Land of Lightning, east of Kumogakure, Sharp Rock Mountain.
Nagato could not choose between the two options Black Zetsu had given him. Under the enemy's pressure, he sank into painful torment.
If Yahiko and Konan's positions were swapped, it would be a classic reenactment. That had been Black Zetsu's original plan.
With Yahiko's personality and drive, he would willingly offer up his neck to be slaughtered to save Konan, even if there was only the slightest hope.
But just as they had been about to act, Yahiko had happened to take Konan's place and gone out to buy groceries. There was no way the lot of them could simply rush up to Nagato and seize Konan, could they?
Would that be capturing someone, or delivering themselves to their deaths?
So they had made do and captured the isolated Yahiko as a substitute.
But now there was a problem. There was no doubting Konan's feelings for Yahiko; they were no less than Yahiko's feelings for her. Yet there was a world of difference in their ability to act.
When a companion was threatened, Yahiko would help Nagato make the choice when he hesitated. Konan, however, would wait for him to make it himself.
Therefore...
After Kuradi, possessed by Black Zetsu, voiced his threat, the situation fell into a stalemate.
With Nagato's current personality, he would never take the initiative to harm Konan. Thus, if Konan did not act first, nothing would come of it between the two of them.
If Black Zetsu were truly just an ordinary Kumogakure Ninja who hated Nagato's group, he could have changed tactics at this point and made Konan kill Nagato, testing Nagato's resolve.
Unfortunately, he was not.
His goal was to make Nagato fall into darkness, summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path of