Chapter 272: Chapter 272: Konan Leaves
Chapter 272: Chapter 272: Konan Leaves
After returning to his room to rest, Akira lay down, while Konan remained on the rooftop, deep in thought for a long, long time.
The "Eye of the Moon" plan was intended to bring peace to all life in the world-a plan that both Konan and Nagato had believed in. However, after her conversation with Akira tonight, Konan began to realize the deep flaws in this plan.
Was this plan impossible to accomplish from the very beginning?
With this revelation, Konan felt it was time to have a serious discussion with Nagato.
Moreover, Akira had expressed his view quite clearly. If the flaws in the plan could be resolved, he wouldn't oppose the "Eye of the Moon" plan. That, at least, was good news.
It's like when you're determined to do something, and you fear that someone important will step in to stop you. But instead, that person only points out a major flaw in your plan, saying that if you fix it, they won't stand in your way.
In such a situation, it's impossible to harbor any resentment.
With these thoughts in mind, Konan used her jutsu, transforming into countless paper sheets, drifting toward the outskirts of the Leaf Village.
Given her Kage-level strength, she believed she could sneak out of the village undetected. After all, Sasuke had once snuck out to find Orochimaru without being caught, and at that time, his power was far from Kage-level.
However, just as Konan reached the edge of the village in her paper form, a terrifying blaze of fire jutsu appeared, surging toward her!
How could paper not fear fire?
Sensing the oncoming fire, Konan quickly reformed her body to reduce her exposure to the flames, narrowly avoiding the fire attack.
Boom!
The fire jutsu hit the ground nearby, erupting in a violent explosion that shattered the quiet of the night, drawing the attention of many Leaf Village guards. Several shinobi wearing flak jackets began approaching, along with two masked members of the Anbu.
"What do you think you're doing, sneaking out of the village this late?" A voice called out. The speaker stepped forward, revealing blood-red Sharingan eyes locked on Konan.
It was none other than the thirty-something Sasuke.
Sasuke had always been suspicious of Konan, so he'd been keeping an eye on her whenever he had time.
Noticing her suspicious movements tonight, he quickly realized something was off and had followed her to the village's edge before making his move.
"You've been watching me this whole time?" Konan's expression darkened as she saw Sasuke approach.
During the battle earlier that day, she had witnessed his power firsthand in his fight against Urashiki, and his strength had clearly surpassed Nagato's.
Now, seeing him block her path, Konan knew escape wouldn't be easy. Both he and Akira had transcended the power of a Kage-level shinobi.
"That's right. You're a member of the Akatsuki. Since I live in the Uchiha district, of course, I'm going to keep an eye on you," Sasuke replied bluntly, without bothering to deny it.
From an age perspective, Sasuke and Konan weren't that far apart.
As they spoke, more Leaf Village guards and Anbu agents arrived, surrounding Konan from all sides.
In today's battle, Sasuke had clearly sided with the Leaf Village, and his strength had earned him the respect of everyone in the village.
"Sigh..." The Leaf guards and Anbu didn't concern Konan much, but Sasuke did. Seeing him standing in her way, she realized escape was unlikely, so she raised her hand in a gesture of surrender.
"Let her go," a voice suddenly rang out before Konan could speak.
Both Sasuke and Konan turned to see Akira standing on a nearby rooftop.
"Lord Akira!" The guards and Anbu immediately bowed in respect at the sight of him.
"It's fine. You all can leave. This doesn't require your involvement," Akira called down from the rooftop.
"Yes, sir!" The guards and Anbu responded, then swiftly vanished from the scene.
"Akira, you know she's a member of the Akatsuki, right?" Sasuke asked, eyeing Akira as he approached.
"I know," Akira answered as he leaped down from the rooftop, landing gracefully beside Sasuke.
"If you know that, why are you letting her go?" Sasuke questioned in frustration. "Earlier, you could have killed Urashiki when you had the chance, but you didn't. I don't understand why you keep letting these people go!"n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
Clearly irritated, Sasuke couldn't fathom Akira's decisions. Letting Konan—a known member of the Akatsuki-leave just didn't make sense to him.
"While she's part of the Akatsuki, that doesn't necessarily make her evil. Besides, I told her before that if she wanted to leave, she could go whenever she wanted," Akira explained
calmly.
Sasuke stared at Akira, searching his face for answers.
Akira met Sasuke's gaze steadily, without flinching.
"Fine, it's your decision. If that's what you want, then there's nothing I can say," Sasuke finally relented, shaking his head in resignation.
After all, this was Akira's time and place, and Sasuke had already gone above and beyond by getting involved.
But if Akira didn't want his interference, what more could he do? He'd have to let it go.
As their conversation ended, Konan realized she was free to leave.
She gave Akira a long, thoughtful look, then without a word, dissolved into countless paper sheets and vanished into the night.
Akira watched her depart, his eyes following the fluttering papers until they disappeared into
the darkness.
"All right, let's head back and get some rest," Akira finally said, turning to Sasuke.
"You know, I really don't understand what goes on in that head of yours," Sasuke muttered, still clearly irritated.
"What's there to understand? I'm hoping Konan will convince Nagato to reconsider," Akira replied as they walked back toward the Uchiha district.
As they walked, Akira explained the details of his conversation with Konan earlier that night.
"So now that she's gone, I think she's probably on her way to talk Nagato out of it. If we can avoid a fight altogether, that'd be ideal," Akira concluded.
"But what if she fails?" Sasuke asked.
"Then she fails. At worst, we'll have another Kage-level enemy to deal with. Nothing we can't
handle," Akira said calmly.
He paused for a moment, then added, "But if I'm right, I think there's a good chance she'll
come back even if she fails."
"Why?" Sasuke asked, curious.
"Because she still has questions she needs answered. And I'm the only one who can give her
those answers," Akira explained.
Sasuke seemed to understand now why Akira had let Konan go, and he nodded in agreement.
"Fair enough. Let's hope you're right," Sasuke said.
But then he asked, "I get why you let Konan go, but what about Urashiki? He's far more dangerous than Konan could ever be. This was a rare opportunity to take him down, but you
just let him go. Why?"
Akira wasn't surprised by Sasuke's question. In fact, he had been expecting it.
"Has Urashiki ever killed anyone in all the time you've dealt with him?" Akira asked in
response.
"Hmm..." Sasuke thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Now that you mention it, no, I
don't think he has."
"Exactly. He's different from the others," Akira said, nodding.
Urashiki's behavior had always set him apart from the rest of the Otsutsuki, who were known for their ruthlessness. This realization left Sasuke feeling puzzled.
The Otsutsuki clan was supposed to be powerful and evil-that's what Sasuke had always
believed.
But now, as he thought about Urashiki's actions, he realized that this one might truly be different from the rest.
POWER STONE!!!
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