~ A few moments in the recent past

“Are you certain?”

Nagato and Konan stood alone in the room the real Nagato usually occupied, deep in the main tower of Amegakure village.

“Yes.” Konan replied, her tone equally disgruntled as Nagato’s, “Hidan and Kakuzu were seen near Sunagakure by our spies just a day ago in the company of an unknown woman.”

“Their mission is supposed to be in the Land of Lightning,” Nagato said. “What are they doing on the completely other side of the continent?”

“I don’t know.” Konan replied with a frown, giving the documents in her hands a worried look. She had no idea what was going on, and that was enough of a problem on its own.

Yes, Akatsuki members had a certain level of personal freedom in their actions, but that didn’t mean they trusted them. It was hard enough to keep track of their movements as it was, considering that almost every member was a competent S-rank ninja. Even this report she was holding, it was just a fluke that her spies noticed Kakuzu and Hidan. If they hadn’t noticed them, neither she nor Nagato would probably be any wiser about this ‘small detour’.

“Then why don’t I enlighten you?” An imposing male voice suddenly interrupts Konan and Nagato’s private discussion, causing their attention to instantly snap toward it as a man calmly walked into the room, followed by Zetsu.

“Who are you?” Nagato flatly asked, giving Zetsu a warning look. The plant ninja had brought an outsider to their main base. That was unforgivable.

Konan, however, was more preoccupied with the actual intruder than with the Zetsu who was meekly following behind. The man had a spiky black mane of hair, red armor-

“I am Madara Uchiha.” The man said in a matter-of-fact voice as he finally stepped out of the shadows and continued to calmly walk toward them at an unhurried pace.

Nagato and Konan’s first reaction was disbelief, but then their gazes met the eyes of the intruder. The same purple, ringed eyes that Nagato held, if a bit darker, stared back at them with a mild, dispassionate interest, weighing their worth and giving them a feeling they were found wanting.

Konan tensed. From the corner of her eyes, she noticed how Nagato stiffened. But then the man stopped a few paces away from them, and Nagato’s eyes narrowed.

The Pein puppet, the only one that was currently awake, stirred near the wall.

“I ordered this Kakuzu and Hidan of yours to attack Sunagakure with one of my… associates. It is time for the Tsuki-no-Me plan to finally start in earnest.” Madara said, causing Konan to give him a strange look. He spoke as if ordering their subordinates was a normal thing!

She had no idea if this was yet another imposter or the real deal. But his presence unnerved her. Her feet shifted into a stance prepared for combat, and in her sleeves, she started preparing to use her paper jutsu.

As if their wary hostility was a refreshing breeze, Madara clapped his hands and continued, “I must admit you have done good work. Unfortunately, your usefulness has run out. I need my eyes back.”

Konan’s brain barely managed to register the words, but the self-proclaimed Madara was already almost upon them. Despite her extraordinarily honed reaction speed, he was moving at an unbelievable speed. Her body moved on instinct more than with a deliberate action, and she got in the way, intending to intercept him from reaching Nagato.

Their bodies neared, and her fist struck at his head while her hand was already halfway turned into an extremely sharp paper. Barely moving his head to the side at the last moment with the least necessary movement, the man evaded Konan’s blow with unbelievable perfection. His arm then snapped forward in a counter-strike right at Konan’s chest.

Her chest was already rapidly deconstructing into paper, and Konan’s eyes gained a triumphant glint. Rather than blocking, she chose to push the offensive, counting on the blow just harmlessly going through her.

The advantage was hers-

Chakra flared around Madara’s fist for a split second before it impacted Konan’s chest, and much to her disbelief, her technique was disrupted. Forced to the normal state, Madara’s fist smashed into her. She was sent hurling back through the air while many of her ribs shattered on impact, and a flood of blood erupted from her mouth before she harshly hit the ground and did several rolls before the force of the blow bled out, and she stopped, wheezing.

Not paying the fallen woman even a second of attention more than necessary, Madara turned toward Nagato just a second after he landed the blow. Sending a burst of chakra through his feet, he jumped toward the boy with his eyes while glancing to the side.

“Shinra Tensei!” The orange-haired puppet sent a wave of force at him, but Madara just negated it with his eyes, perfectly sending an opposite shockwave to nullify it.

It was barely an inconvenience.

The boy had his eyes for decades, and if his level was only this much, then Madara was severely disappointed.

Appearing in front of Nagato, Madara grasped his neck and tore him out of his chair, ripping all the metal rods inserted into his back in the process.

Defiant Rinnegan met a bored one face-to-face.

Madara’s free hand moved up, his fingers reaching toward Nagato’s right eye socket-

“Shinra-“

Nagato whispered, but instead of dismissing it as a last attempt of a defeated foe, Madara’s eyes actually widened in alarm. Nagato’s chakra spiked, and a vicious grin appeared on his face.

“- Tensei!”

The entire Tower exploded from within, shaking the entire Amegakure with a deafening blast. When the dust settled, only a deep crater and a staggering and panting Nagato were left behind.

A chameleon with Rinnegan eyes suddenly climbed out of the ground and opened its mouth, letting the Pein puppet exit, gently holding the injured Konan.

Nagato worriedly glanced at her, but he didn’t drop his guard. His decision was proven correct when he heard clapping from behind him, and with considerable effort, he turned around.

“Good! Very good! You used yourself as bait! Not many have the balls necessary to do that, boy!” Madara excitedly exclaimed as his body started to reform under Nagato’s gloomy gaze. “You are not a disappointment after all! Come, let’s dance! Prove to me that you deserve to wield my eyes!”

With crazed laughter full of joy, Madara rushed at Nagato, but Nagato’s five Rinnegan puppets surrounded him, stopping him in his tracks as they engaged him in combat, working well enough together to start pushing him back.

Nagato was about to put all of his attention on fighting Madara when his Rinnegan alerted him to a threat. His eyes widened, and his head snapped toward Konan. A White Zetsu appeared from the ground underneath the Pein puppet and was promptly blasted into pieces, but not before he managed to pierce through Konan’s abdomen with something that Nagato could not identify. But it was no doubt a lethal wound in her current state.

Inwardly panicking, Nagato was about to order the Naraka path to restore Konan, only for her body to disappear.

As he watched the place where his friend had been just a moment ago, a creeping emptiness surged within Nagato. But soon enough, his head caught up with the situation.

The Amegakure did not matter.

The Akatsuki did not matter.

World peace did not matter.

His friend was dead.

Nagato saw red.

The Amegakure ceased to exist as two godly ninjas fought on its ruins without restraint.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep