Konan unfurled her paper wings and carried Shiba Kiyokawa through the sky toward the Kusagakure.
On the way, Kiyokawa couldn't help but mull over the potential consequences of his sudden emotional heart-to-heart with Konan.
First off, his plan to win Nagato over clearly needed some adjustments.
Originally, he had intended to thoroughly provoke Nagato—let him witness the cruelty of the shinobi world firsthand—and then unleash his trademark silver tongue to push him toward the dark side.
But after the heartfelt performance he just gave about friendship and bonds, he couldn't very well tear apart that carefully curated "good guy" image so soon.
So how to tweak the plan?
Kiyokawa hadn't come up with a new approach yet when things over at the target destination took a wild turn—because the Kusa ninja had left themselves absolutely no room for redemption.
At that moment, Nagato had already infiltrated the village, silently trailing behind Kenjiro and the others, searching quickly for signs of any surviving members of the Uzumaki Clan.
Soon, they spotted two Kusa ninja standing in front of a run-down brick house.
Both were men. One was smoking a pipe, visibly hesitant. The other was cursing impatiently beside him.
"I'm telling you—what's the hold-up? You like that red-haired chick, right? Then go handle it already. Nobody in the village's gonna stop you!"
The pipe-smoking one still seemed to have a sliver of conscience and said with hesitation, "I don't know, man. Feels wrong. I don't think Kayo really likes me that way."
The other scoffed. "Who cares if she likes you or not? She's just a walking blood bag the village keeps around! If we weren't protecting her, she'd be long dead. Why the hell should you care what she wants?"
"Seriously… it doesn't matter?"
The impatient Kusa ninja laughed even harder. "You're dense as hell. Think about it—what kind of situation is the Uzumaki Clan in these days? You think she dares to leave the village? Whatever we do, she's got no choice but to take it."
Then he slapped his buddy on the shoulder.
"You'd better act fast. I heard the boss already plans to knock her up—keep her tied down and breed more of that clan's bloodline. Once she dies, we'd lose our only blood bag. If you don't make your move soon, someone else will. Don't say I didn't warn you."
Every word of that despicable exchange was clearly overheard by the infiltrating members of the Akatsuki—and by Nagato.
Forget Nagato—even the other Akatsuki members, who had no blood ties to the girl, were furious beyond words.
"Bastards! They dare treat someone related to Big Bro Nagato like this?!"
Thanks to Kiyokawa's earlier misdirection, everyone now fully believed Uzumaki Kaye was Nagato's long-lost relative.
The hatred boiled over instantly.
Call it fate's cruel twist.
Kiyokawa had just decided to take a softer approach—but the sheer scumminess of the Kusa ninja left no room for restraint.
Back in front of the house, even the somewhat-conscientious ninja finally slammed his pipe down, face twisted in anger.
"Damn it, you're right. No way I'm letting someone else have her. I saw her first!"
He stormed toward the building and kicked open the door.
Seconds later, a woman's scream echoed from inside.
The Kusa ninja outside smirked coldly, unfazed by the impending horror inside. In fact, he seemed smug that his partner had finally come to his senses.
He turned to leave, unaware that something was wrong—the screaming continued, clearly not subdued as it should've been.
And the moment his partner entered the room… he never made another sound.
Once the outer ninja walked off, the screaming abruptly ceased.
Inside, the Akatsuki had already eliminated the would-be attacker with little effort.
But as Nagato entered the room right after them, the others were left frozen in awkward panic.
Only Kenjiro had informed Nagato. None of the other Akatsuki members had expected the leader himself to be here.
"Lord Nagato… we can explain! I swear we didn't act without cause! That woman… she's your… your…"
They trailed off.
After all, Kiyokawa had only hinted at a connection between Kaye and Nagato—never confirmed it.
Fortunately, Nagato didn't press them. He didn't seem to care about the kill, either. Instead, he turned toward the terrified Uzumaki girl, pointed at his own red hair, and awkwardly said:
"Don't be afraid. I'm Uzumaki Nagato."
Kaye froze. Then tears welled up in her eyes.
She was shocked, overwhelmed to see another living member of her clan.
But thanks to the assumptions already planted by Kiyokawa, the others all thought the same thing—
She knows Lord Nagato? She really is his family!
A wonderful misunderstanding took root.
And not one of them suspected Kiyokawa.
They believed he'd simply suggested an investigation—and that they had discovered this truth all on their own.
But after that brief introduction, Nagato froze again.
Before his "blackened" transformation, Nagato was actually rather socially awkward—nothing like the later godlike figure who'd declare his philosophies to entire villages.
Now, faced with a crying Kaye covering her mouth in silence, he was completely at a loss.
Kenjiro finally stepped up, gently prompting, "Lord Nagato, let's take your relative home. This place isn't safe."
Then he turned to Kaye, asking gently, "Miss Uzumaki, we're ninja from the Land of Rain. Would you come with us? We'll protect you."
Kaye looked confused.
Especially at that "your relative" part—she couldn't recall ever having a family member named Nagato.
But seeing how sincere they were, she didn't dare question it. She simply nodded timidly and whispered:
"I… I'll go with you."
They quickly exited through a window and made their escape.
But Kaye had little chakra and was severely malnourished. Her physical state was weak, making stealth difficult.
Despite being careful, they still made a bit of noise.
A nearby Kusa ninja shouted, "Who's there?! Uzumaki Kaye?! Damn it—she's trying to run away!"
The shout echoed through the village.
"Prepare for battle!!" the Akatsuki members immediately drew their weapons.
Nagato's hand moved toward his eyes, visibly hesitant.
His Rinnegan was hidden by a special technique. Yahiko had warned him repeatedly: never use it lightly.
But right now… for the first time ever, Nagato had the urge to disobey Yahiko.
He was furious!
Every time those ninja referred to Kaye as a "blood bag," it made him want to rip them apart.
Just then, two voices rang out from above—
"Dance of the Shikigami!"
"Lightning Style: Thunder Draw!"
Konan and Kiyokawa had arrived—right on time!