Hermit Purple.
Ryosuke took out his Polaroid. After a moment, a photo slid out.
The picture was pitch-black, extremely dim, nothing could be seen clearly.
"Star Platinum."
Ryosuke handed the photo over, then took out pen and paper from the spirit room. The raindrops falling from the sky naturally parted around him, avoiding Star Platinum so it wouldn't interfere with the drawing.
Star Platinum only glanced at the photo once before his pen began to move swiftly. In no time, an image gradually took shape.
It was a pair of dull, lifeless eyes.
Below them was a cheek covered in fine sand and soil. The rest of the body was mostly buried too, but from the part that showed, a red cloud pattern could be seen on the cloak.
Further down…
The waist and legs were completely gone.
That greatly reduced Star Platinum's workload. He finished the drawing with a single hand, one that wore a ring engraved with the word "White."
Akatsuki's White Tiger, that was, "Konan."
BOOM!
A golden flame ignited the sky. In an instant, all the dark clouds and rain evaporated into steam. Ryosuke released Hermit Purple to guide his direction, his speed soaring to the limit.
———
Konan lay in the ruins.
She was dying.
To be precise, she should've been dead four days ago.
———
[Four Days Earlier]
Obito had launched a surprise attack on Amegakure, his goal naturally being Nagato's Rinnegan.
Konan had long suspected his intentions, so she'd laid a trap in advance, planting countless explosive tags specifically to counter Obito's intangibility.
Yes, Konan had anticipated Obito's arrival.
But she didn't ask Ryosuke for help.
Because at her core, she was proud, and deeply emotional.
She was Nagato's last companion, and it was her duty to protect his body.
And since Nagato himself hadn't asked Ryosuke for help before his death, that meant he wanted Konan to be the one to bury him.
So Konan was ready to die with Obito.
When the sixty billion explosive tags detonated, she told Obito, "A new era is coming. The Akatsuki of the old era should end here…"
"Die with me."
Obito sneered.
"Die with you? What, do you think you're Rin?"
Seeing the contempt in his tone, Konan slightly shook her head.
But unlike the original Naruto story, because of Ryosuke's interference, Obito had already used the ultimate Sharingan technique, Izanagi, multiple times, during the Yagura downfall and the Roran ruins. Konan had long been prepared for this.
Beneath the sixty billion explosive tags... was another sixty billion explosive tags.
While Nagato had been busy tracking the nobles and feudal lords, compiling scrolls of intelligence, Konan had been doing only one thing, siphoning funds from the major corporations.
With such an enormous quantity, even if Obito used both his eyes, he should've died here today.
However...
"Konan! You've got to be kidding me, you actually spent all the money I earned on something like this?!"
A familiar deep voice came from behind.
Konan turned around, her pupils contracting sharply.
Kisame, Kakuzu, and Deidara stood just a few dozen meters away. Their skin was pale and cracked, their sclera pitch-black, and only their pupils glowed amber.
Kisame and Deidara hung their heads slightly, like puppets without emotion.
Only Kakuzu was different.
He glared deathly at the sixty billion explosive tags, teeth grinding audibly, his brown-yellow eyes filled with fury.
Konan's brows furrowed slowly.
"Edo Tensei… and with awareness intact."
"This is your trump card?"
Obito said nothing.
He didn't understand what was going on with Kakuzu.
Kabuto was flustered in the back, and he didn't understand either.
"Kakuzu's soul is fighting violently, it's like he's watching the person he loves being humiliated before his eyes!"
The White Snake Sage beside him slapped Kabuto with its tail. "Stop spacing out. Kill that woman first."
"O–Oh! Right!"
Kabuto snapped back to attention.
The battle that followed was… underwhelming.
Konan's explosive tag trap was designed to kill Obito, it was almost a perfect counter.
But against immortal Edo Tensei puppets, it put her at a huge disadvantage.
The fight dragged on for a long time, from the sea to the wasteland, then into Amegakure itself.
