Although Nagato didn't keep muttering about it, Sasori could still tell.
What normal person would give a prisoner they're monitoring a book like "The Importance of Living in the Present"?
Nagato hasn't gone through his pain, so how could he have any right to persuade him to let go of hatred and embrace a new life?
"The most important thing…?" Nagato was slightly stunned.
"It's not just the most important thing, it's the greatest meaning of being alive." Sasori continued to emphasize.
Nagato listened, opened his mouth wanting to speak, but in the end no sound came out.
He had wanted to tell Sasori that living like that would be very painful.
But Nagato had once watched his own parents die right before his eyes, and he understood the pain brought by a parents' death.
Having personally felt that pain, it was hard for Nagato to say things like asking others to let go of their hatred.
Even if it wasn't Kakashi who killed Sasori's parents, but Kakashi's father.
"No more objections? Then go tell So—" Seeing Nagato fall silent, Sasori finally said.
Seeing Nagato rendered speechless by his retort, Sasori's mood improved quite a bit, and he didn't plan to keep wasting words with Nagato.
"My parents also died at the hands of Konoha Ninja."
Nagato cut Sasori off, and said something that greatly surprised Sasori.
"And right in front of my eyes. They died to protect me." Nagato began to tell his story.
Bringing up this nightmare he didn't want to relive, Nagato couldn't help but recall that night woven from red and black.
It had been an ordinary pitch-black rainy night.
In the Land of Rain, rain was the most common thing in the world; gloomy clouds were always hanging over their heads.
But in Nagato's life, that day was not ordinary: two Konoha Ninja broke into their home to loot food.
Actually, at first things weren't that bad, because Nagato's parents immediately took Nagato and hid.
They could have quietly escaped, but Nagato accidentally bumped into a jar, alerting the Konoha Ninja, and in the end his parents were killed by them, collapsing in a pool of blood.
Normally, with Sasori's temperament, if he was interrupted, he'd immediately repay the favor in kind. And if someone he disliked interrupted him, the consequences would be even worse.
But right now, Sasori fell into an uncharacteristic silence.
He was very puzzled.
He had only heard the news of his parents' deaths and seen their bodies, and that alone was so painful. Shouldn't Nagato, who had witnessed his parents' deaths with his own eyes, be in even greater pain?
So why did Nagato look like he didn't hate Konoha Ninja?
"Since your parents were killed by Konoha Ninja, then why are you stopping me from taking revenge on the Konoha Ninja?" Sasori asked, confused.
Even if Nagato wasn't going to help him from the standpoint of the Ninja Sect, he shouldn't be striking against him.
"Don't you hate Konoha Ninja? They're the ones who directly caused your parents' deaths."
"I hate the Konoha Ninja who killed my parents. I hate any Ninja who kills innocent civilians in war. But I don't hate all Konoha Ninja." Nagato answered.
Before he met Jiraiya, Nagato did hate Konoha Ninja.
Konoha Ninja killed his parents and shrouded his country in the flames of war—how could Nagato possibly not hate Konoha Ninja.
After becoming a disciple of Jiraiya and Mokgetsu, Nagato understood one thing: people are not all the same.
He encountered some bad Konoha Ninja, but that didn't mean all Konoha Ninja were like that.
"So what you're trying to say is, because Hatake Kakashi isn't the Ninja who actually killed my parents, I can't hate him?" Sasori felt like he kind of understood Nagato.
Nagato shook his head; that wasn't what he intended to say.
Nagato recounting the past of his parents' deaths wasn't to win sympathy. He just wanted to make one thing clear to Sasori: he too had gone through similar pain, he wasn't someone who just talks empty words.
"I can take you to see Teacher Sosuke—if you help me complete a mission." Nagato suddenly said something unrelated to the previous topic.
But Sasori didn't mind. He immediately asked, "What mission? What do I need to do?"
The whole reason he refused to work was to see Sosuke and form a partnership with the Ninja Sect—in a sense, this was getting back on track.
"Sweep out the Wandering Ninja in the central region of the Land of Rain. Given that your Chakra is sealed, you'll only need to handle some logistical work." Nagato explained.
The various unstable elements in the south had already been mostly cleared out. Next, the Ninja Sect would conduct cleanup operations in other areas of the Land of Rain, wiping out bandits, illegal Ninja Organizations, and rampaging Wandering Ninja.
