"Is the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path all right?"
Konan helped Nagato up and asked with some concern. However, she was not worried about the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path or their future plans. She was worried about Nagato beside her.
After the battle, Nagato was breathing heavily. His entire body was covered in cold sweat, and his emaciated frame trembled faintly beyond his control. More importantly, his red hair looked even duller than before... Even Nagato himself had no idea what he had overdrawn during the battle. All he could feel now was extreme physical and mental exhaustion. Worse still, the sensation of his soul and vitality nearing depletion had plunged him into tremendous agony.
"It's fine... To put it simply, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path is nothing more than an empty shell, a piece of dead wood. You can't... treat it like an ordinary living thing. This amount of damage is nothing. It would be a different story if it had actually been torn apart." Nagato barely managed to steady his breathing before speaking in an exceedingly weak voice.
After Yahiko's death, when Nagato began leading Akatsuki, Konan had already resolved to suppress her emotions and thoughts. She knew exactly what Nagato had sacrificed and was prepared to sacrifice for that plan, and so she was willing to become a tool in his hands. But this time, she still could not help saying, "Nagato, with your physical condition, you won't be able to withstand many battles like this."
"Many" was undoubtedly a comforting way to put it. From the moment he first summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Nagato had been affected and eroded by it. From that point onward, his life could really only be described as a desperate struggle to