At this moment, not just Nagato, but even Konan clearly realized something.
So this was Uchiha Madara's scheme?
Did he really think that with Uchiha Sasuke's current strength, he could escape from Nagato's hands?
Konan frowned slightly, momentarily unable to figure out what Sasori's purpose was in revealing this information, or what Uchiha Madara was truly scheming behind it all.
No, wait!
Suddenly, Konan seemed to think of something. If she remembered correctly, Lord Yuto had once said that above the Mangekyo Sharingan, there existed the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
To achieve that, one would need to fuse the Mangekyo Sharingan between blood brothers.
So that was it!
In other words, the current Uchiha Sasuke still only possessed the three-tomoe Sharingan.
A cold glint flashed across Konan's detached face. Uchiha Madara was planning to use the eyes now in Nagato's possession, along with the matter of Uchiha Itachi's death.
To stimulate Uchiha Sasuke into evolving his three-tomoe Sharingan into the Mangekyo Sharingan in a short period of time.
"Truly... a tempting piece of intel."
Nagato looked at Sasori across from him. After a brief pause, he suddenly spoke.
Whether for Uchiha Sasuke or for Nagato himself, having Uchiha Sasuke's eyes evolve into the Mangekyo Sharingan could be considered a win-win situation.
In Nagato's view, if he could snatch those eyes the instant Uchiha Sasuke evolved the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Then his long-held wish would take a massive leap forward.
Sasori remained standing in place without speaking, seemingly agreeing with what Nagato had said. Because this was something Nagato simply could not refuse.
"So, is Uchiha Madara's goal to ensure that Kirigakure doesn't intervene, or that Lord Yuto doesn't intervene."
Nagato's tone shifted slightly, his voice carrying a hint of mockery.
These two statements might seem indistinguishable on the surface. But to both Nagato and Sasori, they meant entirely different things.
"Since the message has been delivered, I should be leaving."
"This kind of weather in Amegakure is hardly a good environment for a puppeteer."
Sasori didn't answer Nagato's question at all. He simply turned and walked toward the outskirts of Amegakure.
In a matter of breaths, Sasori's figure had vanished into the drizzling rain.
WHOOSH!
A fluttering sound swept past Nagato's side as Konan folded the paper wings on her back and landed beside him.
Konan frowned slightly, watching the direction Sasori had left.
"Are we just going to let him leave like that?" Her voice was cold.
Nagato withdrew his gaze and shook his head gently.
"I won't let any traitor of Akatsuki go. But killing him right now wouldn't benefit Amegakure at all."
Saying this, Nagato paused briefly. He raised a hand and touched the Sharingan in his eye socket, an indescribable glint flashing through his gaze.
"Uchiha Itachi used these eyes far too frequently while he was alive. Unless absolutely necessary, I don't want to use this eye's abilities for now."
As a former comrade, Nagato naturally had some understanding of Sasori's capabilities.
If it was just a matter of defeating Sasori, that wouldn't be particularly difficult. But to permanently keep Sasori here would likely require considerable effort.
Furthermore, their current location was inside Amegakure. If the two sides clashed, the surrounding area would probably be completely devastated. That was not what Nagato wanted to see.
"It seems Uchiha Madara still harbors some wariness toward Lord Yuto. Otherwise, Sasori and White Zetsu would have gone directly to Kirigakure instead of coming to Amegakure."
"And now he intends to use Amegakure's hands to relay this information to Kirigakure."
Konan suddenly let out a soft laugh, though the sound carried a trace of helplessness.
The shinobi world had always been about power. It was true in the past, and it was true now!
"To be precise, both sides should be wary of each other. And then there's Konoha's Senju Hashirama as well."
Nagato's eyes revealed a profound glint as he shook his head gently and continued.
"But this current balance can probably only hold for a short time. The day this equilibrium is broken is not far off."
"The Tailed Beasts, huh."
Konan was momentarily startled, then murmured softly to herself.
After speaking, Nagato looked up at Konan beside him. The coldness on his face softened into something gentler.
"Since the intelligence has been laid out so plainly, we'll need to set out for Kirigakure tomorrow."
"Konan, would you like to come along?"
Nagato asked in a warm tone, his expression gentle.
Hearing Nagato's words, a flicker of temptation crossed Konan's face. But soon, she shook her head again.
"Recently, there have been quite a few suspicious movements from the shinobi of the Land of Earth. Until we get to the bottom of that, the village can't be left unguarded. I'll stay in Amegakure."
Faced with Konan's answer, Nagato didn't say anything more. He simply nodded gently and turned to walk deeper into Amegakure.
"You've already done more than enough, Konan. You should start thinking about yourself too."
Nagato had barely taken a few steps before he suddenly stopped and couldn't help but speak.
"Perhaps."
Konan blinked in mild surprise, then a faint smile appeared on her face as she picked up her pace and followed.
That smile. It was hard to tell whether Konan was laughing at the fact that Nagato would actually care about something like this, or laughing at herself.
Konoha Village.
At the training ground closest to the Forest of Death.
PANT! PANT!
Harsh breaths escaped from Naruto's mouth as he stared at the rubber ball in his hand that had nearly burst.
Naruto took a deep breath, a look of disappointment crossing his face.
But quickly, Naruto vigorously rubbed his cheeks. His fighting spirit flared up once more as he grabbed a brand new rubber ball from beside him and resumed his training.
At the top of a large tree not far from Naruto.
Tsunade stood quietly on a thick branch, leaning against the trunk as she silently observed Naruto below.
Just then, a faint sound reached her from nearby.
"Since when does Lord Hokage have so much free time that she'd observe a genin's training?"
A teasing voice came from one side, reaching Tsunade's ears.
Tsunade didn't even need to turn around to know who had suddenly appeared.
"I'm just curious about why my grandfather would take an interest in a brat like this."
Tsunade casually rubbed her wrist, her expression flat as she spoke.
This Naruto kid really was a bit like Nawaki, wasn't he.
Seeing Tsunade's calm demeanor, Jiraiya's eyes flickered with warmth. But he still let out a hearty laugh.
"Maybe Naruto's personality just happens to suit Lord Hashirama's taste?"
Hearing Jiraiya's words, Tsunade recalled what had happened recently, and the corner of her eye couldn't help but twitch slightly.
Nobody knew where Naruto had heard that Uchiha Sasuke had been taken away and trained by Uchiha Madara, while Hyuga Neji had been taken on as a disciple by the First Mizukage Yuto.
Naruto had promised Sakura that he would definitely bring Sasuke back. And as for that arrogant jerk Hyuga Neji, Naruto had never been able to stand him.
And now the people training both of them were the strongest shinobi in the entire shinobi world. How could Naruto accept that?
There was no way he was going to lose to those two!
So Naruto had somehow found out that Senju Hashirama was Tsunade's grandfather, and had barged right into the Hokage's office while Tsunade was reviewing documents.
Apparently, even with Naruto's dense skull, he figured that directly approaching Senju Hashirama to request becoming his disciple had a low chance of success. So he decided to take a roundabout approach.
After all, Granny Tsunade got along pretty well with that perverted hermit. Something about the "Three-whatever," he thought.
Also, Naruto would never admit that he had pried all this information out of his underling Konohamaru.
Faced with Naruto suddenly showing up and making his request without any hesitation, Tsunade had been completely bewildered at first.
But seeing Naruto's loud and boisterous behavior, Tsunade quickly raised her fist.
Become Grandfather's disciple?
What a joke!
[
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