Nagato and Konan Head to Konoha

"One day, Nagato! Chen-kun's aspirations are unmatched!"

"I can see it in his eyes—whether it's Konoha or Amegakure, he treats them all equally!"

"We had already prepared ourselves to submit before coming here, hadn't we?"

"Yes...!"

Nagato let out a sigh.

"Before, that guy claimed he wanted to cooperate with us, but in reality, he was probably just buying time!"

"Heh."

As he said this, a self-mocking smile appeared on Nagato's face as he continued.

"Thinking about it, he was most likely the one who deliberately told you about the Cursed Seal and the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan!"

"His goal was probably to make me face reality sooner and submit to him!"

"I have to admit, he succeeded!"

Thinking of how distraught Konan had seemed after returning from Konoha over the past two months...

It was hard to imagine how stunned he had been after pressing her for answers and learning that even Konoha's weakest ninja were probably Special Jonin!

That was Konoha! Even a Konoha that had just gone through the Third Shinobi World War was not something he could look down on.

Before Uchiha Chen and the Cursed Seal, he could afford to disregard them.

After all, those countless Genin were like weeds before him. He could reap as many as he pleased!

But now, even without Uchiha Chen making a move, that massive army of Special Jonin alone could bury him to death.

Not to mention that Special Jonin were merely their lower limit.

Just thinking about it made Nagato unable to keep up his former lofty demeanor.

"Nagato, are you all right?"

Konan looked at the dejected Nagato with concern, yet she had no idea how to comfort him.

After all, she had been the one to tell him this information, and the gap between the two