Land of Rain.
Amegakure, the Village Hidden in the Rain.
Two clueless ninja carried a body bag, heavy with its "contents," trudging through the persistent drizzle towards the towering spire at the village center.
"The village's core area... shouldn't it be under the direct control of Lord Hanzo, the Demigod? Why are we bringing such an unclean thing in here?" one of the transporters, looking barely twenty, asked his older companion.
"The ninja world is full of secrets," the older ninja replied. "The higher you climb, the more secrets there are, never fewer. Perhaps it's for some experiment. There are countless experiments that utilize corpses. But... young man, if you want to live to my age, do you know the philosophy one must adhere to?"
"What 'philosophy'?"
"Simply put... See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil."
The younger ninja paused, then scoffed. "Isn't that just being a puppet on strings? What's the point of merely surviving? A person lives only once; surely, they should aim to achieve something, leave something behind."
He was a typical "youngster." Despite Amegakure's perpetually somber and oppressive atmosphere, this young ninja had likely never even experienced the village's civil war, let alone the far more brutal Great Shinobi Wars.
Faced with such "lofty aspirations," the older ninja, who simply wanted to postpone becoming dust in a coffin for as long as possible, merely smiled without comment. In his view, the next corpse they transported might very well be this young man's. There was no need to waste words on the dead; he'd surely have new "coworkers" soon enough.
Young people who overestimate themselves often fantasize about the magnificent sagas their lives will become. Yet, without the foundational understanding that "life itself is precious," all subsequent fantasies are meaningless.
The two men, damp from the rain, delivered the body bag to the base of the spire, placing it onto a stone slab.
"Do we need to hand this over to someone?" the young one asked.
"No need. We can leave now." The older ninja was already turning to depart as he spoke, looking eager to spend not a second longer in this place.
"Understood."
However, just as the older ninja turned away, the younger one's left eye suddenly darkened to pitch black. Then, a black, rope-like entity bizarrely snaked out from his eye socket, rapidly slithering down his cheek and neck, following his body until it disappeared into the shadows on the ground.
The young ninja only felt a sudden itch in his eye. He rubbed the socket briefly, then, completely unaware, followed the older ninja out.
After they left, the shadow hidden in the darkness materialized once more. It swiftly crawled into the body bag, into the corpse's eye socket, and vanished... In that fleeting glimpse, one could discern the black shadow had the distinct shape of a snake.
Half an hour later, the rhythmic tap of footsteps announced the arrival of "Angel" Konan. With a single wave of her hand, countless sheets of paper materialized from thin air, wrapping around the body bag like an outer layer of packaging. Having done this, Konan turned and left, the corpse floating eerily in the air behind her.
"I hope this body is suitable..." she murmured to herself as she neared her destination.
Konan brought the corpse to the deepest dissection chamber, the very place where the "Pains" were manufactured. Transforming corpses into the "Six Paths" was obviously not something that could be entrusted to a third party; it had to be done by Nagato and Konan themselves.
When Konan arrived, Nagato was indeed already waiting, just as she expected. To describe his current state... perhaps "Nagato confined to a wheelchair" would suffice?
Konan placed the body on the dissection table, first removing the paper wrapping, then unzipping the body bag within. The prepared corpse was revealed. There was nothing particularly remarkable about it; they were long past being fazed even by the sight of corpses with eyes wide open in death.
After a careful examination, Konan frowned slightly. "There seems to be some residual chakra? It's very faint, almost negligible."
Nagato shook his head. "It's merely the lingering presence of those two ninja who transported the body. Let's see if this one will work."
"Alright."
Konan stepped aside, allowing the scene to be reflected in the corpse's vacant eyes. However, since the body lay flat, the viewing angle was low and fixed, limiting what could be seen.
Even so, it was enough for the hidden observer behind the scenes to witness the grim reality of the self-proclaimed god, the leader "Pain." His lower body was confined to a wheelchair, immobile. His upper body was emaciated, skeletal. One could faintly glimpse his matted red hair falling to his shoulders...
Looking any higher was impossible, nor would the observer dare. A direct four-eyed gaze could easily expose the spying technique.
Konan only stepped aside for a moment before pushing Nagato closer to the corpse. Nagato reached out, covering the corpse's eyes with his palm. Thin black rods extended from his palm, piercing the corpse's forehead as a large amount of chakra surged into the body.
The next instant, the corpse's eyes seemed to pop like overfilled beef balls squeezed between powerful jaws.
