Outside Rain Village.
Nagato generously showed a smile and took out several huge scrolls of summoning beasts.
"I wonder what Mr. Yoru is willing to offer in return. You should know that these are extremely precious summoning beast scrolls."
Despite saying so, Nagato was still very generous. Now that his legs had recovered, the role of the Six Paths of Pain was merely to deceive others.
The combat power of the Animal Path was optional. Instead, he was more interested in collaborating with Uchiha Yoru.
Looking at the summoning beast scrolls one by one, Uchiha Yoru revealed a satisfied smile.
"Apart from the Nine-Tails, is the information about the other Tailed Beasts enough?"
Nagato smiled and shook his head, as if to say that their Akatsuki organization could also find out this information on their own; it was just a matter of time. It wasn't enough.
However, Uchiha Yoru's next words drastically changed his expression.
"How about adding information about the Rinnegan?"
Instantly, Nagato's expression changed dramatically, and even Konan beside him became coldly alert, staring at Uchiha Yoru as if they would become enemies in the next moment.
But with a serious expression, Nagato stared at Uchiha Yoru and said in a deep voice, "Please speak clearly, Mr. Yoru."
Uchiha Yoru's clear eyes showed no greed, indicating that he had never coveted the Rinnegan. But his sudden mention of it made Nagato very serious.
The Rinnegan had been with him since its awakening. What secrets about it were worth this trade?
Uchiha Yoru, however, looked relaxed and slowly started talking about the information worth so many precious summoning beasts.
"The Rinnegan, known as the 'Eye of Life and Death,' has extraordinary abilities. It is said that only the Sage of the Six Paths possessed the Rinnegan."
This information was almost known to all, as everyone had heard the myth of the Sage of the Six Paths. However, what Uchiha Yoru said next made both Nagato and Konan's faces turn extremely grim.
"But according to my investigation with Orochimaru, among the descendants of the Sage of the Six Paths, there are two bloodline inheritances: the Sage's Eyes and the Sage's Body."
"The Senju clan inherited the Sage's Body, and the Uchiha clan inherited the Sage's Eyes!"
When Uchiha Yoru revealed this secret, both of them became very serious, knowing that the Sage of the Six Paths was not a legend but had indeed existed.
But they had never heard of this legend of the Sage's Eyes and the Sage's Body.
Uchiha Yoru pointed to his own eyes, laughing, "The Sharingan is the Sage's Eyes, or rather, its degenerated form. You also know about the evolutionary path of the Sharingan."
"One tomoe, two tomoe, three tomoe, Mangekyō, and the eternal Mangekyō that does not cause blindness!"
As Uchiha Yoru spoke, his tone paused slightly, looking at Nagato's purple Rinnegan and narrowing his eyes.
"Above the eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, according to Orochimaru's research, is the Rinnegan! The true eye of the Sage of the Six Paths, the 'Rinnegan'."
Boom!
Nagato and Konan were shocked upon hearing this information.
But Uchiha Yoru, as if the matter wasn't big enough, continued with narrowed eyes, "According to the history of the Uchiha clan, only Uchiha Madara had the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan in the history of the Uchiha."
"And that masked rat pretending to be Uchiha Madara, my Mangekyō can clearly feel that his ocular power is not at the eternal level. As for your Rinnegan, Nagato, only you know the truth."
"How can this be!" Konan exclaimed in shock and disbelief.
"Nagato has awakened the Rinnegan since childhood."
Facing Konan, Uchiha Yoru just shrugged and laughed, saying, "The red hair is unique to the pure bloodline of the Uzumaki clan, and it seems that the Uzumaki are descendants of the Sage of the Six Paths. According to the historical records of the Senju clan."
"The Uzumaki clan is a distant relative of the Senju clan, the descendants of the Sage, known for their strong vitality, immense chakra, and natural talent in sealing techniques and being Jinchuriki. This all indicates that you, Nagato, are from the Uzumaki clan."
"In the history of the Uzumaki clan, no one has ever awakened the Dojutsu bloodline."
Uchiha Yoru reveals some secrets intentionally to make Nagato and Konan more vigilant.
"If you still have bargaining chips, Nagato, I can trade the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques, which contain secrets only the pure Uzumaki bloodline can master."
