Individual Plans

After emerging from the underground base, Nagato moved with the wind, his body feeling chilled as he hurried toward the high tower.

The gray-white sky was filled with rain clouds, and from time to time, one or two bright white bolts of lightning streaked across the horizon, illuminating the entire street.

The rain in this country never ceased throughout the four seasons; walking along the road, one could feel the lingering dampness permeating the air.

Although it would be an easy task for Nagato to stop the rain, he had no intention of doing so.

Looking around at the tower-like buildings visible everywhere, and listening to the sound of water gurgling through the drainpipes on the outer walls as they channeled the water from the rooftops to the ground, he could truly feel that he had returned to this country.

It was a strange experience; despite it being his first time walking here, his mind was filled with memories of the place.

Familiar, yet foreign.

All around, in the sky and on the earth, floated natural energy full of vitality. It appeared like tiny green specks of light, completely unaffected by the rain.

Although he could easily absorb this natural energy into his body, and his Sage Mode had no time constraints, Nagato did not intend to do so. Much like how an ordinary person drinking too much strong tea during the day would affect their sleep, long-term absorption of natural energy would keep his mind in a state of constant, excessive alertness.

While this state was beneficial in battle, the war was about to begin, and he needed to let his body get some proper rest first.

Otherwise, no matter how great his strength, he would be unable to unleash it in actual combat. This was the experience Nagato had gained from long-term participation in war; in his memories, it felt as if he had lived on the battlefield since he was a child.

He had seen many newcomers who, due to pre-battle tension or excitement, could not sleep all night; such newcomers rarely survived on the battlefield. Experienced ninjas would never make such mistakes. The time before a battle was incredibly precious, and not a single minute could be wasted.

So, what was Obito Uchiha doing at a time like this?

With the help of the natural energy in the environment, Nagato's sensory abilities were even more powerful than before, even without entering Sage Mode.

In just an instant, he was able to determine that Obito was no longer in Amegakure.

Meanwhile, in an underground space somewhere unknown.

Deep within a dim cave, Zetsu emerged from the ground, unfolded the aloe-like leaves wrapping its body, and spoke to Obito, who was sitting to the side: "Sasuke has already agreed to go to Amegakure. I originally thought he wouldn't agree."

"Hmph, he is still no match for Nagato right now..." Obito replied coldly, showing no surprise at Sasuke's choice.

He remained submerged in the darkness, as if he had become one with it: "I don't know how Nagato's body managed to recover its health. Is it because of the slugs from Shikkotsu Forest?"

"The sages of the Three Great Sage Regions each possess very unique abilities. With the healing power of Sage Katsuyu, it shouldn't be difficult to heal Nagato's injuries, right?"

Zetsu's white half-face revealed a sly grin. Because the part below its waist remained underground, its perspective was low, and it had to look up to see Obito's face, which was filled with displeasure.

"The injuries on Nagato's body are not so easily healed. They were the result of long-term erosion by the Chakra of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Furthermore, the nerves in his legs had long since withered; even the highest-level medical ninjutsu could not have restored him to his current state." Obito stared at the ground beneath his feet, muttering to himself, "The previous plan is no longer viable. A healthy Nagato, combined with the Rinnegan, is not so easy to deal with."

"The plan has hit another snag, hasn't it?" White Zetsu acted as if it were none of its business, grinning slyly, the expression on its face seemingly mocking something.

Its sarcasm earned a fierce glare from Obito.

Previously, when he heard Zetsu report that Nagato had suddenly abandoned the capture of the Nine Tails and disappeared from Konoha, Obito had indeed arrogantly remarked that he hadn't expected his plan to encounter any accidents.

As a result, White Zetsu had secretly kept it in mind until now, and was bringing it up at a time like this to ridicule him...

Although Obito was long accustomed to White Zetsu's habit of undermining others, at this moment, he still found it hard to suppress the displeasure in his heart, feeling that White Zetsu was being too meddlesome.

His expression turned somewhat gloomy, and seeing this, White Zetsu wore a joyful smile.

It still remembered how Obito had used Kamui to transport everyone back to Amegakure, leaving it behind; seeing Obito unhappy made it very happy.

"Have you finished investigating the matter I asked you to look into?"

After a while, Obito asked in a cold voice, withdrawing his gaze from White Zetsu.

White Zetsu's expression also became serious as it replied: "The clone I sent out has returned from Konoha and did not bring back your left eye. Although the clone found Kakashi's body, the Sharingan that originally belonged to you had already been taken by someone else."

Having said this, White Zetsu hesitated for a moment and asked: "Do you think it was someone from Konoha who recovered your left eye, or did Nagato take it?"

Obito did not speak, only staring coldly at the rough, dark walls of the cave.

There is a kind of pain in this world called having your ally botch the job while accidentally killing your best friend. With the best friend dead and the eyeball that was placed on him also gone, Obito wanted to know why this hellish world hadn't ended yet.

"Madara, what should we do next?"

Zetsu was still asking questions from the side. Obito glanced helplessly at its yin-yang face, his eyes filled with disgust.

"There is no way to confront Nagato head-on now," he replied.

"Is your... Kamui not enough?" White Zetsu continued to ask.

It had originally wanted to say, "Isn't your Uchiha power enough?" But just as it opened its mouth, it suddenly felt that it was better not to provoke Obito at a time like this; this guy's mood was clearly not right.

"What good would that do? There are no longer any Black Receivers on Nagato's body, and the contingency plan left behind by Madara has lost its effect because of that. Even if I could trap him in the other dimension using Kamui, there is no way to seize his eyes. What if he summons the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path in the other dimension and absorbs it into his body?"

For Obito, the most perfect outcome for this capture of the Eight and Nine Tails would have been for both Sasuke and Nagato to succeed, and for Nagato's physical state to be further weakened by Konoha.

In that way, once the Eight and Nine Tails were sealed into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, he could have tampered with the inactive Pain bodies ahead of time and persuaded Nagato to implement the Eye of the Moon Plan.

Persuading Nagato directly with words would have been best, but even if he couldn't be persuaded, using force would have been fine. After all, in Nagato's physical state, without the Pain bodies, he was no match for him. Furthermore, he still possessed the Yin-Yang Release taught to him by Madara, which could be used to suppress Nagato with the Black Receivers.

Everything had been planned perfectly, and success was right before his eyes. Obito had even prepared himself to see Rin within the Infinite Tsukuyomi. As for Zetsu's attitude, or the resurrection of Madara Uchiha, what did that have to do with him?

Unfortunately, everything was now out of control, especially since Nagato had become completely different from before, as if he didn't care about his opinions at all.

"Besides notifying Sasuke, what else did Nagato ask you to do?" Obito asked Zetsu with an ugly expression.

"The Five Kage Summit... the Land of Fire... and Hidan..." Zetsu repeated the tasks Nagato had given it to Obito.

"Anko?" Obito mused, a look of confusion appearing in his eyes, wondering what Nagato wanted with her.

He remembered that Anko had once been a disciple of Orochimaru; after Orochimaru defected from Konoha, he had abandoned her, which showed that she had no talent.