Konan had bluish-purple hair, with a light blue paper flower pinned on the right side of her head. Though she was still a child, her features were delicate, and she exuded a natural beauty.
There was no doubt she would grow up to become a stunning woman.
"It's been a long time, Konan. I'm glad to see you're doing well now—that puts my heart at ease."
During the Second Great Ninja War, Aoshi had encountered Konan on the battlefield in the Land of Rain—at the time, she had become a war orphan due to the chaos.
She was in danger when he found her, and acting on a belief that forming more bonds would open more paths, Aoshi had chosen to save her.
Of course, his reason for stepping in wasn't just selfish; it also stemmed from empathy. After all, Aoshi himself had reincarnated into Konoha as an orphan.
At one point, he had even considered bringing Konan back to the Konoha orphanage. But that wasn't realistic.
With the war still ongoing, there was no way for him to return to Konoha any time soon. Moreover, Konan was a native of the Land of Rain—the Konoha orphanage likely wouldn't accept her.
This was entirely different from the case of Kabuto Yakushi.
First, Kabuto had been taken in by the orphanage because of the director—Nono Yakushi—whereas Aoshi was just a regular Genin.
Second, Kabuto was discovered during the Battle of Kikyo Pass, which was on the territory of the Land of Fire and had a Konoha stronghold.
That meant Kabuto was likely a citizen of the Land of Fire, essentially one of their own.
In short, since Aoshi couldn't bring Konan back to Konoha, he did his best to take care of her for as long as possible and even taught her how to extract chakra.
With chakra, Konan would have a much greater ability to protect herself than she did at this point in the original timeline.
Later, as the war escalated into an all-out blaze, Aoshi could no longer care for her personally, so he placed her somewhere relatively safe.
From then until now, the two had not seen each other again.
"It really is you, Aoshi-nii! I missed you so much!" Once Konan confirmed it was truly Aoshi standing in front of her, she couldn't hold back anymore and leapt into his arms.
Aoshi crouched and hugged her back, sighing quietly.
Despite his earlier intervention, the timeline had corrected itself—Konan had still ended up meeting Yahiko and Nagato and becoming Jiraiya's disciple.
So this was the so-called self-correction of the timeline.
"So you're the Konoha ninja Konan mentioned before—the one who saved her back then," Jiraiya looked at Aoshi with surprise.
Having spent over a year with Konan and the others, Jiraiya had naturally heard about this part of her past.
"What I did was nothing compared to you, Jiraiya-sama—taking them in and teaching them ninjutsu. That's far more significant." While speaking with Jiraiya, Aoshi's gaze drifted toward Yahiko and Nagato.
Yahiko, the natural leader of the trio, was bold and brimming with ambition.
Disgusted by war, he dreamed of becoming a god who would lead the world to peace. It was Yahiko who had decided to approach the three Sannin to learn ninjutsu.
During wartime, most civilians avoided shinobi at all costs.
Yet Yahiko had dared to approach them. And it had paid off.
Now, Yahiko looked at Aoshi with open curiosity and took the initiative to strike up a conversation.
Nagato, on the other hand, remained silent. His long red hair framed his reserved expression as he stood behind Yahiko, eyes quietly observing Aoshi and the others, with a hint of hostility.
He had watched his parents die at the hands of Konoha shinobi while protecting him. Even though he had taken revenge on the spot, the hatred lingered.
Thanks to Jiraiya's mentorship, that hatred had lessened. Otherwise, his reaction now would've been far more intense.
He no longer harbored blind hostility toward Konoha, but it was clear he couldn't bring himself to grow close to their ninja either.
Aoshi didn't mind.
Instead, he silently focused on Nagato's Rinnegan. More accurately, the Rinnegan that Uchiha Madara had implanted in Nagato.
That's right—the Rinnegan Nagato possessed hadn't awakened naturally.
By the time Madara awakened the Rinnegan, he was already too old. To preserve its vitality after his death, he had transplanted it into Nagato.
Nagato, being a member of the Uzumaki clan with vast chakra reserves, was a suitable host for such a powerful dōjutsu.
Once inside the room Jiraiya had prepared, Aoshi quietly used a Copy Scroll on Nagato.
[Successfully used Copy Scroll on Nagato. Copy successful.
Congratulations. You have obtained the Rinnegan.]
It worked! Internally, Aoshi shouted with joy—he had scored on the first try.
As the system notification sounded, he could immediately feel the changes in his body. First and foremost was the massive boost in chakra—an effect of the Rinnegan's awakening.
[C-Rank (78200/100000)]
In a single moment, Aoshi's chakra surged from just over 10,000 to nearly 80,000—more than what many elite jonin possessed.
Of course, it was still nowhere near Nagato's level. Although Aoshi couldn't see Nagato's exact numbers, he estimated that Nagato's chakra would be in the hundreds of thousands.
Perhaps even over a million.
And this was while Nagato was still a child.
Besides the chakra boost, Aoshi also instantly gained mastery over all chakra nature transformations, meaning he could now use any elemental jutsu he unlocked without difficulty.
"As expected of the ultimate dōjutsu… Even without tapping into its true abilities, it's already given me a massive upgrade."
Aoshi picked up a mirror and stared at the purple ripple-patterned eyes now shining in his reflection, unable to suppress a comment.
The Rinnegan possessed many formidable powers—like Shinra Tensei (Almighty Push), Banshō Ten'in (Universal Pull), and the Preta Path's chakra absorption.
But beyond these foundational powers, each Rinnegan wielder had a unique ability.
Uchiha Madara's was Limbo: Hengoku, which created invisible clones in a parallel dimension.
Uchiha Sasuke's was Amenotejikara, a space-time technique that allowed him to swap places with objects or people within a certain range.
Aoshi tried to sense his Rinnegan's unique ability—but found nothing. After a brief moment of reflection, he realized why.
His chakra was still too low to activate it.
While the Rinnegan's abilities were undeniably powerful, they also consumed an enormous amount of chakra.
Even the basic powers he now had were limited by his chakra pool—he couldn't spam them like Nagato did in the original story.
For now, they would serve as trump cards—used only when necessary. Still, even with these limitations, Aoshi's strength had grown dramatically.
If he were to face that rogue ninja squad again, he could likely wipe them all out instantly by himself.
"Chakra is clearly my biggest limitation right now—I'll need to keep increasing it."
Having more chakra didn't guarantee strength—but having too little meant you could never reach the top.
Chakra was a fundamental aspect of a shinobi's power. Once depleted, even the strongest ninja became no different from an ordinary person.
With a quiet sigh, Aoshi deactivated his Rinnegan, and his eyes returned to normal.
Nagato's Rinnegan wasn't his own, so it remained permanently active.
But the one Aoshi obtained through the Copy Scroll was his to control—he could deactivate it, just like the Uchiha could with their Sharingan.