Meanwhile, elsewhere, on the road to the Land of Rain...
"Amegakure, Akatsuki..." Jiraiya muttered, stroking his chin. Rather than following the Akatsuki's route directly, he had taken a long detour, so he hadn't run into Uchiha Gen and the others.
In fact, if not for the matter with Lingchuan, he had originally planned to return to Konoha first to discuss a plan. Still, it didn't really make much difference. The fewer people infiltrating, the less likely they were to be discovered. Jiraiya fell silent as he recalled his earlier suspicions.
He had thought they were dead, but more and more clues pointed to the Rinnegan—and Nagato. If Nagato was still alive and part of the Akatsuki, did that mean Yahiko and Konan might still be alive too?
Yet as he pondered, Jiraiya's gaze unconsciously drifted toward a beautiful woman passing nearby. Wow, she's gorgeous! No, I have to save someone first. Hmm—there's no harm in waiting until I get back.
Amegakure.
Hearing this shook Nagato to his core. At the same time, he recalled the scenes he had seen in Uzumaki Reikawa's memories. Could all of that be true?
But if so, why don't I remember any of it? Or has someone been watching me all along?!
Seeing Nagato keep his head lowered without saying a word for so long, Uzumaki Zero frowned slightly. Though he couldn't make out Nagato's expression, he sensed that Nagato seemed rattled and was about to walk over to check on him.
The sound of footsteps snapped Nagato out of his spiraling thoughts, as though someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over him!
When he looked up and saw Uzumaki Reikawa approaching, Nagato's expression turned cold again. Hah. Even if all of that is true, so what?
"I refuse."
"..." Uzumaki Reikawa's