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"Damn it! That bastard!"
Naruto looked at where the Masked Man had disappeared and couldn't help but curse. "Next time we meet, I'll definitely cut that bastard down!"
Although he had mentally prepared himself that it wouldn't be easy to defeat the Masked Man, seeing him swagger away right under his nose still made him incredibly furious.
"Hmm?"
Pain - Deva Path, who was nearby, heard Naruto's words and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Didn't you intentionally let him go?"
In his opinion, since Naruto had the ability to break through Tobi's powers, killing him shouldn't have been difficult. Therefore, when he saw Naruto not use the technique that could break Tobi's ability when the Masked Man left, he thought Naruto had intentionally let him go.
So he had just been observing.
But now, it seemed that wasn't the case.
"Of course not!"
Naruto replied irritably, then said angrily, "The technique I have that can break his ability is too random; whether I can use it or not depends entirely on luck."
"I see."
Pain - Deva Path realized his misunderstanding after hearing Naruto's words.
However, even if he hadn't misunderstood, he couldn't have helped much. Tobi's space-time ability was too special, and he currently had no means to deal with it.
"Hmph!~"
Naruto snorted lightly and said, "Next time we meet, I'll definitely cut him down!"
A one percent chance was still too low; he had to continue strengthening the probability of unleashing a spatial slash!
Naruto even considered sacrificing Infinity Castle's space to enhance the probability of unleashing a spatial slash.
According to the system's description, Infinity Castle's spatial attributes were far stronger than the two Six Paths tools melted last time. If Infinity Castle were sacrificed, it might significantly increase the probability of unleashing a spatial slash.
However, the existence of Infinity Castle was too convenient; Naruto was a bit reluctant, so he was hesitant.
Moreover, to strengthen it again, he would need to gain access to the Dimensional Forging Furnace's authority, so it was better to wait until he obtained the authority next time.
Perhaps by then, he would have found other ways to break the Masked Man's disgusting ability.
"Tobi probably won't appear easily before us again."
Pain - Deva Path said softly, then asked,
"What should we do next?"
This operation was quite satisfactory for Nagato.
Although they didn't extract much information from the Masked Man, it was enough to confirm many things.
First, he could now completely confirm that this Masked Man was definitely not Uchiha Madara himself, but he had a very close relationship with the real Uchiha Madara.
Second, Nagato could now confirm that his Rinnegan came from Uchiha Madara. The remaining questions were to figure out why Uchiha Madara placed his eyes on Nagato, and whether the real Uchiha Madara was dead or alive.
Nagato's inclination was that the real Uchiha Madara was still alive and would definitely come to retrieve his eyes later.
At that time, he would prepare a big "surprise" for the other party.
"Next..."
Naruto heard Pain - Deva Path's words, thought for a moment, then asked in his mind, 'Mom, now that Nagato has agreed to revive you and Dad using the Rinnegan's power, how can we get Dad's soul out of the Shinigami's belly?'
There's no need to rush this matter.
Uzumaki Kushina heard Naruto's question and immediately replied, 'To redeem your father's soul from the Shinigami's belly, another soul must be exchanged with the Shinigami. Your father and I have already discussed it, and we will use that Masked Man's soul to exchange with the Shinigami.
And to make a deal with the Shinigami, we still need to make some preparations, so there's no need to rush the revival.'
'Use the Masked Man's soul to exchange for Dad's soul?'
Naruto's eyes lit up upon hearing Uzumaki Kushina's explanation, and he said, 'Understood, Mom, don't worry, I'll definitely take down that Masked Man next time.'
Now that he knew how to rescue Minato Namikaze's soul and had found a way to revive them, reviving the two was just a matter of time.
More importantly, the method of rescuing Minato Namikaze's soul made Naruto very excited, so he immediately regained his full motivation. He secretly decided that in addition to further strengthening the Infinite Spatial Slash ability, he would also find other ways to break the Masked Man's ability.
