Early Promotion (4)

"It seems that we have no other choice but to do this now."

After a long silence, Yahiko spoke.

If Nagato can return safely and only lose one Rinnegan, it would be a stroke of good luck amidst misfortune. Who told Nagato to be so arrogant and directly provoke them? As a result, he not only suffered a crushing defeat but was also captured alive by the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki.

Before this battle, Yahiko thought Nagato was almost invincible. They were preparing to take revenge on Hanzo, the leader of Amegakure, in the near future. With the Rinnegan power that Nagato had shown, defeating Hanzo, who was known as Demigod, was basically a sure thing.

Even if the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki and Yagami Shiraha are strong, they probably won't be much stronger than Hanzo, especially since Hanzo also possesses the terrifying toxin of the Ibuse. In actual combat, Hanzo is actually more difficult to deal with.

But things didn't go as planned.

This can only be considered another lesson, to teach them a lesson they'll remember.

"I'm entrusting everything to Mr. Kodama!" Konan quickly replied, her expression exceptionally respectful. Compared to Black Zetsu and Madara, Kodama had made many contributions to the Akatsuki, especially since he had once saved Yahiko, and now Nagato also needed him to rescue him.

"All I can say is that I'll do my best, and hopefully the ' Dragon King's' influence will work."

"Kodama" said in a deep voice, without showing any confidence that he could definitely do it.

"In that case, let's negotiate with Yagami Shiraha again as soon as possible," said Black Zetsu from the side.

The Rinnegan cannot be lost. Even if only one Rinnegan can be retrieved, we must avoid any unforeseen complications or accidents.

If Nagato could regain the Rinnegan, it wouldn't be entirely a bad thing.

Black Zetsu knows best how to truly use the Rinnegan.

After this Nagato, Black Zetsu only needs to fan the flames from the sidelines to completely eliminate any possibility of reconciliation between the Akatsuki and the Uzumaki Clan.

When the Akatsuki begin collecting the Tailed Beast, as long as they capture a few more Tailed Beast Seal into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, and then have Nagato revive Madara, the situation can be reversed instantly.

This is just to let Yagami Shiraha and the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki be arrogant for a while longer.

The original owner of the Rinnegan was Madara, and only Madara was able to unleash the true power of the Rinnegan.

If Madara were to be resurrected at his peak, even with only one Rinnegan, he would be beyond the capabilities of Yagami Shiraha and the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki.

In Black Zetsu's view, even though Nagato possessed the Rinnegan, he could only unleash a small portion of Rinnegan power. He hadn't even fully mastered the abilities of the Six Paths and the Outer Path, let alone the Rinnegan's own Dōjutsu.

'This is a good opportunity to see what kind of ninja "Dragon King," the leader of the Infinite Ring Organization, really is.'

"No need to rush. It's getting late. Going to the Uzumaki Clan grounds now would make us seem too eager. Although we want to save Nagato, we can't appear to be willing to give up everything for Nagato. Otherwise, even if the ' Dragon King ' intervenes, Yagami Shiraha might make outrageous demands." Kodama rejected Black Zetsu's suggestion.

"But Nagato ..." Konan looked worried. She understood the reasoning, but Nagato, as a childhood friend, was already family to her Kazumi. She couldn't suppress her worries.

"There's no use in rushing. The Dragon King will take at least half a month to arrive after receiving my message. In the meantime, I can only try to negotiate again." The Kodama advised, "But you can rest assured that, given the performance of Yagami Shiraha and Kushina Uzumaki, they are actually afraid that the negotiations with us will completely fall apart."

After all, the other members of the Uzumaki Clan are still very afraid of being surrounded by the White Zetsu Army; otherwise, they wouldn't have needed to negotiate with us when they had a clear advantage in strength.

They won't harm Nagato; at most, they'll conduct research on the Rinnegan —this is an unavoidable situation.

Instead of worrying, we should prepare compensation funds in advance. Otherwise, if the compensation isn't enough and the other party refuses to release the person, it will be a huge problem.

Yahiko gently embraced Konan, comforting her. After hearing "Kodama's" analysis, he said, "Konan, I'll leave this matter to you."

"I'm going back to the organization to prepare the funds now," Konan replied, regaining her composure.

As the Minister of Finance of the Akatsuki, Konan manages all the funds accumulated by the organization over the years in carrying out its missions.

Although a billion taels is a huge sum, Nagato is the most important, so we can still manage to come up with it if we grit our teeth.

