Obito realized something was wrong as soon as he noticed Kairen had escaped.
They had fallen out. The other side might sabotage his plan, so he had to go steady Nagato and keep him from listening to other people's slander.
Seeing that Kairen was still staying by Konan's side, Obito immediately got an idea and used space-time transfer to go to where the Deva Path was.
The Deva Path Pain still wore a cold face, looking down at the village in the rain, unfathomable like a god.
"Heh! Someone got into your rain."
Nagato glanced at Obito and said flatly, "What are you here for?"
Obito folded his arms, leaned against the nearby wall, and said with an ambiguous tone,
"Where's that little tagalong by your side?"
Nagato snorted. "Konan went to rest. And you said my Rain Tiger at Will Technique was cracked—who did it?"
Obito said with a bit of teasing, "Who else could it be? Of course it's the Tenseigan, the one on the same tier as you."
Nagato reacted at once. "Kairen—him?!"
Obito nodded. "That's him."
"What is he doing in the Rain? Where is he now?" Nagato asked coldly, staring into Obito's eyes.
Behind the mask, Obito was full of mockery. "He's on a date with a female member of Akatsuki, isn't he?"
"Konan!" Nagato instantly understood what Obito meant.
Obito grinned again. "Really impressive! Just joined Akatsuki and he's already wooed Konan, that great beauty. If I had even half of his skills…"
"Forget it, I won't go on!"
Obito knew Nagato and Konan's relationship all too well.
Nagato had a crush on Konan, and Konan liked Yahiko—a triangular loop.
Just like his old team.
Wait, Kakashi didn't like him, and Yahiko didn't like Nagato either.
If Konan changed her heart, it would be a blow to Nagato, because in this world the only person he could trust was Konan.
Nagato was silent for a moment, then suddenly blasted a Shinra Tensei at Obito.
Obito lightly used intangibility to dodge it.
Then he heard Nagato reply, "Even if that's so, I'll still bless her to find a good home. Besides, this is only your one-sided story. Don't think you can drive a wedge between Konan and me."
Obito sneered. "Then just watch as the woman you love throws herself into Kairen's arms!"
With that, he turned into a blur and left.
In Obito's view, the seeds of discord had already been sown—now he just had to wait for them to sprout.
And the cooperation between Nagato and Senju Kairen would be planted with a bomb.
The Rinnegan and the Tenseigan would go to war over a woman.
After Obito left, the Deva Path Pain continued to overlook the village, but the master behind it was full of worry between his brows.
"Was it Konan using a honey trap to lure Kairen in? Their relationship couldn't have developed that fast, right?"
"No, this morning at the meeting, as soon as Konan scolded Kairen, he listened obediently."
"Could it be…"
The more Nagato thought about it, the more it felt wrong, and the more sour he became.
He did have a crush on Konan, but being like this already—wasn't he just holding her back?
Besides, the one Konan liked was Yahiko.
Now that Konan seemed to have changed her heart, he felt uncomfortable, afraid that she would leave his side and that he would be all alone afterward.
"No, I can't believe that person's words. I'll investigate in secret."
...
Kairen got dressed and mischievously gave Konan a squeeze. Konan scolded and hit him.
"Pervert!"
Kairen smiled, bent down gently, kissed Konan on the neck, and planted his mark there.
"This is a power that can protect you. If anything dangerous happens to you, I'll come save you."
Konan pushed him away and snorted.
"I've got hundreds of millions of paper bombs on me. Who would dare touch me?"
Kairen chuckled. "Silly girl, even though you used Kakuzu's money to make a lot of paper bombs, Obito has space-time ninjutsu. You can't beat him."
"Listen to me—don't try to solo-kill him. You can't hold that."
Konan covered herself with the blanket and didn't speak, but in her heart she had already decided to expose Obito's plot.
Akatsuki couldn't be controlled by them.
Kairen conjured a rose in his hand, placed it by Konan's bed, and with a whoosh, vanished.
...
Sunagakure.
Kairen had been gone for about two hours, and the giant eagle had already carried Hanabi and Hinata around the Land of Wind once and returned to the village.
Kairen appeared in the small courtyard by the hot spring. This was the house he had built yesterday, just for temporary use.
Thousands of shadow clones were still working overtime to build the Golden Hall and the Bronze Sparrow Terrace, just waiting for Kairen to ascend the throne and proclaim himself emperor and get up to no good.
Wolon and Fenchu were sprawled on a table, and beside them was Aristo-Kairen tutoring them.
Aristo-Kairen held a ruler and lightly tapped Wolon's bear butt.
"All you do is eat and drink for free all day. You've forgotten everything you learned before. Come on, tell me—how do you prove Fermat's Last Theorem?"
Wolon: "Mm~ ⊙ω⊙"
"A bear's brain really is only as big as a walnut. You can't even answer such a simple question."
"Fenchu, you answer. What's 1+1?"
Wolon: "(ꐦ ಠ 皿 ಠ)"
Kairen walked into the small courtyard. Hanabi came up holding a bunch of grapes and looked at Kairen with a mocking smile.
"Brother-in-law, where did you go fooling around?"
Kairen could hear the sarcasm in little Hanabi's tone—after all, he had ditched them halfway.
Kairen picked up Hanabi, who was still sulking, and planted a big kiss on her cheek.
"Brother-in-law just got an urgent matter and went out to invest in a grand canyon and two big mountains. Spent over ten billion. Brother-in-law is a bit overwhelmed now."
"Hmph!"
Hanabi pouted. "Don't leave me and my sister behind again. Otherwise, I won't acknowledge you as my brother-in-law anymore."
Kairen nodded. "I swear. From now on, no matter how big the investment, I'll toss it aside and ignore it."
Hanabi smiled in satisfaction. "That's more like it!"
Kairen laughed to himself.
Hinata came out wearing a cook's outfit, still holding a plate of food.
When she saw Kairen, she didn't mind that he had left midway, thinking that was a man's serious business.
Kairen smiled and called out, "Hinata, you cooked for me."
After spending a few days with Kairen, Hinata had gradually gotten used to his thick skin and smiled as she waved to Kairen and Hanabi.
"Come in and eat!"
Kairen nodded and said to Hanabi, "Come on, let's go eat your sister!"
"Huh?"
"Eat your sister's cooking!!"
"Mm~"
Wolon and Fenchu smelled the aroma of the food and started calling out.
Aristo-Kairen told Fenchu to go eat, but alone grabbed Wolon by the little tail.
"You haven't even studied properly and you still want to eat? Society only lets valuable bears eat."
Wolon: " •᷄ࡇ•᷅ "
...
Kairen ate Hinata's… cooking!
Hinata really had the makings of a virtuous wife—too bad she ended up with Kairen, this scumbag.
After a full meal, Kairen didn't want to move anymore. He lay limp on the wooden boards and suddenly felt that his life was nothing but women and food.
Truly… blissful!
Hinata was clearing the table.
Hanabi, this little glutton, had also eaten too much and sprawled out beside Kairen. The two of them, one big and one small, were like two lazy cats.
Hinata looked at them and smiled, feeling a bit fond of this kind of life.
No strict rules of the Hyuga clan, and no eyes full of expectations.
Just quietly serving Kairen and Hanabi—this was pretty good.
"Hey, Hanabi, why are you wiping your mouth with my clothes?"
"Hey, you're my brother-in-law. What's wrong with me wiping them?"
"Fine! Fine! Fine! As long as you're happy!"
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