Wearing an Anbu uniform is the most reasonable choice. Even if Konan's movements are too exaggerated and she's accidentally noticed, Uchiha Obito wouldn't suspect her.
"Mm." She nodded, lowered her head in silence for a moment, then looked up and asked, "That… can the Rinnegan really revive the dead?"
"Theoretically, yes. Why?" Naruto glanced at Konan, his eyes slightly downcast. "Do you have someone you want to revive? It's possible, but it's a life for a life."
"A life for a life?" Konan frowned slightly.
"The Rinnegan can summon the souls of the deceased and grant them flesh and blood." Naruto explained patiently, "The only flaw is that if they've been dead for too long, the door to the Pure Land can't be opened."
"What he can't do, I happen to be able to. That's exactly why Uchiha Obito will come looking for me."
"Without the Rinnegan, revival is impossible…" Konan subconsciously clenched her fists, seeming a little unwilling, "If I had transplanted the Rinnegan back then, could I have asked you to revive Yahiko and Nagato?"
"You could have, but do you know why Nagato specifically told you to hand the Rinnegan over to me after he revived you?" Naruto crossed his legs with a smile on his face.
"Because I couldn't handle it?" She asked.
"That's right. As you said before, Nagato used his last bit of life force to revive you. From that time on, you couldn't use the Rinnegan anymore."
"It's a limitation, but that's not the main reason."
"Nagato could've guessed what you'd do with the Rinnegan even with his eyes closed. He used the last of his life force to revive you, and now you'd use your own life to revive both of them?"
"Isn't that just a nesting doll? Or an invalid one at that."
Hearing this, Konan sighed. She knew Naruto was right. There was really no point in doing that. After thinking it over, it was nothing more than wishful thinking, so she chose to let it go.
"Then I won't think about it anymore." She said.
Naruto didn't know how to respond, and he didn't want to dwell on the topic either. It wouldn't be a good idea to persuade her, after all, Konan was the Jashin's follower he had signed up by taking advantage of a loophole.
He still counted on Konan as an ally to help him with his plans. Relying solely on Ajisai and Yakumo alone wasn't enough, as their abilities were too limited.
So, he simply skipped over the topic.
The discussion of the plan's details reached its final stages. Konan's face turned uncharacteristically red, yet she maintained her usual expressionless demeanor, stubbornly ironing out the specifics.
She and Naruto hammered out the details and reached a preliminary understanding.
After the conversation ended, neither spoke further. They each lay on their respective couches to rest. It seemed that they had exhausted all their energy and entered energy-saving mode.
By nightfall, Naruto woke up on the couch and saw that it was dark outside. Groggily getting up, he glanced around and noticed Konan had already returned to her room to sleep.
After standing there for a while to steady himself, he finally headed out to find some food to bring home. It was a little funny… he was so used to living alone that whenever no one cooked for him, he'd go out foraging.
Not for any particular reason, just for the taste of the worldly hustle and bustle.
As he left the house, he pulled out his communicator and called Choji directly. Soon, Choji's grumbling voice came from the other end.
"You bastard, last time you took all the food with you. I had to wait half an hour for the second round being served. I almost starved to death. You heartless jerk, I swear..."
Naruto held the communicator away from his ear and waited for Choji to finish his rant before speaking.
"Choji, do you want to go out for a drink?"
"No!" Choji refused directly, "Damn it, you're definitely trying to trick me into paying! I'm not going, you can find someone else! Anyway, I'm not going!"
The round, chubby boy firmly rejected his invitation and made his displeasure clear.
"It's my treat."
"…Seriously?" Choji suddenly asked.
"Of course. Why would I lie to you?" Naruto continued to fool him and glanced at the darkening sky. "You haven't eaten yet, right? Let's get something together. We are all brothers."
"Mm… fine, wait for me." After hesitating for a while, Choji finally agreed. It's not that he was short of money, but he just couldn't swallow this humiliation.
And so, Choji was lured out, and they met at their usual small eatery. Choji stared at the single plate of cold appetizers on the table and froze.
"Where's the food?"
"Right here on the table."
"Where's the sake?"
"Hold on…" Naruto pulled out a small bottle of sake with a pop, leaving Choji utterly dumbfounded.
"Naruto, you really are..." Choji's hands trembled as he finally surrendered. "So this is what you meant by 'drinks and food, my treat'?"
"Yep. Since we're already here, let's eat first." Naruto said nonchalantly.
"I give up, I really give up." Choji covered his face, "Fine, fine, I'll order. Damn you, Uzumaki Naruto. Couldn't you scam someone else for once?"
Hearing this, Naruto shrugged.
"I tried Shikamaru first, but he's working overtime. Kiba is on a mission, and everyone else is busy one way or another. You're the one who's the most free. So, no choice."
As they ate, they chatted idly. Konoha's affairs weren't particularly hectic these days, and Choji really did have too much free time, otherwise, he wouldn't have been available at a moment's notice.
Choji had no grand ambitions of climbing the political ladder.
Every day, the biggest dilemma he faced was deciding what to eat for lunch and dinner. If there were clan matters, his father, Choza, would handle them. An eighteen-year-old chubby guy like him didn't need to worry about a thing.
"Hey… don't you think something's off in the Shinobi World lately?" Choji narrowed his small eyes, furrowed his brows, and spoke while clutching his chopsticks with his chubby fingers.
"Off how?" Naruto picked up a piece of meat with his chopsticks.
"I might not be as sharp as Shikamaru when it comes to sensing shifts in the wind, but I've got plenty of time on my hands." Choji put down his chopsticks and said seriously.
"I'd never claim to be the most talented in ninjutsu, but when it comes to food, I think I'm second to none. Others might rely on traditional channels for intel, but I can pick up clues from what's on the table."
"Like what?" Naruto asked.
"For example, the snow lotus that was once abundant in the Land of Snow… its production seems to have dropped recently." Choji said, "At first, I didn't pay it any mind. But would you believe it? The Land of Snow is now producing rice in bulk."
"So what?" Naruto shrugged nonchalantly.
"No, no, no, you don't understand the world of a foodie. The Land of Snow is located in an extremely cold area, and the plains formed by the impact produce very little rice, but the quality is top-tier." Choji licked his lips.
"And then?"
"The Land of Snow shouldn't be able to produce that much rice. After all, they barely have enough for domestic consumption. Normally, the Land of Snow's rice that comes out of trade is ridiculously expensive, but now, there's a sudden influx of Land of Snow's rice in the market."
Choji talked eloquently, his chubby cheeks trembling.
He squinted his eyes, leaned forward with his chopsticks in hand, and spoke seriously, "Where is all this extra Land of Snow's rice coming from? Something big must've happened in the Land of Snow. Either there was a coup, or they've somehow risen to power."
"Otherwise, how could a tiny, isolated country buried under ice and snow, with limited production and terrible transportation, suddenly expand its trade all the way to the Land of Fire?"
Naruto stopped eating and suddenly realized that Choji was not only good at eating, but also had a good brain.
It's just that he always lived under Shikamaru's shadow, so he did not show his talent.