Tsunade had only seen Konan as a child.
It had only been that single meeting.
So finding her familiar was already a testament to Tsunade's considerable memory.
"I've never seen you before."
After her initial shock, Konan quickly recovered her composure.
She slightly lowered her head, no longer looking directly at Tsunade's face, displaying the status gap between a civilian and Tsunade.
Also, to prevent Tsunade from continuing to stare at her face,
Lest Tsunade really discover her true identity.
"Forget it."
After thinking for a while and not figuring out Konan's identity, Tsunade dropped the matter.
Maybe she had just seen her on the street before.
"What's going on over there?"
Tsunade had just finished training Medical-nin and had just left the hospital, so she didn't know yet what kind of commotion Takumi had caused.
"Takumi-kun is giving haircuts over there."
Konan answered honestly.
She knew,
If Tsunade learned of this news, she would definitely rush over immediately.
Just like every other woman in this village.
They all had an abnormal obsession with Takumi.
And she herself seemed to be falling deeper into it.
"What?!"
Just as Konan predicted, upon hearing this, Tsunade immediately shouted in shock.
But she quickly remembered she was in front of an unfamiliar young girl.
Tsunade, after all, had her age to consider and maintained some dignity.
She coughed lightly, then twirled a strand of her hair as if talking to herself, or perhaps explaining to Konan, "Come to think of it, my hair hasn't been done in a while."
"This is a good opportunity to have Takumi help me with it. I didn't know the kid could do hair."
"He never told me before. From now on, he'll have to do my hair."
With that, Tsunade walked past Konan, but her pace was incredibly fast as she headed towards the hair salon.
Konan sighed in relief, but a trace of envy flashed in her eyes.
Tsunade, living in the same village as Takumi, could have him do her hair anytime.
But how could she, stuck in the Akatsuki, be as free as Tsunade?
She could only come to Konoha under the pretext of gathering intelligence.
She couldn't appear openly at all.
This time, she had taken a huge risk of being discovered.
Although the gains were plentiful, thinking about the possible consequences if she were discovered, she felt a lingering fear.
She had a vague feeling that Takumi wouldn't hurt her.
But if her identity as Akatsuki's member were exposed, Konoha's Shinobi certainly wouldn't easily let her leave.
'I can't linger any longer.'
Konan withdrew her gaze from the hair salon.
Though reluctant, she knew she had to leave.
Recently, Jiraiya also frequently appeared in Konoha.
If he was around, he might already be near the hair salon.
After all, the hair salon was currently gathering all the young, beautiful girls of Konoha.
Knowing her teacher's perverted personality well, Jiraiya would definitely be nearby.
She had to leave as quickly as possible.
Tsunade hadn't recognized her identity because Tsunade had only seen her once, and as a child.
But Jiraiya had personally taught her, Nagato, and Yahiko for three whole years.
Even though she had grown up, Jiraiya would still be able to recognize her.
"Hehehe, so many beautiful ladies~"
A lewd laugh reached Konan's ears, immediately giving her goosebumps.
That voice was so familiar that a picture of his current image immediately surfaced in her mind.
She quickly turned to look, and sure enough, she saw that familiar figure crouched by a wall, lewdly peeping in the direction of the hair salon.
The girls, revealing glimpses of skin due to the crowding, completely failed to notice an old pervert unscrupulously peeping at them.
"Phew..."
Konan's tense nerves immediately relaxed.
Before Jiraiya noticed her, she had to leave quickly.
'Good, Jiraiya-sensei probably just arrived.'
She ran into a corner alley, peeking out thankfully at the distant figure of Jiraiya. 'Otherwise, he would have definitely noticed me earlier.'
"Time to go now."
She lingered no more, her body instantly transforming into sheets of white paper, disappearing with the wind.
"Hmm? Where did all this paper come from?"
Jiraiya looked up in confusion at the paper dancing in the sky. "People really need to learn to clean up."
He had absolutely no idea what that paper represented.
After all, Jiraiya was still completely unaware,
That the current Akatsuki was the organization founded by the three children he had taught in the Land of Rain.
"Whatever, back to looking at the cute girls."
He quickly looked down, no longer paying attention to the paper dancing in the sky, instead focusing his gaze on the girls, from time to time emitting lewd laughs.
It was reported,
That day, the Security Force received multiple complaints and subsequently arrested Jiraiya on charges of indecency.
After considerable negotiation, Jiraiya was finally released.
Of course,
These were all just small episodes.
…
In the Akatsuki's base in Amegakure,
The members of the Akatsuki gathered in the hall.
Everyone was silent.
Except for Black Zetsu, everyone was present.
Black Zetsu had gone out to gather intelligence on other Tailed Beasts.
They were waiting, waiting for the news Konan would bring back.
Now that they knew Sasori wasn't dead,
They needed to know Sasori's current status.
Had he betrayed them, or was he still maintaining a unified front with them?
Although Pain had clearly stated that Sasori wouldn't betray them or reveal Akatsuki's information,
The Akatsuki's members all had their own hidden agendas, so naturally, they wouldn't fully believe Pain's words.
Especially the few who knew Obito's hidden identity.
In their view, although Pain was powerful, he was also just a puppet placed at the front by Obito.
They knew very well who the mastermind behind the scenes was.
As a gust of wind blew into the sealed hall, everyone's spirits lifted.
Wind entering here meant either someone was invading, or a member had returned.
And the only person in the Akatsuki who returned in this manner was Konan, who often transformed into paper and floated about.
"Back?"
Pain opened his eyes, revealing his unique Rinnegan.
A large amount of paper converged before Pain, gradually taking on Konan's form.
Only, her appearance now was slightly different from usual.
Her eye shadow had been reapplied, and her colored contacts removed.
But she hadn't tied her hair back up into its usual style, instead letting it hang loose.
After all, it had just been trimmed by Takumi, and she wanted to keep it that way for a while.
"Your hair..."
Pain frowned slightly, feeling something was different about Konan compared to before.
Because Konan had always tied her hair up, he hadn't really paid attention to its length.
Now that Konan had let it down, he immediately noticed how long it was.
But the hair on the sides of her face was much shorter than before.
"Hey, hey, weren't you supposed to be gathering intelligence?"