"Nagato, in your condition, if you force yourself to use Shinra Tensei to go to Konoha, I'm afraid your body won't withstand that terrible strain!" Konan's voice, filled with worry and anxiety, echoed atop the bitterly cold steel tower in the Land of Rain.
The fierce wind mixed with icy rain mercilessly battered Konan's pale, delicate face. Her light orange eyes stared fixedly at the skeletal red-haired man before her, his back bristling with black metal rods. Nagato was panting violently, each breath seeming to drain every last bit of air from his lungs. Yet his deep purple Rinnegan, patterned like ripples on water, flashed with chilling madness and obsession.
"Konan, you don't understand." Nagato slowly turned his head, his emotionless voice piercing the heavy curtain of rain. "Sasori of the Red Sands and Deidara may not have been the organization's most essential fighting assets, but they represented Akatsuki's prestige. That Konoha brat named Shengu Xuan not only possesses the power to kill them instantly, but can even forcibly reverse life and death, resurrecting a jinchūriki whose tailed beast has been extracted. An existence that completely defies the established principles of the shinobi world is an uncontrollable anomaly. Unless we eliminate him early, our ultimate plan to collect the tailed beasts and make the world know pain will inevitably collapse."
Konan bit her lower lip, paper release chakra forming a thin defensive layer around her body to block the falling raindrops. She knew Nagato was right, but as his companion since childhood, she could not simply watch him go to his death. "But Konoha doesn't just have Shengu Xuan. Jiraiya-sensei and Tsunade are there too. It's too risky for you to go alone. At least... at least send someone else to probe their strength first."
Nagato fell silent for a