The next moment, two figures walked out together from the Uzumaki that appeared out of nowhere. The arrivals were naturally Obito and Uchiha Madara.
Danzo's face changed drastically, and he instinctively took two steps back, his gaze turning to Hiruko. The anger in his eyes was almost spewing out. "You! You actually colluded with them!"
He inherited Senju Tobirama's caution towards the Uchiha clan and let it fester into hatred. However, this feeling was not enough to support him in facing the two strongest Uchiha ninjas directly.
"What, is this strange?" Hiruko's smile faded, and his tone carried a hint of coldness. "As long as I can become stronger, Konoha, the Akatsuki organization, or anyone else, it doesn't matter."
Among all the rogue ninjas in the ninja world, Hiruko belonged to the most peculiar group.
He didn't become a rogue ninja because of any tragic experiences. It was simply because, as a ninja, he lacked talent and couldn't get stronger, so he was looked down upon.
This was unbearable for the proud Hiruko, so he decisively left Konoha. All his efforts since then were just to become stronger so that everyone would look up to him, and that's all.
"Heh, Shimura Danzo, it's quite ironic..."
Uchiha Madara sized up Danzo from head to toe, his gaze finally settling on his eyes. His smile was cold. "You're Tobirama's student, yet you're using my Uchiha's power..."
Although most of his power was sealed, his original eyesight would not be lost.
The ninja in front of him, besides the Sharingan, also possessed Hashirama's power, and to a considerable extent, it was quite strong. Even though he was old and frail, he still had immense vitality.
"There's no right or wrong with power!"
Danzo didn't say anything like "Uchiha are not worthy of using this power." He looked at the two vigilantly. "I never expected ninjas like you to resort to such tricks."
"There's no right or wrong with power... That's well said," Uchiha Madara's cold face showed no emotion. He said slowly, "Why must methods be constrained!"
"..." Danzo's eye twitched for a moment.
Even though his next move could lead to death, he still felt the difference in eras between the two. It was awkward... He just said something casually, and the other party actually retorted deliberately. It was truly...
To be honest, Danzo hadn't expected that a legendary ninja, who was on par with the First Hokage, would have such a side to his personality.
But frankly, he was relieved. The other party's behavior clearly indicated that his life was not their target.
After a moment of silence, Danzo spoke, "You went to all this trouble, what do you need me to do?"
Danzo didn't think he was being manipulated. He would never act entirely according to their requests. He was just temporarily going along with them to escape this place.
If nothing else, handing this information to the village would allow him to easily mobilize Orochimaru to clear his troubles.
"Sufficient funds, suitable experimental equipment... These are what you need to give me."
Uchiha Madara's expression remained unchanged. He said slowly, "However, let's not talk about these first. Before that, I will tell you what you will gain..."
Danzo narrowed his eyes slightly. Before he could ask, Madara's voice continued, but he was not speaking to Danzo. "Hiruko, you tell him why you are here."
This question had already been answered once. Danzo remembered that it was some accident with an experiment. Did he just lie to him?
Meeting Danzo's gaze, Hiruko smiled. "Don't look at me like that. The experiment did have some accidents, but it's different from what you think."
"Because someone made a sudden move, Nagato's Rinnegan was destroyed in one eye, and he asked me to find a way to restore that half of the eyeball. I proposed using the cells within the eyeball to cultivate a clone."
"Guess what happened... The clone cultivated didn't have Nagato's face, but looked exactly like you, Madara."
Danzo was stunned for a moment, then his expression changed. "You mean..."
"That's right," Uchiha Madara nodded slightly and said slowly, "I temporarily entrusted those eyes to Nagato."
This statement caused a storm of conspiracy theories in Danzo's mind. After a long while, he suddenly realized that regardless of the process, Uchiha Madara seemed to have messed up this time.
However, this was good. If not for this, he wouldn't have been able to lower his gaze and cooperate with him.
After thinking for a moment, Danzo looked at Uchiha Madara and said, "Are you saying this to use the 'Rinnegan' as a reward for me to help you?"
