"Who are you? What exactly do you want with us?"
Nagato coughed up two mouthfuls of black blood while asking. He felt his body become significantly lighter; clearly, the Medical Ninjutsu of the Ninja before him was far superior to Konan's meager skills.
"The person actually looking for you isn't me. As for my name, you can call me Tobi!"
"So, you're just a messenger? Why didn't the person looking for me come himself?"
Nagato spoke with a hint of dissatisfaction. Tobi—who was Uchiha Obito from the original world—shrugged his shoulders:
"It's simple. He's busy with something very important right now, so the small task of bringing you over was naturally left to me."
"Since he doesn't value me that much, why should I go?"
Tobi smiled slightly at Nagato's question:
"I heard what you two were saying earlier. Don't you want revenge? And Nagato, don't you want to fully recover from your injuries—for instance, your two legs?"
"Come see our boss. As long as he's satisfied, he can fulfill any of your requests!"
Skepticism appeared on both Konan and Nagato's faces. Tobi's claims were far too bold; even a master of medicine like Senju Tsunade wouldn't have the ability to regrow limbs!
However, seeing Tobi's confident expression, the two became somewhat uncertain. Ultimately, Nagato made his decision:
"Fine, I'll go with you!"
The reason they made this decision wasn't that they had great confidence in the boss Tobi mentioned, but simply because they had no other choice.
Even though Nagato had recovered somewhat due to Tobi's treatment, he didn't feel he was a match for the man. As for Konan, she wasn't the 'Angel' she would later become; her combat strength was at most around that of a Jonin. Facing this bizarre individual, neither had much power to fight back.
Under these circumstances, if he refused, the other party would surely use force, which would only make things uglier. Why do things the hard way?
"A wise choice."
Tobi nodded, reached out to open a void portal, and stepped in first.
"I didn't expect... it really is Space-Time Ninjutsu."
Seeing Tobi open a space-time portal directly, both Nagato and Konan were quite surprised. Although they had guessed that Tobi's Intangibility Technique might be Space-Time Ninjutsu, they didn't expect it to truly be such a high-level skill. This gave them a bit more confidence.
Tobi's head suddenly popped out of the space-time portal as he spoke with a grin:
"It's not, you know! When I came through the entrance earlier, I did use Space-Time Ninjutsu, but this portal right now is actually a tool created through a combination of technology and a Sealing Formula. It can be used by anyone and isn't Space-Time Ninjutsu."
The two were startled by Tobi's behavior. It seemed that seeing familiar faces had caused Uchiha Obito's eccentric and goofy side to flare up again.
Of course, the fact that the space-time portal Tobi mentioned was actually formed by a tool was perhaps even more shocking to Nagato and Konan. It meant the creator's understanding of time and space likely surpassed the current era by countless years.
Inexplicably, Uzumaki Nagato seemed to realize something as he muttered in a low voice:
"I think I might know who's looking for us."
Konan pushed Nagato out of the dark passage and into the light, only to discover with surprise that they had arrived in a city with beautiful mountains, clear waters, and magnificent scenery.
Though the city wasn't large, it was planned very neatly, and the buildings looked quite exquisite. At the very least, Nagato and Konan, who spent their days in the backwater of the Land of Rain, had never seen such a beautiful city.
What surprised them most was that while it was still early morning in the Land of Rain, the sun here was already hanging directly overhead... No... Nagato looked up at the sun in the sky with shock. In his perception, that wasn't a sun, but an incredibly powerful Chakra source.
The streets were quiet and deserted with few people. Occasionally, a few travelers would pass by in a hurry, some even flying at low altitudes just above the ground.
"Where exactly is this place? And those people, their eyes..."
Konan looked at the occasional pedestrians passing by. Their haste was one thing, but more importantly, every one of them had white eyes!
"Byakugan, the Hyuga Clan... is this Konoha?"
Nagato shook his head, dismissing Konan's guess:
"I don't think this is Konoha... it might not even be the Ninja World anymore!"
Although Nagato's current strength wasn't that great, as the owner of the Rinnegan, his perception of power was very clear. The quality of the Chakra source above them was no less than that of his Rinnegan, and its scale was dozens or even hundreds of times larger.
If Konoha, or the Hyuga Clan, had such a thing, they would have unified the Ninja World long ago. Why would they still be playing games about being the 'number one clan' in a village like Konoha?
"Hehehe, quite insightful indeed..."
A creepy laugh came from behind, making their skin crawl. Konan and Nagato immediately turned around nervously to see a man with pale skin, long hair, and golden snake-like pupils.
"Orochimaru!!"
Konan and Nagato spoke simultaneously, their faces showing a hint of trepidation. Back when their trio had encountered the Sannin, this coldest of the three had left a deep impression on them.
Nagato had not yet created the six paths of pain, and he hadn't developed much of the Rinnegan's power. Naturally, he wasn't yet the madman who considered himself a god, nor did he think he could defeat Orochimaru while his legs were crippled.
"Hmm!? Are there newcomers, Lord Orochimaru?"
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