A month passed quietly.
The time for Kushina's delivery was drawing closer.
Even though Simu was obsessed with research, he had stayed by Kushina's side for half a month.
Four squads of Anbu ninjas were dispatched to protect the surrounding area 24 hours a day.
"Oh, actually, you don't need to go through so much trouble," Kushina said casually.
She could keenly feel the atmosphere around her but believed she was strong enough to protect herself if anything happened.
Simu took her hand and shook his head slightly.
"You can protect yourself, but what about our child?"
"And when you give birth, the seal will be at its weakest. It would be dangerous if the Nine Tails took that chance to break free."
After Simu's repeated persuasion, Kushina accepted his arrangements.
Rei, standing beside him, also frowned and said worriedly,
"I don't know if having a baby hurts."
Kushina smiled lightly.
"Don't worry, Rei. I'll experience it first and then pass on what I learn to you."
Mikoto smiled softly.
Among the three women, her pregnancy was the most recent—only about half a month behind Rei's.
In other words, Simu would be welcoming three children in just two months!
As Kushina's delivery day approached, the entire village of Konoha went on high alert.
Of course, most people only knew that martial law had been imposed from above. They didn't know why.
Only Simu, Minato, and Tsunade—the midwife in charge of the delivery—knew Kushina's exact due date.
As for the Anbu, Minato personally selected his most trusted members for the mission.
"Hopefully, there won't be any surprises," Lu Jiu said worriedly, standing in the Hokage's office.
Minato was quite optimistic.
"With Simu around, it shouldn't be a problem."
Unlike others, Minato had witnessed the battle with Yamato and Uchiha Madara.
He clearly understood how terrifying Simu's true strength was.
Meanwhile, at the Revolutionary Army branch in the Land of Rain, night had already fallen.
Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko remained in the command room.
"With help from headquarters, the aristocratic forces on the border have almost been eliminated," Konan pointed at the map where the Land of Fire bordered the Land of Rain.
After the loss of Hanzō of the Salamander, a veteran powerhouse, the threat from Rain Shinobi Village had declined rapidly.
This caused neighboring countries to start eyeing the Land of Rain.
Domestically, the situation was turbulent.
In particular, the daimyo of the Land of Rain sought to regain control of the Rain Shinobi Village, erase the influence left by Hanzō, and reforge the village into the sharpest weapon of the nobles.
In addition, three or four rebel armies appeared in the Land of Rain with the support of the Land of Earth's Hefeng.
Plus, there was the revolutionary army called "Day."
In short, the entire Land of Rain was in chaos.
Among these forces, the most prominent was undoubtedly the revolutionary army led by Nagato and the others.
Supported by headquarters, they followed a steady and disciplined strategy, easily clearing all noble forces from the border.
All food seized from the nobles was distributed to the common people.
As for treasures, they were sold to buy more food to distribute.
Such actions were warmly welcomed by the masses.
Yahiko sat on his chair and said indignantly,
"Brother Simu is right—those nobles truly deserve to die!"
"Do you know? The food we seized from the nobles today was mountain-high!"
"Some of it had already started to rot. Those hateful nobles wouldn't even give rotten food to the common people!"
At first, Yahiko and others were suspicious of the revolutionary army's actions.
But after implementing the policies themselves in the Land of Rain, they realized how corrupt the nobles truly were.
Konan seemed to have anticipated this.
She pointed to a hill in the center of the Land of Rain.
"According to the intelligence I gathered, there is a rebel group here, probably funded by the Land of Earth. This will be our next target."
"Fortunately, headquarters provided a batch of the latest ninja tools. Let's see if we can wipe out all these 3,000 rebels."
Although the three thousand varied in skill, most were low-level ninjas who had just learned a few ninjutsu techniques, except for a few elites.
Still, this number of ninjas was enough to pose a real threat.
After all, the Revolutionary Army only accepted like-minded people with lofty ideals, and their vetting was strict.
Therefore, the actual number of fighters was around 1,200.
If it weren't for the excellent performance of those ninjas, Konan wouldn't have attacked the rebels so early.
