Nagato shook his head, feeling as though he had just had a nightmare. In the dream, he had been haunted by an evil ghost and could not shake it off no matter what he did.
When he came back to his senses, he found that he was still standing where he had been, but the scroll in his hand had somehow become completely blank. He clearly remembered it being covered in intricate, mysterious patterns when he opened it.
He examined the scroll carefully once more, then closed it and put it back where it belonged.
With one hand lightly supporting his forehead, he furrowed his brow and carefully pondered everything that had just happened.
Could he have fallen under some Genjutsu?
It had been far too long since he had encountered anything that could threaten him. If it had managed to catch him, the Genjutsu must have been exceptionally powerful.
Remembering why he had come, he thoroughly searched Byakuryu's room again. Unfortunately, he found nothing else suspicious.
After leaving Byakuryu's residence, Nagato arranged for several trustworthy subordinates to investigate Byakuryu's background.
Byakuryu now held a high position in Rain Village and was well-liked. If word got out that he was the murderer of the Land of Fire's daimyo, it would likely cause quite a commotion.
What Yahiko feared most was Konoha. Konoha surpassed Rain Village in every regard. When Naruto came to arrest someone, Yahiko had not even dared voice a single objection.
Nagato understood this. He felt that he needed to shoulder the responsibility of being Rain Village's strongest combat force. He had to find a way to grow stronger, so that in the future, even if someone within Rain Village committed a mistake, outsiders would not dare come knocking so easily to question them.
Or even use Jiraiya-sensei's