I reached out with my mud-caked hand, my fingertips hovering before Nagato's eyes.
Green life energy flickered faintly at my fingertips.
"No! Stop! Don't touch him!"
Konan, sprawled in a puddle of filthy water, screamed like a madwoman.
Her charred hands clawed desperately at the wood chips on the ground.
Mud and black paper pulp covered half her pretty face.
She struggled desperately to get up and shield Nagato in his wheelchair.
I didn't so much as glance her way, merely closing my left hand gently around empty air.
A tree root as thick as a thigh instantly burst out of the mud and pinned Konan down.
The force was perfectly controlled: it didn't hurt her, but left her unable to move.
"Sen, are you really going to gouge those eyes out?"
Jiraiya hobbled over on his crutches, his aged face looking rather pale.
His unruly hair swayed in the cold wind, his expression full of anguish.
"Old man, those Black Rods nearly killed you, didn't they?"
I stared at Nagato's purple eyes, a chill in my gaze.
"These eyes weren't his to begin with. Keeping them is just a burden."
"Plenty of people have their sights on that trademark of his. Sooner or later, it'll bring disaster down on him."
Nagato slumped in his broken iron wheelchair, his body trembling violently.
His lips quivered on his already deathly pale face.
"Sen Senju... you actually intend to steal God's eyes?"
"What do you know? These are the key to reshaping the world."
I rolled my eyes at him in disgust and spat out a mouthful of muddy saliva.
"God, my ass. You couldn't even break through my Wood Locking Wall. What kind of god does that make you?"
"Just accept that you're crippled, and quit spouting bullshit at me."
Two