesh made Yahiko tremble with fear.
How did Nagato manage to kill so many people? Clearly, those victims were just bodyguards watching a village, belonging to Amegakure in name only.
"Did Konan... go with them too?"
Yahiko watched the torrential rain falling to the ground, creating ripples upon impact. Suddenly, in the distance, a beautiful silhouette holding an umbrella gradually approached.
Yahiko's eyes focused, and he waved with a smile. "Konan, why did you come back alone? Where are the others?"
Konan, who was walking with her head lowered under the umbrella, raised it slightly and saw Yahiko leaning against the broken wall. His innocent smile caused a pang of pain in her heart.
She squeezed out a faint smile. "I... I went to bring Shimizu Uchiha to help heal you."
Konan shifted her body slightly. Only then did Yahiko realize there was someone following behind her—it was indeed Shimizu Uchiha.
"Lord Shimizu!"
Yahiko propped his body up from the wall, leaning on his crutch to take a few steps forward.
"The rain is heavy; don't stand out here getting wet," Shimizu said.
With a flicker of movement, he appeared right beside Yahiko.
Yahiko was excited but also harbored a trace of confusion. It hadn't been long since they completed the supply handover; why would Shimizu come here? And it was Konan who had actively called him.
"Lord Shimizu, are you here to..."
"Miss Konan entrusted me to treat you. She produced something that interested me. I saw her sincerity, so I squeezed out some time to help treat you."
Konan, who was a few steps behind, finally reached Yahiko's side and briefly explained the situation to him, telling him not to worry and that his illness would soon be cured.
"I see." Yahiko nodded and led the way. Halfway there, he asked curiously, "Konan, what did you give Lord Shimizu?"
"...No, nothing much." Konan's tone was slightly flustered. Unfortunately, inside the base beneath the ruins, the lighting was dim. Yahiko didn't notice Konan's evasive gaze.
"It was a paper flower, a paper flower blooming in full splendor. Isn't that right, Miss Konan?"
"Mm... yes, I used Paper Ninjutsu to make a flower for him." After a brief moment of panic, Konan went along with Shimizu's explanation.
Yahiko glanced at Shimizu with surprise. He hadn't expected him to have such artistic sensibilities. Yahiko didn't understand art very well, but he knew some people disregarded everything for the sake of art. There was a village dedicated to ceramic arts where the villagers were crazy about it. Perhaps Shimizu had a side like that too.
Yahiko walked to the bedside.
Shimizu had him lie down and administered a shot of anesthesia. The Akatsuki members had left only a few people to keep watch. The rest watched vigilantly as Yahiko fell into a coma, guarding against Shimizu.
Seeing this, Konan explained to the others that Shimizu was there to heal Yahiko.
"Konan, did you... really just give him a paper flower?"
In the deeper shadows stood a machine. It looked like a shell made of wood, with four thick pillars acting as legs. Nagato's lower body and hands were inserted into this machine. His red hair covered his face, but through the gaps in his hair, Nagato was watching them.
The ultimate observational power of the Rinnegan allowed him to notice some discrepancies.
The moment Konan walked into the base, shared vision was transmitted to Nagato. He had left one Path of Pain squatting at the entrance. Only five Pains had gone out; the remaining one was used to guard his main body and Yahiko. He had originally wanted to ask Konan to keep watch, but she had disappeared early in the morning.
Now, after Konan walked into the base, her back was facing the Pain. Nagato thus saw her from behind.
The hair on the back of her head was slightly messy. Almost instantly, Nagato saw the direction of every strand of hair and realized this strange shape could only be formed if a pair of invisible, large hands had pressed down on the back of Konan's head for a long time.
He felt suspicious. Shimizu hadn't attacked Konan, had he?
"It was just a paper flower." Konan nodded, feigning calm.
Nagato hadn't had much contact with matters between men and women; sometimes, he would even blush just looking at her. Someone so shy couldn't possibly know what she had just done! Despite the guilt of betrayal, Konan held her head high, her expression unchanging.
"Yahiko has entered anesthesia. I am going to start the surgery."
Shimizu took several scalpels from his ninja tool pouch and sterilized them.
"..."
Nagato shut his mouth. He stared at Shimizu for a while, then looked at Konan.
Konan couldn't bear to watch Shimizu cut open Yahiko's chest to reveal the scarlet internal organs, so she turned her head. Her chin pressed against her high collar, exposing her fair neck.
At this moment, Nagato noticed small white spots on Konan's neck.
The Akatsuki organization's uniform had a high collar that completely covered the neck. Apart from the observational power of Nagato's Rinnegan, no one else in the Akatsuki noticed this.
He inexplicably felt that this matter was not that simple.
The surgery went very smoothly.
