Nagato has been in a coma for a long time. Not only was he physically traumatized, but his spirit was also in a closed state.
As an extremely paranoid idealist, Nagato cannot accept the fact that he has lost his Child of Destiny identity.
So he closed his consciousness. Even if Aoba tried to use Genjutsu to invade his mind, he couldn't.
While Konoha was recovering, his physical injuries had actually completely healed.
It's not unreasonable for Madara Uchiha to choose him back then. Nagato's vitality is more than twice as strong as Karin and Yumi, two of the same race combined.
In Aoba's view, even Naruto can't compare to Nagato's physical potential. But Naruto is not only stronger physically.
As the reincarnation of Ashura, his difference is actually more at the chakra level.
Aoba doesn't want to give up on a top potential stock like Nagato. So he keeps trying to wake up the other party.
In the laboratory, Konan is sitting in front of the bed and looking at Nagato quietly.
Her feelings for Nagato are very deep and complicated. As Yahiko's former lover, Konan's feelings for Nagato are more similar to the feelings between brother and sister.
But how to put it, normal people understand. The relationship between men and women is very subtle. Yahiko naturally had no problems when he was alive.
After Yahiko died, Nagato was obsessed with Child of Prophecy's identity, and there was no problem. But now, Yahiko is no longer there, and Nagato has also lost Rinnegan.
He was no longer the aloof god. He became the Nagato Uzumaki he once was. In this way, some of Konan's originally suppressed emotions quietly began to sprout.
Seeing Aoba come in, Konan stood up and moved out of the way. Aoba gave Nagato a comprehensive inspection.
"The physical injuries are almost healed. Without the consumption of Rinnegan, his recovery ability is much stronger than imagined. In fact, his spirit has not been harmed by external forces. It is more of a kind of self-closure. If you want him to wake up early, you need to talk to him more and try to awaken the beautiful things in his heart."
"... I say it every day. But it doesn't seem to have any effect."
"That means you didn't speak deeply enough. Nagato's condition is very delicate. Because he is no longer injured. Therefore, he should actually be able to accept some of the external voices. Therefore, as the person closest to him, you need to put more effort into it."
Konoha In the jungle outside. Sasuke The four of them have arrived at the intended target.
After observing from a distance, Sasuke realized something was wrong with this group of so-called 'wandering ninjas'.
"There are more people than expected. The key is that a complete defense circle has been set up around them. This is not something ordinary wandering ninjas can do."
"It should be the ninja legion under the previous daimyo Land of Fire. After being defeated, they formed a small group of ninjas."
Karin's analysis is actually very accurate. Of course, this is not because of her high intelligence. It is more because she lives with Aoba. Under the influence of her ears and eyes, she knows more information than others.
Back then, Konoha faced off against the ninja army of Daimyo Land of Fire. They were so overwhelming that after defeating the opponent, they did not choose to pursue them.
Instead, let the other party scatter and flee.
In this way, the scattered ninjas were reduced to pieces. They appeared scattered in various places in Land of Fire.
Not all ninjas are as observant as Konoha Ninja now. The moral quality of those wandering ninjas is almost visible to the naked eye. Then they quickly turn into various harmful groups.
For a time, Land of Fire cities and villages outside Konoha were plunged into dire straits.
This situation was actually caused intentionally by Aoba.
After all, there is no harm without comparison. Aoba wants to destroy the old Land of Fire from the roots and re-establish a New Land of Fire with Konoha as the core.
But this is not easy. Because the old system is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Most of the Land of Fire people are still waiting for a new daimyo to rule them.
Even within the current Konoha, there are actually some people who complain about Konoha going to war with the daimyo.
The Ninja Village was established less than a hundred years ago, but the daimyo system has been around for thousands of years. The shackles in people's hearts are not easily broken.
Aoba doesn't want to, nor does he have that much energy, to forcibly unify those people. Therefore, he can only choose this darker method.
The wandering ninjas were allowed to do evil everywhere. The old nobles could do nothing about it. The people at the bottom who were already living a difficult life have now become even more miserable.
There is only one place in the entire Land of Fire that can avoid this phenomenon, and that is the current Konoha.
Aoba wants to increase the population of Konoha and expand Konoha. But it cannot use force to kidnap people. Instead, it must make people willingly defect to Konoha.
In this way, we have the current Land of Fire situation.
Those people who have been oppressed and harassed to the point of being unable to survive, under some conscious or unconscious guidance, have begun to migrate in the direction of Konoha.
In this migration model, Konoha has the absolute initiative. It can even be picky and selective, giving priority to those skilled workers and immigrants with higher value. These people can adapt to Konoha's life faster and can also accelerate the construction of Konoha.
Others are surrounding Konoha and building villages one after another around Konoha. Just like the surrounding villages of modern cities.
Although these people cannot enter Konoha's life, the surroundings of Konoha are also within the radiation range of Konoha Ninja. At least the safety is much better than before.
Sasuke The ninja in front of them was a group of wandering ninjas who had targeted the surrounding villages of Konoha.
This was beyond the tolerance range of Konoha. As soon as he received the news, Aoba immediately sent people to prepare to clean them up thoroughly.
"There are twenty-four ninjas in total. One of them has reached the average level of Konoha Jonin. Another one has reached the level of Special Jonin. Among the remaining twenty-two, six are Chunin, and the rest are at the Genin level."
Karin's Mind's Eye of the Kagura could easily see the opponent's lineup from a few miles away.
"What, there is only one Jonin. Why don't we rush over and defeat them directly?"
Naruto started shouting again. Naruto, who had gone through the special training of Minato, is now extremely confident. He doesn't take Jonin seriously at all.
In fact, even Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Karin's message.
There is only one Jonin. It is really not a big problem for them.
"Okay, now let's simply formulate a strategy. The mission is to completely wipe out this group of wandering ninjas. So no one can run away.
Naruto, after the war starts, you use Shadow Clone to block all directions around you. Make sure not to let anyone escape. Karin will use ninjutsu to cooperate with you.
Yugito, you and I are responsible for solving the Jonin and Special Jonin. Now, check the ninja and take action in one minute."
A minute later, the four of them were about to take action when Karin suddenly stopped.
"Wait a minute, someone is coming."