Chapter 225: Only Letting Konan Bandage Him
Nagato's injuries weren't life-threatening; he had simply passed out from sheer exhaustion and severe blood loss.
Mie admitted to herself that she had overthought the situation. If Black Zetsu had actually wanted to orchestrate a disaster, it wouldn't have resulted in such a minor scrape. That shadowy manipulator preferred life-or-death stakes. Sending three people out and having at least one return in a body bag—that was much more Black Zetsu's style.
She carefully unwrapped the blood-soaked bandages. Konan had already administered emergency first aid on their journey back, but the dressing desperately needed changing. The gash sat low on his abdomen. Judging by the jagged edges of the bruised flesh, the attacker was hardly a professional assassin. They had likely panicked and swung a blunt instrument. So, while the wound looked like a gruesome, bloody mess, it had thankfully missed all vital organs.
Mie thoroughly disinfected the laceration, wiping away the dried blood before applying a fresh layer of pungent medicinal ointment.
The sharp sting roused the unconscious boy. Nagato's eyelids fluttered open. Before his hazy pupils could even focus on the ceiling, his mouth was already moving to reassure the person he assumed was beside him.
"Konan, don't worry," he murmured, his voice raspy. "I'm fine. It's just a superficial wound."
"You were lucky this time," Mie replied coolly. "What about next time? Don't just hand out your trust so easily in the future, even if they look like ordinary, helpless civilians."
To emphasize her point, Mie ruthlessly poked the edge of his wound.
Nagato hissed, his spine arching off the mattress in a sharp spike of pain. His vision cleared instantly, snapping to the woman sitting beside his bed. Realizing exactly who was leaning over his half-naked torso, he shot up like a coiled spring. The sudden movement sent the top layer of white Hemostatic Powder scattering across the sheets like fresh snow.
"Why are you thrashing around?" Mie scolded, holding up a fresh roll of gauze. "Lie back down. The wound hasn't been wrapped yet."
Nagato stared at her, utterly speechless, and frantically scrambled backward until his spine hit the wall. A furious, boiling red flush erupted across his cheeks, spreading rapidly down his neck and flushing his bare chest.
A second later, he practically threw himself off the edge of the bed. He yanked his loose shirt tightly over his chest, stumbling toward the doorway as if his life depended on it. On his way past, he desperately snatched the roll of gauze right out of Mie's hand.
"Don't worry, I... I can bandage it myself!" he stammered wildly.
Nagato bolted faster than a startled rabbit. His frantic sprint looked exactly like a timid maiden fleeing from a street thug. He looked as though he would have sprouted wings to escape if he could, vanishing from Mie's line of sight in the blink of an eye.
Mie sat by the empty bed, completely dumbfounded.
What in the world was that reaction? Could his wounds only be tended to by Konan? Was he really that resistant to another woman even touching him? She certainly hadn't noticed before that Nagato was so fiercely dedicated to preserving his purity for his blue-haired teammate.
Mie shook her head, a dry sigh escaping her lips. Nagato was growing up. The boy who used to cling to her side was starting to establish his boundaries and distance himself. She gathered the discarded, bloody bandages and the scattered medical supplies, cleaning the room before stepping out into the crisp air.
Outside in the training yard, Yahiko was already pushing himself to the absolute limit. Double training. Even though Mie had explicitly told him to start his punishment regimen tomorrow, the orange-haired youth had thrown himself into the grueling exercises today.
Konan sat gracefully on a nearby wooden bench, her nimble fingers folding delicate origami Paper Cranes. Every so often, she would call out a sweet, encouraging cheer. Whenever her voice drifted across the yard, Yahiko would suddenly find a second wind, his muscles bulging as he trained with explosive, renewed vigor.
Watching this mushy, sickeningly sweet young couple dynamic was quite the spectacle.
A short while later, Nagato emerged from the hideout. He had finished treating his own abdomen and changed into fresh, clean clothes. He walked over silently, stopping by Mie's side to watch Yahiko's relentless routine. However, his long, crimson bangs completely shadowed his eyes, making it entirely impossible to read his true emotions.
Mie stared at that hair. Her fingers twitched. She felt a sudden, overwhelming itch to grab a pair of scissors and snip those bothersome, brooding bangs right off his forehead.
"Nagato, can't you show your eyes?" she asked, crossing her arms. "Doesn't it feel incredibly uncomfortable walking around half-blind like that?"
Nagato shook his head firmly. He took a cautious half-step back, looking fully prepared to sprint away again if Mie made a sudden grab for his hair. "Sister, I think it's fine like this. I don't want to cut my hair."
"Not even if Konan offers to cut it for you?" Mie teased, her lips curving into a sly smirk.