At the mention of ninja tools, Yahiko's eyes lit up. He said enthusiastically,
"The ninja tools designed by Brother Simu are amazing! You wouldn't believe—"
They then discussed the Revolutionary Army's strategies and some existing problems.
They didn't return to sleep until early morning.
Nagato lay on his bed, recalling the smiles of the people they had helped.
Konan and Yahiko's smiles.
Nagato slightly raised the corner of his mouth.
"Mr. Jiraiya, the wishes we made seem to be coming true little by little."
As long as all the noble forces in the Land of Rain are eradicated, the people there will surely be able to breathe a sigh of relief.
Thinking this, Nagato's eyes, which were about to close, suddenly snapped open.
A figure appeared suddenly on the ceiling above him.
Half black and half white, wrapped in a green pitcher plant.
Seeing that Nagato had already noticed him, Black Zetsu laughed.
"As expected of the Rinnegan, discovering my presence so quickly."
Hearing the word "Rinnegan," Nagato immediately became alert.
Although the features of the Rinnegan are very distinctive, ordinary ninjas would not know about it.
"Who are you?!"
He got up from the bed and backed toward the wall.
The enemy's aura in front of him was extremely weak.
If not for the Rinnegan's awareness, he would have died in his sleep.
Black Zetsu stood still and spoke slowly:
"I'm just here to reclaim these eyes."
Nagato's heart skipped a beat.
He was not born with these eyes.
They suddenly appeared one day when he was a child.
Black Zetsu's words triggered many thoughts in his mind.
"It seems you've figured something out."
Black Zetsu held out his hand.
"Since you understand, return the eyes."
Nagato stared coldly at the half-black, half-white stranger.
"Impossible."
He needed the power of these eyes.
Only with the Rinnegan could he help Yahiko realize his ideals.
Black Zetsu was about to say something, but White Zetsu on the other side interrupted impatiently:
"Stop talking nonsense and kill him quickly."
The original White Zetsu had already died at Simu's hands.
This one was a special individual of White Zetsu, but no longer a mindless chatterbox.
On the contrary, he was cold and ruthless.
Nagato sighed inwardly.
"I really got along better with that chatterbox."
Nagato wasn't sure what they were referring to.
But in any case, he could not hand over the Rinnegan easily.
Not only that, he also wanted to catch these two trying to steal his eyes!
He opened his hands, and the power of the Rinnegan bloomed instantly.
"Shenluo Tianzheng!"
Nagato soon realized something was wrong.
Because the terrible repulsion in his imagination did not appear.
And his own eyes...
A darkness suddenly covered Nagato's vision.
Two dense seals appeared in Nagato's purple pupils.
"You don't think others hand over their eyes without some insurance, do you?"
Black Zetsu said jokingly.
Before dying, Uchiha Madara had told him how the seal was activated.
This gave him the courage to face Nagato alone.
"How is this possible…"
Along with Nagato's panicked voice, countless white spores appeared.
The spores grew from the ground, quickly surrounding Nagato.
They rapidly absorbed his chakra.
Nagato's eyes burned with pain, unable to resist the attack at all.
Black Zetsu appeared in front of Nagato in an instant and pierced Nagato's eye sockets with his fingers.
Blood gushed out.
The excruciating pain made Nagato let out a terrible howl.
With the sound of his scream, the wall shattered.
Yahiko arrived first.
He was still wearing the [Spellcaster Type I] he had received from headquarters.
It was clear that he had been manipulating ninja tools in the middle of the night.
Seeing Nagato bleeding, Yahiko was filled with rage.
"Heh, it came quickly."
White Zetsu raised his arms.
Countless branches suddenly sprouted from the ground, separating Yahiko from them.
Seeing this, Yahiko immediately activated [Caster Type I].
Turbulent natural energy gathered.
"Water Style: Water Break Technique!"
A stream of high-pressure water shot from Yahiko's mouth, cutting the branch wall in front of him in half.
Black Zetsu looked at Yahiko with some surprise.
"Is it because of the device?"
Konan also noticed the sky was covered with countless papers fluttering everywhere.
Black Zetsu watched the scene.
At this moment, he had already gotten what he wanted and saw no need to continue fighting.
"Let's retreat for now."
With that, they left Nagato, who had lost his eyes, and disappeared underground.
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