Secret Meeting, Part Three

"Knock knock!"

"Katsuki, I'm coming in!"

Kushina pushed open the door before she could finish speaking.

"Sis, at least let me answer before you come in!"

"What does it have to do with anything, or are you doing something shady?" Kushina's eyes sparkled.

Katsuki was sitting cross-legged on the bed reading a book, was speechless upon hearing this, and could only let out a sigh.

"Hey, Katsuki, we found a great hot spring! It's on the far east side of town. Otome and I came back to pack our things. Do you want to come with us?" Kushina didn't press for details about the 'shameful things'. She shook the bag in her hand, which contained the 'essentials' for soaking in the hot spring.

Before leaving the village, Kushina and Otome had made all the necessary preparations, treating this mission as a leisurely trip.

"No, I'm reading a book right now, a horror story. Sis, do you want to read it?" Katsuki held up the book in her hand; it had a black cover with red patterns, a typical horror style.

Kushina immediately turned her face away, not even glancing at the book; she was completely helpless when it came to supernatural or ghostly things.

"If you're not going, then forget it, I'm leaving."

She came and went like the wind; after being frightened by the 'horror story,' Kushina left as quickly as possible, slamming the door shut behind her.

"Hey... this trick still works the best." Katsuki threw down the book in her hand, closed her eyes and opened her Mind's Eye, and just watched Kushina and Otome leave the inn arm in arm.

"What's next...?" Katsuki scratched his head, maintaining his cross-legged posture with his eyes still closed, sensing the mark left in his body. He began to slowly inject Chakra. Through the mark left by Nagato, the Chakra transformed into a very strange state, formless and intangible, elusive yet its existence could be clearly sensed. It felt as if he had gained another pair of eyes, looking around from a second perspective.

"Thought Wave... tsk tsk! This thing is really interesting..."

After muttering a few words to himself, a tremendous gravitational force suddenly came from the void, pulling the Thought Wave through the walls and rooftops, and flying into the sky. In a short moment, it seemed as if he had crossed thousands of mountains and rivers, Thought Wave arrived at a dark place.

"Whoosh!"

A dim, yellow flame was lit, and the huge candle emitted a faint light. By this dim light, Katsuki's Thought Wave finally made out her surroundings: the walls, the ceiling, the carts and farm tools piled in the corner...

"Is this a basement?" Katsuki exclaimed, then he realized something was wrong. "Huh? It can talk? You..."

He looked down and saw his own body, a translucent form composed of vibrant colors like a changing spectrum, and immediately it matched something buried in his memory.

Looking up at Nagato and the other two standing by the candlelight, he said, "Um... Nagato, is this the Illusionary Body Technique?"

"You know about it? Oh, right, it seems you really do know about the Rinnegan..." Nagato was slightly surprised. "That's right, it's the Illusionary Body Technique. I only recently mastered this technique. It's very convenient for long-distance communication. The drawback is that you have to leave a mark on the contact person to act as a coordinate, otherwise the contact person will be running around the world and there's nowhere to find them..."

After rambling on for a while, Nagato suddenly realized what she was saying, "Ahem... Let's get back to our previous topic!"

Seeing Nagato revert to his gloomy Nagato as if nothing had happened, Katsuki hesitated for a long time before swallowing back the words that were stuck in her throat.

"Where were we talking about again? By the way, is this safe? Have you set up a barrier...?" In her spectral state, Katsuki looked around. "Why aren't the lights on? I can see the switch. Although talking by candlelight creates a nice atmosphere... I don't think it's necessary to save electricity. Could it be that they can't afford the electricity bill? We should still be in Kaitian Town, right?"

Yahiko, Konan, Nagato: "·······"

"Ahem, let me put it this way, your current body is composed of Thought Wave, and excessively strong light waves will interfere with the stability of Thought Wave, easily causing disconnections or buffering... Compared to bright electric lights, candlelight has less of an impact. It's not about the electricity bill, and this is just the basement of a house in Kaitian Town, which we've temporarily borrowed. If you've finished asking your questions, let's continue with our previous topic."

Nagato had no choice but to speak up and explain, otherwise the argument would seem to go on forever.

Disconnection, cartridge jam Katsuki's eyes twitched, but unfortunately, his body was currently composed of Thought Wave, so the subtle changes in his facial muscles were not visible.

Where were we again?

"... Madara Uchiha is not dead, and he's still causing trouble!" Konan said leisurely.

"That's right, that's it, I remember now... This Thought Wave state makes my brain work a bit slower." Katsuki complained, but Nagato kept her mouth shut and ignored him.

Seeing that no one responded, Katsuki shrugged and said, "I investigated some things through some private channels. Madara Uchiha is not dead, and he is secretly plotting something. Nagato's Rinnegan is one of the pawns he planted. I don't have any more information for now."

"In short, Nagato, let me give you a heads-up..." Katsuki looked at Nagato meaningfully, "Remember, you're not alone now. If you don't want your dearest friend to be harmed, then train hard and strive to unleash the full power of the Rinnegan..."

"What do you mean? Explain yourself, don't beat around the bush." Nagato and straightened his back, his bangs swept aside, his Rinnegan fixed on Katsuki.

"... Aren't you ready yet? Since Madara Uchiha transplanted something as important as the Rinnegan into you, it means you should be a very important pawn in his plan. To ensure you can play a role, he was willing to kill your parents, let alone others?"

Nagato was struck dumb. He wasn't stupid, just a bit cowardly and naive. Following his original trajectory, repeated heavy injuries shattered his cowardice and naivety, causing his personality to change drastically. He then raced towards the edge of madness, the kind of madness that even eight horses couldn't pull back.

"Katsuki, you're making it sound like we're... I'm so useless, it makes me feel like I'm the one holding everyone back. Konan is a girl, and I'm not afraid of trouble." Yahiko was a shrewd guy, and he immediately understood who Katsuki was referring to as 'others'.

Before Katsuki could speak, Konan jumped out and glared at Yahiko with dissatisfaction, "What's wrong with girls? Yahiko, do you look down on girls?"

"Uh, no... well... I just said it offhand, just said it offhand..." Yahiko shrank back, forcing a smile.