The Hanzo who was willing to believe him and even die for him was no longer an obstacle to his and Akatsuki's future. Instead, he could become an important aid to both him and Akatsuki.
Nagato had not forgiven Hanzo's past mistakes, and resentment still remained in his heart. He simply understood that the current Hanzo was more valuable alive, and killing him would only be a childish and meaningless outburst.
A god would not be ruled by hatred and make impulsive, reckless choices. For the peace he wanted, no matter who or what stood in the way, everything could be sacrificed and everything could be cast aside.
This included his hatred. This even included himself.
Hanzo was willing to die for a future of peace, and Nagato could also suppress his hatred and let Hanzo live for his own ideal of peace. This was Nagato's resolve.
"…"
Feeling a massive shock, Hanzo fell into a long silence. A faint smile appeared on his face as he spoke softly, "As expected, leaving the future to you was not a mistake."
The current Nagato could go farther than him, farther than Yahiko, and farther than anyone else.
'Of course, that is only if he is not misled by anyone and walks the right path,' Ryuji Hyuga thought with a smile, remaining a silent observer.
No one present knew his thoughts. Hanzo stood up and looked at Nagato with a serious expression. "As long as your original intent does not change, this life of mine is still yours…"
"Wait, I have an objection."
At that moment, the silent Ryuji Hyuga suddenly raised his hand, instantly drawing everyone's attention.
"I would rather not interrupt such a fine scene, but I need to correct one small point," he said, his tone still polite as he faced their different gazes. "Half of Hanzo's life belongs to my lord. That is the price he must pay for rebirth."
Hearing this, Hanzo and Nagato froze for a moment. The former quickly thought of the changes to his body, while the latter instinctively thought of that terrifying existence.
"Hey." Hanzo reacted, his face darkening. "You never said I had to pay this kind of price."
"My apologies, my apologies. That was my oversight, I am still not very skilled at the job," Ryuji Hyuga said without sincerity, smiling. "But I have another piece of information. Consider it compensation."
Seeing that Hanzo and Nagato remained unmoved, he paused and smiled with deeper meaning. "This information can change the fate of Nagato and Konan dying."
"Two lives in exchange for half a life should be enough, right?"
As soon as the words fell, the pupils of all three tightened and their expressions changed.
"Do you know what you are saying?" Nagato asked in a low voice.
Only now did he realize that Hanzo knew far too much. He even knew about Akatsuki's plan and purpose to collect the Tailed Beasts, and this knowledge seemed to have come from this so-called Shadow.
Then there was Hanzo's current physical state and strength. Could that also be the work of this Shadow? Just who was this person?
Ryuji Hyuga did not care about Nagato's attitude. He looked toward the shadow in the corner of the cave, where Tobi was crouching, clearly confused but still pretending to be dead.
"Before we talk about that," he suddenly said, "could we first restrain that White Zetsu?"
As soon as he spoke, Hanzo, Nagato, and Konan all turned their gaze toward Tobi.
Realizing things were going badly, Tobi, who had stayed behind to eavesdrop, did not hesitate and tried to use his technique to sink into the ground and escape. But in the next instant, his body stiffened and he lost control.
At some unknown moment, Ryuji Hyuga's shadow had already linked with his, spreading from under his feet and binding his body.
"What is going on? My Chakra… what did you do?" Tobi cried out in panic, then suddenly shouted as if he realized something. "It was you. It was you who killed those White Zetsu watching Amegakure!"
Only this kind of strange shadow technique that could seal Chakra could make those White Zetsu unable to send back any information.
"Nagato-sama, save me, save me. Do not listen to him. Kill him, he is an enemy, he is an enemy."
Nagato ignored the noisy pleas of Tobi and instead looked at Ryuji Hyuga with a frown.
"Those eyes do not belong to you."
Ryuji Hyuga did not waste words. "Their true owner is Madara Uchiha."
Silence followed.
"What?" Nagato and Konan stood frozen, as if they had lost the ability to process the meaning of the words.
