"Konan, don't listen to him."
"Do it. Destroy those eyes."
Nagato's face twisted with struggle as he spoke.
"But..."
Konan hesitated, but quickly understood what Nagato meant.
Since Black Zetsu and the person behind him cared so much about the Rinnegan, they would never just watch her destroy them.
Nagato was gambling.
If Black Zetsu loosened his suppression even for an instant, Nagato could break free. And if Black Zetsu really did nothing, then destroying the Rinnegan would still ruin the enemy's plan.
After all, those eyes were the root of the Akatsuki's entire plan. With Jie blocking their path, that plan already had no hope of succeeding.
For Konan, destroying the Rinnegan might even bring Nagato back to her side.
Thinking of this, Konan no longer hesitated. She flipped both hands, and several sheets of white paper instantly appeared between her fingers.
"Ninja Art: Paper Shuriken!"
Konan barely moved, but the moment the sheets of paper left her hands, they folded themselves into shuriken.
Although they were made of paper, Black Zetsu did not doubt their power at all.
'Why isn't Obito here yet?'
Looking at those paper shuriken, Black Zetsu felt a trace of anxiety.
Although he was part of Kaguya's will, Black Zetsu himself had no real combat power. He could suppress Nagato's will and stop his movements, but he had no way to physically block Konan's attack.
Just then, Black Zetsu noticed ripples spreading through the space in front of him, and he finally relaxed.
At the last moment, Obito had arrived.
Konan saw a hand reach out from the vortex and grab the paper shuriken. Then, a masked figure appeared before her.
"Tobi, so it really was you."
"You're the Madara Black Zetsu was talking about."
Konan looked at the eye exposed outside Obito's mask and spoke coldly.
"That's right. My name is Uchiha Madara."
"I have been controlling the Akatsuki from behind the scenes, and Nagato's Rinnegan was also placed in him by me."
Obito spoke calmly.
"I was also the one who pushed the plan to attack Kumogakure. But I didn't expect you to be this useless. You couldn't even deal with one Jie."
"Useless people have no value. So I'm taking back the Rinnegan and personally leading the Akatsuki from now on."
"Hand over the Rinnegan. Considering how much you've done for me, I can give you a quick death."
The eye exposed outside Obito's mask changed, and a triangular Mangekyō pattern appeared before Konan.
After hearing Obito's words, Konan stayed silent for a while.
Then she sneered.
"So you're afraid of Jie too, aren't you?"
"You're afraid Nagato isn't his opponent, and that once Nagato dies, the Rinnegan will fall into Jie's hands."
"And once Jie obtains the Rinnegan, all your plans become useless."
"That's why you had Black Zetsu control Nagato. You want to take the Rinnegan now before Jie can get them."
"Am I wrong?"
Obito suddenly felt a bad premonition. The exposed Sharingan under his mask narrowed slightly.
"So if I lure Jie here, everything you're trying to do will fall apart."
"I don't think you want that to happen."
Seeing the change in Obito's eye, Konan knew she had guessed correctly.
This so-called Madara was definitely not the real one. He was only someone pretending to be him, and he was far weaker than the real Madara, let alone Jie.
That was why he was so desperate to protect the Rinnegan. Once those eyes fell into Jie's hands, no one in the ninja world would be able to take them back.
"I can give you the Rinnegan, but you must let Nagato and me leave."
Konan looked at Obito and stated her condition.
"I agree."
"Now give me the Rinnegan first."
Obito accepted without much thought.
Although he did not want to admit it, he knew Konan was right. Once the Rinnegan fell into Jie's hands, the Moon's Eye Plan would truly have no chance of succeeding.
But obediently making a deal was not Obito's style. He secretly glanced at Black Zetsu, then spoke to Konan in a calm voice.
However, that little action did not escape Konan. She caught it clearly.
To be honest, Obito was truly stupid. He only had one eye exposed, yet he still tried to signal Black Zetsu with it.
Since Konan had been staring at that one eye the whole time, how could he possibly hide it from her?
Seeing Obito's small movement, Konan revealed a cold smile. She knew Obito would never honestly accept the deal.
Fortunately, she had also prepared a second move.
Hiss!
A faint sound rang out, and Obito immediately felt danger.
He looked down and saw that the sound was coming from the paper shuriken in his hand.
"Explosive Tags?!"
After recognizing the true nature of the paper shuriken, Obito's expression changed sharply, and he instinctively entered his intangible state.
The next second, an explosion rang out.
The explosive tags instantly destroyed the fake tree Konan had created to hide in.
"An explosion."
"And it came from that direction."
"Could Nagato be hiding over there?"
At the center of the battlefield, Jie was just about to pull a black rod out of the Deva Path to sense Nagato's chakra location.
Unexpectedly, he suddenly heard an explosion from the outskirts of Kumogakure.
The explosion had come too suddenly, making Jie suspicious.
'Forget it. I'll pull out a black rod first, then check the direction of the explosion.'
'If I don't have to hurt myself, then of course it's better not to.'
With that thought, Jie lightly tapped his foot against the ground, and his figure instantly disappeared.
After the fire cloud from the explosion scattered, Obito was not injured. Only half of the mask on his face had been shattered.
Now Konan could clearly see the deep gloom on Obito's face.
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