"Since that Masked Man won't appear easily next, let's not worry about him for now."
Naruto looked at Pain - Deva Path and said,
"Next, I need to help Granny Tsunade trick— I mean, persuade Jiraiya Sensei to become the new Hokage, and then I also need to go to Shikkotsu Forest to learn Sage Mode from the Sage. So the Masked Man's matter can only be left to you for now."
Although Naruto had known Nagato for a very short time, he trusted him completely and wasn't worried that he would go back on his promises.
"Jiraiya Sensei—"
Pain - Deva Path heard Naruto mention Jiraiya's name, and a hint of nostalgia flashed in his eyes. Then he said, "You can rest assured about Tobi's matter; I will find his whereabouts as soon as possible. Also, if you need my help with Jiraiya Sensei's matter, you can always find me."
"Jiraiya Sensei?"
Naruto showed a surprised expression upon hearing Pain - Deva Path's way of addressing Jiraiya, then looked at him curiously and asked, "You're also Jiraiya Sensei's disciple?"
"Yes."
Pain - Deva Path nodded and said, "Yahiko, Konan, and I were all orphans rescued by Jiraiya Sensei from the war. Jiraiya Sensei not only saved us back then but also taught us the skills to survive in war, so he is both our teacher and our lifesaver."
Not long ago, Nagato had even resolved to kill Jiraiya without hesitation if he interfered with his plans.
But now, having gained almost infinite life, Nagato's thoughts had changed somewhat, and his urgency to fulfill Yahiko's dream was no longer as strong as before.
This made many things simpler, and regarding Jiraiya—Nagato now had ample time to persuade him to approve of his plans.
Even if he couldn't persuade Jiraiya, he could wait until Jiraiya died of old age before continuing his plan. It wouldn't be too late.
After all, time was now the least valuable thing to him.
Also, Nagato felt that he might now need to find more emotions to maintain his humanity and prevent himself from being consumed by the demon bloodline's instincts.
Therefore, emotions that were once considered useless had now become things that must be cherished.
"I see!"
Naruto's face immediately broke into a smile after hearing Pain - Deva Path's words, and he praised,
"I knew Jiraiya Sensei could be reliable sometimes!~"
"I didn't expect the leader of the Akatsuki Organization to be Jiraiya Sensei's disciple. That's truly surprising."
In the sealed space, Minato Namikaze couldn't help but sigh upon hearing Pain - Deva Path's words, then said,
"If you count it that way, the three of them actually became Jiraiya Sensei's disciples even earlier than I did. They are my senior fellow disciples."
Naruto heard Minato Namikaze's words and suddenly realized that his own seniority, if counted from Jiraiya, seemed a bit messy!
He and Minato Namikaze were both Jiraiya's disciples, both father and son, and fellow disciples. So, when he was happy, he could call Minato Namikaze 'Dad,' but if he wasn't happy, could he just call him 'Senior Disciple'?
His seniority could be freely switched according to his mood: 'Dad' when happy, 'Senior Disciple' when unhappy.
Thinking about it, it seemed quite interesting!
And Nagato, suddenly changing from a collaborator to a senior disciple, felt even more trustworthy!
"Reliable—"
Nagato thought about Jiraiya's personality during their time together and indicated that this matter was still up for debate.
While Jiraiya was indeed very reliable at times, he was often much more outrageous.
"Alright."
Nagato temporarily stopped thinking about Jiraiya and instead said, "Since things here are finished, and you don't need my help for now, I'll head back first."
They had already laid their cards on the table with Tobi, so some people in the Akatsuki Organization needed to be dealt with. Moreover, having gained eternal life, his concept of 'peace' had changed somewhat, and he needed to go back and sort out his thoughts.
More importantly, Nagato didn't want to be the only one living eternally.
Reviving Yahiko and then granting him and Konan the same long life as himself was the most important thing to Nagato.
