The Shikkotsu Forest

In the Shikkotsu Forest, beneath a rolling sea of thick fog, layers of towering mountains were faintly visible.

Vapor filled the air all around. To Nagato, who had just arrived, it felt like he had wandered into some tropical rainforest.

Before he could survey his surroundings, he felt himself falling through the fog. Nagato immediately began forming Hand Seals.

"Summoning Jutsu!" Yatagarasu appeared beneath his feet. Carrying Nagato, it spread its wings and soared freely, like a massive arrow piercing through the clouds and fog.

"Is this the Shikkotsu Forest?" As Yatagarasu fanned away the clouds, Nagato gazed into the distance at the overlapping mountain ranges, steadied himself, and continued forming Hand Seals.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

The Six Paths of Pain appeared on the bird's back as well. They gathered around Nagato and looked in different directions.

But the thick fog above the mountains soon closed in again, rendering the Rinnegan's shared vision useless. Nagato frowned, gave up on observing the Shikkotsu Forest from the air, and steered Yatagarasu into a slow descent.

The mountains beneath them suddenly trembled. A tremendous voice rang out from all around, sounding as if its owner had just woken up. "Who are you? Why have you come here?" After Nagato and the Paths of Pain landed, the voice seemed to notice something. "Hm? Why do you have my contract?!"

The voice grew louder, as though its owner had suddenly become confused.

"Boom!" Another loud bang rang out. Konan, dressed in a black cloak patterned with red clouds, appeared in midair, her hem fluttering. She blinked and shook her head, which felt a little uncomfortable after the long-distance Reverse Summoning Technique. As she fell, a pair of paper wings sprouted from her shoulders, keeping her aloft for a moment. When she spotted Yatagarasu's enormous body, she landed beside Nagato.

"I am Pain!" Nagato called back to the immense voice.

A huge mass of green acid immediately fell from the sky. It was as if a pond had dropped from above, engulfing an area dozens of meters wide.

"I remember now. You're the ones who attacked Konoha," the enormous voice said furiously.

"Shinra Tensei!" Nagato raised his right hand and repelled the mass of acid. It rained down all around them, and the viscous liquid sizzled as it hit the ground, eating away at tree trunks and rocks.

"What terrifying acid." Just after landing beside Nagato, Konan saw the green acid smoking across the ground, corroding it into a pitted mess. Her expression grew grim.

She could hardly imagine what such potent acid would do to a person. The Shikkotsu Forest's Katsuyu clearly didn't welcome them.

"I'll let this one slide as a little mischief," Nagato said. He directed Yatagarasu to open its beak, revealing Tsunade and Hinata inside, then called out, "If you do that again, I'll let you dissolve them into a puddle of corpses."

That threat would have been useless against the cold-blooded snakes of Ryūchi Cave, but it worked rather well on Katsuyu.

Silence fell around them for a while. Katsuyu seemed to consider the matter carefully before reaching a conclusion. "You despicable man."

It seemed she had weighed the speed of her acid against Nagato's strength and had no choice but to give in.

"I never expected you to be such a loyal summoning creature. It seems we were destined to meet."

Nagato nodded approvingly at Katsuyu's behavior. His words were shameless, to say the least.

Jiraiya and the Toads were the ones who were truly destined to meet. They didn't even need a contract; a simple Summoning Technique could take him to Mount Myoboku. Nagato knew perfectly well what methods he had used to reach the Shikkotsu Forest.

This time, Katsuyu fell silent for even longer. It seemed she was debating whether she should curse him out.

"Did you come here just to say that?"

When Katsuyu spoke again, her voice was unmistakably strained with anger.

Considering that Nagato had signed the Summoning Contract on Katsuyu's Summoning Scroll without her permission, then casually erased the other signatures on it afterward, her patience was remarkable. Given how long she had lived, she had probably never met anyone who had signed a Summoning Contract the way Nagato had.

"Of course not. Where's your main body? I came to find you." Towering trees and thick undergrowth surrounded them. Nagato could sense an immense amount of Chakra permeating the mountains, but it was so vast that it filled the entire area, making it impossible for him to pinpoint its source.

"Head toward the seven o'clock direction from where you are. ...If you come to me, it'll be easier for me to kill you with acid."

Katsuyu's voice remained as calm as ever, but her words were anything but pleasant. Konan looked at Nagato with concern.

Nagato's expression was perfectly calm. He already knew what Katsuyu was like.

"Thanks," he replied.

The group climbed onto Yatagarasu, and with the giant bird carrying them, they made good time.

Yatagarasu flew straight in the direction Katsuyu had indicated. The farther they went, the lower the terrain became. The pleasant greenery gradually disappeared behind them, and the land ahead turned into a swamp. Bare tree trunks stood in the black mire, and now and then they saw white slugs with blue markings slowly crawling along them.

"Are these all your split bodies?" Nagato asked, looking at the Katsuyu scattered throughout the area.

Nagato knew that there was actually only one Katsuyu in the Shikkotsu Forest. But she clearly had no intention of answering him, and remained silent.

After a while, a gray rise appeared ahead of the low-lying swamp. Its shape was strange, like an enormous pillow. Katsuyu's head, large enough to resemble a mountain, rested on top of it.

The only two conscious humans were both astonished. Konan marveled at the size of Katsuyu's head, while Nagato was amazed by her languid posture.

"Why does this feel like I'm looking at a shut-in lying on her bed at home, too lazy to move?" Nagato shook his head, banishing the strange thought, and guided Yatagarasu down beside Katsuyu's enormous head. Then he ended the Summoning Jutsu.

The Asura Path carried the unconscious Tsunade and Hinata, standing among the other Paths of Pain. Looking at the soft, plump giant slug before him, Nagato was tempted to reach out and feel what she was like, but decided against doing something so reckless.

Their relationship clearly wasn't good enough for that kind of contact.

Thanks to "Chaos Demon Lord of the Turbulent Times" for the donation.