After Shimizu worked for a while, he had cleared all the clotted blood accumulated in the chakra points on Yahiko's body and reconnected the severed meridian system.
Snip...
Shimizu cut off a piece of excess suture thread. A long surgical scar was now visible on Yahiko's chest.
"Done. Do not let the wound touch water for these next few days."
Shimizu began to pack up his tools. Taking benefits from others to eliminate their disasters—he had always been fastidious about integrity.
"Okay." Konan's voice was somewhat hoarse. She nodded slightly, seriously memorizing Shimizu's instructions. Her sacrifice had finally yielded a return. Konan felt a little comforted in her heart.
"Next is Nagato's legs." Shimizu looked toward Nagato in the shadows.
"God needs to feel pain at all times; only then can the pursuit of peace be maintained."
Before Shimizu could say anything, Nagato preemptively refused.
It made little difference whether he had legs or not. To travel the ninja world in the future, he only needed to rely on these six puppets. They were his avatars, his eyes, and his limbs.
"Nagato, you should heal your legs," Konan said, not understanding Nagato's refusal. She had paid a great price to invite Shimizu. Yet Nagato was talking about feeling pain?
"No need." Nagato refused once again.
Shimizu glanced at Konan and smiled. "Everyone has their own way of thinking. I will be leaving first. Miss Konan, next time you come, don't forget the sincerity, as well as the intelligence I asked you to collect."
After speaking, Shimizu's figure vanished from the spot, leaving behind a wisp of flame.
"What jutsu!?"
Nagato's Rinnegan contracted at Shimizu's sudden disappearance.
Hiraishin no Jutsu?
No, that's not right. He had never heard that Shimizu Uchiha knew the Flying Thunder God Technique.
"Fire Release: Shunshin no Jutsu..."
Nagato remembered the reason Shimizu was called "Shunshin Shimizu." At that speed, even with the dynamic tracking ability of his Rinnegan, it was astonishingly fast. In combat, it was very likely that his eyes would react, but his body would not.
"Ah..."
Yahiko opened his eyes; he had been woken by pain. Shimizu's anesthesia dose was low, and Yahiko felt severe pain all over his body. Seeing the wound on his chest, he knew the surgery was over.
"Yahiko, how do you feel? Can you mold chakra normally?" Konan asked immediately.
"I can!" Yahiko tried briefly and found that chakra was flowing through his meridian system again.
"Congratulations, Yahiko."
Nagato stopped guessing about Shimizu's strength and turned to look at Yahiko. Now that Yahiko had recovered his strength, more and more people would support him. After all, many companions had gathered together because they were attracted by Yahiko's charisma.
The Akatsuki organization would soon face a clash of ideologies.
Was he correct, or was Yahiko correct? Nagato fell into deep thought.
"Heh heh, Shimizu-kun, not staying a little longer?"
Orochimaru asked, attempting to detain Shimizu as he proposed to return.
Shimizu's learning speed in scientific research was incredibly fast; in a short time, he had become Orochimaru's capable assistant. Sometimes, when Orochimaru conversed with Shimizu, he found himself captivated by the whimsical ideas in Shimizu's mind. It was like knowledge from another world.
Orochimaru was deeply fascinated by this. He even postponed Shimizu's participation in human experiments to focus on orthodox research.
"It will be the same when you return to the village," Shimizu waved his hand, walking out of Orochimaru's base.
Orochimaru would soon be unable to protect himself. Shimizu had learned enough for now. It was time to leave Orochimaru.
Once Orochimaru returned to the village, it wouldn't be long before he defected. At that time, anyone associated with Orochimaru would undergo investigation. Shimizu did not want anyone coming to investigate his home.
He couldn't withstand a search. A secret chamber, a laboratory—how could a normal person have these things in their home? Even if he explained it away, he would need to report it and would face surveillance from then on.
"Looking at this child... it is such irony for someone called a genius like me."
Orochimaru stared at Shimizu's retreating figure until he disappeared. At Shimizu's age, he did not have such achievements. It was hard to imagine what kind of power Shimizu would possess once he reached adulthood.
"That physique will also become more perfect." Orochimaru licked his lips. Sooner or later, he would obtain that perfect body.
After several days of travel, Shimizu finally returned to Konohagakure.
He didn't want to reveal the Hiraishin no Jutsu just yet. At most, he would use it privately in front of people he was confident he could control. If he revealed it publicly, Shimizu couldn't explain how he acquired the technique.
Claim he realized it himself? No fool would believe such a rumor. As a fellow practitioner of the Hiraishin no Jutsu, Minato Namikaze would be able to tell at a glance that Shimizu was using the authentic technique.
"Coo coo!"
A white pigeon flapped its wings, flying from the treetops in the courtyard onto Shimizu's shoulder, nuzzling Shimizu's face affectionately.
