Konan had no argument to offer.
Ever since Emiya Shirou had taken control of the Akatsuki, Nagato was no longer the extremist he once was. It was as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
That man… he had truly changed everything.
Emiya Shirou had healed Nagato's legs, freeing him from the dark, lonely rooms where he used to sit lost in thought. He could walk and act on his own again.
Of course, Nagato was still… odd.
He seemed to be living in a strange fantasy, a past where Pain was still their leader, Yahiko, and Yahiko was still by their side. But compared to the constant threat of the Rinnegan draining the life from his body, Konan found this fractured reality a relief.
At least she no longer had to worry about him dying at any moment.
"If that's what you want to do… then do it," Konan sighed, choosing to support Nagato's quest for revenge in Yahiko's name.
Still, she couldn't help but worry. "Just… be careful. We can't risk exposing our identities."
"Don't worry," Nagato offered a pale smile. "No matter what, we can't mess up Lord Emiya's plans."
"Also," Konan added, her anxiety flaring up again as she studied his face, "while we have the chance… I'm going to ask Lord Emiya to check on your health one more time."
Even with his legs healed, the sheer power of the Rinnegan was more than his body could fully handle. The Hashirama cells gave him a much stronger life force, but every time he used his eyes—especially when maintaining the Deva Path for long periods—it still weakened him.
Still, compared to before, it was nothing. This level of weakness was manageable. Nagato himself felt he had no real problems.
No matter how you looked at it, things were much, much better now. Their plan for peace, their very lives—it was all a world away from the harsh old days.
-----
It was late at night in Konoha Hospital, but Emiya Shirou was still hunched over case scrolls, reviewing them carefully.
The plan for the Rain Village trio to sneak into Konoha during the Chuunin Exams and assassinate Danzo? It was a plan Emiya Shirou had guided them to create himself.
And Black Zetsu was a vital part of it.
Now that Naruto Uzumaki had graduated from the academy, Emiya's role as his protector in Konoha was less critical.
When Black Zetsu had approached him, suggesting he return to the Akatsuki to help with their plans, Emiya mentioned one loose end: he wanted to get rid of Shimura Danzo before he left.
His reasoning was simple. It was time to correct his own past mistakes.
But he had never found the right opportunity to act.
Black Zetsu immediately relayed this information to Nagato's group, hoping they would stir up some major trouble in Konoha. Just like Orochimaru and Obito wanted Emiya's true role as the Akatsuki's leader to be exposed,
Black Zetsu craved a dramatic reveal.
In fact, Black Zetsu's thinking was even more extreme. He hoped Emiya Shirou would end up breaking ties with every other ninja in the world.
Only then, he believed, would Emiya finally abandon all other hope for changing the ninja world and fully commit to reviving Kaguya.
This year's Chuunin Exam was set to become a storm that would shake the entire ninja world.
The shinobi of Konoha, however, knew nothing. They were busy preparing for the exams, hoping their genin would make the village proud. In this time of peace, the exams had become a substitute for war—a way for villages to flex their military muscle.
Tsunade couldn't care less about any of that. She sat across from Emiya Shirou, sipping a cup of sugarcane juice, her life proceeding as usual.
"I knew I'd find you here," she said casually. "Oh? Are you reading a medical chart I wrote? Is there a problem? I even had Shizune double-check it!"
"This part here," Emiya said, circling a spot with his brush.
His voice was calm as he explained, "The complications from this disease don't always show up as a single symptom. When you write in such absolute terms, claiming the patient only had one symptom, other medical ninja might use this as a reference. That certainty could make them careless or inflexible, which could lead to…"
"Alright, alright!" Tsunade waved her hand, cutting him off. "Okay, I get it. I'll fix it. I was in a rush today, but I'll pay more attention next time."
"I already fixed it for you," Emiya said, not looking up. "Shizune is still just your student. With her level of experience, she can't catch these subtler mistakes yet."
He finally shook his head and met her gaze. "You need to learn not to repeat these kinds of errors. I can't always be here to correct your charts for you."
"I get it," Tsunade sighed, rubbing her forehead. She wasn't a naive child anymore. She knew that one day, Emiya Shirou would leave her.
Still… the thought was hard to accept. You get used to having someone around, but you never quite get used to the goodbye.
But Tsunade didn't let it bother her too much. At least she knew he wasn't leaving anytime soon.
"Alright, that's all," Emiya said, rolling up the scroll.
With a flick of his wrist, it floated through the air and settled perfectly into a slot on the wall.
Tsunade's gaze followed the scroll, her eyes then sweeping over the thousands of others piled on the shelves. A sense of calm settled over her.
All of these… she had written them during her time back in Konoha. Keeping detailed medical records was a habit she had learned from him.
"Perhaps I'm being too hard on you," Emiya said suddenly, his eyes also on the shelves of scrolls. "Tsunade, you've done very well."
"But…" He turned to look at her, his calm expression now filled with earnestness. "You carry the future of all medical ninja on your shoulders. So, I need you to do even better."
Perhaps he'd been a medical ninja for too long. Even now, on the verge of letting go of that identity, he couldn't help but secure the future of medical ninjutsu.