Shinobi World No. 1.
Konoha Year 43, autumn.
Sunagakure, Sandcastle Base.
In a corner of the training ground, Nagato sat cross-legged on a flat stone platform, his dark red hair gleaming purplish-black in the dim light. His Mangekyō Sharingan had faded, returning to their ordinary violet, but deep in those eyes, an indescribable thirst for power still burned. Konan stood beside him, her cool face expressionless, but the paper she kept folding in her hands betrayed her inner unrest-she only folded paper incessantly like this when she was thinking.
"Nagato."
Konan spoke very softly.
"Have you heard? In the east, Minato Namikaze entered Sage Mode in an instant and routed Kirigakure's vanguard all by himself."
"I heard."
Nagato nodded.
"It looks like Konoha is in serious danger. Otherwise, the Sage of Six Paths wouldn't have made Minato Namikaze some Child of Prophecy."
"Child of Prophecy..."
Konan repeated the words softly, folding the paper in her hands into a crane.
"Teacher once said that to improve your strength quickly, you have to use resources that ordinary people consider extremely precious, perhaps even resources they've never heard of. Powerful forbidden techniques, for instance, or Soul Yin Stones, which let you make tremendous progress in Yin Release cultivation."
A glimmer flashed through Nagato's eyes.
"Then Minato Namikaze's improvement..."
"Was most likely because the Sage of Six Paths gave him resources ordinary people have never even heard of."
A calm voice came from the entrance to the training ground.
Nagato and Konan turned at the same time and saw Toyotomi Yinglang walking slowly toward them. He wore his moon-white Kariginu, his long black hair tied casually behind his head, and held a dossier he had just finished reviewing. His steps were unhurried, as though he were strolling through his own back garden rather than