Chapter 317

An Unexpected Realization

Taking a deep breath, the southern general, whose defenses had long since crumbled, resigned himself to his fate, as if saying, "Do as you please."

It was at this moment, forced into a moment of calm, that Konan had the opportunity to truly observe the man before her. After carefully studying his eyes for a while, she finally understood what kind of person he was.

In his eyes, there was no trace of normal human affection or love, not even the usual human greed or depravity.

There was only pure, unadulterated desire.

Strangely, after seeing this, Konan no longer found the man before her so detestable. In fact, she felt a sense of his purity.

He didn't hide it, nor did he try to.

His "purity" was almost unbelievable.

When Shinji leaned in to kiss her again, Konan suddenly realized she had overlooked something.

—An excessively "pure" desire could also devour others!

But it was already too late.

As she was consumed by this man's deep desire, Konan let go of all her inhibitions and threw away all reason.

She became a pure beast alongside him.

Exhausted

Barely able to move her fingers, Konan turned her head with difficulty to look at the man who had already dressed and whose eyes had reverted to another kind of purity.

"Bastard..."

"Hmm?" Shinji looked puzzled.

Seeing his slightly confused expression, Konan shook her head slightly, fully confirming that this man was not human.

He had no longing or affection.

"I... I want to wash. I have no strength left."

Since he wasn't human, it didn't matter.

Dragging On

Another two hours passed, making it three in the morning.

After the man said, "You can rest here if you want," Konan, feeling that she had finally repaid her debt and was now even, closed her exhausted eyes.

Just before losing consciousness and falling into a deep sleep, she seemed to hear the man mention leaving the next day. But she was too tired to care.

In her semi-conscious state, she mumbled.

"What does that have to do with me..."

Hearing this, Shinji paused and then couldn't help but chuckle.

Did Konan have a hidden tsundere side?

Waking Up

When Konan woke up, it was already afternoon.

However, since she had sent a paper clone back to the village the previous day to report to Nagato that she would be spending more time exploring the ruins, she wasn't too worried. She chose to close her eyes again and calm her emotions.

Thankfully, the debt was fully repaid.

No more worries about this matter.

Thinking about it, Konan felt relieved.

Leaving the Cave

As Konan prepared to leave, she hesitated about whether to check if the man was still around. But before she could decide, she heard the man's voice and that of the children from above the rock wall.

"Do we really have to walk all day again?" the red-haired little Karin pouted.

"If we don't leave now, it will start raining again soon, Karin. Do you want to travel in the rain?"

At the thought of traveling in the rain, Karin quickly quickened her pace, running ahead.

"Let's hurry, Sensei!"

Listening to the voices moving above her, Konan recalled hearing the man mention leaving today during her half-asleep state yesterday.

A strange, complex emotion surfaced in her heart. Though she didn't know what it was, she knew it wasn't reluctance. There was no way she would feel that way towards such a man.

Wait...

Konan suddenly realized something important she had overlooked and looked down at the scenery outside the cave.

The rain... had actually stopped.

Though there wasn't a bright sun, just a dusky yellow sunset, it still mesmerized Konan.

As the sun's rays completely disappeared, Konan's expression turned cold again. She became the cold and ruthless angel once more.

Yet, having seen the sunset in the Land of Rain, perhaps there was now a subtle change in that coldness.

At least, the forced toughness behind that coldness had mostly disappeared, leaving behind a faint hope.

Then, the angel spread her wings and soared into the sky.

The Journey Continues

Shinji and Minato's journey with the children continued.

Two and a half months later, in late March.

At the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Bears.

Surrounded by a primitive forest, Shinji was guiding the three children in their practice when he noticed Minato approaching with a complex expression, holding a small red-haired child, about six years old.

Casually, he remarked, "I didn't send you to catch a cat this time, and you do know that a raccoon and a cat are different species, right?"

"Mr. Anli, this child..."

