Chapter 9: Uchiha Madara? Don't act like a big shot in front of me!
"Who's there?!"
Nagato growled, and the mechanical spider beneath him suddenly turned its blades, its six steel legs gripping the ground tightly.
Amidst the sound of the torrential rain outside, a low, raspy voice suddenly rang out, carrying an air of absolute arrogance.
"Open the door. I am here to guide 'God' back to his rightful place."
The voice wasn't loud, but it hit Nagato's heart like a heavy hammer.
A drop of cold sweat slid down Nagato's temple. This Chakra... it was cold, viscous, and filled with ill-omen!
"Don't be nervous."
Yahiko remained seated on the wooden chair in a bold, imposing manner, fiddling with the metal part he had swiped from Ryuichi's shop, without even lifting an eyelid.
"Let him in. Since he could find this place, this isn't a knock—it's a notification."
Konan bit her lip, her fingers tightly gripping a Kunai as she suddenly pulled open the warehouse door.
Whoosh—!
A cold, damp, metallic wind rushed in.
Two figures stood at the entrance. One was encased in a giant Pitcher Plant, half-black and half-white; the other was clad in a black robe, wearing a single-eyed swirl mask, with a crimson Sharingan glowing faintly in the darkness.
"It seems you're still alive. What a 'pleasant surprise'."
The Masked Man—Obito—didn't even spare a glance at Konan, who opened the door, nor did he pay any attention to the seated Yahiko.
He walked straight into the warehouse as if entering his own backyard, his single eye locked onto Nagato in the wheelchair.
"That man..."
Nagato's pupils constricted violently, his voice trembling: "Before we went to the valley... he came to see me. He called himself 'Uchiha Madara' and said these eyes were born to change the world... He knew Hanzou would make a move all along!"
So that was it.
Was this the one pulling the strings behind the script?
A faint, almost imperceptible curve formed at the corner of Yahiko's mouth as his fingers lightly spun the metal part.
I was wondering how that old tortoise Hanzou dared to act; turns out it was you, the shit-stirrer, causing trouble.
"Nagato."
Obito ignored everyone's stares and opened his arms toward Nagato, like a charlatan preaching:
"Do you feel the pain now?"
"You once rejected me, delusional enough to think you could trade dialogue for peace. And the result? Hanzou's betrayal, the tragic deaths of your comrades, and your completely ruined legs... This is the slap in the face given to you by this decaying world!"
Every word cut deep into the heart.
Nagato gripped his sensationless thighs tightly, his knuckles pale, his breathing as ragged as a bellows.
"Right now, you're like a dog with a broken spine."
Obito walked up to Nagato, looking down at him, his tone filled with temptation and charity:
"Come with me. Sever these useless bonds, and I will teach you how to use the Rinnegan. Only by creating a dream world where there are victors, peace, and love can you find salvation."
"As for this place..."
Obito finally deigned to spare a glance at the other two, a look reserved for trash:
"How much longer do you intend to waste your life in this Hell with two burdens who only hold you back?"
"Shut up!!" Konan couldn't take it anymore and suddenly blocked Nagato. "Nagato, don't listen to his nonsense! He's just trying to use you!"
"Use you?"
Obito sneered, as if hearing a massive joke. "I am granting him a new life. If he doesn't come with me, then with this leader who only survived thanks to a woman and a cripple..."
He pointed at Yahiko, his tone contemptuous to the extreme:
"Is he even worthy of protecting the Rinnegan? He'll die sooner or later."
The air instantly fell into a deathly silence.
Nagato and Konan's faces turned pale.
In the Akatsuki, Yahiko was their world, their spiritual pillar. Humiliating Yahiko to their faces was more painful than killing them!
Just then.
"Snap."
A crisp sound broke the silence.
The metal part in Yahiko's hand was slammed onto the table, instantly flattening into a disc.
He slowly stood up, his previously lazy demeanor vanishing instantly, replaced by a terrifying pressure that made the air feel thick.
The chair was kicked aside.
Yahiko walked toward Obito step by step, hands in his pockets.
There was no anger on his face, only a bone-chilling calm. Within those amber eyes, a predatory red light flickered.
"Uchiha Madara, is it?"
Yahiko stopped three meters in front of Obito, tilting his head slightly, a wicked smile playing on his lips:
"Entering my house, and right in front of me, trying to poach my people."
"And you didn't even bother to look me in the eye."
"Have I given you too much face?"
The single eye beneath Obito's mask narrowed slightly.
This kid's aura... why has it changed? Since when did that hot-headed idiot have eyes like these?
But he didn't care, only letting out a cold laugh:
"Has an idealist who almost died due to naivety lost his mind? In this Ninja World, the weak have no right to speak."
"You think you're worthy of being the leader of the Akatsuki?"
These words completely ignited the powder keg.
"I said—shut up!!"
Konan shouted in anger, and a rain of paper instantly transformed into sharp Senbon!
No testing the waters; she went straight for the kill!
Shuu, shuu, shuu—!
The dense swarm of Paper Senbon, accompanied by the whistling wind, blanketed the sky as they shot toward Obito's head!
"Since you're looking for death, I'll grant your wish."
The red light in Yahiko's eyes surged as the Void Realm behind him began to twist eerily.
Since you've delivered yourself to my doorstep, I'll take that eye without hesitation!