While Setsuna was raging helplessly, Jiraiya was inspecting Hanzō's corpse with his disciples.
The corpse of Hanzō, the invisible slash wound—everything pointed to an unusual black hand orchestrating events from the shadows.
Who exactly was behind this? And what was their goal?
Jiraiya glanced at Nagato beside him and a vague suspicion began to form in his heart.
Seriously, he had only wanted to use the post-war lull to gather material and finish the final chapter of his series.
He had only come to find Yahiko and the others because he happened to pass by the Land of Rain and decided to take a look.
That decision had ended up costing him dearly.
"There's no way you can stay in Amegakure. The losses you've suffered recently have been too great."
Looking at the few remaining members of the Akatsuki, Jiraiya spoke bluntly to Yahiko about their current state.
Yahiko did not disagree with Jiraiya's words, but his tone carried a hint of sorrow.
"But if we leave Amegakure, where can we even go?"
The members nearby all nodded. This was their homeland. If they left it, where else could they belong?
Besides...
They still had ongoing dealings with Konoha.
"For now, get out of Hanzō's range of control. Try to find a new base of operations near the Land of Rain. What do you say?" Jiraiya knew these people would never agree to join Konoha, so he had no intention of persuading them.
"That's all we can do."
Yahiko's expression was filled with bitterness as he agreed to Jiraiya's suggestion.
"Well then..."
Jiraiya tossed aside the ninja fragment from Hanzō's body and began to form hand seals.
The ground beneath their feet shifted, and the scenery around them changed once more.
An Akatsuki member walked over to Nagato and gently supported him, as the long battle had left him visibly fatigued.
"Thank you. You are...?" Nagato raised his head and looked at the familiar face before him. Just as he was about to speak, everything suddenly went black—and a piercing pain struck him.
"Ah!!!"
A powerful repulsive force exploded from Nagato's body, drawing everyone's attention.
"Nagato, what happened?!"
Jiraiya spun around just in time to see blood tears running down Nagato's face.
The sudden incident shocked everyone. As Nagato fell to one knee and clutched his now-empty right eye socket, the figure that had been blown away by him earlier approached again.
"Not a chance. Fire Style—"
Realizing the attacker had struck Nagato by surprise, Jiraiya was just about to react when he suddenly noticed his vision had shifted.
Nagato, who should have been kneeling on the ground, now appeared in the sky, and the figure he was aiming to attack had become a blurred, floating silhouette.
"Genjutsu? Obito, you—"
Jiraiya wanted Obito to take action in his place. However, Obito wasn't in good shape either. His vision was inverted to the point where he couldn't even maintain balance. He collapsed to the ground, dragging Yahiko down with him.
A brutal knee strike landed squarely on Nagato's face. The shadowy figure grabbed Nagato by the hair, forced his head up, and with the other hand viciously gouged out the second Rinnegan.
"Nagato!"
The other Akatsuki members were horrified, their eyes nearly bursting with fury, yet there was nothing they could do.
Everyone's vision was distorted—they couldn't act properly to stop the attacker.
"I'll be taking the Rinnegan."
In front of everyone, the shadow tucked away the Rinnegan,, and vanished from the scene using Body Flicker Technique.
Only after he was gone did everyone's vision return to normal, and they immediately rushed to Nagato.
"Damn it!"
Seeing the severity of Nagato's injuries, Jiraiya slammed his fist hard against the ground.
His own disciple had both eyes gouged out right before him—and he was powerless to stop it. The humiliation was so great that even someone as carefree as Jiraiya lost his composure.
"Who was the attacker?! Why do something like this?!"
Konan gently lifted Nagato's head and rested it on her lap, a look of sorrow on her face.
"Nagato..."
Yahiko also climbed up from the ground, stumbling toward Nagato.
...
Confirming that there were no pursuers behind him, Uchiha Yōwan finally deactivated his Mangekyō Sharingan.
Dōjutsu: Ayaka Shiguni.
The left eye's ability was to alter others' perception of him. The right eye reversed their vision.
With this technique, Uchiha Yōwan had infiltrated the Akatsuki undetected—even Setsuna had failed to notice.
"Fools. If his ideology can't be reversed, it's better to discard him."
Yōwan pulled out a glass jar from his robe and stared at the pair of Rinnegan glowing with a faint purple light, a hint of fascination flickering in his eyes.
The Rinnegan—power of the Six Paths, capable of controlling all things in existence.
However, he couldn't use these eyes just yet.
Besides, he had already picked a new host. Compared to Nagato's stubborn will, the new candidate would be much easier to control.
"Yo, boss."
A brash voice rang out. A shirtless man with a giant triple-bladed scythe slung over his shoulder and slicked-back gray hair appeared before Yōwan.
"Done with the ritual?" Yōwan glanced at the blood on the man's body and, knowing his habits, immediately guessed what he had just been up to.
"Man, that felt good." Hidan grinned. Then he asked, "So where to next?"
"The Land of Fire."
Yōwan sneered at this troublesome subordinate he had gone to great lengths to recruit.
Though the process was painful, the man's abilities were well worth the trouble.
An immortal body—who would've thought such a problematic ability could exist in the shinobi world?
The Jashin cult, huh... If he got the chance, he definitely wanted to look into it.
As the two walked side by side, Yōwan plotted silently.
...
Land of Fire, Konohagakure.
Kushina Uzumaki was not in a good mood.
Ever since Minato became the head of the Anbu, the constant surveillance around her had finally lessened.
But that didn't fix the core problem—they still barely saw each other.
Aside from the sweet week they spent together after getting married, the rest of the time, Minato was constantly tied up with work and had no time to be with her.
Luckily, with age, Kushina's chakra had grown strong enough to suppress the Nine-Tails. Otherwise, the beast would've long tried to stir up negative emotions and disrupt her mind.
At this moment, the Nine-Tails was once again experiencing the same treatment it had endured during Mito's era—tightly bound by Kushina's Adamantine Sealing Chains within the mental space, serving as a convenient outlet for her frustrations with Minato.
Kurama: So now you all understand why I hate humans, don't you?
Isobu: I actually find being inside a Jinchūriki pretty comfy. I can sleep all day and just lend some chakra now and then.
Kurama: Get lost.
Sakumo Hatake: Sorry, Kushina. It's just that Minato is too useful...
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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