"Clearing out Wandering Ninja, you?" Sasori couldn't help but type a question mark in his mind.
How terrifying Nagato's strength was, Sasori knew better than anyone. He had not only witnessed that spectacular battle between Nagato and Six Gates Might Guy, he had personally fought Nagato himself.
If Sasori was a genius, then Nagato was a monster—a monster he could hardly defeat even with advance preparation.
Sending such a monster to deal with Wandering Ninja, Sasori felt it was really unnecessary.
Or was it that the Wandering Ninja in the Land of Rain were all ridiculously strong, and people on Six Gates Might Guy's level weren't uncommon?
Nagato nodded.
The Ninja Sect didn't have many Ninja, and some of them had to keep Six Paths City running and maintain order in the south, so even if it was overkill, Nagato still got assigned the mission.
"So, will you agree?" Nagato asked.
"I'll go." Sasori thought it over and nodded.
Nagato couldn't possibly have any intention of killing him, because if Nagato wanted him dead, Sasori would've already died under that Almighty Push.
In these two months in the Ninja Sect, Nagato was the person he'd had the most contact with; Sasori had come to understand him somewhat.
Then Nagato first went to the construction team to explain the situation, and afterward brought Sasori to the central Land of Rain to carry out the mission.
The actual mission was a bit more tedious than Sasori had imagined.
Although the Wandering Ninja didn't have the strength of Six Gates Might Guy and were easy enough to beat, if they wanted to truly clear them all out, they had to go back and forth repeatedly between various towns and villages.
Usually they'd spend one or two days tracking people down, and less than a minute fighting.
There wasn't much to say about the fights themselves: Heavenly Attraction to pull them in, then Almighty Push to slam them into the ground—done in seconds.
"Don't you find this troublesome? With your strength, even if you refused this kind of mission, no one would blame you." After yet another two-day search and one-second battle, Sasori couldn't help complaining.
For someone as impatient as him, this kind of mission was torture.
"I have Perception Ability, so I'm more suited to this than anyone else." Nagato lowered his hand and checked the state of the Wandering Ninja as he answered.
If they sent other people, the efficiency would be even lower.
"You two Ninja of the Ninja Sect, thank you so much." Seeing the battle finished, some villagers came over to Nagato and thanked Nagato and Sasori.
"Yes, otherwise who knows how much these bandits would've stolen." The villagers all started talking at once, expressing their gratitude.
Sasori didn't feel much of anything; he wasn't a Ninja of the Ninja Sect, so these words weren't really directed at him.
But Sasori noticed that the expressionless Nagato's lips curved slightly, and he looked quite happy.
"Monstrous strength and such a weird personality—he's satisfied just from some praise from commoners." Sasori thought.
"Handsome big brother, this is for you." A little girl held out a bracelet woven from flowers and grasses to Sasori.
Sasori was taken aback and didn't take the bracelet. Instead, he pointed at Nagato.
"That guy is the Ninja of the Ninja Sect who actually took care of your enemies."
"I saw, so I'm giving that big brother a bigger flower wreath." The little girl giggled and took out a wreath several times larger than the bracelet from behind her back.
"After all, that big brother did more."
"And also, fighting is bad, and you shouldn't call your own brother 'that guy'." The little girl said very seriously.
Sasori's face turned into a string of question marks. Since when had Nagato become his brother?
Looking at Nagato's red hair, a thought flashed through Sasori's mind.
Red hair was a comparatively rare hair color in the Ninja World, and since Nagato was a bit taller than him, maybe in outsiders' eyes they looked like relatives.
Sasori opened his mouth, wanting to explain, but the little girl was faster.
"Handsome big brother, I wish you an early reconciliation with your brother."
With that, the little girl shoved the bracelet into Sasori's hand, then ran over to Nagato to give him the wreath.
Sasori: …
After the villagers had all left, Nagato took the initiative to speak: "I'll take you to see Teacher Sosuke in a bit."
Sasori's expression returned to its usual calm, and he nodded.
PS: Still doesn't feel like it's flowing very well.
But at least I successfully slacked off and got it written—let's count this as yesterday's update.
Today's update will be posted sometime between midnight and one a.m.