Those Old Friends of Konoha (1)

When that magnetic voice slowly fell over the scene, Nagato was the first to react.

His strange Rinnegan widened abruptly as he turned to look behind him, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Konan and Yahiko swiftly turned as well, looking behind them!

Though they had all grown into Kage-level powerhouses of the Ninja World, they had now lost all their usual composure and calm, their faces brimming with excitement.

Behind them, the dark space seemed to wither and shatter like a broken mirror.

"Rip... rip..."

As the pitch-black space cracked apart, Aizen's figure slowly emerged from within like an unknown deity, surrounded by astonishing phenomena.

Yet the three of them paid no attention to those terrifying sights. Their gazes were all fixed upon Aizen, who had appeared before them.

"Lord Aizen!!"

The three spoke in unison, their eyes filled with excitement and joy, having completely lost their former poise.

Aizen slowly stepped onto the ground, a faint smile resting on his lips. His deep eyes surveyed the three of them as he spoke gently in that magnetic voice.

"It has been a long time, Nagato, Konan, Yahiko..."

As Aizen called each of them by name, excitement immediately appeared on their faces. Countless words filled their hearts, words they wished to say to him at this moment.

However, Aizen continued with a smile.

"But I heard that there have been some problems in your relationship lately. Looking at things now, it seems that is indeed the case..."

Although Aizen spoke those words with a smile, Yahiko and the others all turned pale.

Cold sweat lightly formed on Yahiko and Nagato's foreheads. Despite already being Kage-level powerhouses in their own right, before Aizen, they now seemed like children who had made a mistake, at a complete loss over what to do.

Konan