Minato hesitated, unsure how to explain.

Who would have thought they'd encounter a near-dead jinchuriki from the Sand Village here? And such a young child at that.

Thinking of Naruto, who was about the same age, Minato couldn't help but feel sympathy, so he saved the boy and brought him over.

"What about the other person?" Shinji asked while correcting Kimimaro's punching form.

"Already..." Minato didn't finish, but his regretful expression indicated that the Kazekage's brother-in-law was dead.

Shinji didn't know how Yashamaru made the decision, but he truly admired him.

When Rasa decided on a new jinchuriki, Yashamaru chose to escape with the dying Gaara.

How much determination was needed to make such a decision, Shinji could only imagine.

On one hand, there was the village, and on the other, his sister's beloved child.

Abandoning Gaara, who had after-effects from having Shukaku extracted once, wasn't wrong for the village.

But the result would be Gaara's death once Shukaku was extracted again.

Rasa initially wanted to abandon Gaara and seal Shukaku into a black tea kettle, but due to Yashamaru's desperate pleas, Shukaku was re-sealed into the dying Gaara.

However, because Shukaku had been outside for too long, even resealing it couldn't restore Gaara to his original health.

Always in a weak state, Shukaku would occasionally go berserk, causing Rasa great trouble. Finally, he decided to abandon Gaara completely.

Extract the tailed beast and choose a new jinchuriki!

Despite numerous pleas from Yashamaru to wait, believing Gaara would recover, Rasa ignored him this time.

In such circumstances, Yashamaru fled with Gaara. That night, Rasa labeled him a traitor and personally led a team to hunt him down.

Surviving to reach the border was a miracle.

Reinforcing the Seal

When Minato was reinforcing Gaara's seal, Shinji didn't interfere. Even with the seal reinforced, Gaara couldn't function as a jinchuriki anymore.

He was merely a fragile vessel, like a cracked pot.

If Rasa saw this, he'd probably curse, saying that such a strong sealing technique made Gaara less useful than a broken pot!

"Let him go. Bring the pot!"

The three children surrounded Minato, curiously watching the frail Gaara with dark circles lying on the sealing platform.

Ignoring this, Shinji glanced in a certain direction, while Minato also sensed something.

Two squads were approaching!

"Mr. Anli, let me handle it. I just need a bit more time..."

"No need."

Shinji replied calmly and walked towards the approaching enemies.

As Minato was about to stop him, he noticed that with a single step, Shinji had covered 200 meters!

This wasn't a space-time ninjutsu. Shinji had directly shortened the space in reality!

Realizing this, Minato was once again awed by Mr. Anli's power.

Influencing space directly went beyond any space-time ninjutsu!

"Mr. Anli is truly unfathomable..."

Minato muttered, then focused back on Gaara.

Reinforcing the seal required first unlocking the original Sand Village seal, suppressing Shukaku, and then using the Four Symbols Seal to create a new Eight Trigrams Seal. It wasn't simple.

Even for Minato, it required full concentration.

Dealing with the Threat

Seeing Shinji standing amidst corpses and blood, his eyes devoid of emotion, Minato felt a sharp pain in his head.

The scene overlapped with a memory he had sealed. Meeting the requirements, the memory broke free!

Remembering Mr. Anli's true identity, Minato stood in shock, trembling, staring at Shinji.

Seeing Shinji's eyes filled with endless despair and pain, Minato's scalp tingled. This was the first time he saw such an expression outside of that dream.

Clenching his fist and then releasing it, Minato forced a smile. "Mr. Anli, let me clean this up."

Shinji, not objecting, sheathed his sword and reverted to his usual nonchalant, slightly playful demeanor.

Once Shinji left, Minato took a deep breath.

Compared to masked men or Uchiha Madara, this was the most terrifying being in the world! The others were nothing!

Finally understanding the significance of the "ultimate task" given to the three kids, Minato realized.

Endless despair leads to a longing for death...