Konan was pulled into Ryosuke's arms.
Her chin rested on his shoulder, and her amber eyes gazed toward Amegakure. Two streaks of tears slid down her cheeks.
Her tears were for her reunion with Yahiko and Nagato, for the destruction of Amegakure, and perhaps, just a little, for the joy of finding life again in the face of despair, the instinctive joy of being alive.
No matter how sad Konan felt about the fall of Amegakure, she couldn't lie to herself.
She wanted to live.
Because only by living… Could she have her revenge.
Ryosuke didn't ask what had happened, and even when he saw the hatred in her eyes, he didn't try to comfort her.
He simply kept channeling Ripple energy into her, helping her maintain her Dance of the Shikigami form.
No one knew how long it took, but when the last tear fell, Konan gently wiped her face.
"Sorry… for causing you trouble."
Her voice was hoarse.
"It's not trouble."
Ryosuke said seriously, "Anything that concerns you isn't trouble to me. We're friends."
Much of the intel about the Akatsuki and Nagato had come from Konan's memories, and it had helped Ryosuke greatly in battle.
If that could be counted as Ryosuke's "spoils of war,"
then after Konan rejoined the Akatsuki, their occasional exchange of letters had brought Ryosuke plenty of feedback about the spread of the Awakening Ideology in restricted regions.
Those reports had helped Ryosuke avoid countless unnecessary setbacks while promoting the Awakening movement in the hidden villages and other nations.
To put it simply, Ryosuke's daily soul fragment income had gone up.
On a deeper level, Konan was one of the earliest people to walk alongside him, outside of Kirigakure.
Back then, because of Nagato's ideals, they couldn't interact much.
But their thoughts had always aligned.
"I understand your determination to take down the masked man and purge the Akatsuki yourself, but..."
Ryosuke pulled a small red vial from his ghost room and handed it to her.
"Sometimes, you can rely on me too."
'Rely…'
Konan repeated the word in her mind.
An orphan since childhood, she had long been used to living alone and solving her own problems, until she met Yahiko, Nagato, and Jiraiya. That was when she finally had what she could call a "family."
Later, in order to give the people of Amegakure a better life, they founded the Akatsuki.
That was the happiest time of Konan's life.
Her family and friends grew in number.
Konan had many people she could rely on.
But then Yahiko died, and the original Akatsuki was destroyed.
The second generation of the Akatsuki perished as well.
Nagato died, and Amegakure was erased from existence.
Bit by bit, the world stripped away everything she could depend on, until... she was alone again.
Once more, Konan had lost everything she could rely on.
"Everyone who spends time with me… seems to end up unhappy," she murmured.
Ryosuke pointed to the sky and said, "Don't worry, the White Snake Sage is protecting me from the underworld."
'White Snake Sage…'
Konan pressed her lips together, not sure how to even respond. She wasn't much of a talker anyway, so she let the topic slide and took the vial from Ryosuke's hand.
Without asking what it was, she opened it and drank it down in one go.
A second later...
"Ugh!"
Konan doubled over and vomited out her own organs.
Not only that, but her lower body began to break apart into a mess of shredded paper as her flesh exploded outward. The sight was horrifying.
"Ahhh!!!"
She screamed in panic, hands on the ground as she scrambled to her feet.
"Huh?!"
Konan looked down at her completely restored limbs, then felt her fully healed insides. Her mouth hung open as she pointed at the shattered vial.
"What the hell was that?!"
"Special medicine."
It was a restorative potion made with pearl jam as the core ingredient, mixed with numerous materials that accelerated the regeneration of flesh and bone. The broth was steamed, extracted, and condensed into a single vial of ultra-potent elixir.
'This effect is way too good though…'
Ryosuke thought, then glanced at the paper scraps on the floor and understood.
It must've been because of the Dance of the Shikigami.
That jutsu essentially "elementalized" Konan, allowing her to nullify most physical attacks. Even without Ryosuke's potion, as long as her chakra reserves stayed full, her body would naturally regenerate.
Her survival ability was no weaker than Kakuzu and Hidan's so-called immortality.
"Now," Ryosuke asked, "can you tell me what exactly happened?"
Konan took a deep breath and recounted everything she had experienced. When she finished, she said, "He took the Rinnegan. The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path was probably summoned away too. That statue is the key to the Tailed Beast Weapon Project."
Ryosuke frowned slightly. "You're saying… the masked man and that freaky White Snake group are trying to continue Nagato's Tailed Beast Weapon Plan?"
"I've fought that masked bastard a few times. Aside from knowing he's worse than an animal, I don't know much else."
Konan said, "My understanding of him isn't much better. Maybe the only thing I know more than you is this, he definitely has an even more disgusting purpose."
Ryosuke nodded, and a golden flame appeared in his palm.
"Then let me see what that beast is up to."
'Hermit Purple.'
Purple vines wrapped around the Ripple flame.
In Kamui's dimension, Obito suddenly sensed Ryosuke's gaze. He turned his head, and through the mask, his single eye glared straight into the void, meeting Ryosuke's sight.
[Fast reaction.]
Obito's stance made it clear that he'd detected Ryosuke's vision and had immediately retreated into the Kamui space.
In other words, if Ryosuke could see him, his location risked being exposed.
In the golden flame's reflection, Ryosuke also saw Kabuto's back as he worked in a laboratory. Around him were pieces of research equipment, several shelves lined with scrolls and materials.
Apparently, fearing Ryosuke's pursuit, the wicked Great White Snake had simply moved the entire lab into the Kamui dimension. And to keep Kakashi from throwing random things in there, he'd even set up a defensive barrier around it.
A few seconds later, the effect of Hermit's Purple faded.
Ryosuke couldn't lock onto Obito's position.
Konan wasn't disappointed. Having experienced Obito's cunning herself, she patted Ryosuke's shoulder.
"It's fine. As long as he's still alive, we'll find him eventually."
Ryosuke stroked his chin and opened the system interface to check Hermit's Purple's status.
[Hermit's Purple (Four-Star): Level 2.]
Before this, Ryosuke's soul fragments had been scarce. With the Akatsuki, the syndicates, and the feudal lords all trying to kill him, he'd poured every bit of his resources into upgrading his direct combat abilities, focusing on his five- and six-star Stands.
But now… Ryosuke was rich.
Even without killing anyone, he was making around 150 to 200 soul fragments a day.
He could finally afford to upgrade his utility-type Stands.
'System, upgrade Hermit Purple.'
[Confirm..]
Before the system could finish speaking, Ryosuke cut it off, 'No need to ask from now on. Just max it out.'