After a pause, she added, "The bar the one you gave me last time is nearly gone."
Ryouhei nodded and handed her a wrapped bar from his pack.
"made this one for you," he said. "Mint, chamomile, and lotus. Same as before."
She took it without a word, turning it slowly in her hands. "It helped," she said quietly. "More than I expected."
The scent of the soap lingered in the air between them. Neither spoke for a moment.
"Keep making them," she said. "Not just for me. For the village."
Ryouhei looked up. Her face was calm, unreadable, but her eyes held something—maybe trust, or maybe simple calculation.
"I already started a new batch," he said.
She studied him, then turned and said, "Walk with me."
He blinked. "Now?"
She didn't answer. Just stepped back into the street.
Ryouhei wiped his hands and followed her into the misty rain. The village was quiet. Pipes dripped overhead, and the air smelled of metal and wet stone.
They walked without speaking. Then Konan said, "This village resists change. Even when it's necessary."
"I've noticed," Ryouhei said. "Some people still look at me like I don't belong."
"They don't know what you are," she replied. "And neither do I."
They stopped beneath a ledge near a canal. Water fell into it in slow, steady drops.
Konan stared ahead. "When I issued the order to protect you, there was pushback. A civilian. No chakra. No formal role. They thought it was a mistake."
"They think I'm a risk," Ryouhei said.
She turned slightly toward him. "They think I've made a mistake."
That caught him off guard. Her expression didn't change.
"I didn't mean to cause problems," he said.
"But you have," she said. "Still, I won't change my decision."
"Why?"
She was silent for a moment. Then: "Power alone doesn't hold a nation together. Fear doesn't build anything lasting. What you're doing is small—but practical. Useful."
She looked at him directly now, voice steady. "If it becomes something real, you'll owe me."
Ryouhei gave a faint smile. "So I'm a gamble?"
"No," she said. "You're protected. And being watched."
She stepped closer. "I don't care about where you came from. Only what you do next. Make your work valuable enough that even the skeptics rely on it. If you succeed…"
Her voice lowered just a little.
"…you won't be seen as an outsider anymore."
She reached into her cloak and handed him a small metal pin. It was shaped like her angel emblem.
"Wear this when you leave the village. It will make people think twice."
Then she turned and walked away, her figure fading into the mist and rain.
Ryouhei looked down at the pin in his hand.
✦ Three Weeks Later ✦
The smell of cedar and mint filled the shop every morning. The rain kept falling, but Ryouhei's business didn't slow down.
Production had tripled.
Tetsu now worked full-time with a helper named Aya, a smart girl with steady hands who used to collect scrap near the canals. Together, they pressed, wrapped, and packed soaps quickly and well. Rolls of cloth covered the walls. The new wax-treated wraps—thinner, stronger, and lightly scented—had become popular with the shinobi in the field.
Outside, merchants stood in line.
Some brought sealed orders. Others came with empty crates, hoping for extra supplies. A few even brought their own ingredients—orange peel, dried herbs, pieces of clean cloth—to trade for custom batches.
One man from the Border Ring shouted through the rain, "You don't understand what this soap does for morale! Even the commander is asking for it now!"
Another, soaked and out of breath, leaned in. "I heard you have that fire-resistant wrap. Are you making more or not?"
Kaede, standing by the door as usual, narrowed her eyes. "Don't push."
They stepped back, but stayed nearby.
Ryouhei kept writing, planning, and improving. Calendula for wounds. Mugwort for shinobi with skin problems. A new lemon and charcoal mix for the guards who worked near Amegakure's sewage canals.
He was building something important.
And the world beyond Amegakure was slowly changing, little by little.
✦ That Night ✦
Ryouhei sat at his desk. His ledger was open, and his fingers were stained with wax. The shop was quiet. Kaede had gone home. Tetsu and Aya were finished for the day. Rain tapped softly on the roof.
He flipped through a stack of folded letters brought by traders during the week. Some were just gossip. Others carried warnings or rumors.
One note, wrinkled and damp, caught his eye.
"Konoha is hosting the Chūnin Exams again. And there is news a kid named Naruto is making noise and i heard he is Nine-Tails Jinchūriki. The Hidden Sand and Sound villages are involved too. Things feel tense."
Ryouhei stared at the name. Naruto. It didn't mean much to him—yet. But what came next mattered more.
"Other villages are watching closely. Something is coming. We'll know more in a month, maybe less."
He leaned back in his chair.
So that's where the world was—just beyond the horizon. The real players were only starting to move.
He had time.
For now, Amegakure was quiet. Wet, hard, full of iron and silence—but calm.
And in that calm, his small shop kept growing. His work was spreading. His name was moving from village to village—not as a shinobi or a leader, but as someone useful.
Someone worth protecting.
He looked at the metal pin on the shelf—Konan's mark, still untouched since she gave it to him.
He hadn't worn it yet.
✦ Over the Three Weeks ✦
Konan didn't come often.
She didn't need to. Her orders came in neat scrolls, brought by silent messengers or Kaede herself. Clear. Efficient. Without any warmth.
But Ryouhei noticed a pattern.
She came in person when it mattered—when the soap formula changed, or when supplies were needed for special missions. Those were the times he watched for her. Not to impress, but to understand her.
And to test how close he could get.
The first time she came in those weeks, it was to check the fire-resistant wraps herself.
"You added clay dust," she said, running her fingers over the fabric.
"Helps spread the heat," Ryouhei said. "I tested it over fire. It didn't burn or curl."
She nodded once.
"You want to try it yourself?" he asked.
She looked at him. "I already did. Last night."
He blinked. "Oh."