"The price is too high. Compared to that, what I'm doing is nothing."
Even with benefits in front of him, Danzo was self-aware. Although he desperately wanted to possess the power of the Rinnegan, he knew he wasn't worthy.
Besides, if the Rinnegan was so easily obtained, there wouldn't be only one pair in a thousand years.
"The Rinnegan is naturally impossible."
Uchiha Madara moved like a ghost and suddenly appeared in front of Danzo, reaching out towards his face.
Danzo's face changed drastically. However, under those crimson eyes, he felt an irresistible feeling. His battle-hardened body's reactions were useless, and he froze on the spot.
As the other party placed his hand on his right eye, a peculiar power spread out, invigorating his spirit.
Then, this comfortable feeling turned into a piercing pain. Danzo felt his right eye burning, as if it were constantly expanding, as if it would leap out of its socket at any moment.
A hoarse scream was almost squeezed from his throat, but Danzo managed to suppress it. Veins bulged on his face, and his complexion turned bright red.
Fortunately, the action didn't last long. After about two or three minutes, Uchiha Madara stepped back and returned to his original position.
Danzo, left behind, raised his hand to cover his right eye, panting heavily. However, just as his spirit started to recover, a slippery sensation flooded his nerve endings.
Danzo pulled his hand away from his face, and a splash of red entered his vision. "This is..."
"A deposit, a prepayment for your reward," Uchiha Madara's tone remained unchanged. "How about it? You've gained some ability, don't you want to try it out?"
Danzo raised his head, stood up straight, and the three tomoe in his right eye spun rapidly, forming a three-bladed pattern resembling a shuriken. "Mangekyo Sharingan..."
Feeling the power fed back from his right eye, Danzo was filled with amazement, a sense of unreality.
The forbidden eyes of the Uchiha clan, one of the most powerful abilities, were obtained so easily by him?
Although, to be precise, the pain of the previous transplant surgery should be counted, but no matter what... it was beyond Danzo's imagination.
It was only now that he truly believed Uchiha Madara was the master of the Rinnegan. Otherwise, how could he possess such an immortal-like method?
"After this is done, I will give you the other eye," Uchiha Madara said. "How about it? This reward should be enough for you to give me those things you mentioned earlier."
"Of course," Danzo replied, his expression unchanged, but his heart grew vigilant.
Recovering from the ecstasy of obtaining the Mangekyo Sharingan, he instantly understood why the other party was so confident.
It wasn't just because their martial prowess was enough to take his life, but because if the content of this transaction were revealed, it would be enough to ruin him in Konoha.
Let alone Orochimaru and Sarutobi Hiruzen, just the Uchiha clan alone would be determined to fight him to the death.
However, even though he knew it was bait, he had to swallow it. This was the so-called "open scheme."
But Danzo still had some confidence. The other party's actions clearly showed extreme caution towards Orochimaru and Nagato. If things really went south, he could also try to borrow the power of these two to eliminate Madara and Obito.
"Very good," Uchiha Madara nodded slightly and gestured to Hiruko. "For the specific matters, you discuss them with him."
Danzo readily agreed. After watching the two walk away to confer, Obito, who had been silent, suddenly spoke. "Mangekyo Sharingan... You really made a big effort this time."
Although Uchiha Madara did it casually, awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan was never an easy feat. To achieve this much in such a short period, he must have paid a great price.
"It's just some power,"
Uchiha Madara said with a straight face. "It's useless being here anyway and not being able to fight enemies, so it's better to give it to someone else."
In fact, after the expensive and luxurious First Hokage cells transplant surgery, Danzo's physical condition had greatly improved. This enhanced physical strength was also feeding back into his Sharingan. Perhaps one day, Danzo could awaken the Mangekyo through conventional means. The power he bestowed now was just to bring forward the opportunity.
Obito glanced at Danzo, who was talking with Hiruko, and then said with a more serious expression, "With you being so generous, aren't you worried about 'the fish eating the bait and then spitting out the hook'?"