"Cursed Seal of Man..."
Shimizu turned his head to look at the white pigeon. He was also conducting experiments on the Cursed Seal of Man. However, the lab rats generally couldn't withstand the mutation; they would die while mutating.
"Coo?" The white pigeon bobbed its head, wondering why its master was staring at it.
Shimizu patted its small head, smoothed its feathers, and walked into the house.
Perhaps he could first research how to allow ninja beasts to accommodate more chakra, making them gigantic. Then, finally, compress them into human form.
The Orphanage.
Nono Yakushi touched the envelope in her hand. She didn't need to look to know that the money this time was less than before.
"Director, some of the children are getting sick," an old man with glasses stood out and said. Some children had already developed illnesses due to malnutrition.
"Take this money and buy some good ingredients first." Nono Yakushi took the money out of the envelope and handed it to the old man.
The old man hesitated for a moment, then clutched the money and left the second floor.
She didn't have any good solutions either. She could only take it one step at a time alongside the Director.
Nono Yakushi frowned tightly. She walked to the window and looked at the adopted children outside through the glass. They had completely lost their usual liveliness, all appearing somewhat sickly due to a lack of nutrition.
"If Shimizu doesn't have a way, I can only try to return to Root."
Nono sighed in her heart. The frequency of Danzo sending people to cause sabotage had decreased significantly. This indicated that her value as a spy was gradually declining in Danzo's mind. It indirectly proved that the war was about to end.
But if she actively asked to return to Root, Danzo would certainly welcome her. After the war, with everything waiting to be rebuilt, it was the perfect time for espionage work to infiltrate.
The interval between the Second Ninja World War and the Third Ninja World War was very short. No one could say for sure how long it would be before the Fourth Ninja World War arrived. It might be a few years, it might be more than ten years; it was all an unknown.
"I'll leave the orphanage to you for now."
Nono called for the stout nun. She told her she was going to Konoha and that they shouldn't worry about financial matters; she would solve it. Subsequently, she set off for Konoha that very day.
Orphanage Entrance.
Kabuto Yakushi watched the Director's receding black silhouette, feeling a sense of urgency in his heart. He was intelligent and guessed that Nono Yakushi was returning to Konoha. That was the only place where Nono could quickly obtain money.
To find that Shimizu Uchiha, or perhaps that 'Root'.
What if the Director went to join the Root run by that one-eyed man? Kabuto had a terrible impression of Root. The last time they came to the orphanage, they had directly threatened the Director. It was only settled by the Director's former eldest disciple, Shimizu Uchiha.
But that big brother came to the orphanage less and less frequently. The Director was also racking her brains over the orphanage's money problems.
Instinctively, Kabuto didn't want Nono to find Shimizu Uchiha either. It gave him an empty feeling in his heart.
Without the Director, there would be no name "Kabuto Yakushi." Kabuto had always wondered who he really was; it was only relying on the name and glasses bestowed by the Director that he could find himself and find his meaning.
Other orphans, like him, had forgotten their names, or were too young to have names at all. They were all given names by the Director and inherited the surname Yakushi.
But the only difference was that he had the glasses given by the Director. These were glasses Nono Yakushi had worn for who knows how many years. Therefore, Kabuto cherished these glasses greatly and viewed himself as someone unique to the Director.
Now, however, Kabuto discovered that the Director had a past they didn't know about. And her relationship with that man named Uchiha was not simple. Whenever Kabuto thought of this, he felt a heaviness in his chest.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Urushi noticed Kabuto staring blankly in the direction the Director had left.
"No, it's nothing." Kabuto hid the emotions on his face very well.
Urushi didn't notice a thing. He continued to look into the distance, praying for the Director to return early.
Hyuga Clan.
"Shimizu Uchiha is back?"
Ginka Hyuga, who was chatting with Hinatsuki Hyuga, looked at Natsu Hyuga, who had pushed open the door.
Ginka Hyuga's brows furrowed slightly. So, Shimizu Uchiha had finally returned.
"Ginka, do you know people from the Uchiha clan too?"
"I'm looking for him to treat Nobuhiko."
"Is that so."
Hinatsuki Hyuga realized. Unfortunately, she didn't have a disease; she was just congenitally weak. This probably couldn't be cured.
"You may leave."
Natsu Hyuga bowed and retreated. Before outsiders, the two remained harmonious as master and servant. Only in private was their relationship equal.
"Ahem... Hinatsuki, I still have things to do. Let's chat next time."
Ginka found an excuse and left Hinatsuki's room.
That shameful outfit was still pressed under her bed to this day. Now that Shimizu was back—which was good, as Nobuhiko's eye injury had a solution—the bad part was that she also faced a choice.
To wear it, or not to wear it?
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