He stared at Aoba closely, "I believe Konan wouldn't betray us, but you taking the chance to lure Konan must have some other motive!"
A sudden surge of aura burst forth from him, and a pair of purple-ringed eyes locked firmly on Aoba.
Aoba abruptly felt a pressure, that was the power from the Rinnegan.
But this pressure couldn't shake him in the slightest.
"Pain!", Konan instinctively stood in front of Aoba, facing off against the pressure.
Nagato inexplicably felt a bit aggrieved.
"Konan, he's someone from Konoha, being with you definitely has other motives!"
Konan: "That's because you don't understand him at all!"
"...", Nagato was momentarily speechless, and a surge of fire inexplicably rose in his chest.
At this time, Aoba also looked toward Deva Path Pain.
"I do have my own motive."
The two of them looked toward him together.
"Aoba?", Konan's expression carried confusion.
Aoba smiled and said, "I like Konan-nee, and I want to keep you by my side forever. That's my motive."
Konan's face turned scarlet, and she couldn't help but reach out and knock on Aoba's head, "Don't say such embarrassing things out here!"
"What's so embarrassing? I'm just stating a fact," Aoba grabbed the hand that Konan was trying to use to knock him again.
And from far away in another high tower, Nagato witnessed the entire exchange between the two through the puppet and only felt like his stomach was oddly bloated.
Looking at Konan's expression, he also understood, she truly liked this young man.
Only…
'Why does it have to be a ninja from Konoha?'
'Could it be that there is no one suitable in Amegakure?'
"Sigh!", Nagato didn't even remember how long it had been since he last sighed.
Now even the Rinnegan couldn't give him strength.
He already knew Konan's stance. If she was really chasing her own happiness, then he would choose to let go.
But he still wanted to know, was Konan really going to give up on their decades-long friendship just for this guy from Konoha?
"Konan, have you really thought this through?"
"Can we talk privately?", Before Konan could reply, Aoba spoke first.
"No!", Konan instinctively replied, she was worried that if the two were alone, they might end up fighting.
Nagato, however, didn't object. If possible, he still hoped Konan would stay.
If a private talk could make Aoba back off, that would be ideal.
Aoba looked at Konan with sincere eyes, "Konan-nee, I don't want your friendship to be strained because of me. If people don't talk things through, they can never truly understand one another."
"But…"
"Don't worry, I promised you, I absolutely won't make a move."
Saying this, Aoba glanced at Deva Path Pain, "If he makes a move, I'll just use Flying Thunder God to take you away, and we'll never come back."
Crack!
Nagato's real body nearly crushed the armrest of his chair.
'This brat, is he threatening me?'
"But…", Konan looked again toward Deva Path Pain.
Nagato took a deep breath, then controlled the puppet to speak, "As long as this guy doesn't provoke anything…"
Finally, under Aoba's persuasion and guarantee, Konan temporarily left the great hall.
But she waited just outside the door. If she heard even a hint of movement, she would come in immediately.
———
"Didn't expect you'd actually dare to face me alone," Nagato's voice was cold, carrying a hint of disdain.
Although Aoba had given him a strong sense of crisis, after living long as someone who saw himself as a god, he had enough confidence.
"I'm not to the point of being afraid to face a puppet," Aoba's words held another meaning, but Nagato didn't catch it.
"If you came hoping for mutual understanding between us, that's impossible," Nagato wasn't surprised Aoba had seen through his puppet, nor did he waste words and went straight to the point, "Pain between people is not shared. If you haven't experienced my pain, you can never understand me."
"That's right. I think so too," Aoba nodded in full agreement.
"...", Nagato didn't expect Aoba would agree with him, his prepared lines all got stuck in his throat.
"You just said to Konan…"
Aoba casually waved his hand, "That was just to put Konan-nee at ease, that's all."
"...", Nagato felt this guy was really not honest.
'Konan might get taken advantage of.'
Aoba, however, stared into Deva Path Pain's eyes and suddenly asked, "Do you know the origin of your Rinnegan?"
"Rinnegan? These eyes have been with me since I can remember."
Nagato wasn't surprised at the topic shift, he just thought Aoba was curious about the Rinnegan.
"Is that so?", Aoba's face showed a playful look.
"Although I don't know which clan you're from, the Rinnegan actually has a deep connection with Konoha's Uchiha and Senju clans…"
"Maybe you're a ninja from Konoha too."
"?", Nagato really didn't know this.
But when he heard the word "Uchiha," something suddenly came to mind.
'That Uchiha Madara?'
"What are you trying to say?", Nagato temporarily suppressed the doubts in his heart.
'That guy who claims to be Uchiha Madara hasn't shown up in a long time.'
'And Black Zetsu…'
"Just reminding you, before letting the world feel pain, it's better to first jump out of the script arranged by others."
"You don't need to worry about that. Or is it that you want to use this to stop my plan?", Nagato wasn't surprised Aoba knew his plan, this was probably something Konan had told him.
Though he looked unconcerned, in truth his guard was already up.
Aoba wasn't surprised by Nagato's attitude either. These kinds of villains, if they weren't beaten down hard, they'd never wake up.
Talk-no-Jutsu only works after a correctional punch to the face.
"I don't plan on stopping your plan. In fact, I'm also collecting tailed beasts."
"You're collecting tailed beasts too?"
Nagato was slightly surprised, 'Thinking back to what he just said, could it be that he has the same goal as me?'
"Let's make a deal," Aoba said.
Nagato: "What deal?"
The corner of Aoba's mouth lifted in a confident arc, "Konoha now has One-Tail, Two-Tails, and Nine-Tails. After you've collected the other tailed beasts, let's have a fair battle between the two of us."
"Whoever wins, gets all the tailed beasts."
"Heh!", Nagato couldn't help but sneer, his face also filled with confidence.
"If that's the case, then the three tailed beasts in your hands, I'll gladly accept."
He wasn't afraid Aoba would go back on his word. If Aoba didn't give them up, he would come take them himself.
"Then it's a deal," Aoba said, and then walked toward the outside.
The free labor had been successfully tricked.
"Oh right!", After a few steps, he suddenly stopped and turned around to say, "Konan-nee will still be going back to Konoha with me. When we get married, we'll send you an invitation."
Crack!
The armrest in Nagato's real body's hand shattered.
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