"Be careful," Yahiko warned. As the nominal leader of Akatsuki, he had to stay here. During the negotiations, he also had to meet with Yagami Shiraha to show sincerity.

"Um!"

Konan nodded heavily, took a deep look at the Uzumaki Clan grounds, then turned and left, disappearing into the night.

"Let's find a place to rest nearby first. I'll try to negotiate with Yagami Shiraha again in the next few days," said "Kodama."

Yahiko: "I'll go with you then."

"Hmm." The Kodama nodded.

"Let's go." Yahiko headed toward a nearby town, and "Kodama" followed him.

Zetsu and Obito stayed where they were and did not immediately follow.

Once Yahiko and "Kodama" had completely disappeared, Black Zetsu spoke softly, "How credible do you think ' Kodama's' words are?"

"What do you mean? You doubt him?" White Zetsu Original asked suspiciously. "Didn't you send him to negotiate with Yagami Shiraha in place of Akatsuki?"

"Yagami Shiraha was extremely protective of his own. Think about it, if the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki hadn't been a match for Nagato this time, given Nagato's personality, even if he didn't kill her, he would have taken her back to Akatsuki. Even though Nagato was actually defeated and captured, given Yagami Shiraha's personality, he probably wouldn't have let Nagato go easily. Moreover, the Rinnegan's abilities are extremely powerful; a single Rinnegan probably wouldn't satisfy his appetite."

Black Zetsu analyzed.

"Isn't it Kodama who proposed changing the condition to a single Rinnegan?" White Zetsu Original asked again.

"Although ' Kodama ' didn't seem very confident, the fact that he dared to make a promise shows that ' Dragon King ' really has a close relationship with Yagami Shiraha. Have you heard of this person before?" Black Zetsu continued, "Yagami Shiraha's abilities seem to be self-contained. According to my investigation, his ancestors only had one Jōnin, but his abilities are very strange. Even the Mayfly Technique, which moves underground, can be sensed by the barrier."

I used to think it was because he was a genius, but now it seems very suspicious.

If Yagami Shiraha is colluding with "Kodama," or even the entire Infinite Ring Organization, then the trouble will be immense.

Black Zetsu is a product of Yin-Yang Release, but he wasn't born from a basic Yin-Yang Release technique. Instead, he was created by Kaguya, the progenitor of Chakra who mastered the Kekkei Mōra, using her last bit of power.

Although he lacked the ability to learn Ninjutsu, he still had a considerable understanding of the secret techniques of some powerful Ninja Clan during the Warring States Period.

Black Zetsu is particularly familiar with the Sealing Jutsu of the Uzumaki Clan.

However, Black Zetsu knew almost nothing about the barriers that Yagami Shiraha had used over the years.

The key question is whether a ninja in his twenties can truly excel in all aspects of Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Sealing Jutsu, Medical Ninjutsu, and clinical trials.

Most importantly, Yagami Shiraha's Taijutsu, Sealing Jutsu, Medical Ninjutsu, and clinical experiments are all at the pinnacle of the Shinobi World.

"If what you're saying is true, back then Kushina Uzumaki defeated Tobi and obtained his half-body. With Yagami Shiraha's Medical Ninjutsu skills, I think it's possible that he could even cultivate another Tobi," the White Zetsu Original suddenly said.

"The white shell in which ' Kodama ' hides is also a product of Wood Release, and since he can use Wood Release skillfully, he might have been created by Yagami Shiraha."

Black Zetsu said solemnly.

"Do you think it's possible that the First Hokage didn't die back then, and like Madara, he was later encountered by Yagami Shiraha, who then nurtured White Zetsu to become the First Hokage?" White Zetsu Original let his thoughts wander and made a bold guess.

"..." Black Zetsu fell silent. However, as far as he knew, most of the reincarnations of Asura Chakra were single-minded. It would be difficult for Hashirama Senju to become what White Zetsu guessed, but it was not impossible.

"The truth remains to be seen, depending on whether he truly helps us retrieve the Rinnegan. Otherwise, your speculations are just that—speculation. If ' Kodama ' is truly working for Yagami Shiraha, then even if he feigns returning one Rinnegan, he will eventually have ' Kodama ' find a way to take it back."

Obito, Obito the side, actually believed Black Zetsu's guess more, because even Rin, whose heart had been completely pierced, could be saved by "Kodama," and now Rin was living peacefully in the Uzumaki Clan grounds, so anything was possible.

'If I reveal the whole truth and side with Shiraha, perhaps I can...' A startling thought suddenly occurred to Obito.

The Uzumaki Clan grounds, the underground laboratory.

