At dusk, within the quiet room of Amegakure's high tower, Konan opened her eyes. She rested the back of her hand lightly on her forehead as fragmented memories of the previous night surfaced in her mind.

  After a moment, she pulled back the covers and noticed that she was now dressed in a white robe.

  Her e eyes narrowed slightly. "Last night... I remember Naruto saying he would find a woman from the vilge to help, but I stopped him. After that..."

  Sigh. Taking a deep breath, Konan sat up and began to tidy her appearance.

  No woman dislikes looking her best, and even someone as cold and elegant as Konan was no exception. She applied a light purple eyeshadow and adorned her hair with a pale blue paper flower. As for the pierg beh her lip, it was a keepsake from her ing-of-age ceremony.

  Once her makeup was done, she got out of bed to ge.

  The white robe slipped off, which she folded ly and pced into the wardrobe.

  In front of the mirror, her graceful figure was fully revealed. Her fair skin glowed like pristine snow uhe spring suaut abdomen bore a small navel ring—a secret even Nagato had never known.

  Rustle.

  She slipped into a backless fishop with a zipper, paired it with tight-fitting vender pants, and draped over herself the bck cloak embroidered with red clouds and white trim—the signature attire of the Akatsuki. She tied the Amegakure forehead protector around her right hip.

  This was her usual outfit, practical for battle while embodying the ideals of the Akatsuki and her identity as a shinobi of the Hidden Rain.

  When Konan stepped out of her room, Naruto was already waiting in the corridor, seemingly for some time.

  Looking at his back, she asked, "You didn’t sleep at all?"

  Naruto nodded lightly before turning to face her. "Konan-nee, about st night... I'm sorry."

  The apology stemmed from his belief that making Konan apany him and his shadow es in the rain all night had caused her to fall ill.

  Konan lowered her gaze and said softly, "It's fine. You’ve had it harder than me."

  Naruto didn’t dwell on it. He smiled and said, "Let’s go grab something to eat."

  I of Amegakure, a meal had already been prepared, with most of the dishes tailored to Naruto’s taste.

  Konan, aced to light vegetarian meals, only paired her food with grilled fish as the sole noarian option.

  "I’ve gathered new ihe Akatsuki is pnning a series of major moves," Naruto said during the meal, sharing the information he had extracted from White Zetsu’s mind.

  Konan’s beautiful eyes narrowed. "To think they would go to such lengths just tet you."

  Naruto sighed. "Yeah, Obito is a master strategist, adept at maniputing people’s hearts. I have to admit, his pns hit right where it hurts."

  "Also, we o start building our own intelligework."

  "The Akatsuki has tless White Zetsu scattered across the shinobi world, monit every little movement."

  Naruto’s expression turned serious. "Holy, it ure luck that I caught wind of their pns this time. Otherwise, things could have gone very wrong."

  "We ’t keep going like this. If we don’t act soon, we’ll end up pletely on the defensive. We o get this done as quickly as possible."

  Kona down her chopsticks, wiped her mouth with a napkin, and said firmly, "Leave this matter to me."

  "Will it be difficult?" Naruto asked.

  Konan replied, "Amegakure still has reserve shinobi who are separate from the Akatsuki. I pn to gather them a suitable didates."

  Naruto nodded. "Good. If there are any promising talents among them, they be trained arusted with important responsibilities."

  After the meal, Naruto and Konao the seashore near Amegakure, where Kisame was resting shirtless on a coastal rock, clearly having just emerged from the water.

  "Good work, Kisame. I’ll assist with the phase of operations."

  Naruto stepped onto the water and formed hand seals.

  Summoning Jutsu!

  Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

  White smoke rose as a variety of amphibious summoning creatures appeared—crabs, squids, crocodiles, turtles, octopuses, jellyfish, and even serpentis.

  Uheir appearances in the realm of reination, these creatures were now embedded with thick bck rods, their eyes refleg Naruto’s Rinnegan.

  The Animal Path’s enhanced summoning teique allowed these creatures to retain their primal instincts and bat skills while ag under Naruto’s chakra. Furthermore, they shared their vision with him.

  Naruto specifically instructed Kisame, "When you exhaust your chakra uer, you replenish it through them. Absorb as much as you need without w about my reserves."

  "Uood. This will make things much easier for me," Kisame said as he stood, merged with Samehada once more, and dove bato the sea.

  Konan remarked, "The Rinnegan’s summoned creatures act using the caster’s chakra. Normally, their range is limited. However, depending ouation, they operate in two modes. You allocate chakra to them in advance, allowing them to adepely regardless of distance. But ohat chakra is depleted, they’ll stop moving."

  Naruto nodded. "Makes sense. After all, they’re teically already dead. For now, we’ll use the seode sihere’s still much to do."

  He csped his hands together and distributed chakra proportionally to each summoning creature via the bck rods.

  Once finished, he waved his hand, sending the creatures into the sea.

  "Are you heading out?" Konan asked.

  "Yeah. The Akatsuki’s major moves mean we o accelerate our pns. Before Orochimaru returns, I o some unfinished business."

  Konan stepped forward voluntarily. Naruto pced his left hand on her shoulder and activated the Flying Raijin.

  "Let’s go—to Kumogakure."

  Swish!

  In an instant, they arrived at the base of Thunder Mountain, where Kumogakure was located.

  However, Naruto didn’t head up the mountain immediately. Instead, he went to a nearby location.

  From White Zetsu’s memories, he had learhat the Akatsuki had successfully huhe Eight-Tails, and Killer Bee had met a grim fate.

  Killer Bee had been one of Naruto’s acquaintances in his past life. They had shared many pleasant times together.

  The Thundercloud Ge remained unged, but the carefree figure rapping offbeat lyrics was gone forever.

  At the peak of the ge, Naruto pced a paper flower, removed his mask, and closed his eyes in silent m.

  "Bee-san... Without a doubt, my return disrupted the flow of history, ily leading to your demise."

  "For that, I truly feel regret."

  Naruto gazed at the drifting clouds in the sky, his expression somber and resolute.

  "But even after witnessing that hellish future, I o longer naively promise to save everyohis time."

  "I will keep moving forward, following my own path, unwaveringly!"

  "Iure, others will iably fall on this path because of me, either directly or ily."

  "I don’t know if this is right , but it’s the only choice I make now."

  Naruto wasn’t being cold-hearted; he had simply witoo mahs—people falling like ants before his eyes. Having faced the overwhelming power of that , he uood that é would only lead to more casualties.

  Konan watched Naruto’s back, knowing only she uood the immense burden this weathered young man carried on his shoulders.

  At this moment, she felt a genuine desire to witness his jouro the end and follow him to the very st.

  After the m, Naruto put his mask ba, his aura shifting back to one of deadly resolve.

  With a firm tone, he decred, "Inform Kumogakure: Either prepare what I want, or prepare for an all-out war. At midnight tonight, the Akatsuki will pay them a visit!"

  AnnouMy Patreon has been updated to Chapter 110. Feel free to visit, and happy reading, everyone!"

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