"Pfft!"
Nagato suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, his body falling backward before collapsing into Konan's arms.
This was the backlash of overexerting his body. He simply no longer had the strength to use Universal Pull to drag in those massive rocks.
"Nagato!"
Konan cried out in alarm, her voice filled with worry.
"Can we talk now? I'm not interested in your Rinnegan." Kurogane Ren waved away the massive rocks and looked at Konan and the unconscious Nagato in her arms as he spoke again.
He was lying. Of course he was interested in the Rinnegan. But if he tried to take Nagato's eyes, Obito would definitely intervene, and he had no intention of facing someone with Kamui right now.
While Kurogane Ren was speaking, sheets of paper had already mixed into the mud and were silently rushing toward him.
Konan hadn't just been standing there watching Nagato act. She had been looking for a chance to help. Now that Nagato had reached his limit, everything depended on her.
In the next instant, she gently laid Nagato on the ground and gripped the kunai she had taken from him.
"Konan, don't…" Nagato coughed violently, trying to stop her. That man was not someone she could handle!
"Nagato, now it's my turn to protect you!" Konan took a deep breath and charged toward Kurogane Ren.
"Oh? Desperation?" Kurogane Ren watched with interest, pulling out a kunai and clashing with hers.
But the force behind the collision felt wrong. Even if Konan was physically weaker than most men, her strength shouldn't have been this lacking.
Kurogane Ren looked at her closely. Lines appeared across her face, and then her body broke apart into countless sheets of paper, fluttering into the air.
Dance of the Shikigami!
"…This is…" Kurogane Ren frowned slightly, as if seeing such a technique for the first time.
At that moment, the paper sheets hidden in the mud rapidly reassembled into Konan's form. A paper kunai appeared in her hand as she thrust it toward Kurogane Ren.
"Got you!"
Feeling the impact through her hand, a look of joy appeared on her face.
But at that very moment, Nagato's desperate shout rang in her ears.
"Konan, run!"
Konan was confused. What she didn't see was Kurogane Ren's completely calm expression, nor the faint smile hidden beneath his mask.
Nagato couldn't see it either, but he could sense it. There was no panic in Kurogane Ren at all, even after being struck.
In the next instant, the Kurogane Ren pierced by Konan turned into a puff of white smoke and exploded.
"A Shadow Clone?! When?!" Konan's eyes widened as she tried to locate his real body.
But the clone didn't fully dissipate like a normal one. Within the white mist, it transformed into a stream of water, flowing along Konan's arm before spreading across her entire body.
"What is this?!"
Her pupils shrank sharply. She immediately tried to disperse into paper again to escape, but at that exact moment, the water surged and completely enveloped her.
Water Release—Water Prison Technique.
Konan instantly recognized it. But the Water Prison Technique required the user's hand to remain in contact with the water to maintain it. Where was he?
There was no sign of Kurogane Ren around her.
Only then did she realize.
"Earth Release—Headhunter Jutsu!"
Kurogane Ren emerged from underground, one hand maintaining the Water Prison while he surfaced.
He looked at Konan, who was completely trapped within the sphere of water and glaring at him, and raised an eyebrow. So this was the future "Angel" of the Akatsuki.
Unfortunately, her strength was still lacking. Aside from her later explosive tag techniques, her current power might not even qualify as Kage-level, let alone now.
What he had used wasn't a normal Shadow Clone, but a Water Clone—similar to Kakashi's Lightning Clone.
He had even taken it a step further by integrating the Water Prison Technique into it. Combined with the Headhunter Jutsu, it allowed him to trap his opponent before they could react.
As for when he created the Water Clone, it had been during Nagato's use of Universal Pull—when he raised those massive rocks as cover.
Seeing this, Nagato, who was already collapsed on the ground, tried to force himself up again, only to erupt into violent coughing, spitting out more blood.
"Release Konan! I'll give you the Rinnegan!" Nagato said, his voice surprisingly calm. Even now, he refused to believe the other man had no interest in his eyes.
If Konan could speak, she would definitely stop him. But trapped inside the Water Prison, she couldn't make a sound.
"Tch, didn't I already say? I'm not interested in your Rinnegan." Kurogane Ren suppressed the desire rising within him as he spoke.
At that moment, a thought crept into his mind—what if he could actually take them?
Even if it meant being targeted by Obito, Black Zetsu, and White Zetsu, it was still the Rinnegan.
Paying a price might be worth it.
It took him a long moment to suppress that temptation.
First, even if Nagato truly offered them, he might not be able to take them.
Second, being targeted by those two after obtaining the Rinnegan would be extremely troublesome. He didn't believe White Zetsu would fail to track him, especially since the Rinnegan could never be deactivated.
Finally, there was the issue that the Rinnegan couldn't be turned off. Walking around with those eyes meant he couldn't return to Konoha. At best, they would end up sitting in a lab as decoration, making them useless for now.
Moreover, since they weren't his own, he wouldn't be able to fully utilize their abilities. Just like how Nagato himself couldn't use the Rinnegan's unique technique, Limbo: Border Jail.
If possible, he would rather awaken his own Rinnegan or Tenseigan in the future by fusing Uchiha and Hyuga bloodlines.
For all these reasons, he ultimately suppressed his desire for the Rinnegan.
After hearing Kurogane Ren's words, Nagato was stunned. The man truly didn't want his Rinnegan? Could it be that he really was just a collector of strange creatures, as he claimed?
If Nagato hadn't summoned the Demonic Statue, perhaps this man wouldn't have acted at all?
Nagato's emotions were complicated, but no matter what, this was a good thing.
"…Fine," Nagato said slowly. "As long as you release Konan, the Demonic Statue is yours. And I promise, I will never summon it again."