Land of Rain.
At the top of the central tower, a wall was suddenly smashed outward from the inside. Debris flew everywhere, drawing the attention of many Rain shinobi.
They quickly drew their weapons and rushed toward the central tower, preparing to face the unknown enemy.
Before they could arrive, Pain's voice rang in everyone's ears.
"It's nothing. I was simply testing a jutsu. Return to your duties."
The Rain shinobi exchanged glances, then silently put away their weapons and returned to their posts.
Although the Land of Rain was currently "peaceful and calm," none of them could forget what kind of slaughter Pain had committed to achieve this peace.
Anyone connected to Hanzō—men, women, the elderly, even children—had been completely wiped out. Even their houses had been burned to the ground.
That level of cruelty had terrified even these hardened shinobi.
Therefore, toward their current leader Pain, fear outweighed respect. None of them had the courage to question his orders.
Inside the tower.
The earlier tension had vanished. Watching the Rain shinobi disperse below, the masked man casually turned his back to his enemies without the slightest concern.
"It seems they're all afraid of you. Not a single person dares to question anything?"
Whether the words were mocking or admiring, Konan immediately wanted to attack again upon hearing them.
But Pain's hand had already landed on Konan's shoulder, stopping her from making any further moves.
The earlier probe had already proven that ordinary attacks were useless against the masked man in front of them.
Besides, this was Amegakure. Until they knew the man's intentions, it wasn't wise to cause too much commotion.
It wasn't worth it.
Pain stepped forward, shielding Konan behind him. His emotionless eyes scanned the masked man from head to toe.
"Sharingan? Uchiha? You're not from Konoha, are you?"
"Konoha—" The masked man let out a hoarse, mocking laugh. "You can call me Uchiha Madara. But I am not a Konoha shinobi."
"Uchiha… Madara?"
Pain's stiff face showed little expression, but Konan's face was filled with shock.
Uchiha Madara's reputation was still thunderous even after so many years.
However—
"Didn't Uchiha Madara die a long time ago? Is impersonating a dead man your idea of sincerity?"
"Dead? That was merely an illusion. The Sharingan possesses many secret techniques. That was only one of them."
Obito spoke with considerable pride. Unlike the real Madara, he had never personally experienced the Rinnegan, so he still felt an inexplicable sense of pride toward the Sharingan.
"Whether you're actually Uchiha Madara or not, we've never met before. Why have you come uninvited?"
"Of course, I've come for your ideal."
Obito took another step forward, ignoring Pain and Konan's wary postures. He spread his arms wide as he stated his purpose.
"World peace. That isn't only your ideal—it's mine as well.
Once, because of it, I joined forces with Hashirama to end the Warring States era and establish the current system of one country, one village. But later I discovered that this system was imperfect, so I left Konoha.
Reality has now proven my judgment correct. War has not stopped. On the contrary, it has only grown more intense. Every few years, another great war engulfing the entire ninja world breaks out."
Pain raised his hand and directly interrupted Obito's self-narration.
"You're not wrong. Reality has also proven that your ideas were mistaken. As a failure, what right do you have to discuss ideals with me now?"
Pain spoke quite rudely, showing the masked man no face whatsoever. He was practically saying outright that losers had no right to cooperate with him.
"Don't think that just because you dodged our attacks earlier, I have no way to deal with you. That was only to minimize damage to Amegakure.
That was a space-time ninjutsu, wasn't it? Your main body hides in another dimension while leaving an afterimage behind. But that doesn't escape these eyes of mine."
Obito was momentarily stunned by those words. They sounded strangely familiar. He glanced at the pair of violet Rinnegan and couldn't be sure whether Pain was bluffing.
Still, it was infuriating. Those were supposed to be his eyes.
"Strength is only part of cooperation. My real sincerity lies in how I plan to achieve peace."
"Oh?"
This actually surprised Pain. He wasn't particularly lacking in strength—he knew exactly what kind of potential these Rinnegan eyes possessed.
But when it came to how to actually achieve peace, he truly had no concrete plan.
Governing Amegakure had already shown him the difficulty. Scaling that up to the entire ninja world would increase the difficulty exponentially.
"Pain, be careful of his deception." Konan stepped forward and whispered a warning in Pain's ear.
Pain gave an almost imperceptible nod. When he looked at the masked man again, he had reined in some of his hostility.
"I'm interested in your plan. Speak. If it's feasible, cooperation isn't out of the question."
The corner of Obito's mouth beneath the mask curled upward slightly. In his heart, he thought: Hook, line, and sinker.
