Beneath the rain-soaked tower, Konan stood forlorn. Obito's parting declaration had confirmed beyond doubt that Sasuke had spoken the truth.
Orochimaru brought Pain's Deva Path body before the two of them. Through the Telescope Technique, he already knew that Obito had sucked Nagato into his space-time dimension.
"Konan, we haven't met since I left the Akatsuki, have we?"
Konan said nothing, merely nodding.
Orochimaru set down Pain's Deva Path body. "This Deva Path body, made from 'Yahiko'... he must have been someone very important to you, mustn't he?"
Sasuke thought, So this is Yahiko.
"Thank you."
Konan offered her thanks, then manipulated her paper to wrap around Yahiko's body and lift him into the air.
Sasuke asked, "What do you plan to do next?"
Konan's eyes dimmed. She turned her face aside, hiding her grief from them.
"I once swore I would become the two bridges that supported Yahiko and Nagato. In the end, I accomplished nothing. I watched helplessly as Yahiko died, then watched helplessly as Nagato was taken away. Honestly, I don't know where to go from here anymore..."
Sasuke asked, "Haven't you thought about saving Nagato?"
Bitterness filled Konan's heart. "Although I never discovered Obito Uchiha's true identity, I was confident I knew his abilities inside out. Once someone is sucked into his space-time dimension, they cannot escape without sufficiently powerful space-time ninjutsu. Unless he releases Nagato himself, saving him is simply impossible..."
That qualification—sufficiently powerful—ruled out the Reverse Summoning Technique.
The facts were exactly as Konan had described.
Sasuke lightly clenched his hand, but unlike Naruto, he made no rash promises.
He gave Orochimaru a meaningful look.
Understanding him, Orochimaru took a kunai from inside his robe and handed it to Sasuke.
Sasuke walked over to Konan and offered her the kunai.
"Getting you to trust