"Heh heh... People are not fish. People are greedier than fish," Uchiha Madara's face showed a cold smile. "Rather than selling us out now, this guy wants more benefits."
Human desires are endless. At his age, old and frail, he still harbored dreams of becoming Hokage and worked tirelessly for it.
Although his ambition was not grand, Uchiha Madara did not dislike it. In fact, he saw a bit of his past self in him. Dealing with such a person, he naturally had plenty of ways to tug on that fishing line.
...
Two more days passed in the blink of an eye.
Orochimaru and his group arrived at the center of the large lake outside Amegakure. Nagato and the others were already waiting on the meteorite island.
"Tsk tsk..."
Orochimaru's gaze swept over Nagato's face, and his smile was somewhat playful. "I didn't expect our battle to end with neither side suffering any damage, but afterward, you suffered such a great loss. You were really careless."
Nagato had already replaced one of his eyes. It was just an ordinary black pupil, which looked particularly strange compared to the other one.
"..."
If it were anyone else teasing him, Nagato might have retaliated, but now he didn't even have the mood to argue with him.
From the Rinnegan clone incident, he had only confirmed one thing: his Sage Eyes were indeed not naturally awakened but belonged to Uchiha Madara.
No amount of explanations or logically sound reasons could outweigh the cold reality.
This accident, although it freed him from Obito's fabricated lies, was not particularly happy.
If it were the Nagato of a few years ago, his beliefs might have completely collapsed. But after experiencing so much, he was no longer a weakling who relied solely on the name of "God."
After a long silence, Nagato said, "Konoha and the Akatsuki organization are negotiating. Is this all you have to say?"
"Of course, it's not just this, but the specific content doesn't need to be discussed by us."
Orochimaru's gaze briefly rested on Mu and Kakuzu behind Nagato, then he subtly signaled to Nara Shikaku.
"Leave professional matters to professional people. Now that a peaceful situation is established, these are just details."
Nagato pondered for a moment and then waved his hand behind him. These indeed didn't require him to do it himself.
Watching the group move to another platform to discuss, Orochimaru smiled. "Uchiha Madara, I heard you fought him. How did it feel?"
"As expected of someone who could be compared to the 'God of Ninjas'."
Nagato lowered his eyelids, unwilling to say more.
"It seems it will be difficult to find Obito and Madara's whereabouts from you."
Orochimaru licked his lips and suddenly said, "The Outer Path Statue still remains in your hands. Let me see it. This is also Madara's summoned beast. Perhaps I can find some clues."
This request seemed abrupt and excessive. Nagato immediately frowned. "That's impossible."
He had already experienced a glimpse of how powerful and insane the Outer Path Statue was during their previous battle. Now, with Uchiha Madara's connection to it, he was already having a headache. He wouldn't let Orochimaru touch it again.
"Don't refuse so completely. How about this, I'll trade you information about its origin."
Orochimaru raised his eyebrows. "I can tell you first, and then you can judge if it's worth it."
This was a very generous offer, but Nagato's frown deepened. "Words are cheap. Even if you say it, how can I verify its authenticity?"
It wasn't that he was overly cautious. During this period, he had heard more lies than he had encountered in the past decade, so he dared not believe easily.
"This is indeed a problem," Orochimaru smiled. "I will also tell you how to verify it, and you can verify it yourself."
Nagato pondered for a moment, then nodded.
Orochimaru was not in a hurry to speak. His gaze shifted to behind Nagato. Nagato thought for a moment and immediately said, "The information you tell me, no matter what it is, I will tell her afterwards. Whether Konan is here or not makes no difference."
"I see."
Orochimaru's gaze turned to the white-haired middle-aged man beside him and said with a smile, "What are you still standing there for? Let's go."
Jiraiya's expression fell upon hearing this. He mumbled something about not being given any face, but he actually got up and left.
Watching Jiraiya go to the negotiation table, Orochimaru turned back and said pointedly to the two surprised individuals, "Sometimes, knowing too much is not a good thing."