And Shisui Uchiha, who had already been treated by Obito Uchiha as a tool to muddy Konoha's waters, knew nothing about any of this.
At this moment, he was standing under the intensely suspicious gazes of the surviving people of Loulan, forcing himself to explain the transaction Kirigakure wanted to reach with them.
In order to win the support of at least half of Loulan's survivors, he was working unusually hard.
"You don't seem worried at all that he might fail to convince my people."
Sara looked at Nagato, who was standing to the side with an expression of obvious schadenfreude as he watched Shisui Uchiha be repeatedly tormented by all sorts of strange and difficult questions from the Loulan survivors.
A little puzzled, she asked, "I thought you were at least companions with similar goals and positions. Are you not?"
"If you call us companions, I suppose we are."
Nagato shook his head and spread his hands helplessly toward Sara.
"But I'm not a Kirigakure shinobi. I don't understand the bizarre way that guy, the Fourth Mizukage Rei Kaguya, thinks the way Shisui does. Even if I wanted to go over there and help win people over, I wouldn't know what to say."
"…Are all shinobi nowadays like you?"
Sara looked Nagato up and down with great suspicion. His aura had already begun to transform.
She muttered quietly, "When Konoha's shinobi came here to carry out the mission to eliminate Anrokuzan in the past, they weren't like you people…"
"Oh?"
Nagato raised a brow, looking with interest at Sara, whose complexion had already improved greatly.
"Does that mean Your Majesty is interested in telling me about Loulan's past? I don't mind being a good listener."
"There is no need. No matter how many times unnecessary matters are repeated, Loulan is no longer the Loulan it once was."
Sara shook her head. Her expression turned slightly emotional.
"I am no longer the puppet queen who was casually manipulated by Anrokuzan without knowing anything. The people of Loulan are no longer slaves oppressed and enslaved by Anrokuzan's brutality either.
"We are now walking on the free road we chose for ourselves."
"You're about to lose that freedom soon."
Nagato thought back on all the experiences he had gone through since meeting Rei Kaguya and kindly reminded her.
"From the moment Rei Kaguya set his sights on you and became interested in you, you could no longer return to being the free selves you once were."
"W-What does that mean!?"
Sara was startled by Nagato's shocking statement.
"Are you saying that Fourth Mizukage has the power to control people's hearts!? That… that is far too terrifying, isn't it?"
"Uh, if you want to understand it that way, it's not exactly wrong. But…"
Nagato shook his head and said with a trace of self-mockery, "He usually uses conditions and ideals people cannot refuse to change their thoughts, making them become his supporters and followers. Even if he wants someone to act as a decoy to draw attention for him, he will state it openly and directly during the conversation…
"Rather than saying he controls people's hearts, it is more accurate to say he sees through what each of us is thinking, then makes plans specifically designed to push us step by step into a situation we cannot refuse.
"By the time we realize it, we have already been firmly tied to his war chariot. Turning back is no longer easy."
"Isn't that even more terrifying!?"
Sara's reaction was intense.
"N-No wonder those conditions he mentioned to me before were all so difficult to refuse. So even with only a tiny bit of chakra attached to a summoning beast, he could already see through my heart?"
"Well…"
Nagato touched the red hair hanging by his temple and shook his head in amusement.
"To be honest, I can actually see a bit of that too. Although I can't casually draw so many grand visions for Loulan that seem close enough to touch but are actually far away the way Rei Kaguya can, it is not difficult to use your desire to revive Loulan as the key point to persuade you."
"…Are we that easy to understand in the eyes of you shinobi?"
"If you did not want to rebuild your homeland, why would you continue staying in this barren desert, guarding the ruins of Loulan day after day?"
Nagato spread his hands, his tone calm.
"No one wants to become someone who has lost their homeland and has nowhere to return to. No one wants to see their homeland become a ruin that can never be restored. If we take thoughts that every one of us would have and apply them to others, naturally we can reach similar realizations."
"You make it sound so easy."
Sara quietly expressed her dissatisfaction.
"It really was not that easy at first. But once you slowly become used to it, it is no longer so difficult."
Nagato smiled gently.
"Taking the first step toward a new direction is always difficult. But that guy, Rei Kaguya, always has a way of giving us a goal worth taking that first step toward… In that regard, I am still quite grateful to him."
"Then why did you say… things like losing your freedom after meeting him?"
Sara did not quite understand what Nagato's exact position was.
"Don't you look like you are enjoying it?"
"After all, it means letting one's own thoughts be stained with colors prepared by someone else, and letting seeds provided by someone else be planted in one's heart. To a certain extent, that truly is not very free."
Nagato blinked, then smiled and added, "However, while living in this world, who has never accepted another person's teachings? Who has never been influenced by another person's ideals and thoughts?
"To make a new flower of your own bloom from the thoughts and ideals someone else gave you is also a kind of tempering and self-sublimation."
"After saying all that, you really are still standing on that Fourth Mizukage's side, aren't you!?"
"Otherwise, why would I come with Shisui Uchiha as his envoy to visit you?"
Nagato shrugged, utterly unconcerned by Sara's expression of sudden realization.
"If not for his sudden commission, I should already have settled down in Konoha right now and begun preparing to deal with everything that might happen there next."
"Konoha? You are going to Konoha?"
When Nagato mentioned Konoha, Sara's spirits immediately lifted.
Her eyes widened. She grabbed Nagato's hands with great seriousness and spoke in an anxious tone.
"Um, if you really are going to Konoha, could you help me ask about a child called Naruto Uzumaki while you are there?
"Although the other Konoha shinobi who participated in the mission to defeat Anrokuzan back then said Naruto Uzumaki was a shinobi from the future, someone who would definitely return to his original world after the Dragon Vein was sealed…
"But even if he came from the future, after so much time has passed, at his age, he should have already been born in Konoha by now, right?"
"…What are you planning to do to him?"
Nagato looked at Sara warily.
She had suddenly become excited, as if something inside her had been activated all at once.
"Let me say this first. If you want me to bring that Naruto Uzumaki from his parents to Loulan, I absolutely will not agree."
"N-No, no. I just… I simply want to confirm whether he was born safely, whether he is living properly in Konoha. That is all."
Sara bit her lip and spoke in an almost pleading tone.
"Please. You only need to help me find him and confirm that he has grown up properly…
"I have long known that nothing could happen between me and a child who had not even been born in this era yet. But hoping that he can grow up healthy and strong into the person I knew should still be allowed, right?
"If you can help me find out Naruto's whereabouts, I… I will help you persuade the people of Loulan so they do not oppose a tentative cooperation with Kirigakure too much. All right?"
Nagato looked at Sara's serious expression, which did not seem false, and took a deep breath.
"There is no need for the latter… If it is only helping you take a look at that child, I can still help."
"Thank you very much."
Sara bowed deeply to Nagato with the etiquette of the Queen of Loulan.
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