'Live?'
Konan's eyelids felt heavy, drooping shut.
Her head hurt so much that she couldn't think in a complicated way. She just felt uncomfortable physically.
She really didn't want to die, otherwise, she wouldn't have returned from Kumogakure with all her strength.
She had lost the Rinnegan, and she still had many things to do. She couldn't die. If she died now, how would Nagato and Yahiko's wishes be fulfilled?
Survival instinct drove her to grasp at the simplest thoughts. Without much hesitation, she opened her mouth and let out a faint sound.
"Mm."
"Then become a Jashin's follower. That's the only way to save your life." Naruto didn't mince words. He showed his true colors right away and started the contract ritual.
In her dazed state, Konan sensed a glimmer of life. With no strength left to resist, she relied entirely on the life-sustaining serum to keep her alive, and the contract was completed smoothly.
Jashin immediately poured its power into the dying Konan. The vigorous vitality poured into her body like it was free, filling her to the brink.
The sensation of reverse aging was far from pleasant. Konan felt suffocated, as if something were lodged in her throat, and her skin crawled with the phantom touch of a million ants.
She quickly regained consciousness, escaping from her near-death state. She was drenched in sweat, gasping for air. Konan's mind was a chaotic mess as she lifted her head to stare at Naruto.
"Uzumaki... Naruto? You saved me?"
"I guess so. Strictly speaking, you saved yourself." Naruto yawned and said boredly, "This is your own choice. Don't blame me when you're fully lucid."
"...What choice?" The memory in her mind hadn't fully caught up yet.
Naruto didn't say anything, letting her piece it together herself. There was silence for three minutes, and the expression on Konan's face became more and more stiff, clearly realizing what she'd done.
After signing the contract with the Jashin, she can be saved even if she is on the verge of death, but the price is the obedience to Naruto.
From the moment she came back to life, her life no longer belonged entirely to her. At least half of Konan's existence belonged to Naruto, and he had the right to use it as he willed.
After calming down, Konan calmly accepted the reality.
"The Rinnegan is gone." she said.
"Gone is gone, it's no big deal." Naruto waved it off like it was nothing, after all, those eyes were never mine to begin with.
"Those were Nagato's eyes. I want them back." Konan said.
"You can't get them back." Naruto glanced at her and said, "Since you have already signed the Jashin's contract, there is no need for me to hide it from you. The Rinnegan were never Nagato's to begin with."
"What?"
"The Rinnegan belongs to Uchiha Madara. The 'Madara' you interacted with wasn't the real one, and he's just a puppet groomed by the real Madara before his death."
"Uchiha Madara is... dead?"
"Of course he's dead. Even the Sage of Six Paths had to return to the Pure Land. The God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju, died too, so how could Madara live forever?"
"Then who was that 'Uchiha Madara'?"
"Uchiha Obito, an extreme lunatic." Naruto said coldly, "The Rokudaime Hokage, Kakashi's former teammate. He's manipulated and recruited by the real Uchiha Madara."
"Obito orchestrated everything, forcing Yahiko's death, pushing Nagato to awaken the Rinnegan. Those eyes were planted in Nagato by Uchiha Madara, so..."
"This was all a setup. Don't waste energy obsessing over who the Rinnegan 'belonged' to."
"But... the Rinnegan is very dangerous." Konan's gaze sharpened as she looked at Naruto, "It's not a good idea to let the Rinnegan remain out there. Moreover, now it's been taken by Uchiha Obito."
"So what? Stop fixating on the Rinnegan." He walked to the window, looked at the storm-laden sky over the Amegakure, and said to her with his back to her.
"The Rinnegan was never a blessing. The best fate for it would've been complete destruction."
Konan was a little stunned when she heard this, and she didn't know what Naruto was up to.
"How do you know all these secrets?" She asked.
"Secrets?" Naruto glanced back at her and said amusedly, "You call this information a secret? Nothing stays hidden forever. If you don't want people to know, don't do it in the first place."
"Just like how you pieced together clues to track down Obito, I can naturally dug deeper. It's just that my ability in that area is only a little bit better than yours."
Boom!
The thunderstorm came, and billions of tons of water hammering Amegakure without mercy. Looking at the heavy rain, Konan fell silent.
If only she'd uncovered the truth sooner. If only she'd been faster... But the world didn't deal in 'if onlys'.
"Nagato and Yahiko are gone, and I..." Konan's eyes dimmed, "Since I can't get the Rinnegan back, what's the point of me being alive?"
"It's not too late. Don't you want revenge?" Naruto looked at Konan with a cold light in his eyes. There's a flicker of something dark and venomous flashing in his eyes.
"Revenge?"
"The ones truly responsible are Obito and the forces behind him. You have already died once, so why don't you take revenge on them?" He said.
"How exactly should I do that?" She asked.
"I have a plan. All you need to do is follow my lead." Naruto said.
…
Konoha.
Konan walked out from the Gate of the Underworld and landed in the living room. She looked around and realized the view outside the window wasn't Amegakure's.
"Where is this?"
"My home."
"Konoha?" A look of surprise appeared on Konan's face, "We were in Amegakure just now, right?"
"Well, just a small Ninjutsu." Naruto had already wandered off to the kitchen to get some water.
'Konoha and Amegakure are thousands of miles apart, but we'd crossed that distance in an instant through a door? That... That was just cheating. And he called it a 'small Ninjutsu'?'
"Have some tea. Help yourself." Naruto placed the hot tea on the table.
Konan poured herself a cup of tea and also poured one for Naruto.
She was lost in thought as she held the hot tea, 'Fate was always so strange. I was about to die in the last second, and now, I'd become...'
She wasn't sure how to define her relationship with Naruto. She couldn't say she is his slave, but being called his subordinate, she didn't have that much freedom. The contract's rules bound her, preventing any action against Naruto.
"What should I do?" She looked up and asked.
"Wait."
"Wait for what?"
"Wait for Uchiha Obito to come to us. Until then, you'll stay here." Naruto stood up and pointed in the direction of the bathroom and introduced, "No one usually comes to my house, so it is quiet."
"That's the bathroom over there, you've seen it. The kitchen's over there, and that's the balcony."
"Oh, by the way, I also have a dog. It's a little different from ordinary dogs. It's not here right now, but I'll introduce you when it gets back."
'It seemed that I really had to stay here, but what about Amegakure?' A flicker of unease passed through Konan's mind, but it vanished just as quickly, 'I was already dead.'
'If he hadn't saved me, I'd be a corpse right now. The dead shouldn't worry so much. If I couldn't handle things here, there'd be no chance of returning to Amegakure anyway.'
The fact is just as she expected, Naruto needed her to help set a trap for Obito. Once it was done, he wouldn't restrict her freedom.
Whether she wanted to stay in Amegakure or go somewhere else, he wouldn't stop her.