When the Rinnegan felt the pull, Nagato did not immediately unleash its full eye power.
The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path's fourth authority was searching for an entry point along his line of sight.
Once the power of the Six Paths fully responded, the pseudo-Ten-Tails core could gain the stable eye power it needed most.
Black Zetsu's voice emerged from the statue's damaged opening.
"Those eyes belong to Madara."
Part of that statement was true.
Nagato had not awakened the Rinnegan naturally.
Madara had transplanted the eyes into him, while Black Zetsu had worked behind the scenes to guide their development and use.
Nagato had not known their origin before.
But with those eyes, he had lived through war, lost Yahiko, founded the Akatsuki, and chosen to force peace through pain.
Their origin was part of Madara's plan.
Every subsequent use had still been Nagato's doing.
Madara had not felt the pain of Yahiko's death for him.
Nor had the eyes automatically founded the Akatsuki, changed its course, or accepted deterrence through Tailed Beasts.
If he attributed every decision to Madara, Nagato could evade his own responsibility.
If he completely denied the eyes' origin, he would fail to see how Madara and Black Zetsu had arranged for a successor in advance.
Both layers had to be acknowledged at once.
Black Zetsu wanted to collapse them into a single thing.
Since the eyes came from Madara, Nagato should carry out the Moon's Eye Plan that Madara had chosen.
Nagato activated only one Rinnegan.
"Madara put these eyes into my body."
"He didn't put his judgment in with them."
He did not therefore declare that the Rinnegan belonged entirely to him.
The transplant had been performed without consent.
The eyes also carried the power and risks Madara had left behind.
Those