"You faced the Fourth Raikage and Killer B, the Eight-Tails jinchūriki, alone."
"And all those Hidden Cloud ninja on top of them."
"I'm proud of you!"
Xia Le spoke with a smile.
Looking into Nagato's open eyes, he spoke softly again.
"Just focus on recovering!"
"Once you've recovered, I'll solve the problem with your eyes for good!"
At those words, Nagato slowly closed his eyes.
Watching his student being wheeled into the operating room, Xia Le's gaze darkened slightly.
The Rinnegan had played a major part in the severity of Nagato's injuries. As a member of the Vortex clan, he already possessed vast reserves of chakra. With sage chakra added to that, his power had long since reached an entirely different level.
But the rejection between the Rinnegan and his body forced him to expend enormous amounts of energy at all times. That was true even in everyday life, let alone in battle.
Even Nagato could no longer withstand that drain and strain on his body.
A short while later, he arrived at Fugaku's office.
"Of the Five Great Nations, every one except the Land of Earth is putting more pressure on us!"
"This is an unspoken threat!"
Fugaku spoke gravely.
"Although none of the other great nations have attacked yet besides the Hidden Cloud Village, they've all deployed troops!"
Hearing that, Xia Le raised his head. "Looks like we have no choice but to fight!"
"Otherwise, those restless bastards won't sit down at the negotiating table and talk to us!"
Fugaku sighed. "That's right!"
Xia Le nodded. "I'll keep the Hidden Mist forces in check!"
"Then I'll leave that to you!"
"We have people defending the other fronts."
Fugaku nodded.
"I'll need to make use of Yagura Karatachi."
Xia Le spoke.
"No problem!"
After receiving that answer, Xia Le