Heart

"Nagato ~~~"

Looking at Nagato Impure World Reincarnation, Konan could no longer hide the tears in her eyes.

"Konan, what's this? Oh right, I died before, this is... Impure World Reincarnation ~ Yamanaka Arashi! Shouldn't you give me a reasonable explanation?" Recalling the scene before his death, Nagato looked at Yamanaka Arashi with a dark face, and the Rinnegan in his pupils released waves of pressure.

"You can't blame me. You understand the situation back then, Nagato. What I did was the best choice. And don't think you're safe now that you've been resurrected. Uchiha Gen is still waiting for you to fight the three great nations to the death."

Seeing Nagato's unfriendly expression, Yamanaka Arashi secretly prepared to take over control of Nagato's body at any moment.

"Hmph, you want us to fight the three great nations to the death? Is this the scheme of Uchiha Gen and Konoha? No wonder, despite it being Five Kage Summit, only three Kage participated in the campaign against Akatsuki. It's laughable that the Wind, Lightning, and Earth nations were used as pawns and are still gloating. How pathetic."

After mocking the three nations of Wind, Lightning, and Earth, Nagato thought of himself. What difference was there between him and these three nations? He knew he was being used by Uchiha Gen, but now he could only follow Uchiha Gen's ideas. After all, the Akatsuki was indeed responsible for capturing the Tailed Beast, and the war that the three nations were waging against the Akatsuki was not something he could stop at will.

Driven by the Tailed Beast incident and self-interest, war between the Land of Rain and the three kingdoms of Wind, Lightning, and Earth is now inevitable. In this situation, the sensible thing to do is to think about how to increase the chances of victory and preserve strength after the war.

"Nagato, why don't we just defect to Hidden Snow Village?" Konan, who already knew everything from Yamanaka Arashi, felt sorry for Nagato, who was looking at her with a slightly self-deprecating expression.

"It's no use. The Hidden Snow Village just wants to use us to weaken the three great nations. How could they possibly accept our surrender?" Nagato immediately dismissed Konan's naive idea.

"Chief, given the current situation, we can only do our best to enhance our strength to face the three great powers. I have a suggestion, though it may be immature. Please take it as a suggestion and don't be angry."

Seeing Nagato's expression, Kakuzu began to plot something, a little unease creeping into his heart.

"Hmm? What immature suggestion? You're not planning to run away with the money again, are you?" Kakuzu, that money-grubber, is really unreliable at crucial moments. If we can get through this crisis, we should recruit more members with ideals and ambitions.

"No, no, boss, we've known each other for so many years, is this how you see me, Kakuzu? Running away is absolutely impossible. Even Jūzō runs away, I, Kakuzu, would never run away."

Just now, when I said I was going to split the money and run away Nagato hadn't even come up yet! How did he know I was going to abscond with the money? Is this also one of the abilities of the Rinnegan? Hiss~ That's terrifying.

"Oh? Then tell me first, just how immature is your immature idea?" What good ideas could a guy like Kakuzu, whose mind is only on money, possibly come up with? Could it be... that he plans to use money to recruit wandering ninjas from Underground Exchange offices to help with this war? Hmm~ Kakuzu Kakuzu's personality, spending that much money would probably be worse for him than losing his life, right?

"Well, the plan is actually quite mature. Let's make it clear first, don't get angry if you disagree. Everything I've said is for the sake of the Akatsuki." Nagato, Kakuzu was about to turn hostile, repeatedly gave Kakuzu a heads-up.

"Stop talking nonsense, Kakuzu. Just say what you're thinking. Don't waste everyone's time." You pretentious bastard, if I could beat you, I, Jūzō, would definitely show you the power of Wood Release.

"Ahem, what I mean is, since we're not going to use the leader's body anyway, why not leave the heart to me while it's still hot to increase our strength? Everyone has witnessed the leader's strength. If I can obtain the leader's heart, everyone can foresee the improvement in my strength. Let me clarify, it's not that I, Kakuzu, am after the leader's body. It's just that at this critical juncture, every bit of strength we have is an extra layer of protection, isn't it?"

As Kakuzu spoke, he began to back away, fearing that the enraged Nagato would unleash a Shinra Tensei right in front of him.

"Kakuzu, I never expected you to be so ambitious. At this critical juncture, you still want to take advantage of me? I, Juzo Biwa Kakuzu, will be the first to object! If you want the Boss's heart, you'll have to step over my dead body first!" Damn it, the difference in strength between himself and Kakuzu was already huge enough. What would happen if this guy got the Boss's heart?

Even with the enhancement of Wood Release, my rank in Akatsuki will continue to decline if things continue like this. I absolutely cannot let this guy succeed.

"No, Kakuzu's suggestion is excellent. If Kakuzu's strength could be raised to another level in the current situation, it would undoubtedly be a shot in the arm for our Akatsuki. It's just a heart; you can take it." It's a pity that Sasori hadn't been captured. If only he hadn't been captured, he would have become another Kage Level puppet. Sigh, I should have agreed to give him some of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to make puppets.

"But, Nagato, that's your body after all~" Although Nagato himself agreed, Konan was still somewhat saddened.

"Don't worry about these things. In this situation, increasing our strength is the most important thing. There's no need to care about the corpses anymore." Although Scorpion has been captured, it's best to preserve his body. What if Scorpion comes back someday?

"Alright, we'll do it your way. But Nagato, since Yamanaka Arashi's Impure World Reincarnation is so effective, should we call Yahiko up? It's been so many years since we last saw him." Seeing Nagato's insistent attitude, Konan didn't try to persuade him any further, but instead turned to bring up the matter of Yahiko's resurrection.

"Yahiko? Let's wait a bit longer. Bringing Yahiko up here in the current situation would only cause more trouble. After all, with Yahiko's strength back then, he wouldn't be of any use now."

Yahiko... that guy's naive dreams have already gone against what I've been doing all these years. Let's wait until everything settles down before talking about it.

"Alright, I understand. Since you've put it that way, let's wait until things are over." Konan didn't think too much about Nagato's explanation.

"Chief, since you've agreed, I'll begin. After all, it's better to start sooner rather than later than later." Hahahaha, I never thought I, Kakuzu, would one day obtain the Chief's heart! Wood Release combined with immortality and the heart of a Rinnegan user—even the legendary God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama, would no longer be a match for me Kakuzu!

"Kakuzu, be careful not to damage Nagato's body." Konan hurriedly reminded Kakuzu, whose expression was a mixture of hunger and excitement.