..and the risk that these idiots would damage them was too great. After all, these are not Uchiha Yue's eyes — they are Nagato's eyes! The power he was destined to wield. A higher power that will raise him to the divine throne!
In preparation to get this limitless potential, he had secretly ordered two incisions to be made on his chest not too long ago. The nerve endings and blood vessels in them were ideally prepared for transplantation, imitating eye sockets. Everything was ready. All that was missing was a ninjutsu capable of sealing Uchiha Yue's power.
At the very thought that those eyes, his indestructible, rightfully owned possession, might suffer at the hands of some fools, Nagato's heart ached with anxiety. He was sure that even on the day of his mother's death he had not felt such tension.
What if, even if he gets the right ninjutsu, he still can't defeat Yue?
"Heh, it's impossible," he immediately dismissed the thought. Uchiha Yue's main problem is his strange ability to absorb energy, which makes a prolonged battle with him suicide. If you don't defeat him with one crushing blow, defeat is inevitable.
As soon as this problem is solved, he, with his indestructible might and new body, will certainly kill Yue and take his power. This was his divine, as he believed, confidence.
It seemed that during the time that he avoided direct confrontation, lulled by his own illusions and greed, Nagato regained faith in himself. He never imagined that his own strength might not be enough to win.
And how is that possible? No matter how much you praise Yue, in the end, these are just the eyes of a mere mortal. Can they compare to the eyes of the Sage himself?
His condition resembled the psychology of a fighter who, after losing to a great master, after much thought convinces himself that he has found the key to victory. "If it wasn't for my mistake, I would have won! He was only one move stronger, and he had a little more power. I'll wait, figure out how to take his hand off, and I'll definitely win next time!"
"The 'Great Master'? Just a master of surprise attacks!"
Not only Nagato, but also Uchiha Obito couldn't help but feel uneasy. He waited for the Shinobi world, realizing its helplessness in front of Uchiha Yue, to see him, the owner of Kamui, as its savior. It was at this moment that he was supposed to gain supreme power.
He didn't need Yue's death right now either. If he was going to die, it would be after Obito had achieved his goal. It would be even better if Yue died of old age by then, without requiring any effort from him.
Unlike the two of them, Black Zetsu maintained an icy calm. To him, Uchiha Yue's death or his survival were just different branches of the same plan. Moreover, Yue's death would be good for him right now.
It would open up more opportunities for him. The current plan was a risky gamble: if successful, he would resurrect his mother and crush Uchiha Yue with invincible might. In case of failure, there may not be another chance. But if Yue died now, even at the cost of the failure of the entire operation, he would have the opportunity to start all over again in the future.
"What an idiot you are, Obito!" Black Zetsu cursed inwardly, looking at his so—called partner. Although it was Obito's stupidity that gave rise to their new plan, that didn't stop Zetsu from cursing him from time to time.
"Be calm, Mother. I won't let you down this time. I will definitely resurrect you!" — the determination in his soul was harder than a stone.
When the White Zetsu continued his report and reached the moment of the death of that very "master"…
"My divine eyes!"
"My plan!"
"Thank God!"
Nagato and Obito breathed out a sigh of relief at the same time. It seems that this great master was not so great, since he fell at the hands of Uchiha Yue.
But the relief was followed by disappointment. Why is Uchiha Yue so strong? Even such a powerful enemy was defeated!
Their feelings were extremely contradictory.: they wanted him dead and at the same time they were terrified of her. If Yue had just been strong, everything would have been easier, but it wasn't just about strength.
"It looks like it was the sage from the Ryuchi Cave,— the Black Zetsu said when the White One finished. As an ancient being, he knew many secrets of the Shinobi world, including the existence of sages. Unfortunately, even he was unaware that it was under the influence of the Great Toad Sage that the Sage of the Six Paths himself had once opposed Ootsutsuki Kaguya.
Almost no one in the Shinobi world knew about this. At best, people had heard of the Sage of the Six Paths and his animal allies, but what role they played in those ancient events remained a mystery.
Black Zetsu launched into an explanation, mentioning the word "senjutsu" for the first time.
"Senjutsu? Sages... the eyes of a sage..."
The speaker did not attach importance to this, but the listener was extremely attentive. At first, Nagato dismissed the news that "sages" were just summoning animals. But the word itself…
He has the eyes of a Sage. And these summoning animals call themselves sages...
His eyes are the legacy of the Sage of the Six Paths. And senjutsu is a technique that allowed these creatures to live for hundreds of years and call themselves sages. A thought flashed through Nagato. He could feel the connection between his eyes and this senjutsu in his gut.
He was especially hooked on the possibility of life extension.
Even though he called himself God, deep down he was tormented by the fear of death. After all, even the gods he pretended to be were mortal. Their plan was to seal themselves up and wait until Uchiha Yue died of old age.
He would gain strength, there was no doubt about that. But if you can use senjutsu to prolong your life…
"We need to assign someone to find out everything about this senjutsu!" - Nagato decided.
At this moment, Obito and Black Zetsu, absorbed in the discussion of the sages, completely did not notice the changes in his thoughts.
Meanwhile, the news of the appearance of the Sage of the White Snake and his defeat by Uchiha Yue spread throughout the Shinobi world. Many people found out that a certain powerful warrior challenged Yue and was killed. But his death was only half the trouble. The real problem lay elsewhere…