Uchiha Yoru speaks calmly while Nagato's face turns ashen.
"Konan!"
Facing Konan's concern, Nagato takes a deep breath, feeling as if he has always been living in a web of conspiracies.
Rinnegan! Did he awaken it himself, or is he living in a conspiracy? With the appearance of the masked man and revisiting past events, Nagato realizes there might be a problem.
In a moment, Nagato regains his composure, looking up at Uchiha Yoru. Seeing his confident smile, Nagato feels a warmth like sunshine.
No wonder Mr. Yoru never coveted the Rinnegan. It's not just his own power but the strength of his Sharingan.
"Hanzo's summoning beast and these summoning scrolls are comparable to the large combat summons of the Three Great Sages."
Nagato almost completely exhausts the Animal Path, leaving almost nothing.
But Uchiha Yoru smiles, knowing these summons are trivial compared to Nagato's strength and the overwhelming power of the Deva Path.
"The simplest way is for you, Nagato, to thoroughly research why your Rinnegan remains active. There has never been a case in any Dojutsu clan where one cannot deactivate their eyes."
"Of course, Kakashi's transplanted case is an exception."
Uchiha Yoru speaks with a smile, "So, it's up to you to find out the truth, whether by deactivating or regressing your Rinnegan."
Nagato falls silent, then hoarsely says, "I understand. I'll try it."
"So, this trade ends here. I'll be waiting for Hanzo's summoning beast."
After a light laugh, Uchiha Yoru's body turns into a puff of smoke, revealing he was a shadow clone.
"Konan!"
Now alone with Konan, Nagato remains silent as she looks at him worriedly.
After a long silence, Nagato shows a determined look.
"Konan, first we take back Rain Village, our base. We'll capture a lower ninja. If their chakra can't withstand it and the Rinnegan degrades or closes, it will prove one thing: these eyes are not mine by birth."
With determination in his voice, Konan nods in agreement.
"Perhaps we need to work more closely with Mr. Yoru. If I fail, Konan, join Mr. Yoru and observe his ambitions for peace under his rule."
"Konan!" Faced with Nagato's resolute gaze, Konan finally lowers her head and says solemnly, "I understand."
Meanwhile, Uchiha Yoru, who was somewhere unknown, raised his head, his eyes showing a playful expression.
Gather all the friends you can, increase the number of friends, and decrease the number of enemies.
This is the correct philosophy.
Nagato, such a powerful ninja with simple thoughts, it would be a waste not to win him over after having met him.
Uchiha Obito secretly worries that Uchiha Yoru is too powerful, so he secretly wants to sabotage him.
Similarly, Uchiha Yoru is also continuously weakening Uchiha Obito while strengthening himself.
…
The ninja world seems calm, but everyone knows this is the calm before the storm.
Nowadays, the 'Night God' is too powerful. After the merger of the Mist and Konoha, the five great ninja countries and villages are nothing but names.
Just the military power of the merged Mist and Konoha is enough to beat any other ninja village in the ninja world.
Let them merge? That's impossible. But under immense pressure, the Stone, Cloud, and Sand villages, three of the great ninja villages, have loudly announced an alliance.
Although the Sand village has allied with the Konoha, they are also allied with other ninja villages, something the Konoha cannot control.
It seems like the alliance of the three great ninja villages has outnumbered the others in terms of ninja count, but an alliance and a merger are two different concepts.
After merging, the Mist and Konoha can punch with twelve times the strength. However, under the alliance, the three great ninja villages can only punch with seven or eight times the strength.
And there's also the matter of high-end combat power, especially the Wood Release of Senju Tsunade and the Mangekyo Sharingan of Uchiha Yoru, not to mention the other Mangekyo Sharingan in the Konoha.
In terms of high-end combat power, they are almost always suppressed.
Uchiha Yoru has boldly announced that next year's Chunin Exam will be held in the Konoha village, and invitations have been sent to every ninja village in the ninja world.
This is almost a blatant show of strength, and similarly, other great ninja villages have also replied loudly, indicating their participation, but actually, it's to probe the real strength of Uchiha Yoru.
Cloud village.
In the office of the Fourth Raikage, A, looking at the invitation sent by the Konoha, especially the tone of 'Night God', was as if commanding from above all Kages.
