Danzo's Disposition

"Isn't it? ..." Tsunade gritted her teeth, her hands clenched into fists. If it weren't for the fact that she couldn't beat Nagato, she would have risked her life to fight him long ago.

Nagato chuckled and shook his head: "You could say that, but the actual operation is the exact opposite of what you're thinking. I do intend to use you to threaten Danzo, but the way I plan to threaten him is by telling him that if he doesn't make concessions, I will send you back to Konoha."

Nagato's calm voice made Tsunade's eyes widen, her face filled with bewilderment.

So it wasn't a threat to kill her, but a threat to release her? ...

She blinked, and after understanding Nagato's plan, she was completely stunned.

She had no idea what to say; what else could she even say? Danzo really is a talent; has his character become so well-known that even people from other villages know about it?

That's right, such a ridiculous method of threatening might actually work on Danzo. That old immortal is probably most afraid right now that she might suddenly return to Konoha and fight him for the position of Hokage. But what is up with this red-haired guy Nagato? Why does he understand Danzo so well? Is Danzo such a stinking pile of dung that everyone knows how foul he is now?

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

Tsunade remained silent, and after a while, she replied in a tone of utter hopelessness: "No objections!"

What other objections could she have? Was she supposed to tell Nagato that he was incredibly talented, understood Danzo too well, and that this method had a high probability of success?

"If there are no objections, then get out!" Nagato coldly issued the order to leave. "Behave yourself. Don't think about causing trouble if you want to keep your life. This isn't Konoha; if you try to escape and get caught by someone else, I won't say a single word to help you, even if you're killed."

With Obito and Zetsu's clones in Amegakure, plus his own sensory abilities, Nagato really wasn't afraid of Tsunade sneaking away.

Although this old woman claimed to be a ninja, she was actually a berserker with top-tier medical ninjutsu. She was fine as a semi-tank, semi-DPS fighter in a head-on team battle, but as for doing anything sneaky, it was out of the question; it simply didn't fit her flamboyant and arrogant personality.

Her little trick of changing her age and size could only fool ordinary people; it wouldn't work at all within the Akatsuki organization.

"Konan, after you settle them in, get some rest yourself. Once you've rested, come find me; I have some things to tell you."

After saying this to Konan, Nagato turned his head to the Katsuyu on his shoulder and said: "You go with them too. If you encounter any danger, take Konan back to Shikkotsu Forest."

Katsuyu's split bodies possessed the ability to expand and wrap people inside their bodies. Since Konan had a summoning contract with Katsuyu, Katsuyu could use the Reverse Summoning Jutsu to bring herself and Konan back to Shikkotsu Forest.

Given the current situation where Obito and Zetsu were hiding their intentions, those two were likely brewing something malicious. Nagato didn't want to be threatened by hostages again.

"Do you think Madara might make a move on me?" Konan raised her eyebrows, a flash of anger in her eyes as she recalled some unpleasant memories.

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

Obito's goal had always been to implement his Eye of the Moon Plan and drag everyone in this world into a genjutsu. Not to mention how Obito's brain was wired, as far as Nagato himself was concerned, he could never agree to such a plan. All along, Nagato's plan had been to use the Tailed Beasts as super-weapons to suppress war. Although both of them started with the goal of collecting Tailed Beasts, their methods of using them after successful collection were completely different. The closer they got to finishing the collection, the higher the possibility of a conflict between Nagato and Obito.

However, in the environment that had gradually formed in this world—where the Akatsuki organization collected all the Tailed Beasts and attacked the major hidden villages, making them enemies of the world, and with Amegakure serving as the headquarters of the Akatsuki—Nagato and Obito had to huddle together for warmth and face the pressure together. Obito couldn't do without Nagato; without Nagato's Rinnegan, he was nothing. Nagato couldn't abandon Obito either; if nothing else, almost everyone in the current Akatsuki organization, besides him and Konan, belonged to Obito's faction. If he had a falling out with Obito, even if he could kill him, only he and Konan would be left in the Akatsuki, and they wouldn't even be able to grasp the intelligence of the ninja world.