He straightened his already unwrinkled robe and pointed at Pain's Rinnegan as he began the script he had prepared long ago.
"How much do you know about the Rinnegan?"
Pain and Konan exchanged glances but said nothing. Although they possessed the Rinnegan, their understanding of it was still extremely limited.
Obito clearly knew their situation. He didn't waste time and spoke directly.
"To speak of the Rinnegan, we must first speak of the Sage of Six Paths—the founder who created the ninja world and the shinobi era.
The Sage of Six Paths passed down two powers. One of them was the Sage's Eye—that is, the Sharingan of the Uchiha clan."
Pain and Konan were both shocked. Konan couldn't help but ask, "Sharingan? Not the Rinnegan?"
Obito didn't answer Konan's question. He simply continued at his own pace.
"The Sage of Six Paths had two descendants. The elder son was named Indra. He inherited the Sage's Eye—the Sharingan.
The younger son was named Asura. He inherited the Sage's Body.
The Uchiha clan are the descendants of Indra, while the Senju and Uzumaki clans are the descendants of Asura.
Nagato's red hair is the mark of the Uzumaki clan. Only the Uzumaki clan's enormous chakra reserves can withstand the terrifying consumption of the Rinnegan."
Obito stared directly into Pain's eyes, as if he could see through the reflected Rinnegan to Nagato hidden behind.
"You're saying all this, but what does it have to do with the Rinnegan? Are you just showing off the Uchiha clan's family history?"
Pain was clearly displeased by Obito's naked stare and couldn't help but mock him.
"Of course not. The important part comes next.
My Uchiha clan has guarded a stone tablet for generations—a tablet left behind by the Sage of Six Paths. Only the Sharingan can read its contents.
The higher the level of the Sharingan, the more content it can decipher. When my Sharingan reached the Eternal Mangekyo level, I uncovered a tremendous secret from it.
That secret concerns the Rinnegan and the Gedo Statue.
The Rinnegan possesses the great power to create and destroy worlds. It can also control and manipulate the Gedo Statue.
The Gedo Statue can contain all nine Tailed Beasts. In the end, it becomes the ultimate weapon. Using it, one can cast Infinite Tsukuyomi—an ultimate genjutsu that controls the entire world.
At that time, everyone will live in happiness. There will never be war again."
By the time he finished speaking, Obito was already somewhat fanatical. His eyes seemed to see the world where Rin existed.
Pain's eyes also erupted with fervent light. That was exactly the power he wanted—the power that surpassed everything, the power that could make everyone experience pain.
Only when everyone had experienced enough pain could the ninja world welcome true peace.
The three people in the room were immersed in their own thoughts until—
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Pain applauded. Even though his face remained expressionless, his words carried clear excitement.
"A very detailed explanation. And a very perfect plan. However, this plan doesn't seem to require your involvement at all?"
Pain's doubt pulled Obito back from his fantasy, but he wasn't flustered. He had anticipated this.
"Collecting the Tailed Beasts isn't something one person can accomplish. You need my help.
More importantly, only I know how to seal the Tailed Beasts into the Gedo Statue. Only I know how to correctly activate the completed ultimate weapon.
Your Rinnegan won't give you those answers."
Obito spoke with complete confidence. This was exactly why he wasn't worried about Nagato turning on him after crossing the river.
The final key to victory was held half by him and half by Nagato. Without either of them, the great undertaking could not be completed alone.
Pain and Obito stared at each other in silence for a long time.
Konan stood quietly behind Pain, watching him with concern.
After experiencing Hanzō's betrayal and the painful lesson of Yahiko's death, deep in her heart she did not want to trust someone like "Uchiha Madara" who hid in the shadows.
But if Nagato made the decision, she would support it without question.
"Very well!" Nagato finally decided. "I do need help."
Konan opened her mouth behind him but ultimately said nothing, choosing to support him in silence.
The atmosphere in the room immediately relaxed. The earlier tension was gone.
"Then, as a gesture of good faith in our cooperation, I'll first tell you some information about the uses and methods of the Gedo Statue."
Obito spoke in a teaching tone, yet the information he revealed made both Konan and Nagato behind her tremble with excitement.
"I imagine Nagato's body is already very weak. With this information, your physical condition can be greatly alleviated."
"Is it true? The Gedo Statue can heal Nagato's body?"
Konan stepped forward excitedly. In her eyes, nothing—not even world peace—was more important than Nagato's body.
The corner of Obito's mouth curled into a satisfied smile. Grabbing the other party's most urgent need was the best way to ensure they took the bait.
"It can't be called healing. Only alleviation."
