Konoha Crush Plan

Nagato finally stood up!

After days of nourishment from Yang Release, Nagato's depleted body had finally recovered.

His once emaciated frame had gradually filled out, too.

Even his badly injured legs had completely recovered, and now they were just like anyone else's.

With Konan supporting him, Nagato slowly walked back and forth across the top of the High Tower.

Overcome with emotion, Konan thanked An, stumbling over her words:

"An, I don't even know how to thank you!"

"Thanks to your help, Nagato can stand again."

"Oh, Konan, there's no need to be so polite." An smiled and waved his hand modestly. "Nagato is a descendant of the Uzumaki Clan, so he naturally has a strong recovery ability. It was just held back by the Rinnegan, which kept it from working properly. That's why he ended up looking like a dried-up old man."

"All I did was feed the Rinnegan until it was full. Then Nagato's own recovery ability could naturally take effect and restore his body."

Nagato and Konan assumed he was just being modest. They didn't even consider why their own Rinnegan would hold him back, and continued thanking him profusely.

After walking around for a few laps, Nagato returned to his seat and made a solemn promise:

"An, I'll keep the promise I made to you."

"Scorpion's mission also went very well. Kakuzu has been successfully recruited, and they'll be back in Amegakure soon."

"Gather everyone for a meeting. Once they return, we'll attack Konoha and let the people of the great nations experience the pain of war for themselves!"

Uchiha An was overjoyed when he heard this.

"Hahaha..."

"Excellent! I've finally waited for this day!"

Uchiha An immediately went out and personally summoned everyone to a meeting at the top of the tower.

Now that Nagato had recovered, there was no need for him to stay hidden behind the scenes. He could take the stage and command the entire Akatsuki Organization.

If anyone dared to disobey, he could simply use force to bring them into line.

Soon, everyone arrived at the top of the tower and gathered together.

Nagato sat at the head of the conference room, with the Six Paths Technique lined up behind him. He didn't need to say a word. Just standing there, with seven pairs of Rinnegan fixed on them, was enough to make everyone's hair stand on end.

Until now, Deva Path Pain had been the one active outside, and everyone had believed Pain was the leader of the Akatsuki Organization.

Asura Path had appeared briefly during their last encounter with Namikaze Minato, but disappeared afterward.

The others in the Akatsuki Organization had been surprised by the appearance of a second pair of Rinnegan. But then came one thing after another: "Uchiha Madara," the Mangekyō Sharingan that could "foretell" the future, the "Art of Immortality," the seriously injured "Nagato" behind Pain... There was so much to take in that they hadn't paid much attention to the second pair of eyes.

After all, one Rinnegan was already invincible. What difference would a second make?

They'd still be no match for him either way!

But now that they were sitting here, they realized that the person across from them didn't have merely two pairs of Rinnegan. He had seven!

Seven pairs!

What did that even mean?

How many people were there in the Akatsuki Organization?

If every pair of Rinnegan was as powerful as Pain's, why bother recruiting any S-Rank Rogue Ninja?

With that kind of power, they could just steamroll the entire Ninja World!

Facing the unsettled group, Nagato didn't keep them guessing. He spoke plainly:

"I am Nagato, and I am also Pain."

"For a long time, my serious injuries confined me to the High Tower, so Pain acted in my place and commanded the Akatsuki Organization."

"Thanks to Uchiha An's help, my injuries have finally healed."

"From today on, I'll take the stage and make the entire Ninja World feel pain, so that they'll learn to cherish the value of peace."

"Pain and the other five are puppets created with the Six Paths Technique, a ninjutsu that comes with the Rinnegan."

"I won't go into the details. All you need to know is that those six represent my will."

Everyone drew a sharp breath when they heard this.

They had already seen how powerful Pain was. Now they learned that someone so formidable was nothing more than a Human Puppet.

Just how powerful was Nagato, the leader who controlled all six Human Puppets?

No wonder Uchiha An had said that once Nagato recovered, he would be invincible in the world!

It was terrifying!

Orochimaru had heard from Uchiha An about the Sage of Six Paths' method for achieving immortality: the Rinnegan combined with the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki. So although he had already begun investigating the Tenseigan, he still coveted the Rinnegan.

If Uchiha An could plan to get his hands on it, why couldn't Orochimaru?

But now, seeing these six puppets, his heart sank.

So this was the Sage of Six Paths' method!

It was powerful!

At the same time, he began to look forward to the power of the Tenseigan.

Uchiha An had said the Tenseigan was no less powerful than the Rinnegan.

In other words, even if Uchiha An was mistaken and the Tenseigan was inferior to the Rinnegan, its power probably wouldn't be far behind.

Nagato paid little attention to what the others were thinking. He simply waved his hand and had Uchiha An share intelligence with everyone.

Uchiha An didn't hold back. He was always eager to reveal Konoha's secrets.

"Konoha is the strongest ninja village in the Ninja World. It has countless powerful ninja, along with more secret techniques and Forbidden Techniques than you can count."

"I'll only go over intelligence on a few of the most dangerous people. But during the fighting, it's possible we'll encounter people who aren't covered in this information."

"First, the Konoha Sannin. Lord Orochimaru is already one of us, so we can ignore him."

"Princess Tsunade can be ignored too."

"Though her Strength of a Hundred Technique is powerful, and her Senju Clan bloodline makes her exceptionally durable in battle, she has developed Hemophobia and can no longer fight."

"If you come into conflict with her, don't face her head-on. Just splash some blood on her, and her combat strength will immediately drop to zero."

"You just need to seize the time and keep Konoha's ninja from rescuing her. Then you can eliminate her with ease."

"Also, don't provoke her with words. If you push her too far and cure her Hemophobia, we'll be in trouble."

"The only thing to watch out for is her contract with the Great Slug Sage. She can summon a large number of slugs to replenish Konoha's ninja's Chakra and heal their injuries."

"If that happens, she won't even need to fight. She can stay in the rear and still cause us trouble."

"Jiraiya, another of the Sannin, has already mastered Senjutsu..."

"And there's Might Guy. Who knows how many of the Eight Inner Gates he's mastered..."

"We also need to be wary of Forbidden Techniques that take the user down with their opponent, especially the Reaper Death Seal. Once you're caught by it, there's almost no way to escape..."

Uchiha An rattled off all the intelligence he knew. His account was so detailed that even the Third Hokage might not know more than he did.

Everyone listened in alarm. They were even more convinced that Uchiha An's Mangekyō Sharingan Dojutsu involved "healing and prophecy." At the same time, they grew more wary of him, wondering whether he had gathered equally detailed intelligence on them, too.