Surgical Arrangements

Although he lacked sufficient intelligence, Hyuga Kagami was certain that Nagato's method of increasing his strength lay in further exploring and developing the Rinnegan.

Because he had never truly possessed the Rinnegan himself, Hyuga Kagami's understanding of it was quite limited. It came either from vague information in his memories or from intelligence gathered during his several clashes with Nagato.

And now, that information all seemed somewhat outdated.

Hyuga Kagami had once seriously studied Nagato as a person. He discovered that although Nagato had arrogantly proclaimed himself a "God" after learning of the Rinnegan's power, he had, after all, received guidance from Jiraiya, one of the Sannin. He was a qualified shinobi who understood both how to assess the situation and how to use every means available.

This could be seen in the incident where Danzo and Hanzo colluded to kill Yahiko.

Nagato had already gone berserk at the time. In his emotional turmoil, he had even summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Yet after driving back Danzo and Hanzo, he was neither controlled by his rage nor blinded by the Rinnegan's power. He had not charged into Hanzo's lair in Amegakure to fight Hanzo to the death. Instead, he wisely chose to lie low, silently nursing his wounds while secretly accumulating strength.

Only after he had uncovered new abilities of the Rinnegan and created the Six Paths of Pain did he quietly make his move. While killing Hanzo, who bore the title of "Demigod," he also took control of Amegakure without anyone noticing.

This showed that when Nagato realized his own strength was insufficient, this fellow who constantly called himself a "God" was also capable of lying low and desperately increasing his power.

But Hyuga Kagami was not worried at all. As long as he blocked the