'Yang Release power…?'
Keizumi looked at the familiar text before him and immediately understood that he had inherited a portion of Yang Release from Hidan. It wasn't enough to let him survive being decapitated, but at the very least, it gave him a cockroach-like level of survivability.
'Besides Yang Release, the destruction of the other four Paths among Nagato's Six Paths has also increased my eye power to some extent…'
'Although it's still far from turning my own Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan into a Rinnegan, it's at least a beginning…'
If someone were observing Uchiha Keizumi's eyes at this moment, they would notice that the outermost edge of his Eternal Mangekyō had been tinged with a faint layer of purple. It wasn't obvious, but it was unmistakably the same purple as the Rinnegan.
"Damn it, meow!"
"I haven't been this badly hurt in a long time! That guy called Obito is really annoying, meow!"
Tachibana Jirō was being held in Izumi's arms, still grumbling nonstop about Obito along the way. It had only spoken a simple truth—how could that Obito treat such a cute little cat like that?
"I'm sorry… I dragged you into this, Jirō-senpai…"
Hearing Tachibana Jirō's complaints, Uchiha Izumi apologized with a guilty expression. After all, if Jirō hadn't been protecting her, it wouldn't have been injured so badly.
"It's fine, meow!"
Seeing Izumi's guilt, Tachibana Jirō couldn't keep complaining any longer.
While Uchiha Keizumi continued heading back toward Konoha, figures began appearing at the original battlefield—scouts from the Land of Earth, as well as Konoha shinobi heading toward the Land of Water.
"That's Lava Release… the ground has practically turned into a sea of magma!"
Uchiha Akira, one of the three who had previously gone to deal with Gatō, looked at the magma lake stretching over more than ten kilometers, unable to hide the astonishment in his eyes.
Even though all of Konoha already knew how powerful Uchiha Keizumi was, seeing his Lava Release actually reshape the natural terrain still left people in awe.
"The enemy must have been extremely strong. Look at those collapsed mountains in the distance—that was probably caused by Keizumi-sama's Susanoo."
Uchiha Zenda, another one who had dealt with Gatō, frowned slightly. In his view, Uchiha Keizumi's current strength was likely approaching that of Uchiha Madara in his prime. He simply couldn't imagine who in the ninja world could stand against him.
"No matter what kind of enemy it is, anyone who faces Keizumi-sama will definitely be executed by absolute justice!"
"I think what we should really be concerned about is whether we can establish a police force in the Land of Water that satisfies Keizumi-sama once we get there."
Members of the Ino–Shika–Chō clans were also part of this squad heading toward the Land of Water. The lineup of this team was nothing short of luxurious—more than twenty people, and not a single chūnin among them. Every single one was a jōnin.
If the Land of Water hadn't already been swept clean by Uchiha Keizumi, a team like this entering under normal circumstances would have been targeted by Kirigakure in no time.
"Who goes there?!"
Just as this Konoha reinforcement squad paused, the Land of Earth scouts also arrived at the battlefield.
After all, the Akatsuki had been hired by the Land of Earth—and for a full three hundred million. No matter how big Ōnoki's heart was, he still had to send Iwagakure shinobi to verify whether the Akatsuki had actually done the job.
On the battlefield ruins where Uchiha Keizumi had fought, the Konoha squad and the Land of Earth scouts encountered each other without warning.
With the strength of this Konoha team, dealing with a group of scouts was trivially easy.
"The Land of Earth… hired an organization called Akatsuki to ambush Keizumi-sama…"
Half a day later, after eliminating all the scouts, a shinobi skilled in memory extraction managed to piece together the full information.
"Who will return to Konoha and report this to Keizumi-sama?"
Uchiha Akira fell silent for a moment before deciding to relay the intelligence.
In his view, if the Land of Earth dared to hire a rogue ninja organization to attack Keizumi, it meant they feared absolute justice. For those who stood against justice—only decisive, overwhelming force was appropriate.
...
Within the Akatsuki, Konan appeared visibly worried.
"You're worried that Uchiha Keizumi will come knocking?"
Nagato was repairing the Deva Path of Pain, speaking without even lifting his head.
"Yes…"
"Uchiha Keizumi once came to the Land of Rain. At the time, I thought it was Biwa Jūzō who had leaked the organization's information."
"But looking back now, Jūzō may really have been wrongly accused. It was Uchiha Keizumi himself who somehow obtained the intelligence—he even knows Uchiha Obito's true identity."
Konan spoke softly. Uchiha Keizumi's strength was already formidable, but at least that was something visible. If he also had complete knowledge of the Akatsuki's internal information—that was what made him truly terrifying.
The Rinnegan was powerful. The Deva Path of Pain was powerful.
But neither was without weakness.
That weakness… was Nagato himself.
If Uchiha Keizumi entered the Land of Rain and went straight for Nagato, even if Nagato could repel him, it would undoubtedly worsen his already fragile condition.
It might even cause him to collapse before he could ever see the success of his plan.
Not to mention, judging from Uchiha Keizumi's previous displays of power, that might not even be the full extent of his strength.
"If he enters the Land of Rain… you leave."
Nagato fell silent for a moment before making his decision.
In truth, no one understood his condition better than himself. The Rinnegan was indeed powerful—but that power came at the cost of using his body as fuel. The more he used it, the faster his body would deteriorate.
But if he truly faced Uchiha Keizumi, he would have no choice but to unleash the full power of the Rinnegan.
Konan didn't respond, but from her expression, it was clear—if Uchiha Keizumi really came to the Land of Rain, she would stay.
She only had Nagato and Yahiko.
Yahiko was already dead.
If Nagato died as well… she would have nothing left tying her to this world.
"…But before Uchiha Keizumi enters the Land of Rain, let's give him some trouble first."
"As long as he's too busy to deal with it, he won't have time to come here."
Nagato looked at Konan's silence and decided it was necessary to apply some pressure to Uchiha Keizumi.
As for how?
Would the Land of Earth, the Land of Lightning, and the Land of Wind just sit back and watch?
Uchiha Keizumi had been slaughtering daimyō and nobles—would the nobles and daimyō of those three great nations not pressure their own hidden villages?
At this moment, Nagato's thinking had subtly shifted.
He needed the Fourth Great Ninja War… to begin.