Ryosuke picked up a roasted rabbit leg and tossed it over.
Konan caught it, but did not eat. Her gaze was wary. She repeated again, "What did you do to me?"
"I just want to talk to you calmly."
Ryosuke had read Konan's memories, understood her past with Nagato, and also saw her ties with Jiraiya.
A group of children living in a war-torn region, after growing up, hoped to create peace with their own hands, to challenge the rules of the world, this was brave.
But likewise, it would encounter suppression from the rules.
Hanzo who forced Yahiko to die, the masked man who manipulated their actions, the differing ideologies within the team... all of these were derivatives of the "world's rules."
"…Your original goal is being distorted, heading toward another hell."
Konan tightly pressed her lips, "What do you know?! Living in Konoha, young Uchiha master, you don't even know how miserable civilians from small countries become when war breaks out!"
"I know."
Ryosuke said calmly, "Indeed, I've never personally experienced war. But history remembers all sorrow and pain."
"His… tory?"
Konan couldn't understand.
This world had always been vague toward "history."
Ninja schools, major clans, all deliberately erased much of history. Because of this, villages, noble houses, ninjas, though they appeared to change and grow generation by generation, in reality, they just killed the same enemies, committed the same mistakes.
Ryosuke waved his hand. "It's okay. No rush to understand. I won't try to persuade you in a few sentences. Once humans are formed, their foundational cognition is not easily shaken."
"For the time being, I will meet some people, do some things. You just follow me for now."
Konan clenched her fists.
Ryosuke really was treating her as a prisoner. The bad thing was, even though her chakra was full, she couldn't muster the will to escape or attack Ryosuke.
"Relax, food and lodging are covered."
He tore off another rabbit leg. Beneath the slightly charred outer skin, the rabbit meat dripped with oil. The rich aroma of meat wafted out. Ryosuke took out a small seasoning box and sprinkled a little on top.
"Want some?" Ryosuke asked.
Konan's eyes were about to shoot fire, "What do you want to do to me?"
Ryosuke tossed the seasoning box over, and without hiding his thoughts, said directly, "I hope that after going through some things, your thoughts will change, that you can become a bridge between me and Nagato."
Nagato was the first person Ryosuke had met since coming to the Naruto world who didn't just resist a specific person or organization, but resisted the rules of the entire world.
Ryosuke wanted to have a proper conversation with Nagato.
But the current Nagato was no longer the same.
From Konan's memories, it was clear, after Yahiko's death and the masked man's manipulation, Nagato had become increasingly extreme.
Ryosuke needed someone by his side to serve as a middleman.
"You actually know about Nagato!" Konan realized.
The world only knew Pain, knew Konan, but with their deliberate concealment, not many people remembered the name Nagato anymore.
Ryosuke's tone clearly showed he knew that Nagato was the true mastermind behind Akatsuki.
"What I know... is far more than you." Ryosuke said.
Konan stared at Ryosuke intently. After a moment, she asked again, "What makes you think I'll help you?"
Ryosuke shrugged, "Who knows."
Konan thought this man in front of her must be insane.
Who did Ryosuke think she was? Just one genjutsu, and he wanted to permanently control her?
Did Ryosuke not worry she would find a flaw in the genjutsu and take the chance to kill him?
'Oh right…'
Konan remembered Ryosuke's nearly immortal body.
"Tch!"
The always gentle-tempered Konan rarely clicked her tongue.
However, hunger was creeping in. Escaping or assassinating would need enough physical strength. Konan stopped talking to the lunatic, sprinkled seasoning on the roasted meat, and began to eat it in small bites.
After silently eating for a while, Konan once again raised her head and seriously asked, "What is your real goal?"
Ryosuke thought for a moment and raised the finished rabbit leg in his hand.
"The me from before... when I caught a rabbit, I didn't know how to handle it. It was a kid who taught me how to deal with fur, guts, how to roast it, when to brush on oil, when to sprinkle seasoning."
Ryosuke tossed the bone into the fire.
