Traveling through Nagato, from conquering Konan to dominating the ninja world

"Xiao Nan, tell me the truth, have you ever done anything to hurt yourself without telling me?"

In response to Nagato's question, Konan's eyes flickered and she avoided his gaze.

In order to relieve the physical and mental fatigue caused by staying up late, every night when it was quiet, Konan would rely on the "black stick" to let Nagato's chakra flow in and get stimulation from it.

The incident was exposed to the public tonight when she fell in the women's bath and Perrin discovered the puncture marks on her arm.

"I'm sorry, I really don't want to cause you any trouble..."

"No, I'm the one who should say sorry, Xiaonan."

Nagato blamed himself very much for not discovering this earlier, otherwise he would never let Konan do such a thing.

"That forbidden technique, 'Night Dark Higanbana', let's not learn it, okay?"

"There are many ways to become stronger. There is really no need to practice this kind of self-abuse technique."

"If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have burned that page of the Sealed Book rather than showing it to you."

"Really, I can't bear to see you like this."

An inexplicable smile appeared on Konan's lips: "Nagato, you finally spoke your mind."

Yes, Nagato knew that with Konan's awareness, she would not allow herself to retreat, but he still couldn't control his emotions and said something that he knew would backfire.

"Then you have to promise me that you won't stab yourself with the black stick again."

"If I don't get the tattoo, what if I get sleepy and fall asleep?"

"It's fine if you sleep, but you're not allowed to stab me!"

"Hey, hey, no, I won't. I didn't expect you to be so childish."

Having said that, we have to find a way to resolve this matter. It is not a solution for Xiaonan to continue like this.

We have to think of a way to help Xiaonan relieve his sleepiness other than using the black stick.

Looking at the 'black outline' that had become part of Konan's eye makeup, Nagato suddenly had an idea.

By the way, speaking of guys who never sleep, isn’t there one in the Sand Village, although he hasn’t been born yet!

Gaara has had Shukaku of the Sand implanted in his body by his father Rasa since he was a child. Once he falls asleep, Shukaku of the Sand's murderous intent will invade his consciousness. Over time, due to fear, he developed "insomnia". It's not that he doesn't want to sleep, but... his brain has lost the reflexes and functions related to sleep.

The only effect of sleeplessness on Gaara was darker circles under his eyes. He still looked energetic on weekdays.

From this, Nagato can conclude that the biggest challenge facing Konan is not the burden that not sleeping puts on her body, but the fact that the brain's instinct to feel sleepy is difficult to overcome.

If there was a way to make the cerebral cortex's instinct to feel sleepy disappear, or to temporarily suppress it, just like Gaara's insomnia, perhaps Konan would be able to successfully overcome the next difficulties!

When Nagato had this idea, he immediately expressed it through the mouth of Perrin, who accompanied Orochimaru back to the experimental base.

After hearing this, Orochimaru fell into deep thought.

"Insomnia? To suppress the nerve center and the reflexes of the sleep-related areas, the most direct way is to use drugs."

"Does the medicine have side effects?"

"Of course, it's a drug, so there are side effects. That's inevitable."

Orochimaru sat on the sofa, propped up his chin with one hand, and smiled: "Anyway, I'm free at this stage. If Nagato-kun needs it, I'll try to develop it and try to minimize the side effects~."

"How long will it take?"

Orochimaru thought for a moment and said, "One month is enough."

On the tower.

Nagato told Konan what Orochimaru had said.

"Orochimaru, is that what you said?"

"Well, it's okay. If you don't want to take medicine, we can try other methods."

"It seems that there is nothing we can do about it." Xiaonan sat up, holding the cup of water.

At this time, Nagato said: "Konan, can I... ask you a somewhat private question?"

Konan turned her eyes to Nagato, and seeing that the latter looked serious yet a little shy, she couldn't help but tighten the water cup in her hand.

She lowered her head slightly: "Well. You said..."

Nagato's eyes rolled unnaturally. "You have a ring on your belly button, right?"

Suddenly quiet.

Nagato turned his head and saw Konan, staring at him without blinking...his old face couldn't help but blush.

"That's right, I accidentally saw it when I was helping you put on your clothes... I'm sorry, I really, really didn't mean it."

Nagato clasped his hands together and said, "And I swear! I only saw a little bit! I didn't see it anywhere else!"

"No, it's okay." Xiaonan's eyes flashed with an imperceptible urgency, "It's normal to see it, it's nothing..."

"Then...does the matter you asked me have anything to do with the topic we just discussed?"

At this moment, Konan met Nagato's gaze seriously.

"Speaking of a connection... is there really one?" Nagato took out a 'navel ring' made of a black stick and turned his eyes to the side.

"It will take Orochimaru about a month to develop the drug. You can use this to replace the ring on your belly button. This way, it can have a similar effect to the black stick, and it won't cause any harm to you. Of course, if you don't like it..."

"Thank you."

"Hahaha, as expected, this is a bit inappropriate..."

"I love so much."

"Eh?"

Under Nagato's astonished gaze, Konan took the navel ring from him, and the inexplicable smile from before reappeared: "Nagato, is this the first gift you gave me after my coming-of-age ceremony?"

"This, this, doesn't count." After adjusting his mood, Nagato said solemnly: "As the first gift after the coming-of-age ceremony, I actually have something better to give you."

There was a gleam in Xiaonan's eyes: "Really... Then I am really, really looking forward to it."

Then, she said with some interest, "Oh, actually, not only does I want a belly button piercing, I also want to get a lip piercing, but I just haven't made up my mind yet."

Nagato smiled and said, "I think the lip stud is unnecessary."

"Why?" Xiaonan asked, looking at him without blinking.

That look...made Nagato's mood, which had just calmed down, become agitated again.

But...even though this boy is shy, he always speaks his mind!

"Because, in my opinion, your face, Xiaonan, is already flawless and doesn't need anything extra to decorate it!"

After saying that, Nagato scratched his head and said embarrassedly: "Having said that, it is indeed not appropriate for me to interfere with your personal hobbies. If you like, then..."

"I won't do the lip piercing anymore."

Xiaonan replied calmly but firmly.

(To be honest, I've been having a bit of a writer's block lately, so I'm going to make up for some of the emotional scenes. I hope you don't find my writing awkward, I'm shy!)