When you were under someone else's roof, you had no choice but to bow your head. Nagato could not refuse his former subordinate's request to talk.
But before Nagato could begin, Zou Hyuga stopped him, took a box from inside his clothes, and handed it to Konan beside him. Under her wary gaze, he explained:
"Relax. This isn't a bomb. It's a pair of eyes, enough to restore our leader's sight."
Konan hesitated, but Nagato was much more accepting. "Put them in for me. Even together, we're no match for him now..."
Unlike the other Akatsuki members, Nagato knew Zou Hyuga's strength better than anyone. That was why he had chosen cooperation from the outset, rather than a simple superior-subordinate relationship.
Konan nodded. Only after opening the wooden box did she discover that these were no ordinary eyes, but a pair of Three-Tomoe Sharingan. She was secretly astonished.
Three-Tomoe Sharingan were hardly cabbages you could pick up anywhere. Obtaining them required defeating at least an elite Uchiha.
Zou Hyuga caught the surprise that flashed through Konan's eyes. He had obtained this pair of Sharingan from Danzo, but returning them to the Uchiha Clan would be awkward. Better to give them to Nagato. Perhaps they might even evolve.
Only after regaining his sight did Nagato notice something unusual about the eyes. They were constantly consuming his chakra-the side effect of transplanting Sharingan into someone who was not an Uchiha.
Having once possessed the Rinnegan, however, Nagato could afford to ignore that side effect.
After receiving such a generous gift, Nagato regained a little of his former bearing as the Akatsuki leader, and his gaze toward Zou Hyuga grew more wary.
He had not forgotten the speed of Zou's attack. It had been far faster than even Madara Uchiha's.
Still, Nagato had