Enslaving Konan

"Ugh—!"

A mouthful of blood sprayed out. Yūhi Kurenai felt her vision go black, her limbs weak, as she half-knelt to the ground.

One sheet of white paper after another instantly covered her body, wrapping her up completely in moments, sealing her entirely within the paper.

Having done all this, Konan's clone immediately dissolved back into white paper and vanished without a trace. Meanwhile, the Konan currently locked in combat with Uchiha Shūichi paused slightly, lifting her gaze to meet his eyes.

In an instant, the three black tomoe in his crimson eyes spun, and Konan found herself drawn into a red space.

Creating an illusion space wasn't exclusive to Tsukuyomi—what made Tsukuyomi truly terrifying was that its illusion space was nearly impossible to escape. Ordinary illusion spaces weren't all that difficult to construct; any Uchiha with a Three Tomoe Sharingan and sufficient genjutsu skill could pull it off.

Given Konan's level, this kind of illusion space wouldn't hold her for long. But once inside, she seemed dazed, showing no intention of breaking free.

Within the illusion space, Uchiha Shūichi showed no surprise. He calmly walked over to Konan. When she looked at him, her eyes—which should have been filled with hostility—instead took on a bizarre expression of deference and docility.

"Master... please, command me as you wish!"

Hearing Konan's words, Uchiha Shūichi smiled in satisfaction. He had used Kotoamatsukami to control her at the very start of the battle, but he didn't want anyone else in Konoha to notice.

As things stood, the plan was working well. Nagato, with his Rinnegan, might be able to resist Kotoamatsukami's power, and Obito—who was with Black and White Zetsu—would be easily found out if hit by it. But Konan could be manipulated without issue.

The Rinnegan wasn't Nagato's own; implanted in his eyes, it could grant him immunity to Kotoamatsukami, but that was its limit. It couldn't let him detect that Konan had fallen under the genjutsu.

Now that Uchiha Shūichi had obtained Hatake Kakashi's Kamui eye, he had a surefire counter against Obito. The only real threat was Nagato.

But with Konan as an inside agent, Nagato couldn't hide anything from Uchiha Shūichi. In an extreme scenario, he could even have Konan strike directly, easily killing Nagato's original body.

The Six Paths of Pain were formidable, but Nagato himself was a cripple who needed a wheelchair to move. No matter how powerful his jutsu, that frail body couldn't withstand a Kunai stabbed from behind.

Slowly reaching out, Uchiha Shūichi's hand gently caressed Konan's smooth, delicate cheek, then lightly pinched her chin. She tilted her head up slightly, making his movement easier.

His hand slid down again, giving a couple more pinches before withdrawing. Even though this was an illusion space, the sensation of skin against skin was no different from reality.

Konan's cheeks flushed, but she didn't resist. Instead, she held her head high and chest out, letting out a soft gasp only after he pulled his hand away.

"The power of Kotoamatsukami is truly terrifying. No wonder it was so feared in the original story."

The thought flickered through his mind. Looking at the compliant Konan before him, Uchiha Shūichi wasn't about to do anything inappropriate in the illusion space.

"From now on, stay by Nagato's side and keep an eye on him. If you get any intel, you can contact me through Orochimaru."

Orochimaru hadn't betrayed the Akatsuki Organization yet, so Konan could still reach him, forming a convenient intelligence chain.

"Understood, Master... Also, may I ask for your name?"

Uchiha Shūichi realized he hadn't told her yet.

"I'm Uchiha Shūichi. If I need you for anything, I'll contact you through Orochimaru. For now, besides Nagato, keep a close watch on Black Zetsu and Uchiha Obito's movements."

"Uchiha Obito? Who's that?"

"He's the masked man in your organization who calls himself Uchiha Madara. His real name is Uchiha Obito."

"Also, I can give you some intel on Uchiha Obito."

"His body has been modified with White Zetsu Cells, allowing him to use some Wood Release abilities. His one Sharingan can use the Kamui space ability, maintaining intangibility for five minutes. His other eye is a transplanted Three Tomoe, which can use the Izanagi secret technique once."

In the original story, Konan's fight with Uchiha Obito was a textbook case of plot-driven death. Six hundred billion Explosive Tags—if they were set off slowly, it wouldn't just last five minutes; even five hours would be easy. Even if a hundred million tags exploded per second, it would take over ten hours! Obito wasn't immortal. Without Kamui's protection, a thousand tags would blow him to pieces.

Konan's attack was pure overkill. She thought she had figured out the mechanics of Obito's Kamui and didn't hold back. But she never expected Obito to have Izanagi as a backup, leaving her helpless after unleashing her ultimate move.

In a ninja's battle, intel is paramount. At least among fighters of the same level, knowing the enemy's abilities gives a decisive advantage. In the original story, Konan died because she didn't know about Izanagi. Now, if she wanted to kill Obito, her success rate would be nearly seventy to eighty percent.

Of course, Uchiha Shūichi only shared this intel as a precaution. With the other Kamui Mangekyo in hand, he could easily kill Obito if he wanted. The reason he didn't was simply that it offered no benefit. Keeping him around might prove useful later.

"Uchiha Madara... I see. Just a fake, then?"

Konan caught on. She and Nagato had long suspected that the masked man might not be the real Uchiha Madara. Now she knew his true identity. With such detailed intel, her wariness toward Obito had mostly evaporated.

"Don't worry, Master. I'll keep a close eye on him!"

"Is there any plan you need me to carry out?"

Uchiha Shūichi shook his head.

"That's all for now. If I need you later, I'll let you know directly!"