Konan, who arrived late, still had traces of anger on her face.
After Nagato told her to go seek reinforcements, she had immediately pulled out the communicator given by Sasori and started calling every Akatsuki's member one by one.
But what's the result?
The two slackers, Sasori and Deidara, kept spouting nonsense like 'I'm on my way', 'Almost there', or 'My Summoned Beast broke down'.
Even when she called them just moments ago, the two bastards were still spewing the same excuses.
Konan had always considered herself mild-tempered, but when she thought of these two slackers, she genuinely wanted to cut them down on the spot.
The others were even worse.
None of them answered the call.
Especially Kisame!!
Who knew where that guy had disappeared to?!
And that masked man, Uchiha Madara…
Thankfully, on her way here, she had run into Kakuzu and Hidan, and now she had also spotted Ichigo.
Otherwise, she would really be pissed off by these people.
And judging by Nagato and the Six Paths of Pain nearby, it is not difficult to see that the fastest supporter in the organization is this newcomer who had only joined recently.
'As expected...'
'I and Nagato hadn't misjudged him.'
'Just look at him!!'
'He even brought backup from outside!!'
Konan landed, and the moment she saw Nagato, her eyes widened in shock.
"Kurosaki Ichigo..."
"This is… "
Compared to Nagato's previous frail condition, the current Nagato looked like a completely normal person. His face even had a healthy glow, and his lips were no longer pale.
'How is this possible!?'
Over the years, she had tried countless methods to help Nagato.
In the end, the only solution she could think of was to have Nagato use his Rinnegan's power as little as possible.
"Konan-nee."
"I saw this guy was unconscious, so I rescued him."
Naruto scratched his head, feigning innocence.
Konan's eyes turned red when she saw it, and she almost called out Yahiko's name by mistake.
After a long pause, she finally spoke.
"Th... thank you."
"You've helped us tremendously."
The only thing Konan truly cared about was the safety of her last remaining companion.
As for Amegakure...
They can just let Kakuzu raise the money to rebuild it later.
So it's not a big deal.
Konan stepped forward to check Nagato's condition. After finding that there was no problem, she finally remembered the previous battle here, so she looked up at Ichigo and asked.
"By the way..."
"What happened to that monster earlier?"
Naruto didn't even blink as he told a white lie.
"It's gone."
"I have no idea where it went… It just vanished."
Sasuke, who was standing on the side, blushed and averted his gaze. Even with his hardened conscience, he still felt a little guilty about razing the entire village to the ground.
"I see."
Konan nodded and did not continue to ask further questions.
That monster had appeared out of nowhere, almost as if it had specifically targeted them.
When she thought of this, Konan immediately began to suspect the masked man.
'Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Itachi are definitely involved in this!!'
Konan had already decided that she will definitely kill these two guys next time she saw them.
On the ground, Nagato furrowed his brows. When he opened his eyes and saw Konan, he let out a long sigh of relief.
But the moment he remembered that the base he had painstakingly built over the years was now in ruins, his heart bled.
"Konan..."
"I… "
"I failed to protect everyone again."
Nagato looked at Konan, and the painful memories of that year came to his mind again.
Back then, when he was weak, he failed to protect Yahiko, and now, he also failed to protect Amegakure's villagers, let alone the Akatsuki's hideout.
How could someone like him dare to call himself a god...?
Konan gently brushed Nagato's forehead and smiled softly.
"It's alright. As long as you're fine, nothing else matters."
Nagato: "???"
'Fine?'
Nagato felt the power in his body and suddenly froze.
'What's going on?!'
'My strength…'
'It had returned?!'
Nagato abruptly sat up, put his hands in front of his eyes, and his pupils shrank slightly.
"I've... recovered?!"
Konan nodded, then gestured toward Ichigo, who was casually munching on sunflower seeds nearby, and said, "Yes. He's the one who saved you."
"Is that so?"