This immediately infuriated the Fourth Raikage A, who angrily roared, "This is too much! Uchiha Yoru, you really take the ninja world as your own backyard!"
"Lord Raikage, what about next year's Chunin Exam?"
Someone from the Cloud cautiously inquired, to which the Fourth Raikage A angrily roared in response.
"I'm not stupid enough to let our Cloud's elites go and flatter Uchiha Yoru."
"What nonsense Chunin Exam. In their own territory, I really take the future of the Cloud village there, who knows what tricks they have up their sleeve."
The Fourth Raikage A was already displeased, and upon hearing this, he immediately refused without hesitation.
"Next year's Konoha Chunin Exam, just send a couple of bottom-ranking teams to deal with it. I want to tell the entire ninja world that the Cloud village does not trust the actions of Uchiha Yoru."
The Fourth Raikage A is not foolish. He wouldn't know how many geniuses are in the Konoha, and even if they are not as good as his Cloud village, he wouldn't take them there.
If anything happens to them, he would be heartbroken.
Instead, he shows a non-trusting attitude from the start, so the ninja world understands and won't be too concerned about saying that the young generation of the Cloud is inferior to the Konoha.
Stone village.
"Hey, old man, what do you think about this Chunin Exam?"
Kurotsuchi, already showing seven parts of the future Tsuchikage's demeanor, smiled while looking at the exquisite invitation in the Tsuchikage's office.
And sitting in front of the office desk, the Third Tsuchikage Onoki stared at his granddaughter.
"Of course, I use my eyes to see," he said.
Kurotsuchi was immediately annoyed and glared, "Hey, old man, that's too much, I am just concerned about you."
Onoki shook his head and sighed, "With Uchiha Yoru's grandiose act, it seems he is planning something big. Next year, I will personally attend as the Third Tsuchikage."
"Old man, aren't you afraid you won't come back?"
Looking at Kurotsuchi's puzzled eyes, Onoki just smiled and shook his head, "It's a pity, if Uchiha Yoru really wanted to keep me, the Raikage, and the Kazekage, that would be great."
"Then, the entire ninja world would join forces in a campaign of retribution."
However, thinking of this possibility, Onoki chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Given the Uchiha clan's pride, Uchiha Yoru wouldn't do that."
"With the pride of the Uchiha clan, you'll see, if we really meet on the battlefield, Uchiha Yoru will suppress everyone with absolute power, rather than being such a shortsighted person."
Kurotsuchi couldn't help but scratch his head and smirk, "Look at you, old man, boasting. Don't you usually hate the Uchiha clan the most?"
Onoki awkwardly smiled, "You don't understand, there's no liking or disliking between major villages, there's only interest."
"Look at the Third Great Ninja War, I personally orchestrated it and killed the Third Raikage. The Fourth Raikage A still willingly allied with us. Between ninja villages, there's no sentiment, only interests."
"Next year, I will prepare to lead one or two ordinary rock-ninja genin teams to participate. The real focus of this observational delegation is to gather and analyze intelligence. As for the Chunin Exam, let's just enjoy watching the geniuses from Konoha and Mist."
"On his home turf, Uchiha Yoru will definitely showcase the talents of Konoha and Mist in front of all the prominent figures in the ninja world."
"Flexing muscles!"
The Third Tsuchikage Onoki isn't foolish. Going to his home turf, if it really comes to a hard confrontation, we will only be at a loss. Better to reveal our hidden purpose from the start.
Sand Village.
Amidst the sandstorm, inside the meeting room of the Kazekage office building.
The area is even protected by barriers, and the Fourth Kazekage Rasa, along with the heavyweight Suna elders Ebizo and Chiyo, are seated inside the office.
"Two elders, what do you think of this plan?"
An unprecedented seriousness appeared on the face of the Fourth Kazekage Rasa, and after exchanging looks, Ebizo and Chiyo both revealed a weighty expression.
Sitting in front of them was a strong, furry figure. Under the wild appearance of white tiger fur, he looked very mature as he calmly observed the three.
"This information is entrusted to me by someone else. The decision is yours to make."
What they saw in front of them was not a human figure, but clearly a giant ape.
Monkey King: Enma! The summoning beast of the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, also known as the strongest summoning beast.
~~~
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