"Damn it. I haven't had enough time to master the Rinnegan's abilities. My control still isn't strong enough to use a technique like Chibaku Tensei." At a hidden location outside Konoha, Nagato complained bitterly.
If he had a better grasp of the Rinnegan's powers, a few B- and C-rank jutsu wouldn't have been enough to stop Chibaku Tensei. He had ended up in this predicament because he hadn't had long to develop the Rinnegan's abilities and couldn't bring out the full power of all its techniques.
"Nagato, what's wrong?" Konan asked with concern.
"I thought that with the support of the Shimura, Utatane, and Mito clans, our senior would be isolated and without help. With the Six Paths Puppets, I was sure I could take the Nine-Tails. But who could've known the Uchiha Clan would show up out of nowhere—and one of them even has eyes like Uchiha Madara's?"
Thinking of how his Six Paths Puppets had come within a few hundred meters of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Nagato clenched his fists in frustration.
"Eyes like Uchiha Madara's? Could they be Mangekyō Sharingan?" Konan was astonished. She had thought Uchiha Madara was the only person in the world with a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Yes. I never expected it either. Now I have only the Deva Path Puppet left, and the other side forcibly interrupted Chibaku Tensei. This mission may fail." He had thought that, with the Six Paths Puppets he'd developed and the agents he'd turned inside Konoha, he, Nagato Uzumaki, could rely on his own strength to realize Yahiko's dream step by step. But he had failed at the very first step, leaving him deeply discouraged.
As Nagato regretted what had happened and blamed himself, a soft, slender body pressed against his back.
"Konan..."
The softness and warmth against