However, the revival of Yahiko would have to wait until after he helped Naruto revive his parents.
Because using the Rinnegan's eye power to revive the dead required the user's life as a price.
Although he now possessed an almost immortal life, he was still unsure if he would survive after using that ability. Therefore, he had to fulfill his promise to Naruto first before considering Yahiko's revival.
In fact, regarding Yahiko's revival, Nagato had always harbored this thought after realizing that his own life force could not long sustain the Rinnegan's eye power.
Although Nagato told Konan that he did this to allow Yahiko to see the peace they created together, the true reason was to better preserve Yahiko's body. When his own lifespan came to an end, Nagato would not hesitate to use the Rinnegan's power on Yahiko's body to revive him, allowing him to continue accompanying Konan and fulfilling their dream together.
It was precisely for this reason that he would desecrate Yahiko's body to turn him into Pain.
Now, the situation had changed.
If he could now help Naruto revive his parents without paying the price of his own life,
then the next one to be revived would be Yahiko, and then he would find a way to make them also like himself, possessing long lives.
That way, the three of them could be together forever.
"Okay."
Naruto also nodded upon hearing Pain - Deva Path's words and said, "Then let's part ways here."
"Alright— Oh, right."
Pain - Deva Path nodded, and as he was about to leave, he remembered something and suddenly reminded Naruto, "Don't throw away the Akatsuki ring. I've cast a unique jutsu on it that allows me to contact you anytime, and it also allows us to meet in a special way when needed."
Magic Lantern Body Technique!
This jutsu is one of the Rinnegan's abilities. It allows Nagato to receive a special 'thought wave' converted from Chakra, emitted by Akatsuki Organization members wearing rings crafted from black rods made with Yin-Yang Release. These thought waves are then amplified and displayed as illusions in specific locations.
This illusion is different from ordinary images. With the Rinnegan's Chakra as a medium, it can not only summon those wearing the rings at any time, but when needed, it can also use another jutsu called 'Shapeshifting Jutsu' to distribute the Chakra of the person wearing the ring to a pre-prepared 'sacrifice' for remote combat.
It's very convenient, but the drawback is that it's a bit hard on people.
Because the 'sacrifice' used for Shapeshifting Jutsu must be a living person.
"This ring?"
Naruto heard Pain - Deva Path's words, raised his hand to look at the ring on it, then nodded and said, "Understood, I'll keep this ring on me."
Next, the various Pains and Nagato, who hadn't truly appeared, left.
Naruto, guided by the instructions on his body, arrived at the place he had arranged with Tsunade.
When Naruto arrived at the meeting place, he saw not only Tsunade but also Orochimaru and Uchiha Sasuke.
"Naruto, you—"
Uchiha Sasuke, seeing Naruto again, immediately rushed towards him excitedly. But when he stood before Naruto and realized that he was actually a head shorter than Naruto, he was greatly shocked. He looked at him with a stunned expression, asking in disbelief,
"Damn it, what did you eat? How did you get so tall?"
Sasuke and Naruto were born in the same year, and Sasuke's birthday was even more than two months earlier than Naruto's.
But now, he was actually a full head shorter than Naruto. In this situation, even if he surpassed Naruto in strength, what was the point!
"Hehe!~"
Naruto looked at Sasuke's incredulous expression and proudly tilted his head, saying,
"Of course, it's because I'm stronger than you. Didn't you know that an increase in strength also accelerates body growth? For a genius like me, it's perfectly normal for my height to grow faster than yours, isn't it?"
For some reason, even though Naruto's mental age was now much more mature than his physical age, he still couldn't help but tease Sasuke when he saw him.
This behavior was childish, but Naruto couldn't resist doing it. Moreover, Naruto noticed that there seemed to be an aura within Sasuke's body that felt incredibly close to him—a kind of blood-related aura that felt even closer than his parents' Chakra.
This situation made Naruto feel very strange, and he subconsciously began to be wary.