"Did you find them?"
At the mountaintop, Nagato wearily watched the white paper scraps fluttering through the air. His ragged breathing made his skin contract and expand rapidly, faintly revealing the blue veins and bones beneath it.
"They disappeared."
The white paper scraps slowly wrapped around Nagato as Konan's cool yet uneasy voice came from within them. "Houka and the others have all disappeared too. It isn't safe here. Let's go back first."
"That was Uchiha Obito's Mangekyou ability. Damn it!"
Nagato's eyes flickered. "If we call Itachi, Kisame, and the others over, we can definitely defeat them this time!"
Countless paper scraps converged into a sea, carrying Nagato swiftly away.
"Nagato, don't use those jutsu again in the future. Your body won't be able to endure it," Konan's voice came from the paper scraps.
"To realize our ideal, none of that matters!"
Nagato gritted his teeth. "I will never forget Yahiko's death! This pain torments me every single day, so I will make everyone in the Ninja World taste this pain! Only then will they understand how precious peace is. Only then can true peace be brought to the Ninja World!! Even if I die, I will accomplish this!!"
To achieve that goal, he had to clear away every obstacle in his path: the Five Great Nations and the Five Great Shinobi Villages!
Although Nagato possessed the Rinnegan, every use of it drained his life force. Given his current physical condition, it was impossible for him to destroy the Five Great Shinobi Villages by himself!
The only way was to gather the Nine Tailed Beasts, revive the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, and then... become the Ten-Tails' Jinchuriki!
Come to think of it, Zetsu had learned this information from the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan!
After becoming