Danzo's Nature

"Isn't that exactly what you're doing?..." Tsunade gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. If she could have beaten Nagato, she would've charged at him and fought to the death long ago.

Nagato chuckled softly and shook his head. "You could put it that way, but the details are completely different from what you're thinking. I do plan to use you to threaten Danzo, but the way I intend to threaten him is this: if he doesn't yield, I'll send you back to Konoha."

Nagato's calm voice made Tsunade's eyes widen. She looked utterly bewildered.

So he wasn't threatening to kill her—he was threatening to let her go?...

She blinked. Once she understood Nagato's plan, she froze.

She had no idea what to say. What could she say? Danzo was a real piece of work. Had even people from other villages figured out what he was like?

That was right. This ridiculous threat really might work on Danzo. The old bastard was probably more afraid than anything of her suddenly returning to Konoha and contesting him for the Hokage Position. But what was with that redheaded bastard Nagato? How did he know so much about Danzo? Was that big, stinking pile of filth so infamous that everyone knew just how foul he was now?

"What? Do you have any objections?" Seeing Tsunade suddenly hang her head and fall silent like a defeated rooster, Nagato asked impatiently.

Tsunade stayed quiet for a while longer, then answered in a hopeless tone, "No objections!"

What objections could she possibly have? Was she supposed to tell Nagato he was brilliant, that he understood Danzo perfectly, and that his plan had a very good chance of working?

"If you have no objections, then get out!" Nagato dismissed her coldly. "Behave yourself. Don't think you can cause trouble and still keep your life. This isn't Konoha. If you try to escape and someone catches you, I won't say a word on your behalf, even if they kill you."

With Obito and Zetsu's clones in Amegakure, along with his own sensory abilities, Nagato wasn't worried about Tsunade sneaking off.

Although the old woman called herself a ninja, she was really just a berserker who was incredibly skilled at Medical Ninjutsu. She could serve as a bruiser in a straightforward team battle, but sneaking around was out of the question. It didn't suit her brash, domineering personality at all.

Her little trick of changing her age and growing or shrinking was only enough to fool ordinary people. It wouldn't work at all in the Akatsuki.

"Konan, once you've settled them in, get some rest too. Come find me when you're rested. There are some things I need to tell you."

After speaking to Konan, Nagato turned to the Katsuyu on his shoulder. "You go with them as well. If anything dangerous happens, take Konan back to Shikkotsu Forest."

Katsuyu's divided bodies could swell up and envelop people inside them. Konan also had a Summoning Contract with Katsuyu, so Katsuyu could use the Reverse Summoning Technique to take herself and Konan back to Shikkotsu Forest together.

Given how Obito and Zetsu were lying low and keeping their plans hidden, the two of them were probably plotting something. Nagato didn't want to be threatened with hostages again.

"Do you think Madara might come after me?" Konan raised her eyebrows, a flash of anger in her eyes as some unpleasant memories came back to her.

"It's only a possibility," Nagato said. "It never hurts to be careful. Someone like him is capable of anything."

Obito's goal had always been to carry out his Eye of the Moon Plan and trap everyone in the world in an illusion. Setting aside how Obito's mind worked, Nagato himself could never agree to such a plan. Nagato had always intended to use the Tailed Beasts as superweapons to suppress war. Though the two of them had initially shared the goal of collecting the Tailed Beasts, their plans for using them afterward were completely different. The closer they got to collecting them all, the more likely Nagato and Obito were to clash.

But in this world, the Akatsuki was gradually becoming known as an organization that collected all the Tailed Beasts and attacked the great hidden villages—in other words, a public enemy of the world. And with Amegakure known as the Akatsuki's headquarters, Nagato and Obito had no choice but to band together and face the pressure. Obito couldn't do without Nagato; without Nagato's Rinnegan, he was nothing. Nagato couldn't afford to abandon Obito either. For one thing, almost everyone in the Akatsuki besides Nagato and Konan belonged to Obito's faction. If Nagato fell out with Obito, even if he managed to kill him, only Nagato and Konan would be left in the Akatsuki, and they wouldn't even be able to keep track of what was happening in the Shinobi World.

