Chapter 38 – Jet-Black Memories
At Konan's words, Yahiko turned to her curiously. "What happened to that Zetsu?"
At the mention of "Zetsu," a barely perceptible shiver flickered through Konan's usually cold eyes.
She drew a steadying breath. "A few days ago, while I was handing him the ring marked 'Xuan,' I activated my Stand—Heavens Door."
"And the result?"
"Disgusting… and bizarre." Konan chose two opposite words.
"The White Zetsu half was a landfill." Disgust twisted her face. "Page after page obsessed with human excretion, or how to sprout spores and peep on people. His mind is simple—borderline idiotic. The part about the 'Moon-Eye' plan was the same nonsense Obito just spouted—nothing new."
"Expected from an idiot." Yahiko sneered. "And Black Zetsu?"
Konan's expression darkened. "I couldn't see."
"Couldn't see?" Nagato turned; a ripple of doubt crossed his Rinnegan.
"Not blank—unreadable." Konan's voice trembled. "When I opened the half that belongs to Black Zetsu, there were no words—only tar-thick, pitch-black ink."
"The ink was alive. It writhed and screamed, reeking of something ancient and suffocating. One glance and I felt my mind being dragged in."
She shuddered. "Worse, it noticed. When I tried to force the ink to speak, Black Zetsu's mind lashed out; the black sludge almost crawled up my fingers. If I hadn't instantly written 'forget what was just read' on the page…"
…the person standing here wouldn't be Konan.
"A history blotted out, huh…" Yahiko rubbed his chin, eyes glinting.
As expected.
That so-called "will of Uchiha Madara" Tobi spouted was a lie. Anything that could defy Heavens Door so easily wasn't a Ninjutsu creation—probably news even to Tobi himself.
"Well done, Konan." Yahiko nodded approvingly. "We've confirmed one thing: this mouthpiece is ten thousand times more dangerous than that fool Tobi."
"Do we keep working with them?" Nagato asked, killing intent threading his tone.
"Of course." Yahiko rose and moved to the railing, looking down on the steel jungle of Amegakure. "Without their intel network, Akatsuki crawls. We use each other—let's see who laughs last."
"How's the Village?" Yahiko switched topics.
A cold smile finally cracked Nagato's gaunt face. "Maeda's doing well. After the arrow struck and awakened his Stand—Money for Nothing—his loyalty to you turned fanatic."
"The hardliners loyal to Hanzou have been purged. The rest…" Nagato paused, Rinnegan gleaming, "having seen power beyond reason, the Ame shinobi now believe a god has truly descended."
Mortals always dread what they can't grasp; place that power in a ruler's hands and dread becomes rabid devotion.
"Excellent." Yahiko didn't need thinking democrats—he needed fanatics who'd strike wherever he pointed.
"But fear and zeal aren't enough." Nagato rolled his spider Puppet to the terrace's edge.
"These past days, I've sensed something new in these eyes."
He lifted his hands and formed a seal none of them had ever seen.
Instantly, the rain around them changed.
Every drop was no longer cold and dead, but warm with will.
"This…" Konan caught a few drops, startled.
"I call it Rain Tiger at Will."
Nagato's low voice echoed with the thunder, as though from the Nine Heavens.
"I infused Chakra into the storm clouds. From now on, every drop that falls is my sensor—stray dogs, gutter rats, even a foreigner's first footstep in the Land of Rain…"
He snapped his eyes open; the Rinnegan's ripples blazed violet in the dark.
"…all under the gaze of a god."
Yahiko grinned wildly. "As expected, Nagato." He applauded. "With this jutsu, Amegakure is an iron barrel—no fly enters unannounced."
Nagato lowered his head; before his only friend he needn't keep divine airs. "As for the six paths of pain, most corpses here are unsuitable, but an assassin squad brought back a Fuma-clan body perfect for the Animal Path. I've finished it; the path strengthens summoning, so we'll need many powerful beasts."
"Sounds like we're going shopping."
Konan produced an intel scroll Maeda had found while purging Hanzou's loyalists.
"Old man Hanzou's intel skills were solid." Yahiko scanned it. "North border gorge, Land of Rain—a chameleon that can turn invisible."
For Rinnegan wielder Nagato, the perfect Animal Path summon.
"Konan, hold the Village." Yahiko issued orders at once. "Use your paper Clones with Nagato's rain sense to keep daily operations and barrier defense."
"Understood." She wanted to go, but guarding home mattered more.
"Nagato, can you move?" Yahiko glanced at the gaunt redhead in the wheelchair.
"My real body can't, but…" Nagato's will stirred.
Clang!
The chamber doors opened; two red-cloud black-coat figures stepped out.
One tall and stern—Heavenly Dao, forged from Hanzou's corpse; the other, the newly made Animal Path.
It stepped beside Nagato. "Let these two Pain come with me. Time to stock the Animal Path."
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