Seeing their "Angel" surrounded and attacked, the ninja of the village rushed out to help, only to be slaughtered mercilessly in the rain-soaked night.
Civilians hid in their homes, trembling in fear.
In the end, Konan was defeated. Deidara's C4 Garuda blew her body apart.
She was buried beneath the earth.
In that condition, even if she used the Dance of the Shikigami to turn her whole body into paper, she would've died as soon as her chakra ran out.
So Obito didn't bother wasting time searching for her corpse in the rubble.
His and the White Snake God's goal was Nagato's body, the Rinnegan.
After confirming the Rinnegan was still intact, Obito handed Nagato's body to Deidara.
"You go first."
"What about you?" Kabuto asked.
"I'll clean up."
"Clean up?"
Kabuto, the White Snake Sage, and Hidan didn't understand what he meant.
When they controlled the three Edo Tensei puppets and walked a distance away, they suddenly heard explosions behind them.
Obito had used Kamui to store Konan's sixty billion explosive tags in his pocket dimension.
Now, hovering above Amegakure, he released them all.
A long chain of explosions, screams, and death.
That was Obito's "cleanup."
He didn't want anyone to know they had taken Nagato's body, especially Ryosuke. Killing all witnesses was the simplest way.
Kabuto's face darkened. Even back when he followed Orochimaru, though he didn't value human lives, he had never committed such pointless slaughter.
The White Snake Sage's expression remained cold, human life meant nothing to it.
Hidan frowned deeply. Such sudden, meaningless death, without preparation, was a desecration of death itself.
But regardless of what any of them thought, when the last tag fell, Amegakure had no survivors left. Obito vanished into the sky, slipping into Kamui's space.
What they didn't know was that Konan had been carrying a small vial of purple medicine, a forbidden drug from the Foundation, originally given to Nagato.
She drank it one sip at a time, replenishing her chakra, sustaining the Dance of the Shikigami.
Because if she released the technique, she would die instantly.
So she clung to life, using her remaining hand to fold a paper mouse. Bit by bit, it dug out from the earth, heading toward Amegakure to seek help.
She carried hope in her heart.
Until...
She saw it.
The ruins. The corpses.
The paper mouse froze on a high ledge. Its hollow black eyes transmitted the image straight to Konan.
Plop!
The mouse fell into a puddle.
And moved no more.
The medicine was gone.
Her chakra nearly exhausted.
Amegakure, annihilated.
Akatsuki, annihilated.
Nagato, dead.
Yahiko, dead.
Konan's memories kept rewinding, flashing before her eyes like a train racing backward through time, until it reached the final stop.
She stood in darkness.
Before her was a small campfire.
Beside it sat two men drinking tea.
Yahiko and Nagato.
There was even a third cup on the table, seemingly prepared for her.
"I'm sorry. I messed everything up."
Nagato waved a hand dismissively. "It's just a corpse. As for the villagers… you can't blame yourself. Blame the killer instead."
Yahiko smiled brightly. "Long time no see, Konan."
Tears shimmered in her eyes.
She walked forward, about to pick up the teacup, but suddenly, Nagato reached out to stop her, his hand pressing over the cup. He smiled and shook his head. "This tea's too hot. You can't drink it yet."
She looked up in confusion.
Nagato tilted his chin toward the darkness behind her.
"Look. He's come to get you."
"He…?"
"Konan."
She heard a voice calling her from the farthest edge of the world. She turned sharply, an arm pierced through the darkness, its light reflecting in her gray, lifeless eyes.
Ryosuke brushed away the sand burying her, pulling her from the ruins and holding her tightly in his arms. Ripple energy flowed through her.
After a brief yet endlessly long silence in their senses,
Thump!
Pressed tightly together, their chests felt each other's heartbeats.
In the darkness, Yahiko and Nagato still sat by the fire. Yahiko's mouth hung half open.
"Wait… that actually worked?"
Nagato shrugged.
"Told you, he's a pretty miraculous guy."