Nagato's Apprehension, Fine-tuning the Eye of the Moon Plan

Three days later, the Land of Rain.

This nation was shrouded in rain all year round. The sky seemed forever leaden gray, and fine, icy threads of rain fell without end, striking rock, rooftops, and waterlogged ground with a monotonous, oppressive patter.

Deep in the Land of Rain, in a deserted river valley somewhere, an enormous waterfall poured down from a cliff several hundred meters high, its roar echoing through the gorge.

Behind the waterfall was a wide cave mouth hidden by genjutsu and the natural terrain.

The light inside the cave was dim. Only a single bonfire burned and leapt in the center, casting several figures of different heights onto the damp stone walls, stretching and twisting their shadows.

Deva Path Pain, clad in a black robe patterned with red clouds, stood beside the bonfire. His purple Rinnegan, marked with concentric ripples, gave off an indifferent gleam.

Konan stood quietly just behind him at his side, her pale-blue hair falling smoothly loose, a blue paper flower adorning it.

Her face was half-lit, half-shadowed by the flickering firelight. Beneath her purple eye shadow was a pair of orange eyes as calm as still water, now fixed on the bonfire, her thoughts unknown.

Obito, walking under the name "Uchiha Madara," stood on the other side of the bonfire, facing Pain and Konan.

He, too, wore a black robe with red clouds. His build was not especially tall, and on his face was an orange one-eyed spiral mask marked with black tiger stripes. Only his right eye was exposed behind the hole in the mask, its gaze deep and impossible to read.

The bonfire crackled. The roar of the waterfall outside came faintly through, making the cave's silence feel even more oppressive.

Obito's gaze passed through the mask and settled on Deva