At the same time, in the Land of Rain, Amegakure.
The highest administrative center in the upper levels of the tower.
Having finally concluded the months-long negotiations with the Sunagakure representatives, Yahiko slumped exhaustively into his office chair.
Staring at the towering stack of documents awaiting his review and approval, a pang of regret surged in his heart.
Why had he been so reckless back then?
What kind of idiot makes grand vows to change the country as a kid?
Wouldn't it have been better to find a beautiful girl, settle down, and live a peaceful, loving life?
Knock knock!
Hearing the sound, Yahiko shook off his wandering thoughts and straightened up.
"Come in."
Creak—
"Yahiko, I heard that in the cooperation agreement with Suna, there's a clause stating that Rain's fully automatic heated toilets will be sold to them at a 70% discount for the next three years?"
Konan pushed open the door and got straight to the point.
Yahiko nodded. "Yes, it was to demonstrate our sincerity in this partnership."
Hearing this, Konan—Rain's finance minister—narrowed her eyes into a sweet smile, knowing full well that the deal was already signed and irreversible.
"Yahiko, after being cooped up in the meeting room for so many days, you must want to stretch your legs a bit, right?"
At this, Yahiko finally caught on, his heart sinking.
Was Konan here to hold him accountable?
Seeing the blatant refusal on his face, Konan chuckled and waved her hand, cutting off any chance for him to decline.
"Don't overthink it. I just thought we could have a little sparring session—strictly taijutsu, just taijutsu."
Yahiko let out a small sigh of relief.
Though, admittedly, only a small one.
A tiny sliver of unease still lingered in his heart.
After all, back in Akatsuki's leadership, Konan had been widely known as the venomous... ahem, the most ruthless woman... no, the one who would stop at nothing... cough!
In short, he couldn't let his guard down!
"Konan, no weapons allowed, okay?"
...
In the roughly basketball court-sized training room, the two stood in the center and exchanged polite nods before the spar began.
"Alright, begin—"
Nagato, standing to the side, raised his arm high, about to announce the start of the spar, when he was suddenly interrupted by a clinking sound.
Yahiko, who had fallen silent upon seeing the kunai that had accidentally slipped out of Konan's wide sleeve and clattered to the ground, blinked several times in disbelief.
Based on Yahiko's years of experience, the sheen of that kunai made it obvious—the blade was absolutely coated in poison!
"Uh…"
"I'm a ninja, right?"
Konan, completely unfazed, looked at him as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"So isn't it normal for me to carry one or two poisoned kunai? Wait, you don't actually think I'd use it against you, do you? Come on, we agreed this was just a no-weapons spar. Why would I do something like that?"
"Uh…"
After a moment's thought, Yahiko had to admit she had a point.
And since her expression showed no hint of deception, he eventually nodded in acceptance.
"Fine then. Nagato, let's start over."
"Ready, begin—"
Clang! Clatter! Bang! Crash! Thud!
Yahiko blinked again as he stared at the pile of weapons that had just spilled from Konan's—kunai, short swords, tanto, explosive tags, smoke bombs, poison gas canisters, pepper spray, a whip, and more.
"This…"
"What's the matter?" Konan asked.
"Uh… isn't this a bit much? Even if we were heading to war, no one carries this many weapons! And at least half of them are poisoned, right?"
Irritated by Yahiko's nagging, Konan snapped impatiently.
"Enough already! Who do you think you are, my nosy aunt? Just get on with it! And don't you know? Besides being a ninja, I'm also a delicate woman!
"Katsura-sensei said women are a vulnerable group—we have to protect ourselves!
So what's wrong with me carrying extra weapons to fend off perverts and shady men? Is there a problem with that? Is there?!"
Once again, Yahiko was left speechless by Konan's retort and was seriously considering backing out.
But before he could say anything, Konan cut in again.
"Nagato, hurry up and start!"
Snapped back to attention by Konan's call, Nagato once again raised his arm high.
"Begin—"
Clang! Crash!
Yahiko's eyes widened as a massive hammer and chains tumbled out of Konan's clothes and hit the ground.
At this point, he knew—if he didn't run now, he'd be a complete idiot!
"Yahiko, actually, the roof at the ninja academy is leaking, and since we're short on hands, I had to take the hammer to fix it myself. And the chains? Just tools to secure the roof—"
Before she could finish, Yahiko had already turned tail and bolted.
"Konan, I just remembered some urgent paperwork I need to handle! Let's reschedule the spar for another time!"
Konan's brow twitched, and the killing intent she'd been suppressing burst forth.
"You're not getting away—!"
...
Outside the tower, in a secluded corner.
Yahiko, hidden around a bend, held his breath and cautiously peeked out.
When he saw Konan, teeth gritted and expression fierce, storming off in the opposite direction with hammer and chains in hand, he finally let out a sigh of relief.
'It seems i narrowly escaped disaster!'
Leaning against the wall, Yahiko placed his right hand over his chest and let out a long sigh of relief.
After all, being caught by Konan would have been truly disastrous.
"Seriously, why did Konan have to internalize Katsura-sensei's words 'To protect what must not be lost, any means are justified' so thoroughly? She used to be much cuter..." Yahiko muttered under his breath.
"Is she not cute now?"
Hearing this, Yahiko crossed his arms and nodded emphatically with closed eyes.
"Mhm, exactly! She's become so fierce that she's completely uncute now! Can't find a single cute thing about her! If anything, she's becoming less and less like a girl!"
The moment these words left his mouth, Yahiko suddenly sensed something was amiss.
His expression changed drastically as he mechanically turned his head.
When he saw Konan standing there with curved eyes and an extremely sweet smile that carried no warmth whatsoever, Yahiko instantly broke out in a waterfall of sweat!
This is bad!
At this moment, Yahiko fully understood the cruel fate that awaited him.
Noticing Nagato standing nearby, looking everywhere except at him, Yahiko immediately realized the truth.
This traitor had led the enemy right to him!
"Nagato...!"
"I heard a new noodle shop opened in the village. Since we don't have work right now, I'll go have some soba. You two can... spar. See you later!"
With that, Nagato waved without looking back, completely ignoring Yahiko.
Staying here risked getting caught in the crossfire when the enraged Konan lost control!
Besides, he'd heard the Widow running the soba shop had some interesting stories to tell, and he...
Well, he quite enjoyed listening to stories.