She fully expected the boy to hesitate, but Nagato nodded with absolute, unshakeable conviction. "No!"
He really was a boy of strict principles. He would only allow Konan to bandage his bare chest, but he absolutely refused to let anyone touch his hair.
Fine, she would respect his stubborn preferences. Since Nagato was currently providing her with far more mood value than the perpetually elusive Black Zetsu, she was more than happy to let him have his way on such trivial matters. She leaned against the wall, shifting her focus away from his haircut.
"Since this entire injury and mission failure happened because of your lapse in judgment, your training volume will also be doubled," Mie declared, her tone turning strict. "No, make that tripled. Starting tomorrow."
"I understand. I will be strict with myself." Nagato's voice was heavy with genuine remorse. Everyone getting hurt on this disastrous outing was entirely due to his own naive negligence.
Yet, there was still one glaring detail gnawing at his mind.
"Sister... I clearly saved them," Nagato began, his voice trembling slightly. "Why were they so afraid of me instead? Why were they willing to cooperate with that runaway ninja just to deal with us?"
Nagato was naturally sensitive, his heart heavily guarded against a cruel world. Even after being rescued from the rain-soaked streets by Yahiko and Konan, it had taken him a very long time to adapt and trust them. This time, he had taken a rare step out of his shell. He had chosen to trust that civilian child simply because the starving boy reminded him of his own miserable past. But reality had delivered a brutal, unforgiving lesson.
All three of them had bled. If not for their superior combat strength, their corpses would be rotting in a ditch right now.
"It's simple," Mie said, her voice devoid of pity. "In their eyes, you are absolutely no different from that rogue ninja. To them, you are both wielders of chakra. You are both the source of the world's endless turmoil. They look at you and think about how much better their lives would be without ninjas. In their minds, the fewer of us there are, the less chaotic the world becomes."
Having traveled across countless war-torn lands with Black Zetsu, Mie had witnessed the darkest depths of human nature. She pointed out the ugly root of the problem with incisive, surgical precision.
"Think about it, Nagato. If it were the old you—the starving orphan who hadn't met us yet—wouldn't you have harbored the exact same hatred?"
Scenes of rain, mud, and dead parents flashed violently through Nagato's mind. Remembering the sheer terror and hatred he used to feel toward anyone wearing a forehead protector, a cold realization washed over him. He finally understood.
"Maybe..." Nagato muttered, his shoulders slumping. "Maybe only by realizing the kind of peaceful world you and Yahiko always talk about... will tragedies like this finally stop happening."
His tone was bitterly downcast. He was deeply discouraged by the betrayal. Someone as introverted as him rarely took the initiative to show kindness to strangers. His one act of compassion had been rewarded with a blade in the dark.
"Sister, you must have encountered things like this before," Nagato asked, looking up at her through his crimson bangs. "How did you handle it?"
"I can't remember," Mie replied breezily, waving a hand. "However, I do know one universal truth. In the face of absolute strength, any petty schemes, betrayals, or plots are entirely useless. So, work hard to improve your strength, Nagato. As a member of the Uzumaki Clan, your potential is absolutely limitless."
Mie's tone shifted, growing heavier and far more serious. "Nagato, some mistakes in life can be made and learned from. But others cannot. Making the wrong mistake on the battlefield will cause irreparable damage that will haunt you for a lifetime."
Nagato nodded heavily, his fists clenching at his sides. "I'll remember. I will work hard to become stronger. Strong enough to protect you, Sister... as well as Konan and Yahiko."
Mie studied him for a moment. A new thought sparked in her mind. Their growing group desperately needed to train a highly capable medical-nin. The rogue medics they had recruited off the streets were far too unskilled to handle serious trauma.
She recalled how Uzumaki Karin was practically a walking medical kit. Given his immense chakra reserves and vitality, there was absolutely no reason Uzumaki Nagato wouldn't possess stellar medical talent. While everyone's physical constitution differed, having him learn Medical Ninjutsu was a foolproof plan. Otherwise, as their organization inevitably expanded, lacking a top-tier healer would become a fatal inconvenience.
"I'll find a way to procure some high-level Medical Ninjutsu scrolls," Mie decided aloud. "You should focus on learning it. The next time you get yourself stabbed, you can treat yourself. After all, if you only ever let Konan bandage you, it's going to be quite a headache if she happens to be away on a mission."
At the sudden mention of his bandaging preferences, the furious red flush violently returned to Nagato's face.
"It's... it's not that I only let Konan bandage it!" he stammered, waving his hands defensively. "It's just... I just..."
Mie held up a hand, cutting off his frantic excuses with a knowing, highly amused smirk.
"I understand, I understand. Nagato is an outstanding young man, too. Actually, you can try to win her over. It all depends on your performance."
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