"It seems unsuitable," Nagato stated, withdrawing his hand and shaking his head again.
Meanwhile, hidden somewhere else within Amegakure, Orochimaru, who had been sitting perfectly still with eyes closed, almost appearing breathless, suddenly snapped his eyes open. Cold sweat instantly beaded on his forehead.
Spying on such core secrets was extremely risky, even for him. He had prepared an escape plan beforehand in case of discovery. In that final moment, he had clearly sensed the corpse's eyes undergoing some terrifying modification, but for some reason, they couldn't withstand the process... perhaps related to the tampering Orochimaru had done to the eyes beforehand.
Overall, however, Orochimaru's gamble had paid off. He had finally glimpsed the true nature of the so-called leader... If you see three distinct colors separately, they might just seem like colors. But place red, yellow, and green together, and any normal person recognizes a traffic light.
The appearance of the leader "Tendo," the appearance and hair color of the "Angel," and the hair color of the hidden figure... the combination was enough to jog Orochimaru's memories of certain experiences in the Land of Rain during the war. Orochimaru's memory, after all, was excellent.
"Heh... hehehe..."
As the memories surfaced, Orochimaru, without even wiping the cold sweat from his brow, began to chuckle darkly. The situation was simply too absurd.
"The more one pretends to be high and mighty, the more likely they have moments of groveling on the ground like an insect, trembling in fear... How utterly fascinating, hehehe."
There was a time when Orochimaru could have crushed the young Nagato like an insect. Yet now? Their positions were reversed. Instead of wasting time laughing, Orochimaru perhaps should have reflected on his own rate of progress. Others could use cheats; why couldn't he, Orochimaru?
Though this discovery didn't change the immediate power dynamic, it granted Orochimaru a significant psychological advantage. The Rinnegan remained mysterious, but Orochimaru no longer found it quite so terrifying.
Once the mind is opened, ways to counter even the Rinnegan can be conceived.
Orochimaru felt a flicker of satisfaction. However, as the saying goes, for everything gained, something is lost. At this moment, Orochimaru was unaware that his own lair would soon be visited by a "Master Thief."
Back in Shadow Leaf, Tsunade was thoroughly annoyed by the "Land of Fire Flying Legion" proposal, never mind anything else. She couldn't understand why some people didn't grasp the wisdom of "less is more." She was already busy enough trying to reintegrate Konoha's resources, and now this... Tsunade increasingly felt that as State Lord and Hokage, she rarely assigned work to others but was constantly being assigned work herself.
After studying the materials Habara had brought back, Kushina Uzumaki confirmed their value. The special technique formulas could indeed help a unique entity like Daigo achieve further materialization and "life."
Kushina was the authority on this subject, so Habara naturally trusted her judgment. The same words spoken by different people carry vastly different weight. For example, if someone claims to have discovered a room-temperature superconductor, and then someone else immediately claims the same discovery – regardless of the first claim's validity, at least they're a researcher. But if a quick check reveals the second person was previously involved in blockchain...
Well. Ahem.
Enough said.
The materials Habara retrieved were useful, but application required specific analysis. Regarding Daigo, Kushina offered her recommendation.
"To allow an 'incorporeal body' like Daigo to successfully materialize and gain life, it's best to have a corresponding biological template as a guide. Ideally, this template should be large-bodied and capable of wielding chakra..." Kushina explained to Habara when he inquired about the progress.
Translated simply: sacrificing a big creature was necessary for Daigo's successful "resurrection."
Habara nodded, then thoughtfully stroked his chin as if pondering.
"Large body, capable of using chakra... A summoning animal would be most suitable..."
Kushina knew Habara kept three large summoning animals. Although he rarely used them for combat, treating them more like pets, large summons were still rare. Sacrificing one directly would surely seem regrettable.
But Kushina didn't know Habara well enough. He wouldn't agonize over such things.
"Large summoning animal..." Habara repeated thoughtfully.
Then, he reached into his ninja pouch behind him and produced a small glass vial containing a tiny amount of crimson liquid at the bottom. Placing the vial on the table, he asked:
"Do you think 'Manda' would work? Is he big enough?"
Kushina: "..."
After a stunned moment, she asked, "Orochimaru's Manda? That incredibly arrogant giant snake summon?"
Manda wasn't just "incredibly arrogant"; he was arrogant enough to deserve death.
Habara confirmed, "Of course, it's Orochimaru's. If it were mine, do you think I'd offer it up so easily?"