Nagato always had "god" on his lips, but in truth, he was shy, even timid.
The story between Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan was somewhat like that of Kakashi, Obito, and Rin: two men and one woman, all three close to one another, without all that bullshit mess. In that hazy stage where friendship outweighed love, before the woman could reveal the answer, one of the men died.
And so the answer sank beneath the water.
Even at the deepest bottom, the answer was obvious, wasn't it?
But one of them had died. Any answer would feel like a betrayal of their departed friend.
On the path of love, the hardest thing to let go of and move beyond was a lover who had already died.
After so many years, even steel would have melted. Let alone the human heart—did Tsunade really feel nothing at all for Jiraiya?
Nagato was about to die. He suddenly felt so sad, so miserable—not because he was going to die, but because from now on, Konan would be all alone in this world.
Yet all he could say was, "I'm sorry" and "thank you."
"Sorry, let me speak with Hyuga Hayato alone," Nagato said to Konan, his eyes unconsciously softening.
Konan hesitated for a moment, but ultimately walked out.
"What are you here for? To give me the final blow, or for these eyes?"
"The eyes."
"You're honest."
"There's no need to lie."
Nagato fell silent for a moment, then shook his head.
"I'm afraid your plans will come to nothing," Nagato said. "Before I came here, he had already placed a space-time formula inside my eyes. Once I die, the formula will activate and teleport the eyes away."
Hayato inspected them with the Tenseigan and found that the space-time formula had been placed within