Shiraha stayed inside day and night, constantly monitoring the changes in the Wood Spirit Avatar "Uchiha Issei".

The method of evolving the three-tomoe Sharingan by simply absorbing the power of the Rinnegan is clearly feasible, but the process is somewhat slow.

Or perhaps it's because the Wood Spirit Avatar "Uchiha Issei" possessed far superior qualities compared to ordinary Uchiha Clan, thus increasing the difficulty of awakening the Sharingan.

However, the time for him to open his eyes should be in the next few days.

Soon, half a month passed. During this time, "Kodama" Kazumi Yahiko came to the Uzumaki Clan grounds to negotiate with Shiraha, but they did not get the results they wanted.

Even after Yahiko offered more funding, Shiraha still refused.

The two sides parted on bad terms, and that very night, a large number of White Zetsu appeared outside the Uzumaki Clan grounds.

However, no attack was launched on the Uzumaki Clan grounds.

On the 15th day, Shiraha suddenly relented and sent Nagato, who had been given a new Rinnegan, out of the Uzumaki Clan grounds, while stating that he only wanted half of the compensation.

"Nagato!" Yahiko looked at Nagato was being brought out, with a look of surprise and delight.

"Nagato, are you alright?" Konan had returned with a large amount of cash, also stepped forward.

"I'm fine." The one-eyed Nagato, wearing a black eye patch, nodded calmly without saying anything more.

"For the sake of the Infinite Ring Organization, let's leave it at that!" Shiraha said calmly, looking at the crowd in front of him.

"This is the agreed-upon compensation. Please check it." Konan opened a small suitcase and handed it to Shiraha.

The suitcase was filled with Storage Scroll; after all, more than 700 million in cash would require more than a dozen large suitcases to carry in a suitcase.

"Hmm." Shiraha channeled his Chakra into the Storage Scroll, checked it one by one, nodded, and looked at the people in front of him, saying, "Then I won't see you off. Take care, everyone."

With that, Shiraha turned and left, returning to the Uzumaki Clan grounds.

"Nagato, let's go back first." Yahiko noticed Nagato's expression, sighed inwardly, but didn't say anything more. Such a humiliating experience was probably beyond the power of words to change anything.

"Kodama, where is your organization's leader, the Dragon King?" Obito suddenly asked halfway through the journey.

"The Dragon King's true form encountered an accident and couldn't arrive in time, so he sent an avatar to meet with Yagami Shiraha. After the negotiations concluded, the avatar disappeared."

"Kodama" explained.

"Does the Shinobi World really have such a miraculous secret technique?" Yahiko exclaimed in surprise. According to "Kodama," the "Dragon King" is on another continent, and his Shadow Clone cannot stray too far from his main body.

'Playing tricks.' A thought flashed through Black Zetsu's mind, and he felt that ' Kodama ' was becoming increasingly suspicious, but he had not yet found any concrete evidence.

"This time, our Akatsuki owes the Infinite Ring Organization a favor."

Nagato said in a deep voice.

"Nagato, will losing one of your Rinnegan affect your health?" Konan asked, inappropriately concerned about Nagato's well-being.

However, Nagato did not get angry. Instead, he shook his Rinnegan will not only not affect my body, but will actually make me feel relieved."

However, it seems that much of the Eye Power within the Rinnegan has been lost.

I was careless this time and absorbed too much of the Nine-Tails Chakra; otherwise, I would never have been defeated.

However, I also benefited from this misfortune, as the life force absorbed by the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path the heretic was completely restored.

"Once I master the full power of the Rinnegan within a short period of time, my strength will increase further."

The Uzumaki Clan grounds.

After seeing off the Akatsuki, Shiraha noticed that the White Zetsu that had surrounded the Uzumaki Clan's underground area were rapidly receding, but a few White Zetsu remained.

However, he didn't care, because after half a month of preparation, his Mental Power Crystallization accelerated suddenly and had reached the critical point of breakthrough.

The next step is to completely Mental Power Crystallization and then attempt to reach the second level of "Spirit Summoning Warlock".

Shiraha entrusted all matters to Kushina and told her not to go to the underground laboratory unless it was an extremely urgent matter.

And so, everything returned to calm. Shortly after Nagato returned to Akatsuki headquarters, he took action against Hanzo, completely seizing control of Amegakure, and then remained silent about taking revenge on the Uzumaki Clan.

Shiraha was now focusing all his energy on meditation.

Within the Soul Space, Shiraha's second solid model of Mental Power is becoming increasingly clear.