"You're planning to kill everyone except Nagato?"
"Why not? Those eyes are the only thing useful about him. The rest are dead weight. Though it'd be great if you could lend a hand."
Muren Uchiha casually tossed a shuriken while talking to Zetsu about his plan.
In his eyes, the weak had no right to live. If killing Nagato's companions could trigger the Rinnegan's awakening sooner, then why not? It was a good way to push him mentally, wasn't it?
Zetsu glanced at Yahiko and the others, suppressed by the shuriken barrage, and nodded.
"Playing ninja won't get you far. I'll disguise myself as a shinobi from Amegakure and assist you. But be careful—don't put Nagato's life in danger."
"If he loses control and goes berserk, we won't be able to contain it."
No one understood the Rinnegan's power better than Zetsu. If it ran wild, the consequences would be catastrophic.
"Tch. Got it. Save the speech and get going already…"
Zetsu nodded. On their way here, he had already used Genjutsu to control a group of people—actors for this little performance.
"Mind your limits."
With those final words, Zetsu slowly disappeared beside Muren Uchiha.
Muren casually threw another handful of shuriken, which eerily floated in midair. Forming hand seals, he activated Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.
As the flames surged, the technique merged with the shuriken, transforming into Phoenix Sage Fire Claw.
His Mangekyō Sharingan spun. The flaming shuriken vanished and instantly reappeared in front of Yahiko and the others.
"Fire?!"
"Water Release! Water Formation Wall!"
Yahiko's instinctive response was to defend with Water Release.
The wall of water extinguished the flames, but the shuriken pushed through, continuing their charge toward Yahiko.
"Yahiko, watch out!"
"Ninja Art: Paper Shuriken!"
Konan had been ready. Sheets of white paper floated around her, transforming into shuriken under her control.
They collided midair. Though hers were made of paper, the chakra infusion made them solid and sharp.
"Clang!"
The shuriken were knocked down. Konan let out a breath of relief.
But then Nagato's urgent voice rang out.
"There are enemies! Lots of them!"
Everyone's hearts sank. It was obvious—they were caught in an ambush.
First, a sneak attack with unknown means. Then an all-out assault?
Looking at the shinobi wearing Amegakure forehead protectors, Yahiko's eyes deepened with anger.
"No way… These guys—why?!"
He recognized many of them from past missions. Some had even left him with decent impressions. He never expected them to band together and attack.
"Yahiko! Stop hesitating—what do we do?!"
"Retreat? Or fight?!"
The desperate voices of his teammates snapped Yahiko out of his daze. The enemies were closing in fast.
He didn't know why they were all wearing glasses—none of them should be, as far as he remembered.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on it.
"Retreat! There are too many of them, and that strange enemy's with them!"
"Head back toward the village!"
"If they really want to kill us, they won't do it inside the village!"
Yahiko shouted the retreat command. All eight of them broke into a desperate run. Even if it exposed them, there was no other choice.
Seeing them attempt to retreat, Muren sneered.
"Fire Release: Lotus Technique."
With a light motion of both hands, countless lotuses of green flame bloomed around him.
As a member of the Uchiha clan, Muren was highly talented. He had created this Lotus Technique himself, manipulating the dispersed flames of Phoenix Sage Fire through Nature Transformation.
The flames shifted from red to green, growing even hotter.
"Rinnegan... Let's see what you're really capable of."
His Mangekyō Sharingan swept the battlefield. The green flames vanished and instantly reappeared behind Nagato and Yahiko.
The air temperature surged with a loud roar. Both dodged sideways at once, reacting swiftly.
"Damn it! Again?!"
"Water Release! Water Formation Wall!"
Yahiko raised the wall again. At the same time, Nagato quickly formed seals, waiting for the wall to erupt before unleashing his jutsu.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Defense turned to offense. The water wall instantly morphed into a raging dragon, maw wide as it lunged at the enemies behind them.
Zetsu, hidden among the enemy ranks, smiled slightly.
"Terrain-assisted or not, this jutsu has bite."
"Muren's seriously going after Nagato... Isn't he worried about going too far?"
But it was too late to stop it now. The battle had begun. All Zetsu could do was hope Muren knew when to pull back.
Although the Water Dragon hindered their pursuers, the danger wasn't over.
The chase continued.
...
Meanwhile, back in Amegakure, Kazuyama Gekkō had already left the village.
Before departing, his expression had been grim. The curse technique had lost its target—that signaled something was off.
Based on what he knew from the original story, Madara Uchiha would definitely inform his successor about the Rinnegan.
In the original, Obito sought out Nagato—but was rejected.
Now, the timeline had shifted. He didn't know exactly when that old fossil Madara had died.
But that didn't matter anymore. He had to catch up with Yahiko's group and find out who had taken on the role of the new Madara...
And deep down, a fear gnawed at him—what if it was someone he knew?
Obito? If it really was the young Obito... what should he do? Kill him? Talk him down?
The more he thought about it, the worse his expression grew. His pace quickened.
Seeing this, Yugito sensed something was wrong but chose to remain silent.
Tagitsuhime slowly peeked out, glancing at Kazuyama. She didn't know what had happened, but as the Sage of Ryūchi Cave, she was highly perceptive.
"If you're looking for those kids, they went east."
"The rain may have washed away some of the scent, but I can still track it."
With that, she slipped back into Yugito's clothes.
Guided by Tagitsuhime's words, Kazuyama nodded.
"Tagitsuhime, take care of Yugito."
With those words, he dashed eastward out of the village.