Konan understood the situation perfectly. She had always known that Obito wasn't on the same side as her and Nagato. She was a little surprised to learn how long Nagato had been on guard against Obito, but she thought it was a good thing that he was wary of him, and her expression softened.

"Okay, I understand," she replied indifferently, preparing to take Tsunade and the others to rest.

"What about Lady Tsunade?" Katsuyu had overheard them. These people really were all harboring their own agendas, which meant Tsunade might get caught up in it too.

Nagato thought for a moment, then used the Summoning Jutsu to summon another Katsuyu fragment. "This one will stay with Tsunade. With you there, she shouldn't be ambushed, right? As long as Tsunade doesn't cause trouble, I'll come protect her as soon as I get word. Of course, you're not to help her escape or make a new contract with her."

He was acting utterly domineering, as if he'd completely forgotten that Tsunade was the one Katsuyu truly acknowledged.

"Yes, Lord Nagato," the newly summoned Katsuyu fragment replied, its tone exceedingly meek.

"Lord?" Nagato raised his eyebrows. He suspected Katsuyu might have multiple personalities.

Back in Warm Bone Forest, Katsuyu's main body and its fragments had sounded completely different when they spoke. Now, in a new place, even a Katsuyu fragment had changed its attitude toward him. All he could say was that the giant slug was strange.

The summoned Katsuyu obediently crawled onto Tsunade. The Katsuyu that had been lying on Nagato's back also started crawling toward Konan, but halfway there, it seemed to remember something. It looked at Hinata, then asked Nagato, "What about this girl? Forget Tsunade—what's the point of keeping her here against her will?"

"Indeed, there's no point," Nagato replied with a cold laugh. "If she wants to leave, she's welcome to go whenever she likes. I can even have Zetsu escort her."

His voice sounded somewhat sarcastic. Katsuyu didn't quite understand what Nagato meant, so it looked toward Tsunade and saw that she looked just as troubled. Hinata, who had been standing beside Tsunade, first brightened, then her expression dimmed. Katsuyu immediately realized it had probably said the wrong thing.

"What do you mean?" it asked Nagato.

Tsunade closed her eyes and sighed, stopping Katsuyu. "Don't ask. I'll tell you later."

Tsunade knew all too well what the Hyuga Clan was like. They valued and protected the Byakugan to the point of being willing to do anything. Hinata was a member of the Main Family, yet she had lost her precious eyes. The Hyuga Clan would find that hard to accept. Even if they didn't punish Hinata, they certainly wouldn't treat her kindly.

And with Danzo now in power in Konoha, the Hyuga Clan might hand Hinata over to him so he could extract information about the Akatsuki. So Konoha wasn't exactly a safe place for Hinata to return to now.

That was Tsunade's judgment, made without knowing why Hinata had lost her eyes. Nagato knew the full story: Hinata had offered her eyes to him for Naruto's sake.

Everyone knew Hinata could never defeat the Deva Path. So from the perspective of an uninvolved observer, her actions might seem moving, even romantic. But to the Hyuga Clan, they were an absolute disgrace.

For nearly a thousand years, the Hyuga Main and Branch Families had protected the Byakugan. Countless people had sacrificed themselves for it, only for the eldest daughter of the Hyuga Main Family to hand her eyes over to an enemy in what amounted to suicide—for the sake of a man. To the Hyuga clan members who had desperately guarded the Byakugan, whatever the reason, this was the greatest mockery imaginable. They might even kill Hinata over it.

Nagato shook his head. Hinata was of no use to him now.

If he still had a shred of conscience, he wouldn't care what happened to Hinata. Seeing both Katsuyu slugs on Tsunade and Konan, Nagato gestured for Konan to go rest. He wanted to be alone for a while and sort through the information he'd gathered recently.