"Oh, right." Seeing their vacant eyes, Ryuji Hyuga paused before adding, "Not the Madara Uchiha you think you know."
"The real Madara Uchiha would never wear a mask to hide himself, even in old age. The one wearing the mask is nothing more than a pitiful pawn."
As he said this, meeting Nagato's shattered gaze, a sense of pleasure nearly overflowed in Ryuji Hyuga's heart.
Bound and gagged, Tobi let out muffled sounds. Even without clear words, the fear in his voice was unmistakable.
"How is this possible?" Nagato snapped out of the shock and spoke in disbelief. "What you are saying is completely absurd."
Whether it was that these Rinnegan eyes did not belong to him, or that the Madara he had always feared was fake, neither was something he could accept. He knew that "Madara" had other goals, but he could never imagine that from the very beginning he had lived in a lie as someone else's pawn.
"True or false," Ryuji Hyuga said with a smile, "you will know once you take off his mask, will you not?"
Hearing this, Nagato instinctively wanted to refuse, as he could not yet tear his relationship with "Madara" apart. But in the next second, an image surfaced in his mind, a figure standing atop piles of corpses, the words echoing in his ears.
"You think you are someone special?"
"You are nothing but a lowly container meant to carry those eyes."
"Without eyes that do not belong to you, you are nothing more than a weak ant."
A container. A weak ant.
A surge of anger rose from Nagato's chest. He fixed his gaze on Ryuji Hyuga and asked coldly, "Tell me. What do you want to do?"
Drip… drip…
Cold condensation seeped from the cave walls and fell into a shallow pool. The sound echoed softly in the empty space.
The space inside the cave twisted into a vortex, like calm water stirred by an unseen hand. A black figure appeared without a sound.
He had black long hair like Madara Uchiha in life, but his face was covered by the black-patterned Orange single-eye mask. Only a single crimson and icy Sharingan was exposed.
"…"
As soon as Obito Uchiha entered the cave, he smelled a strong scent of blood, and his gaze sharpened at once. What he saw made his breath catch, because the Mobility support apparatus that Nagato could never leave behind was now completely empty.
Fresh red blood still stained the surface of the apparatus, and the ground beneath his feet was soaked in dark red. The scene was too clear to ignore.
"What happened?"
Zetsu emerged halfway from the ground and froze when he saw this. There was no doubt that Nagato had run into serious trouble.
"Ah la la. Is 'Madara Uchiha' back?"
Just as unease and anger rose in Obito's chest, a light and playful voice sounded behind him, completely out of place. It entered his ears without warning.
Hearing this, Obito Uchiha spun around and saw White Zetsu Tobi peeking out from the shadows of the tunnel. He still held a finger to his lips, wearing an innocent and harmless look.
Yet this sight gave Obito Uchiha a strange and powerful sense of wrongness. Something about it did not fit.
"Tobi!"
His hoarse and low voice came through the mask, cold enough to feel like freezing blood. "Where is Nagato? What happened here?"
Before leaving, Zetsu had told Tobi to guard Nagato. So why was Nagato gone while Tobi was still here?
"Eh? Nagato?"
Tobi tilted his spiral-shaped head as if thinking about how to answer. His posture looked careless, almost playful.
Just as Obito stepped forward in impatience, he suddenly heard Tobi's voice change. The tone turned flat and distant.
"Isn't Nagato standing right in front of you?"
The same cold words came out through "Tobi"'s body. Under Obito Uchiha's shrinking pupils, the spiral head opened like pale petals.
A pair of deep and bottomless Rinnegan met the gaze of that single Mangekyo Sharingan with utter indifference. Under the pressure of those eyes, Obito Uchiha's expression stiffened behind the mask.
"Nagato, it's you…" His face twitched slightly. "You can stand now?"
"Yes, and I have you to thank for that."
Nagato slowly stepped fully out of the shadows, allowing Obito and Zetsu to see the Black Rods still embedded in his back. They had not been removed.