"It's an unfamiliar ceiling..."
Konan opened her eyes with a dazed expression, having slept exceptionally well last night.
Since her home was destroyed, she had never experienced such peaceful sleep.
Even deep at night, she wasn't startled awake by sudden nightmares.
After collecting herself for a moment, Konan immediately sat up and began looking around anxiously, as if searching for something.
When she saw Hayato Ren's back, her hanging heart finally settled.
This proved that everything from yesterday wasn't just a beautiful dream, but truly existed.
As if sensing the gaze from behind, Hayato Ren turned around and revealed a gentle smile.
"Konan, you're awake. Are you hungry? How about I take you to breakfast?"
Konan jumped down from the bed, not even bothering with shoes, and ran barefoot to Hayato Ren before hugging him.
"Thank you, Brother Ren."
Hayato Ren didn't respond verbally, instead reaching out to pat Konan's head.
After a long while, Hayato Ren finally broke the harmonious atmosphere.
"Alright, let me take you to wash up first, then we'll go for breakfast."
Half an hour later, Hayato Ren held Konan's hand as they walked toward the cafeteria.
Although he wasn't very satisfied with the taste of the cafeteria food, he felt too lazy to cook today.
Konan observed everything around her with curious eyes, watching the ninjas coming and going with an expression full of admiration.
The surrounding ninjas seemed accustomed to Konan's presence, showing no particular curiosity.
On one hand, Hayato Ren's reputation was quite prominent, so naturally no one questioned the origins of the person beside him.
On the other hand, the Leaf Village occasionally had ninjas who appeared young but were actually quite old.
Just as Hayato Ren and Konan each got a bowl of noodles and found a random seat, a figure uninvitedly sat opposite them.
The newcomer was none other than Nawaki, whom he hadn't seen for a long time.
"Long time no see, Ren! Who's this?"
Hayato Ren looked at the grinning Nawaki and explained: "Her name is Konan. As for her identity, you could say she's my little sister."
Then he turned to Konan and said: "This guy is Senju Nawaki. Although he looks foolish, his actual intelligence isn't very high either."
Nawaki looked at Konan with surprise. "When did you get such a cute sister? I've never heard about this. Since you're Ren's sister, that means you're my friend too. I'm Senju Nawaki, the future Hokage of the Leaf. You can come to me for anything - there's nothing in the Leaf that I can't handle."
Nawaki patted his chest while making these bold claims.
Facing Nawaki's greeting, Konan first cautiously glanced at Hayato Ren. Seeing him nod slightly, she timidly responded: "My name is Konan. Please take care of me in the future."
After some small talk, Nawaki suddenly looked around as if checking for spies. Then he mysteriously said to Hayato Ren: "Ren, I have some top-secret information. You mustn't tell anyone.Looking at Nawaki's expression, Hayato Ren struggled to control his urge to complain.
If it's top-secret information, why tell him? And even if he did tell him, why say it in a crowded place like the cafeteria?
Under Hayato Ren's complicated expression, Nawaki finally revealed the so-called "top-secret information."
It turned out that Orochimaru would lead a team to attack the Rock Village's camp tomorrow.
According to Nawaki, after completing this mission, he would be promoted to Jonin.
After hearing this, Hayato Ren's expression became somewhat strange.
Based on Nawaki's description, he had a feeling that this was exactly when Nawaki would be killed by an Exploding Tag.
After all, the original story never mentioned Nawaki becoming a Jonin.
To prevent any accidents, Hayato Ren decided to participate in tomorrow's mission.
After all, he was practically Nawaki's brother-in-law, and after what happened with Tsunade yesterday, he naturally couldn't stand by and watch Nawaki die.
Hearing that Hayato Ren wanted to join, Nawaki's expression became even more excited.
"Haha, Ren, you must know that with me participating, this mission is guaranteed to succeed, so you want to share the credit. Don't worry, I'll definitely complete this mission perfectly. When I become Hokage later, you'll be my Hokage Assistant."
By this time, Hayato Ren and Konan had finished their breakfast. After bidding farewell to Nawaki, the two left the cafeteria, leaving Nawaki alone laughing arrogantly.
After leaving the cafeteria, Hayato Ren said to Konan with serious concern: "When we return to the Leaf, you must study hard. Otherwise, you'll end up like that fool just now."
Hearing this, Konan showed a wary expression and responded: "Don't worry, Brother Ren. I'll definitely study hard and improve every day. I'll never become like that fool. I want to become your most reliable partner."
Hayato Ren didn't continue speaking, instead patting Konan's shoulder in encouragement.
Then, Hayato Ren brought Konan back to his tent.
Looking at Konan sitting with perfect posture before him, Hayato Ren cleared his throat and said: "Do you know what's the most important thing for a ninja?"
Konan lowered her head in thought for a moment, then shook her head somewhat dejectedly.
"That's okay, it's normal that you don't know since you haven't been exposed to ninjas before. For a ninja, the most important thing is Chakra. You could even say that Chakra is an important standard for measuring a ninja's strength. So what I'm going to teach you today is how to refine Chakra."
After saying this, Hayato Ren handed Konan a book about Chakra extraction.
Although this could be learned at the Ninja Academy, extracting Chakra early certainly wouldn't do any harm.
After receiving the book, Konan immediately began reading it as if she had obtained a treasure.
After a long while, she finally put down the book and looked at Hayato Ren with her bright, large eyes.