Nagato began to recall the previous battle, and when he remembered of the scene of Jiraiya coming, Nagato's heart suddenly twitched.
'If Jiraiya-sensei knew what I was planning to do...'
'He would definitely try to stop me, wouldn't he?'
Nagato glanced at Ichigo beside him but said nothing. Supporting himself on Konan, he slowly stood up, took in the surroundings with a deep breath, and seemed to come to some kind of decision.
Suddenly, he clapped his hands together.
"Outer Path - Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique!!"
Naruto: "!!!"
Konan: "!!!"
Nagato's actions shocked Naruto to his core, leaving him frozen in place, utterly unable to react.
'Wait...'
'This isn't right??'
'What's going on with Senior Brother??'
'I recalled I've never talked to you in person yet!'
"Nagato! Stop!"
Konan naturally knew what Nagato was going to do, but just as she was about to step forward to stop him, she saw the Chakra on Nagato's body surging outward.
Boom…
With a deafening roar, the King of Hell emerged from the ground. It opened its mouth, and countless green beams of light shot into the sky from its mouth.
Nagato's body rapidly withered.
Upon seeing this, Naruto reacted immediately. He pulled out a health potion and threw it towards Konan.
"Konan-nee!"
"Make him drink this, quick!"
'Senior Brother can't die now...'
'If that white-haired old man knew that Nagato died right after he left...'
'He's definitely going to blame me for this.'
After taking it, Konan quickly opened the cork, pressed it to Nagato's lips, and forced him to drink the potion.
Nagato had initially wanted to refuse, but when he felt the rapid drain on his life force slowing, he finally relented and gulped it down.
After that, Naruto tossed two more bottles, and only then was Nagato able to fully complete the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique.
At this point, Naruto couldn't help but start thinking...
'That's right... can I just ask Senior Brother use this technique to resurrect my parents?'
Before long, the villagers of Amegakure, who were previously killed by the monster's roar, got up from the ground one after another. Their eyes were confused and they had no idea what had just happened.
Nagato looked at the resurrected villagers, his lips slightly raised. When he looked at Ichigo, he fell silent for a long moment before finally speaking, "Thank you... Ichigo."
After saying that, he nodded to Konan, indicating that she could inform the other party of his identity.
Then, Konan promptly pulled Naruto aside and explained that Pain was actually Nagato, and the Six Paths of Pain were controlled by Nagato.
Naruto played dumb the entire time, exclaiming from time to time to cooperate with the other party.
By the time Konan finished speaking, Naruto casually mentioned wanting to bring his good friend Xiao Yan into the organization to contribute to the Akatsuki's cause.
After this battle, Konan and Nagato trusted this newcomer even more than some of their long-time members. So naturally, they wouldn't refuse.
Though, for formality's sake, Sasuke still has to complete an initiation mission like everyone else.
The black-cloaked Xiao Yan nodded, expressing no objections.
"Leader!"
At this time, Hidan and Kakuzu's voices rang out from a distance.
Konan quickly grabbed Nagato and flew away from here, while the Six Paths of Pain on the ground stood up one by one.
Hidan and Kakuzu both ran to Pain with weapons in hand, their faces twisted in fury.
"Leader! Who the hell attacked our base?!"
Hidan's outrage was so convincing that Naruto was briefly stunned.
Pain looked at Hidan up and down, and suddenly, an image flashed through Nagato's mind...
'This guy performing some kind of mysterious ritual in Amegakure...'
'And then... that monster appeared in the village.'
A golden lightbulb went off in Nagato's head.
'So that's how it is!'
'It all makes sense now!!!'
"Shinra Tensei!!!"
Pain raised his hand without warning and launched an attack on Hidan without any hesitation.
Whoosh…
Hidan was sent flying before he could even finish his sentence. Pain then turned to Naruto, his tone deadly serious.
The other Pain took out black rods at the same time and pinned Hidan to the ground like a specimen.
"Ichigo..."
"Tell me!"
"Was that monster your doing?!"