Obito still explained, not wanting to create too many misunderstandings.
"I'm sure Nagato himself understands how terrifying the consumption of the Rinnegan is. As long as you continue using the Rinnegan, physical weakness is unavoidable."
Pain nodded. As a user of the Rinnegan, he understood this deeply.
Even when not actively using the Rinnegan's abilities, it constantly drained his chakra. Let alone when he used it in battle.
Those powerful techniques each required enormous amounts of chakra to activate.
"The Gedo Statue has one function—it can extract natural energy from the surrounding space and convert it into pure life force to alleviate the loss of your life force. The method of use is—"
A long while later, only Pain and Konan remained inside the central tower.
"Are we really going to cooperate with him? He hides his face and his intentions. I don't believe he's actually Uchiha Madara!"
Konan looked at Nagato, not bothering to hide her distrust of the masked man.
"It doesn't matter. We're simply using each other. Whether he's truly Uchiha Madara or not makes no difference."
Pain spoke calmly. "As long as the information he provided is true, then for the sake of our final goal, why not cooperate with him?"
"What about that Infinite Tsukuyomi? Using genjutsu to control the world? Who would like that kind of false world?"
Konan curled her lip in disdain. Any normal person wouldn't want to be controlled.
"Hehe. That's only his version of world peace. It isn't mine."
Pain walked over to the hole he had created with Shinra Tensei and looked up at the endlessly raining sky.
"All I want is that ultimate weapon containing the power of all nine Tailed Beasts. With it, I can make the entire world experience pain. Those who do not understand pain cannot understand true world peace."
Konan looked at Pain's back. Through him, she seemed to see Nagato's pained face hidden behind the scenes. Her eyes were filled with worry.
But all she could do was contribute her own strength—just as she had unconditionally supported Yahiko in the past, now she would unconditionally support Nagato.
In a dense forest outside Amegakure.
Space twisted. Obito's voice squeezed out from within.
The moment his feet touched the ground, Black Zetsu's half-black, half-white figure rose from the soil beside him.
"Lord Madara, how did it go? Is Nagato willing to cooperate?"
Black Zetsu's eyes stared intently at Obito, not bothering to hide his urgency.
"Heh. Unnecessary worry."
Obito spoke with disdain, his words full of confidence.
"I personally made the move. How could I possibly fail?"
"Of course. Congratulations on your successful first step, Lord Madara."
Black Zetsu was also quite pleased. He immediately offered flattery without hesitation. The plan had advanced another step. The day they rescued his mother was drawing closer.
"I didn't expect the plan to go so smoothly. I thought that Nagato wouldn't believe us."
"You were actually right about that. He only believed about half of what we said."
"Ah? Then why is he still willing to cooperate with us?" Black Zetsu feigned surprise, giving full emotional value.
"Although he hid it well, I could still tell—he wants the final Ten-Tails. As for our 'Eye of the Moon' plan, he has no interest."
"Then what do we do? The Ten-Tails is an essential part of the plan. We can't give it up."
Obito looked at Black Zetsu with the gaze one would give an idiot.
"Idiot. If he wants it, do I have to give it to him? In the early stages, our goals are the same, so of course we can cooperate. In the later stages, of course we'll seize the fruits of victory. Besides, the Rinnegan will have to be reclaimed eventually."
The two parties hadn't even formally begun cooperating yet, and they were already scheming against each other. In the original timeline, it was only because both sides were powerful and remained hidden in the shadows that they had caused such destruction.
"Oh, right. What's the current situation in the ninja world? Can we take advantage of the chaos to capture a few Tailed Beasts first?"
Obito turned to look at Black Zetsu. When it came to intelligence, he trusted Zetsu's abilities greatly.
"Uh—"
Black Zetsu hesitated for a moment before answering.
"I'm afraid I have to disappoint you. The ninja world's situation has already mostly stabilized. Now there are only two places still experiencing fighting.
One is between Konoha and Kirigakure, but that's only small-scale conflicts now.
The other is between Iwa and Kumo. Because of the Third Raikage's death, these two villages will probably keep fighting for a while longer."
"Bang!"
Obito slammed his fist into the tree trunk in front of him. The powerful force left a dent in the trunk.
"Damn Iwa. I should have recovered earlier. Now that the ninja world is gradually stabilizing, we've missed the best window to act."
Black Zetsu said nothing more. He simply watched Obito quietly.
One had to eat a meal one bite at a time. Obito's Mangekyo had only recently awakened. Although his space-time ocular technique was strange, Obito's foundation was still lacking. He still needed more time to grow.