"No, Pain. By the time the Three-Tails is revived, it will be too late."
Nagato's clear and decisive refusal made Black Zetsu very unhappy.
He was just a tool meant to revive Uchiha Madara, yet he couldn't even turn on him.
Just thinking about it made him angry.
"What do you mean, 'too late'? Zetsu, are you hiding something from me?"
From the moment Zetsu came to him and urged him to capture the Tailed Beasts earlier, Nagato had started to doubt him.
Normally, Zetsu was the Akatsuki's information officer. Unless it had something to do with intelligence, there was no need for him to get involved in anything else.
But this information officer kept coming to him again and again, urging him to act ahead of schedule. It was suspicious.
If someone didn't know better, they might think Zetsu was actually the leader of the Akatsuki.
"That's right, Pain. I know something, which is why I've been pushing you to move ahead with the plan."
Black Zetsu thought for a moment before deciding to tell Nagato what had happened in Konoha, hoping to convince him.
If they waited until Konoha revived Hashirama Senju, things would get really complicated.
"Recently, I learned that Konoha somehow obtained a technique for resurrection, a technique that can perfectly revive the dead."
"Resurrection Jutsu?"
Nagato, who was controlling the Pain (Deva Path) body while talking to Zetsu, suddenly had many thoughts flashing through his mind.
His greatest regret was watching Yahiko die right before him, unable to do anything about it.
To fulfill Yahiko's dream, he couldn't use the Rebirth Jutsu of the Rinnegan to revive Yahiko.
The Rebirth Jutsu was powerful; it could perfectly revive the dead, but the cost was the user's life.
If Yahiko could bear the Rinnegan, Pain wouldn't mind exchanging his life for Yahiko's.
But the reality is, the Rinnegan's master, Nagato, was on the verge of being drained by the power of these eyes, so it was impossible for anyone else to bear it.
To fulfill Yahiko's dream, the Akatsuki still needed the power of the Rinnegan.
Therefore, Nagato couldn't revive Yahiko at the cost of his own life. Instead, he used the Rinnegan's power to turn Yahiko's body into a puppet, creating the illusion that Yahiko was still alive, keeping him by his side along with Konan as a form of comfort.
When Nagato heard that there was a technique in Konoha to revive the dead, the first thought that crossed his mind was to secretly seek out Jiraiya-sensei to discuss it.
To talk about the Resurrection Jutsu.
"Is the information true?"
"It's true, not a single word is false."
"Oh? I'm curious how you found out about this. Normally, Konoha wouldn't publicly advertise such a thing as bringing the dead back to life."
"Pain, you're mistaken. While Konoha didn't publicly announce it, they didn't hide it either. Currently, both Iwagakure and Kumogakure are preparing to form an alliance to deal with Konoha."
"Is that so?"
The voice of Deva Pain suddenly became deep, and his gaze turned much sharper as he looked at Zetsu. "Such an important matter, why are you telling me about it now?"
"..."
Black Zetsu remained silent for a moment before replying, "I had to confirm the truth of the matter, didn't I?"
Nagato didn't comment further. Since Zetsu had explained himself, he didn't care to argue about it.
At this moment, what mattered most to Nagato was the Resurrection Jutsu.
Of course, he couldn't show too much interest in front of Zetsu.
"What exactly did Konoha do to make Kumogakure and Iwagakure join forces against them?"
"Konoha didn't really do anything. They just revived the Second Hokage Senju Tobirama, the first Jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, Uzumaki Mito, the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, the second Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Kushina, and Konoha's White Fang, Hatake Sakumo."
Black Zetsu didn't know that Senju Tobirama and Uzumaki Mito were from a different timeline. He assumed they had been revived by Konoha as well.
But aside from these two, the other three were enough to draw attention.
"So, you're saying that the cost of this Resurrection Jutsu isn't very high, and it allows Konoha to revive others without restrictions?"
After learning that Konoha had successfully revived so many people, the hidden figure, Nagato, immediately became more animated.
The lower the cost, the greater the chance that Konoha can revive Yahiko for him.
Thinking about seeing Yahiko alive again soon, Nagato, who had grown cold over time, couldn't help but smile, a rare expression.
"I haven't been able to investigate what kind of cost it takes yet, but it might be, as you said, not much. So, Pain, we need to carry out the plan to capture the Tailed Beasts as soon as possible. If Konoha revives more people, it will be even harder for us to capture the Nine-Tails."
"It's fine. No matter who Konoha revives or how many people they revive, it doesn't matter. I'll step in when the time comes."
Black Zetsu: ???
"No, Pain, you probably didn't understand what I meant. I mean..."
"Alright, Zetsu, I understand what you mean."
Pain interrupted Zetsu's words, then continued confidently, "I am a god. No matter how many mortals there are, they can never resist a god."
With that, Pain didn't give Zetsu a chance to reply and turned to leave.
Pain's departure left Black Zetsu furious.
A god?
What god?
This "god" isn't even a real god!
First, there was Obito, who's becoming more useless by the day.
Now there's Nagato, who isn't following the plan.
What have I, Black Zetsu, done to deserve dealing with this pair of talented fools?
But, as angry as I am, things still have to move forward.
"Since you disagree, I'll make you agree."
"Don't blame me, Nagato. This is all your fault."
At this moment, Black Zetsu decided that the plan to capture the tailed beasts would be initiated by itself.
It didn't believe that when it threw the One-Tail Jinchuriki into the Akatsuki base, Nagato would refuse this gift that was delivered right to his door.
As for the still-reviving Three-Tails, Black Zetsu also had a plan for that.
Thousands of years of experience hadn't been for nothing.
For some of the weaker tailed beasts, Black Zetsu had been secretly collecting their chakra.
Fortunately, the Three-Tails was one of the weaker tailed beasts.
The amount of chakra it had collected wasn't much, but it was enough to revive the Ten-Tails.
However, the Ten-Tails revived in this way would inevitably be somewhat "underfed."
The final result would be that the returning Ōtsutsuki Kaguya wouldn't be in perfect condition and would be somewhat weak.
To be honest, if the situation weren't becoming more urgent, Black Zetsu wouldn't want to do this.
But it had waited for so long, and this was the best opportunity.
If it missed this chance, who knew how long it would take before Indra's chakra reincarnation awakened the Rinnegan, and would it also trust Black Zetsu this time?
So, Black Zetsu decided it couldn't wait any longer.
"Even if Mom is a little weak, these ninja will never be a match for her."
"Mom is the invincible existence!"
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