"How did it go?"
As the green glow faded, Sasuke asked anxiously.
The black-robed figure nodded slightly and said, "Just as I anticipated, by reversing the signal, I've pinpointed the target's location… it's indeed to the west. It seems Konan has gone to rendezvous with Pain's real body. Now, by following her through the mark, we can locate Pain more precisely."
Signals can be disrupted, causing deviations. Additionally, if Pain's real body realizes he has lost this battle, he might flee directly.
But with Konan at his side, everything becomes much simpler.
Finding Konan means finding Pain's real body.
"Then let's not waste time. We should move immediately."
Sasuke urged.
"Alright, follow me!"
A glowing green butterfly materialized in front of the black-robed figure, fluttering westward.
"This butterfly can track the mark I leave behind with near-perfect accuracy, even across vast distances."
Hearing this, Sasuke's face lit up.
'Finally, it felt like the endgame was within reach.'
…
Following the butterfly's path, it didn't take long for the pair to reach an overgrown area.
"There's no place to hide here, right?"
Sasuke was a little confused.
However, the butterfly continued to fly and finally landed on a big rock.
"Hmm?"
Sasuke noticed slight vibrations on the surface of the stone, which was a subtle change only his Sharingan could detect.
Whoosh!
In a flash, Sasuke dashed to the stone and pressed his hand against it, causing it to depress inward.
Upon closer inspection, what seemed like a solid rock was actually an illusion created with Paper Ninjutsu.
"I knew something was off."
With a strong pull, Sasuke tore away the fake stone, revealing a hidden underground passage.
…
Following the passage downward, they arrived at a vast underground cavern.
There, attached to a massive machine, was a red-haired man, gaunt to the point of emaciation.
Seeing Sasuke and the black-robed figure coming in, Konan stepped forwardand stood in front of the red-haired man.
"Konan, step back."
The red-haired man spoke.
"But, Nagato..."
Konan turned toward him hesitantly, only to see him shaking his head slightly.
"Sigh…"
With a reluctant sigh, Konan didn't say anything and finally retreated to the side of the machine.
Tap, tap!
Sasuke walked forward slowly, looked up and down at the frail red-haired man in front of him, and asked with a complicated expression, "So, you're Pain's real body?"
It was difficult for him to believe. Before him was a man whose lower half was encased in a wooden barrel, with both arms bound by black iron tubes, his body impaled by black Chakra rods… a figure so thin and crippled it barely resembled a human.
In Sasuke's mind, Pain's true body should have been someone muscular and imposing, not a disabled man unable to move on his own.
"What's the point of finding me? Are you here for revenge because of Naruto's death? How shortsighted."
Nagato's weak voice broke the silence.
Konan on the side added, "Killing Nagato will only satisfy your own bitterness. It won't bring back the dead. Naruto's death wasn't something we wanted either."
In Nagato and Konan's opinion, since Naruto has not appeared for more than eighty days, it means that the poison has taken effect. It also means that everything Sasuke said before was correct and that they were the ones responsible for Naruto's death.
"What, I'm not allowed to seek revenge?"
Sasuke scoffed coldly.
His motives, however, weren't as they assumed. Despite Naruto's absence, Sasuke, after seeing Itachi's Servant Contract, was convinced Naruto was still alive.
He was here not for Naruto's death, but to uncover the whereabouts of the Masked Madara.
Killing Nagato was simply collateral, as Nagato was the one who had ordered the capture of the Kyubi, setting off a chain of chaos.
As the leader of the Akatsuki and the mastermind behind so much destruction, Nagato deserved death.
"What a ridiculous revenge! Only by completing my Biju Capture Plan can we bring true peace to this world. Endless war will stop, and perpetual peace will follow. That is the correct answer!"
As he spoke, the wooden barrel beneath Nagato abruptly opened, launching a black cylindrical rod at Sasuke with lightning speed.
"Hmph!"
The black-robed figure snorted coldly, shattering the projectile mid-flight with ease.
"Damn it!"
Sasuke clenched his teeth. At such close range and in his not-yet-recovered state, dodging the attack would have been nearly impossible.
If not for the black-robed figure, he would likely have been skewered.
"What the hell is this peace bullshit you talk about? In the end, you're just trying to take my life and the Biju I possess!"
Sasuke retorted, his voice dripping with disdain, "I don't have such grand illusions of saving the world. My goal is singular… killing you and fulfilling my revenge!"
"Do it. I'm counting on you!"
As soon as Sasuke finished speaking, the black-robed figure flickered and appeared in front of Nagato.
Konan moved to intercept, but was swatted away with a single strike, sent hurtling into the distance.
Shing!
A blade of green energy shimmered momentarily before slashing through Nagato, severing his head cleanly from his body.
The leader of the Akatsuki, who is feared throughout the Shinobi World, perished unceremoniously in that instant.
Sasuke, however, remained unmoved.
From the start, his objective was clear: locate his true enemies and eliminate them. Nothing else mattered.
Having already pledged himself to the black-robed figure, Sasuke sought no glory or legacy. Once his revenge was complete, he intended to retreat to secluded area, far from the world's chaos.
He had found someone he could entrust with his future, and that is the black-robed figure.
"Nagato!"
Konan's heart-wrenching scream echoed through the cavern.
But before she could act or unleash her abilities, the black-robed figure appeared before her once again.
In the blink of an eye, a green glow enveloped the room.
When the light faded, Konan's eyes widened in shock as she realized her Paper Ninjutsu had been entirely nullified.
'What kind of ability was this?'
Her confusion was only short-lived. Before she could process it, a scaled hand the size of a vice clamped down on her head.
"The memories from the dead are unreliable, so let's start extracting your memory!"
The black-robed figure clenched her scaly hands tightly, and streaks of green light suddenly appeared.
Konan wanted to struggle, but her consciousness was gradually stripped away. A layer of haze gradually appeared in her dark pupils until they were utterly devoid of life.
"Consider yourself lucky to die by my hand. For me, every woman, dead or alive, should maintain her beauty."
The black-robed figure remarked dispassionately.
After a while, the green glow faded. It was clear the black-robed figure had completed her memory extraction.
Immediately afterwards, a green flame ignited in her palm, leaping onto Konan's lifeless body.
The flames consumed her silently, reducing her to ash in moments. A gust of wind scattered the remains, leaving nothing behind.
But from beginning to end, Sasuke didn't spare Konan a second glance. His focus remained on Nagato's severed head, "I want his memories!"
In Sasuke's opinion, as the leader of the Akatsuki, Nagato undoubtedly held more critical information than Konan.
As long as they can get Nagato's memories, Sasuke believed his path to revenge would become clear.
"No problem!"
Hearing this, the black-robed figure stepped forward, picking up Nagato's head. Once again, green light emanated from her hand, illuminating the cavern as the extraction began.