The Land of Rain.
A hidden base somewhere in the jungle.
At this point, the Six Paths of Pain had not yet been completed, so the leader of Amegakure, Hanzo of the Salamander, was still alive and well. However, with the Ninja World War over and the external pressure gone, the civil war in the Land of Rain had grown increasingly fierce... "A missing-nin dissatisfied with Hanzo's rule" sounded like an ordinary description. Yet after summoning the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and taking his use of the Rinnegan to an entirely higher level, Nagato's strength was now worlds apart from what it had been before.
However, because his legs had been crippled by an explosion during his previous battle with Hanzo, Nagato had lost his mobility and could no longer be considered a qualified ninja. Therefore, from this point onward, he operated under the identity of Yahiko, the "Deva Path."
Inside this hidden gathering point, Nagato and Konan were discussing the information they had received earlier.
"According to the intelligence sent back by our spies planted in Amegakure, Hanzo, the former leader of Amegakure, did indeed hold a secret meeting with Danzo, the leader of Konoha's 'Root,' in the Land of Rain. However, because the negotiations did not take place in Amegakure but somewhere in the wilderness, we did not discover it immediately." Konan spoke in this manner. Although her tone was rather calm, one could still sense her regret at having let Danzo slip away just like that.
This hidden base was a cave. A light rain was falling outside, leaving the entire cavern rather dim. However, the cave itself was enormous... Kakashi, Tenzo, and their ilk were not the only ones skilled in Earth Style Ninjutsu.
The Deva Path was sitting naturally on a stone chair,