The leading ninja raised his arm to block almost instinctively, but the force behind the punch far exceeded anything he had imagined.
It felt as though a tailed beast had rammed into him head-on. His entire body flew backward, and his back slammed violently into the trunk of a large tree.
He struggled to stand, but none of his limbs would obey him. All he could do was watch helplessly as Shin-chan walked over.
Black sealing patterns spread from Shin-chan's right hand. The leading ninja felt his chakra locked down by an invisible force, leaving him unable to move even a single finger.
Yahiko stood in the rain, watching Shin-chan neatly arrange the four Cloud ninja in a row beside the road.
"Who... who exactly are you?"
"I already told you. Nohara Shinnosuke, a Konoha ninja."
"The Flying Thunder God Technique is a forbidden technique of Konoha. What is your connection to the Second Hokage?"
"No special connection." Shin-chan thought about it. "The Second Hokage was Grandpa Third's teacher, and Grandpa Third is my teacher, so the Second Hokage is probably my teacher's teacher? When you put it that way, I guess there is some connection."
"What are you going to do with them?"
"Leave them to you." Shin-chan pointed at the four immobilised Cloud ninja lying on the ground.
Yahiko froze. "Leave them to us?"
"Aren't you ninja from the Land of Rain? Foreign ninja attacked people on your territory, so naturally, you should decide what happens to them."
"Detain them," Nagato spoke first.
Yahiko and Konan both looked at him. Nagato rarely volunteered his opinion.
"If we release them, they'll return with more people. Kumogakure is fighting Sunagakure, and the fact that they've appeared inside the Land of Rain means Kumo is already testing the country's defences."
"But we have nowhere to imprison them," Konan said after thinking about it. "The cave is only a temporary shelter. It has no sealing barrier and no guards."
"Then hand them over to Amegakure. These Cloud ninja invaded the Land of Rain's territory. At least turning them over to Amegakure would be justified."
Yahiko remained silent for a while before shaking his head. "If we hand them over to Amegakure, they'll only be executed. You both know how Amegakure handles things now."
"Then what do you suggest?"
"I don't know." Yahiko also looked somewhat lost.
Shin-chan crouched beside the leading Cloud ninja and used muddy water from a puddle to draw a crooked smiley face on the ground. Then he turned to look at them.
"Why did everyone stop talking?"
"We're deciding what to do with them."
Shin-chan looked at the leading Cloud ninja. "Hey, mister, why did you come to the Land of Rain?"
The leading Cloud ninja gritted his teeth and remained silent.
"If you don't say anything, I'll take that as you admitting it." Shin-chan waited for several seconds, then announced, "He admitted it. Staying silent means admitting it."
"Admitting what?"
"I don't know, but he just admitted it, so there must be something."
The leading Cloud ninja's lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing and turned his face away.
"See? He admitted it again." Shin-chan stood up. "Admitting it twice means he's hiding something."
Yahiko couldn't help saying, "I've never seen an interrogation method like yours."
"This is a secret Konoha interrogation technique called the 'Silence Means Confession Jutsu.'"
"Konoha doesn't have a strange technique like that," Nagato coldly exposed him.
"How do you know it doesn't? You're not from Konoha."
"I..." Nagato opened his mouth and realised he had somehow been dragged into Shin-chan's circular logic.
Shin-chan leaned closer to the leading Cloud ninja. "Does Kumogakure have any ramen shops?"
The question came so suddenly that the man's expression changed from vigilance to confusion.
"If you're not answering, does that mean you don't have any?" Genuine sympathy entered Shin-chan's voice. "Then what do you eat when you go home? Military ration pills are hard and taste awful. Eating too many also makes you constipated. I ate them for three days in the Land of Snow and spent half an hour sitting on the toilet after I came back."
Yahiko covered his face with one hand.
Nagato stared expressionlessly at the back of Shin-chan's head and began seriously considering a question he had never thought about before:
What exactly were Konoha Village's standards for training ninja?
The leading Cloud ninja opened his mouth, probably wanting to say, Of course we have ramen shops. But when the words reached his lips, he felt that answering the question would itself mean losing, so he closed his mouth again.
"What are you actually trying to ask?" Konan finally asked.
"I'm extracting intelligence." Shin-chan looked back at her. "This is called the Relationship-Building Interrogation Method. First, you discuss food to make the other person lower their guard. Then, when they aren't paying attention, you suddenly ask the question you really want answered. The Second Hokage invented this too."
"Why are all the tactics invented by your Second Hokage related to food?"
"Because the Second Hokage was a very practical person," Shin-chan answered without changing his expression. "He once said that ninja are people too, and people need to eat."
Shin-chan turned his gaze back to the leading Cloud ninja. "Alright, mister, the small talk is over. Now I'm asking the real question. What exactly did you come to the Land of Rain to do?"
Within a few short seconds, the leading Cloud ninja's expression passed through confusion, vigilance, and bewilderment before finally settling into anger at having been toyed with.
"Enough. If you're going to kill me, then kill me."
Shin-chan stared at him for several seconds. "He still didn't answer."
"With the way you ask questions, no one would have anything to say," Nagato said coldly while leaning against the tree trunk.
"At least I tried." Shin-chan sighed. "Even the Second Hokage's interrogation techniques aren't万能."
"That wasn't a Second Hokage interrogation technique at all. You made the whole thing up."
"What's the difference between something made up and the official version? Neither one worked anyway."
Yahiko walked over to the sealed Cloud ninja.
"You are foreign ninja who attacked us on our own land. By all rights, we have every reason to hand you over to Amegakure. But if we do, you most likely won't survive."
"Then what are you planning to do?"
"Release you."
"Release us? Do you think that will make us grateful?"
"I don't need your gratitude. Killing you won't make Kumogakure stop its operations in the Land of Rain. The only difference would be a few more corpses."
"You're too naïve," the leading Cloud ninja said mockingly.
"Maybe." Yahiko looked directly into his eyes. "But if neither killing you nor sparing you will end the war, then I'd rather choose the option where fewer people die."
The leading Cloud ninja could see no calculation in the young man's eyes.
"I'll remember you."
"There's no need to." Yahiko said, "The next time we meet, I hope it won't be on a battlefield."
Yahiko turned and led the others away.
Konan looked as though she wanted to speak several times before finally asking, "Do you think they'll change their attitude toward the Land of Rain because of what happened today?"
"No." Yahiko shook his head. "At least, not immediately."
"Then why did you still release them?"
"Because I want them to know one thing. In the Land of Rain, there are people who refuse to speak through violence."
Konan lowered her head. "Do you really believe dialogue can make an enemy understand?"
"I don't know," Yahiko answered honestly. "But if we don't even try, then it will never be possible."