At this moment, Konan was staying in a hotel with Hydrangea.
When Hydrangea heard the news that she had advanced, she immediately ran over, found Konan, and threw her arms around her with a bright smile.
"Angel, thanks to the explosive tags you gave me, I passed the second round of the exam!"
Konan remembered casually handing Hydrangea a scroll of explosive tags before the exam—something she had made herself.
But for Konan, it wasn't a big deal—just around 10,000 tags. Over the years, whenever she had spare time, she would idly fold explosive tags to keep in reserve.
By now, she had long lost count of how many she had crafted—probably over 100 billion, at a conservative estimate.
Still, in Konan's view, such a small number wouldn't make much of a difference in a real battle. If Hydrangea was able to advance among thousands of ninja, then she must have worked hard on her own merits.
Thinking this, Konan gently reached out and stroked Hydrangea's hair, the way that man used to stroke her own hair when she was a child.
Hydrangea's cheeks flushed red instantly, like a teapot bubbling over. Her whole body practically purred in comfort, like a content kitten.
"Angel is the best~"
Konan gave her a helpless smile and lightly tapped Hydrangea's forehead.
"I already told you—in Konoha, you have to call me Konan-sama."
"But since it's just the two of us, I'll let it slide this time. Just don't forget next time."
Just as she finished speaking, Konan felt the pulse of a reverse-summoning signal from Nagato.
"Sensei, something's come up—I need to head out."
With that, she quickly left a paper clone behind to stay with Hydrangea. Her real body transformed into a white origami bird and flew out through the window.
From the street below, the bird looked like any ordinary dove, but if you got close enough, you'd notice each feather was folded from pure white paper—delicately and precisely, like an exquisite work of art.
Konan flew directly into a deserted alleyway and used her chakra to seal off perception from the outside world. After confirming she was alone, she took out the scroll Nagato had sent her and read it carefully.
[Obito came to test me. He says he still wants to work together to deal with Uchiha Hikaru of Konoha.
I agreed for now to stabilize him.
Will wait for your return before deciding anything. Be cautious.]
Konan let out a quiet sigh of relief.
She had predicted Obito would approach Nagato the moment she left. That's why she had warned Nagato in advance not to trust him too easily.
As she rolled up the scroll, her mind drifted to the conversation between Uchiha Hikaru and Uchiha Madara just hours ago.
In those few short hours, countless questions had begun churning in her thoughts.
Much of it involved Nagato, Yahiko, and the Akatsuki—but the part that lingered most was the chakra she had sensed from Hikaru.
Even after all these years, she could never forget that feeling.
And yet, Uchiha Hikaru was only about twenty now. She only learned of his existence when Tsunade took over as the Fifth Hokage over three years ago. Before that, she had never heard of anyone by that name in Konoha.
But in her memory, the masked man—her older brother—should now be at least thirty.
The timing didn't match.
She fell into deep thought.
Could this Uchiha Hikaru be the younger brother… or even the son of that masked man?
She needed to confirm it herself. Tonight.
With that, her paper bird form circled high above Konoha, searching for Uchiha Hikaru.
At that moment, Hikaru—fresh from a fierce battle—was soaking in a hot spring on Konoha's famous bathhouse street. A towel draped over his head, his black hair damp from the steam, and a warm jug of sake rested in his right hand. His left arm hung lazily over a stone ledge.
Relaxation.
Right beside him sat Saya, steam gently rising around her flushed face as she nibbled contentedly on a soft-boiled hot spring egg.
"Master Hikaru, is this what a hot spring is like? It feels like all the exhaustion in my body's melted away~"
"It reminds me of the Dragon Vein... My whole body's so warm and light~"
Her words brought back vivid memories of those insane days they'd spent together in the Dragon Vein's sacred pool... and the promise he'd made to Sword, his Mangekyō technique.
A dull ache ran up his spine.
"Hot springs really are something else. Once the Chunin Exams are over, I'll have one built at our house."
"That way, we won't have to travel just to soak."
"And if we book out this whole place every time, others won't get to use it. That wouldn't be very Hokage-like, would it?"
Suddenly, Hikaru heard the flutter of wings in a tree nearby. His gaze flicked up.
"A white bird? A pigeon?"
Saya followed his eyes and saw it too—but shrugged and went back to relaxing. Her attention was still entirely on Hikaru. Her hand slipped playfully beneath the surface of the spring.
Hikaru was still watching the bird when her fingers made contact. His body tensed, and his Sharingan activated instinctively.
Wait... chakra?
He immediately caught Saya's wrist with his left hand, his eyes locked on the paper bird.
"Don't mess around. We're in public—act with some dignity."
Saya pulled her hand back, looking sheepish, her cheeks puffed out in a pout as she pretended like nothing had happened.
High above, Konan—the paper dove—felt a sudden rush of blood to her face. She nearly lost control of her chakra and reverted to her real form.
She hurriedly folded her wings over her face.
Why is this Assistant Hokage doing something so shameless in a place like this!?
She quickly retreated to the rooftop above the bathhouse entrance and waited quietly for Uchiha Hikaru and the girl beside him—Uchiha Saya, if she recalled correctly—to leave.
Soon enough, the two dried off, dressed, and exited the hot spring shop. Neither of them glanced at the white paper bird perched nearby.
They laughed softly together as they walked in the direction of Hokage Rock, Saya clinging naturally to Hikaru's arm.
Konan followed silently above, listening to their light-hearted conversation. It quickly became obvious—this was a couple out for a casual evening walk.
Really now...
The Hokage's assistant has time for a hot spring date after today's chaos?
Some people are just... too damn lucky.
( ͡ಠ ʖ̯ ͡ಠ)
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