The only hope

"The real... Uchiha Madara?"

Konan repeated in a low voice, her pupils visibly contracting as she felt a chill run down her spine:

"The real freckles are still alive?!"

"... This is currently the most likely speculation."

Kou nodded, then turned his gaze back to Konan's face and said in a deep voice:

"But this is just speculation, after all, of all the people I know, he is the most suspicious."

How exactly did he acquire power far exceeding mine without the Rinnegan...?

I currently have no clue about this issue either.

"Wait, the Rinnegan?!"

Konan keenly grasped the key point from Kou's words, forcibly suppressing the chill surging in her heart, and pressed Kou for an answer in a serious tone:

"You just said that he possessed that kind of power 'without the Rinnegan '... What exactly do you mean by that?"

"The true master of the Rinnegan is Madara."

Looking at Konan, he explained calmly:

"Nagato's Rinnegan was secretly transplanted into him by Madara when he was very young."

The purpose was to allow Nagato to use the Rinne Rebirth Technique to revive Madara after he mastered the power of the Rinnegan.

He paused for a moment, as if giving Konan time to process the information, before continuing:

"And Obito, who has always stayed by your side under the name Madara, was responsible for guiding Nagato to master the power of the Rinnegan, collecting the Nine Tailed Beasts, and finally reviving the real Madara."

Then he became the Ten-Tails ' Jinchuriki, unleashing a technique called Infinite Tsukuyomi across the Ninja World.

"Infinite... Tsukuyomi?"

Konan looked at Kou and repeated in a dry tone.

"That's right, it's the truth Eye of the Moon Plan Akatsuki has been pushing forward."

Looking out at the full moon, he said in a cold voice:

"The effect of Infinite Tsukuyomi is to drag everyone in the Ninja World into a Genjutsu world from which they will never awaken."

"And the so-called 'making the world feel pain,' 'using the power of the Tailed Beast to intimidate all nations and achieve lasting peace'..."

Kou shifted his gaze back to Konan's face, his voice now devoid of warmth:

"From beginning to end, it was all just a lie used by Madara and Obito to get the Akatsuki and Nagato to do things for them."

After hearing Kou's explanation, Konan remained silent, only closing her slightly trembling eyes in anguish.

Nagato's Rinnegan was given to him by Madara.

Everything they sacrificed for peace turned out to be nothing more than a doomed deception.

It turns out they never truly controlled their own destiny...

Jiraiya Konan's dejected expression, Konan said nothing, but silently walked to her side and placed his large hand on her shoulder.

Konan's body trembled involuntarily, and she then leaned slightly towards Jiraiya.

Seeing this heartwarming scene between master and disciple, Kou felt a pang of reluctance, but still earnestly reminded them:

"While I understand how you feel right now, this is not the time for sentimentality."

"... I understand, let's continue, knock."

Konan responded softly, then quickly composed herself, nodded to Kou, and solemnly said:

"Based on what you just said, you should have a considerable understanding of Madara. So... do you have a way to deal with him?"

Kou frankly shook his head:

"If what you say is true, then Madara now possesses strength several times greater than mine."

"Looking across the entire Ninja World, there is no one left who can fight him head-on."

"Even his nemesis, the God of Shinobi Hashirama Senju elbow strike, would probably just be used as a cup by the current Prisoner Madara."

Facing the rather strange gazes of the two, completely oblivious to how thunderous his words had been, he continued:

"If we're talking about a way to defeat him head-on, then there is indeed one."

"To become the Jinchuriki of the Ten-Tails."

"The Ten-Tails'... Jinchuriki?"

Konan repeated it softly, a glimmer of hope flashing in her eyes.

"That's right."

Kou calmly nodded and said with feigned regret:

"But this path is basically blocked."

To become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, having the Tailed Beast Chakra alone is not enough; one must first possess the Ten-Tails ' husk, namely the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

And now, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path is in Madara's hands.

He paused, then said to Konan in a deep voice:

"Even if we use the remaining Rinnegan in your possession to summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Madara must have already prepared a backup plan for that situation."

"So this method is basically useless."

Hearing Koko's words, Jiraiya, standing next to Konan, couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

But before he could relax, his mind was filled with an even stronger sense of sorrow.

"So what should we do now? We can't just sit here and watch Madara take action!"

Jiraiya irritably scratched his tangled white hair, looked at Kokoro, and asked again, unwilling to give up:

"Is there really no other way for us?"

"... It can't be said that there's absolutely no chance of winning."

He lowered his head and murmured to himself.

"What?!"

Hearing Koko's words, Jiraiya's eyes rekindled with hope.

He instantly perked up and gave the arm that was being tapped a smacked face with his elbow:

"You brat, just say so if you have a solution! This immortal is about to die of impatience!"

As he spoke, Jiraiya took a few steps closer to Koko Jiraiya filled with hope:

"Tell me quickly, what is the method?!"

Konan also took half a step towards Kou's direction, staring at him intently with a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

Kou didn't say anything, but simply raised his head, refocused his gaze on Konan, and solemnly extended his hand to her.

"Give me the Rinnegan you hold."

He looked at Konan's suddenly contracted pupils and said in a deep voice:

"This is the only viable solution right now."

Hearing Kou's words, the faint hope that had just ignited in Konan's eyes instantly died out.

She cautiously took half a step back, coldly staring at Kou, and asked warily:

"What do you need the Rinnegan for? Based on what you just said, Madara may already have a backup plan at the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path..."

"Isn't the Rinnegan practically useless against Madara?"

Kou shook his head and said helplessly:

"I'm just saying that the Rinnegan isn't really that useful right now when it comes to becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki."

But I never said that eye was of absolutely no use to our current situation."

Meeting Konan's increasingly wary gaze, the smile on his face slowly faded:

"Relax, Konan."

With my current strength, if I were truly determined to take the Rinnegan from you, you wouldn't be able to stop me at all.

"You couldn't possibly not know that, could you?"

Konan looked intently at Kou, and after a brief struggle, the thoughts in her eyes softened reluctantly.

"I know that, to you, that eye is the last thing Nagato left in this world."

He spoke solemnly to Konan:

"But it is also our only hope for saving the Ninja World right now."

"Let me finish what I have to say. I will give you a reasonable explanation."