Chapter 38: The First Signs of Konoha's "Friendship"
Ambiguous?
Konan froze for a moment, then immediately understood what kind of ambiguity Shiromo was referring to.
Even so, she still shot him a reproachful glare, tinged with mild annoyance, and didn't say anything more.
The last time Shiromo teased her like this, Konan had suddenly remembered that she was already a grown adult in her thirties. What was there to be embarrassed about? Even if she hadn't eaten pork, hadn't she at least seen pigs run? Knowing about these things was perfectly normal.
So now, when facing Shiromo's remarks again, she came with a built-in layer of immunity.
But this time…
After rolling her eyes, Konan's mind involuntarily, and automatically, began forming a solution.
Shiromo, Kisame, and Itachi had encountered Team Kakashi during a mission in the Land of Waves, and Shiromo had explained to Sasuke how to obtain the ultimate ocular power of the Uchiha clan.
Some time ago, after Shiromo returned from Iwagakure, whenever he had free time, he casually told Konan about what had happened in the Land of Waves, the Land of Water, and the Land of Earth.
Among those stories, one point left a particularly deep impression on her:
The condition for advancing the Rinnegan was to have an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan with Indra's power, fused with Asura's power.
Konan remembered this very clearly.
Because if what Shiromo said was true, then Nagato's Rinnegan could not possibly have been something he was born with.
As for the later discussion between Konan and Shiromo about Uchiha Madara's schemes, that part wasn't important.
What mattered was that Konan learned from Shiromo the method he had given Uchiha Sasuke for advancing, After obtaining the Eternal Mangekyō, drink a cup of milk every day from Uzumaki Naruto, Asura's reincarnation.
It sounded a bit perverted, but logically, there was nothing wrong with it.
And Shiromo hadn't denied Sasuke other options either, he could also choose the "cell transplantation" method that involved harming Naruto.
Clearly, this solution for Rinnegan advancement also applied to the problem Konan was facing now: how to obtain Shiromo's "aura."
This time, it wouldn't be about sharing the same cup of milk, It would be about drinking the milk directly…
"Ahem. I think I'll just wait for the Mutual Explosive Tags technique after all. Thinking about it carefully, having you repair explosive tags is really overkill."
Konan suddenly changed her tune, her face completely serious.
"Hm?"
Shiromo noticed a trace of awkwardness beneath her composed expression.
Before he could say anything, Konan fled as if escaping, flying away.
She didn't want to dig any deeper.
However, her method this time gave Shiromo a spark of inspiration.
Several days later.
The film crew mentioned earlier had finished shooting and was preparing to depart. As agreed, Shiromo arrived at the rendezvous point, Konoha.
As an outsider entering the village, Shiromo was registering at the gate.
"From Amegakure, huh… escorting a film crew? Don't tell me it's 'that' crew?"
"Which one?"
"What else could it be? The one starring the big celebrity, Fujikaze Yukie."
"Eh? Didn't you say those movies were just for kids?"
Konoha's gate guards, Hagane Kotetsu and Kamizuki Izumo, were chatting as they registered Shiromo.
"Huh? Wait a second! I remember this escort mission was taken by Kakashi, wasn't it? He even mentioned it to me this morning."
Kamizuki Izumo suddenly thought of this and looked up at Shiromo with suspicion.
"Sir, you..."
"Hey, Izumo, don't get worked up."
Kakashi appeared out of nowhere, walking over with a smile and half-lidded eyes.
"Kakashi-senpai? Perfect timing. What's going on here?"
Izumo asked, holding the registration book.
"After I accepted the mission, I asked the crew. The one who hired me was Asama Sandayū-san, Fujikaze Yukie's manager. The person cooperating with this gentleman is the film's director."
"Just record it casually. I'll take him with me for now. See you."
Kakashi led Shiromo away from Konoha's gate.
As they walked and talked, Kakashi gradually relaxed after confirming that Shiromo had truly come only for the film crew, and that he would leave as soon as the crew departed.
"The crew is camped over there to rest and reorganize. You can head over first. I still need to gather my subordinates."
To help his team understand the mission target in advance, Kakashi had deliberately taken Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura to watch 'The Princess Gale'.
By now, they should be just about done watching it…
Just as Kakashi thought this, he saw the three of them running over in a disheveled state.
"Kakashi-sensei!"
"It's all Naruto's fault! He was making noise in the theater and got us kicked out!"
Sakura immediately complained.
"Don't blame Naruto. Besides him, there were quite a few seven- and eight-year-old kids who got excited and shouted during the ending too. Those people just targeted Naruto..."
Sasuke, surprisingly, spoke up to defend Naruto.
This wasn't actually strange.
Before the Chūnin Exams, Sasuke's mindset had already begun to turn back.
When the two were on the brink of death during their final battle at the Valley of the End, they had laid their hearts bare.
Naruto said that when he saw Sasuke in pain, his own heart hurt so badly he could barely endure it.
Sasuke admitted that he had actually been paying attention to Naruto all along.
He watched how Naruto, like himself, the lone survivor of the Uchiha, was ostracized by the villagers, deliberately acting like an idiot and getting scolded just to draw attention.
Every time he saw Naruto, he cared a little more. Eventually, he thought of his own family and felt that Naruto was like family to him, giving him a sense of peace.
And he admitted that when Naruto was in pain, he felt heartache as well.
In short, don't ask. If you do, the answer is Konoha friendship is intense enough to make people pass out.
Sasuke believed Naruto had been singled out because of his "demon fox" identity.
In reality, Sasuke was mistaken.
Just as Shiromo had said before, everyone in Konoha was basically a professional bully.
Aggressive, like forum trolls.
When Shiromo was registering at the gate earlier and mentioned he was from Amegakure, he could already hear villagers behind him whispering.
It was no different from when Shiromo entered Konoha during the Boruto era.
…
Things like: "Someone from Amegakure came to Konoha to beg for food."
"Isn't that place at war every day? They probably ran here as refugees."
"A place without sunlight, stay away, don't catch rheumatism."
"Watch your wallets. Everyone there's a thief."
…
If you really wanted to compare, the future Amegakure might have been ruined, but at least it was nominally part of the shinobi world's peace framework.
Right now, though, hostility between villages was completely normal.
And the things people said were even uglier.
"Naruto, interested in playing a prank?"
Shiromo smiled and asked.
"A prank?"
Naruto's eyes lit up.
"How? How do we do it? Tell me, tell me!"
"Uh..."
Kakashi stood to the side, raising a hand, about to stop them.
Then he suddenly realized something.
Why did it feel like Shiromo was actually the core of 'his' Team Kakashi?
Sasuke wanted power, Shiromo could provide it.
Naruto wanted to pull pranks, Shiromo could provide that too.
Even Kakashi himself wanted to read novels, and Shiromo had somehow produced an entire script and even cooperated with the Princess Gale film crew.
As for Sakura… Shiromo was handsome, so that was covered too.
"Wait a moment. Let's go to the film crew's location first. I need to borrow some props."
Shiromo pointed toward the direction Kakashi had indicated earlier, where the crew was stationed.
(End of this chapter)