Konan was, of course, very clear about this situation. She had always known that Obito was not on the same path as her and Nagato. Although she was a bit surprised at when Nagato started guarding against Obito, she felt it was a good thing that Nagato was vigilant, so the expression on her face softened.

"Alright, I understand." She replied faintly, preparing to take Tsunade and the others to rest.

"What about Lady Tsunade?" Katsuyu, who had been listening on the side, understood. This group was indeed full of people with ulterior motives, so Tsunade could also be implicated.

Nagato thought for a moment and used the Summoning Jutsu to summon another Katsuyu split body: "This one will follow Tsunade. With you there, Tsunade shouldn't be ambushed by anyone, right? As long as Tsunade doesn't act recklessly, I will rush over to ensure her safety once I receive word. Of course, you are not allowed to help Tsunade escape, nor are you allowed to sign a new contract with her."

His demeanor was extremely overbearing, as if he had completely forgotten that Tsunade was the one Katsuyu truly recognized.

"Understood, Lord Nagato." The newly summoned Katsuyu split body replied, its tone incredibly docile.

"Lord...?" Nagato raised his eyebrows, feeling that Katsuyu might have schizophrenia.

Back in Shikkotsu Forest, the voices of Katsuyu's main body and her split bodies were completely different. Now that the environment had changed, the attitude of the Katsuyu split body toward him had actually changed again; one could only say that this giant slug was too bizarre.

The summoned Katsuyu crawled onto Tsunade very obediently, and the Katsuyu that had been lying on Nagato's back also crawled toward Konan. Halfway there, it seemed to remember something, looked at Hinata, and asked Nagato: "What about this little girl? Tsunade is one thing, but what's the point of holding onto her?"

"It's indeed useless." Nagato sneered upon hearing this. "As for this person, as long as she wants to leave, I welcome it at any time; I'll even have Zetsu give her a ride."

His voice sounded somewhat sarcastic. Katsuyu didn't quite understand what Nagato meant and looked at Tsunade, seeing that Tsunade also had a troubled expression. Hinata, who had been standing beside Tsunade, had her eyes light up for a moment before they dimmed again. Katsuyu immediately realized that it had probably said the wrong thing.

"What do you mean?" It asked Nagato.

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

Tsunade knew all too well what kind of family tradition the Hyuga clan had. The importance and level of protection this family placed on the Byakugan could be said to be at any cost. As a member of the main branch, Hinata losing her precious eyes was something the Hyuga clan found very hard to accept. Even if they didn't punish Hinata, they wouldn't give her a pleasant look.

On top of that, with Danzo now in power in Konoha, Hinata would likely be handed over to Danzo by the Hyuga clan to extract information about the Akatsuki, so Konoha was certainly not a good place for Hinata right now.

This was the judgment Tsunade made without knowing the reason why Hinata's eyes were taken. Nagato, however, knew it clearly: Hinata had delivered her eyes to him specifically for Naruto's sake.

Because everyone knew that Hinata could not possibly be a match for the Deva Path, her actions might be seen as very moving and romantic from the perspective of an outsider. But in the eyes of the Hyuga clan, it was a hundred percent humiliation.

The nearly thousand years of protection of the Byakugan by the Hyuga main and branch families, and the countless sacrifices made, had resulted in the eldest daughter of the Hyuga main branch committing a suicidal act by giving her Byakugan to the enemy for the sake of a man. For the members of the Hyuga clan who were desperately guarding the Byakugan for whatever reason, this was undoubtedly the greatest irony. For this reason, they might even kill Hinata directly.

Nagato shook his head; to him, Hinata had no value at all right now.

If it weren't for the fact that his conscience wasn't entirely gone, he wouldn't care about Hinata's life or death. Seeing that both Katsuyu had crawled onto Tsunade and Konan, Nagato signaled that Konan could go and rest. He wanted to be alone for a while to sort through the intelligence from this period.