Nara Kazuki’s pupils contracted slightly. His heartbeat spiked—then steadied.
"One order, sir?" the street vendor asked cheerfully.
Kazuki smiled and nodded, ordering one.
It looked like fried chicken, but once Kazuki stood closer, he realized it wasn’t. Real fried chicken required a lot of oil—something the impoverished Land of Rain couldn’t afford for cheap street food. There were probably upscale restaurants that could pull it off, but not roadside vendors.
This thing was something else entirely—coated in some kind of yellow powder, unknown meat or maybe mushroom inside. Smelled good, though—fragrant, with a weirdly appealing aroma.
It was the yellow powder that had tricked him into thinking it was fried.
"I’ll take one too," said a calm voice beside him.
The girl raised her hand. Her manicured nails caught the light. Kazuki glanced at her—and froze when he saw that unmistakable shade of blue-violet hair.
One of Akatsuki’s founding trio. The only one of the original three still functioning like a normal human. Yahiko was dead. Nagato had summoned the Gedo Statue and was now a husk—sunken cheeks, skeletal limbs, halfway to death.
Konan was the only one still standing, and her strength was nothing to scoff at. Her wealth-fueled war tactics had left Naruto fans everywhere in awe. Six hundred billion explosive tags? People were still arguing whether that was her Paper Release ability... or whether Nagato and the rest of Akatsuki had been working full-time just to buy her more tags.
Kazuki leaned toward the former. Her Paper Release could probably produce the tags herself. Because even with Akatsuki’s efforts, six hundred billion tags was an obscene number. The money alone could’ve hired a hundred jōnin for a decade.
Konan was so precise with her Paper Clone illusions that even Obito’s Mangekyō Sharingan hadn’t detected the trap. If not for Izanagi—the technique that rewrote fate—Obito might’ve died then and there. Konan’s death had always felt like a tragedy.
Kazuki let a flicker of admiration show in his eyes, then turned back to the food stand.
Shisui also gave Konan a couple curious glances. Her outfit stood out, and she was undeniably beautiful.
But his look was nothing strange—Konan didn’t seem to notice or care. She made no threatening moves, which let Kazuki relax slightly. For a moment, he’d even suspected the vendor or the entire town might be a transformation created by her God’s Paper Person Technique. It was that potent.
But when Konan received her food and made no further move, Kazuki finally exhaled.
"She’s probably just on patrol or handling some side business... Akatsuki’s still in its consolidation phase," Kazuki mused, walking away with his food.
Still, bumping into Konan the moment they entered the Land of Rain? That was intense. If she was nearby, Nagato was probably close too. Maybe even Obito and Black Zetsu.
Thankfully, nothing happened. As they left the small town, no one came chasing them down, no mysterious masked men appeared, and Kazuki finally let his guard drop.
"Those people just now—they were from Konoha, weren’t they?" Konan asked as she handed some food to Nagato.
"Yeah... even in disguise, that chakra..." Nagato smiled weakly, his gaze distant as he stared into the horizon. Then he coughed again.
Konan silently handed him a bowl of herbal medicine. Nagato took a sip—but couldn’t suppress the spasms.
He hadn’t acted because they were merely passing through. Akatsuki was still underground, still gathering strength. It wasn’t time yet.
"...Not yet. Yahiko... I’ll make your dream come true," Nagato whispered, his voice fading into silence.
"Aren’t you curious what I went through back there?" Yamanaka Mai asked as they crossed into the Land of Fire, walking beside Kazuki.
Tanuki said nothing. Neither did Kakashi or Shisui, though they drifted a bit closer. Mai, however, stuck close to Kazuki.
"...You just really want to talk, don’t you?" Kazuki shot her a sidelong glance. He wasn’t curious. He’d already guessed most of it—she got found out by Iwa-nin, ended up hunted down. The real question was how she got exposed. That’s what her story was probably about.
"Well, since you’re so eager to know, I’ll tell you," Mai said, calm as ever.
"...I never said I was curious." Kazuki winced. What was wrong with her ears?
But he sighed. Let her talk. She was probably doing it more for Tanuki’s sake anyway.
Mai’s voice was quiet, flat—almost emotionless. The team’s mood grew awkward.
Kazuki mentally summarized the hour-long monologue as:
"No good deed goes unpunished. Poor villagers will sell you out. Don’t be an idiot."
Classic parable: The Farmer and the Wolf. Mai had helped civilians—and they’d sold her out for profit. Now her views on civilians were shifting. That... was a problem.
Kazuki frowned. This version of Mai might not fit his plans anymore.
He’d needed a fool. Someone self-sacrificing and purehearted enough to throw themselves into danger for others. The old Mai had been perfect.
Now... he wasn’t so sure.
As Mai finished, Kazuki was drained, and Tanuki’s aura had softened noticeably.
Yep. She’d told the story for him.
They really were a bizarre father-daughter pair.