Chapter 67 - An Eavesdropper

The moment Jin opened his eyes again, he immediately thought, 'I'm waking up to unfamiliar ceilings quite often these days.'

Feeling rested but hungry, Jin sat up on the bed. Two pairs of eyes immediately locked onto him, albeit from opposite sides of the room.

"You're here too?" Jin inadvertently asked the blonde woman sitting next to the other bed in the room. He briefly noticed the black-haired woman sleeping soundly on the other bed as well.

"Yes. Where else was I supposed to go after that?" Tsunade retorted, crossing her arms under her breasts.

"Your own room, I'd imagine," Jin mumbled.

"As if I would be able to get one again after what happened yesterday."

Jin shrugged and set aside his curiosity. Instead, he looked at Konan who was silently standing by his bedside. The amount of life force he sensed from her indicated it was another clone. For some reason, her cheeks looked more gaunt than before, though he thought that might just be his imagination.

"You're back," Jin commented.

Konan nodded in response before mumbling, "You won."

"I scraped through, yeah."

An awkward silence followed, causing Jin to sigh and scratch his head.

"Sorry I didn't help you more," Konan quietly added after a few moments.

"It's all good. Ended up getting stronger, so all's well that ends well," Jin casually replied, waving his hand in a nonchalant manner. Then, he looked at the sunlight shining through the nearby window and asked, "Since I've obviously slept for a while, did you end up finding the target?"

"Yes."

Nodding in acknowledgement, Jin swung his feet over the edge of the bed, stretched his sore limbs, and said, "Good. Let's head there after eating."

"I don't need to eat."

"Right. Clones don't need to eat… or so you say. You look skinnier than before."

Konan's cheeks reddened slightly, and she turned her head to avoid his gaze. Embarrassed by the fact that he pointed it out so bluntly, she whispered, "It's not my fault the Kagune makes me more hungry after I use it."

Jin narrowed his eyes, but didn't get a chance to comment.

"What was that about a target? Did it have to do with those attackers from last night?" Tsunade interrupted in a serious tone, unintentionally saving Konan from her embarrassment in the process.

Jin and Konan looked at each other briefly. Then, Jin faced Tsunade and asked, "Are you wanting to involve yourself if that happens to be the case?"

"Yes! I can't let it be after what they did to Shizune!"

"Hm. Is that so?" Jin mumbled. Then, he looked at Konan and said, "I'll leave it to your discretion since I don't care either way."

"...Useless baggage."

Jin raised a brow and thought, 'Harsh, but as she is right now… I can't disagree.'

"Hah? I'm one of the legendary Sannin, y'know?"

"One who becomes useless at the sight of blood," Konan retorted in a quiet tone.

Konan's nonchalant answer cut Tsunade deep, as evident by the subsequent paleness on the blonde woman's face. She nibbled her lip for several seconds, wholly unable to respond.

"Well, there you have it," Jin said, finishing up some final stretches. Then, he gestured for Konan to follow him, walked toward the door, and added, "As strong and capable as you are, you aren't reliable as a comrade in battle, so take care. Room's paid for already, so no need to worry about that."

"Do you have something against me or something? I could maybe understand her reluctance toward me, but you and I don't even know each other!" Tsunade yelled, pointing at Konan briefly before pointing at Jin.

Jin halted with his hand on the door handle. Sighing, he turned his head and said, "You might not know me, but the general ebb and flow of this world lies bare before me… your life included. I don't hate you, but perhaps I do hold something against you now that I've met you in person. The horrors you've experienced in life are sad, yes, but they can't compare to mine, nor maybe even to Konan's, yet while you've halted and remained in the past, we continue onward in the present even while carrying the load of the pain we have experienced. Does that answer your question, miss princess?"

"...What the hell?" Tsunade subconsciously muttered, staring at Jin with wide eyes.

In a similar manner, Konan raised her brows at Jin's short monologue, though she remained silent.

"You…" Tsunade mumbled, narrowing her eyes. "Who- No, what are you?"

Jin raised one brow slightly and answered, "I'm just a person."

"That isn't what I was asking. Your strange powers… and the way you speak as if you know so much about me… Either you're pretentious or you're not normal."

"He is a Sage who knows everything," Konan answered before Jin could respond.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Tsunade asked, brows deeply wrinkled.

"Stop exaggerating. I don't know everything," Jin grumbled. "And, rather than a Sage, my current status is more Magician and Shinigami… Let's just go before this gets more awkward."

Konan nodded and followed Jin out the door. Tsunade remained standing in the middle of the room with lips curled downward for several minutes.

Suddenly, she kicked a nearby chair and grumbled, "Bah. I'm better off just forgetting this ever happened."

The next moment, her expression sank into thoughtful somberness. Then, she crossed her arms under her chest and slumped against the wall next to her.

"...But then I guess it would be just like that guy said… stuck in one place while everyone else moves on."

~~~~~~~~~~

In the room adjacent to where Tsunade and Shizune remained behind, a blindfolded man who looked completely forgettable stopped listening to the small drama, walked away from the wall, and sat on one of the beds in the room. The moment he sat down, numerous small black rods popped out of his back and flew out the open window at the edge of the room. After that, the man fell down on the bed like a lifeless corpse.

Outside the village, a man with short spiky orange hair who had similar metal rods protruding from his face like piercings stood with hand outstretched. A large black robe adorned with red cloud patterns covered most of his body. His fully purple eyes marked by several rings stared at the nearby village.

The rods pulled from the unnoticeable man in the inn flew over to the orange-haired man. As soon as they arrived, they disintegrated.

"Hmm…"

Behind the orange-haired man, Zetsu's noticeable flytrap-like head popped out of the ground. The black half of him asked, "Now that you have observed him a little, shall we move forward with plans to get rid of him?"

The orange-haired man turned his head slightly and looked down at Zetsu. He remained silent for several moments, which made Zetsu frown. Eventually, though, he said, "That man… he seems to understand pain. He is like me… even if he is not a god. Invite him."

"...Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"He is unknown, foreign, and possibly dangerous."

"Since when has that mattered to the Akatsuki?"

"This is different…"

"It is no different. Just do as I say."

"...Understood."