Achoo!
Sitting on Yuto's lap, Kushina sneezed violently, furrowing her brow. "Why do I feel like someone's cursing me out?"
"Are you joking?" Mikoto beside her shot her a glance, then speared a piece of orange from the fruit platter and stuffed it into Yuto's mouth. "Who would curse you? Who would dare?"
"That's hard to say. Isn't there one that would right in front of me?" Kushina raised an eyebrow.
"I'm just the second wife, I wouldn't dare to curse the first wife" Mikoto retorted with sarcastic sweetness.
"Wasn't the game already finished? What are you still working on?" Kushina ignored her, turned her gaze to Yuto, who was clacking away at coding, and asked curiously.
"Testing for smoothness," Yuto replied bluntly without looking up.
"Ugh, it's making my head spin," Kushina said, not daring to stare at the code he was typing any longer. She lowered her voice and asked, "You actually sent Nagato to run an aquatic product farm? Is that really appropriate?"
Yuto paused, then smiled. "The Land of Waves respects the aspirations of every law-abiding citizen."
"That's not what I mean, and you know it!" Kushina's eye twitched, her expression a mix of disbelief and secondhand embarrassment. "The guy has the legendary Rinnegan! And he's using it to... raise shrimp? And crabs?!"
—
*Land of Waves, Aquatic Farm.*
"The water temperature should be just about right now," Nagato said, standing on the bank of the pond, watching the fish and shrimp frolic in the water. "It was probably too cold before; the aquatic life wasn't very active."
"Are you analyzing this for my benefit?" The corner of Sasori's mouth twitched as he stood beside Nagato.
"Obviously."
"Have you lost your mind, Leader? I'm an assassin who pursues eternal art! And now you're having me manage a fish pond?"
"It's also a field of study, Sasori. Don't underestimate the technical know-how required for managing an aquatic farm. The future of the Hidden Rain Village may very well depend on it."
"Can I quit the organization now?" Sasori took a deep breath, his expression deadly serious. "Can I just fucking quit?"
"Of course you can," Nagato said, turning his gaze to him and nodding. "As long as you're confident you can walk out of the Land of Waves, I will even wish you a safe journey."
Even Sasori's puppet face seemed to contort, his back molars grinding together.
'Is this guy even human?'
'Is this damn leader even human?'
'Could a human being even say something like that?'
With the current combat power and surveillance capabilities of the Land of Waves, if they really wanted to catch someone, not even a fly could escape! Saying something like that—damn it.
"If you don't want to do aquaculture with me, you could always go work with Kakuzu," Nagato suggested.
"I'd rather die!" Sasori's eyes sharpened.
He was a true artist. The thought of working with that money-obsessed accountant was a fate worse than death.
"You're awfully picky, Sasori."
"What kind of mental state allows you to say something like that?"
"Later, I'll ask Yuto for you. Maybe he can get you into the R&D (research and development) department?"
"Who wants that!"
"Then it's settled. I'm going in to check on Ali now."
Ali...
Watching the other man's retreating back, Sasori's expression once again turned complicated.
That Ali wasn't even human!
It was a female crab taller than a person, practically the star of this aquatic farm!
All the crabs in this farm were Ali's descendants. Although this giant crab's intelligence couldn't match a human's, it was certainly smarter than the average wild beast.
Sasori suspected this thing was an ancient summoning beast .That Nagato had taken the opportunity to name it Ali.
This giant crab was well cared for at the aquatic farm. When Nagato had time, he would use a brush to clean its body and even feed it personally.
Sasori had seen the scene many times and he still found it hard to get used to.
'Abandoning the leader position of the Akatsuki to go scrub a damn crab's body... What kind of weird fetish is this?'
Honestly!
Turning around, Sasori left helplessly.
Splash.
A basin of fresh water poured over the giant crab's body. Nagato, holding a brush, meticulously scrub residue from the crevices of its massive claws.
The crab named Ali remained perfectly still, even helpfully lifting its claws to give him better access.
"Nagato."
Konan, wearing a white flower in her hair, walked up to them.
"Oh, what brings you here today?" Seeing his old friend, Nagato smiled.
"Escorting a prisoner here to help you." Konan gave a small nod and moved aside, revealing Jiraiya in a prisoner's uniform behind her.
Master and disciple stood facing each other, the air instantly thick with awkwardness.
"He's your responsibility now. I'll leave him to you." With her message delivered, Konan turned and left without another word.
"Heh, heh..." Jiraiya's expression was stiff, his mouth twitching. "You've grown up, Nagato."
"Jiraiya sensei." Nagato opened his mouth, his expression complex. "I imagined countless scenarios for our reunion, but…"
"Don't say it. I was too careless." Jiraiya took a breath, resigning himself. "I never expected the Land of Waves' security to be so tight."
"It doesn't have much to do with security, actually. The moment you entered the Land of Waves, you were marked." Nagato continued his work, his expression calm.
"What?" Jiraiya didn't understand the logic.
"The entire Land of Waves is under Yuto's control. Nothing here can be hidden from him," Nagato explained plainly.
"So, sending me here was his idea too?"
"Not necessarily. That's within Konan's jurisdiction. He doesn't interfere with others' authority, even though he has the power to."
"I see." Jiraiya's expression became thoughtful.
"You were given a hard time during the interrogation by Konan, weren't you?" Nagato looked at him.
"You know about that too?" Jiraiya was surprised.
"She's been in a bit of a mood these past couple of days, and you just happened to cross her path." Nagato shook his head, sighing. "You have my sympathy, Jiraiya sensei."
Jiraiya looked embarrassed and changed the subject. "What about Yahiko? Isn't he with you?"
"Yahiko is dead." Nagato's hands paused momentarily, his tone flat.
"I-Im sorry ...I didn't —."
"Yuto brought him back to life."
"..."
Jiraiya really felt like cursing right now. Couldn't this damn disciple speak without such dramatic pauses?
But, brought back to life, huh?
It seems Hayashi Yuto truly possesses the ability to resurrect the dead. So the sightings of Pakura, Hōzuki Mangetsu, and Fuguki Suikazan that day weren't illusions?
"Jiraiya-sensei, are you still thinking about sending intelligence back to Konoha?" Nagato's voice broke through his thoughts. He chuckled softly. "I'd advise you to let that go."
"Hmph, questioning my abilities, kid?"
"Not at all. I'm just saying, even if you sent it out, it wouldn't mean much. Although Konan gave you a hard time, sending you here was also for your own good. She didn't want you to become a casualty for the sake of those ignorant shinobi."
Jiraiya fell silent, lowering his head.
"Since you're here, you might as well work hard." Nagato reached out and patted his shoulder, his tone mild. "Let me introduce you. This is Ali."
"A... Ali?"
Staring at the giant crab blowing bubbles at him, Jiraiya fell into deep thought.
_____
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