"He was a good person, polite, caring, and protective of the weak."
"But his whole family died. He's about to die too."
Ryosuke looked Konan in the eye and smiled, "You ask what I want to do? I just… don't want to see this kind of stuff, that makes your heart heavy just by hearing about it, happen over and over again."
Konan stared blankly at Ryosuke. She only felt that the gaze passed through the eye contact... was incredibly heavy.
Ryosuke shook his head and looked away.
Becoming a prisoner wasn't something to be happy about, especially since Konan had also been written with a "command" by Ryosuke. The conflict between self-will and command was extremely uncomfortable.
Ryosuke decided to give Konan some time to digest on her own.
He opened the system interface to organize the gains from this round.
First was soul fragments.
After extracting White Snake, he had 1090 remaining.
Killing Orochimaru earned 600.
Defeating Konan earned 870.
Plus some scattered Sound Ninja, Ryosuke had a total of... 2680 soul fragments.
Ryosuke reviewed his Stand collection.
Upgrading Star Platinum from level 3 to level 4 required 2000 soul fragments. But from recent draws he had gained some experience, so now it only needed 1730 soul fragments to upgrade.
Ryosuke didn't hesitate, he proceeded to level up Star Platinum.
The glow of soul fragments landed on Star Platinum, making it even more solid. Its eyes faintly shone with starlight.
All things in the world, when reflected in these eyes, moved in slow motion.
Even if tens of thousands of attacks fell at once, Star Platinum could rely on those eyes to catch them all, and crush them one by one with its fists.
'Slow motion... could this be the prerequisite for Star Platinum to gain 'time stop'?'
In the JoJo anime, there were also time-stopping powers.
The World showed it by stopping time like a gear halting motion.
Star Platinum's power was more like, through unmatched dynamic vision and speed, to surpass the constraints of time.
The way their powers manifested was similar, but their principles were vastly different.
After Star Platinum reached level 4, it would take 4000 fragments to go to level 5.
Ryosuke was looking forward, once it reached level 5, what kind of transformation would occur? Would he finally have a chance to control "time"?
With 950 fragments left, Ryosuke decided to spend 400 to raise White Snake to level 2.
After reaching level 2, White Snake's disc-grabbing and illusion-casting speed increased. It put one hand on its waist, gave Ryosuke a thumbs-up, and said, "Yo~ you've got good taste. Upgrading me was the right move."
It still wanted to chat more, but considering Konan was still present, Ryosuke gave it a look to signal "we'll talk later," then dismissed it.
Current Stand setup:
Star Platinum (5-star): Level 4
White Snake (5-star): Level 2
Aerosmith (5-star): Level 2
Hermit Purple (4-star): Level 1
Rainbow Catcher (4-star): Level 1
Melee, ranged, scouting, illusions, all covered. As for the greatest weakness of Stand users, physical fragility, Ryosuke had mostly resolved it.
In fact, purely from a combat perspective, aside from Star Platinum, the other Stands were weaker than Ryosuke's own body.
Ryosuke clenched his fists.
Even outside combat, Ripple and Natural Energy continuously strengthened Ryosuke's body 24/7.
At full power, he could break free from gravity and had the ability to fly.
In fact, Ryosuke felt that eating and drinking were just habits, he didn't really need food. Just breathing and sunlight were enough to sustain his body.
'Self-training… flying… fasting…'
Ryosuke scratched his head, 'This Ripple breathing technique, am I basically training for immortality?'
"Hey!"
Konan interrupted Ryosuke's sigh.
Ryosuke pulled an orange from his backpack and tossed it over, "Done digesting?"
"You said you'd take me to meet some people, go through some things… where are you taking me?"
"The later parts are hard to say. But the first stop, I can tell you."
Ryosuke said, "I'm going to Konoha to save someone."
"Konoha?" Konan stood up.
"You still dare go to Konoha? Aren't you afraid?"
Ryosuke slightly shook his head, "The ones who should be afraid… are them."
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