Chapter 71: Nagato Is Really About to Die!
Rain Shinobi Village.
Drizzling rain fell, and occasionally a pedestrian crossed the streets of Rain Shinobi Village. The entire village presented a desolate scene.
In a slightly dark room on the upper floor of a tall, metallic building at the center.
"Cough, cough, cough."
Violent, dry coughing came from the darkness. A blue-haired beauty who had been sleeping leaning against the cold metal wall was startled awake by the coughing, her face full of exhaustion.
"Nagato, are you alright?"
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Nagato stood at the crude control platform for manipulating the Six Paths of Pain, coughing repeatedly, unable to speak.
"Nagato, stop controlling Tendo for now. Your body..."
"It's fine..."
Blood dripped from the corner of Nagato's mouth. There was a terrifying wound on his chest, circular in shape, about twenty centimeters in diameter. The skin and flesh on the wound's surface had rotted, and something seemed to be squirming inside.
This was a wound left by a dying Fourth Rank Contractor, which had nearly cost Nagato his life.
Even though Nagato hadn't died, his body deteriorated day by day. His originally dull red hair had begun to turn white, and he could only control three of the six Paths of Pain simultaneously.
"Really... are you sure you're okay?"
Konan's eyes were full of worry. She had sought out many medical ninjas, but unfortunately, they were all helpless. Only one person could save Nagato: the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade.
But even if Tsunade was willing to help, whether Nagato would accept it was another question.
"Konan, how is the organization doing lately?"
The Tendo Path controlled by Nagato hadn't appeared recently because Nagato now experienced intermittent comas. If Tendo suddenly collapsed in front of the Akatsuki members, things would go badly. The Akatsuki respected strength above all.
"It's fine."
Konan sighed. Just as she was about to say something, Nagato's eyes narrowed.
"A member has entered Rain Shinobi Village. It's... Bai Ye."
"Bai Ye?"
Konan frowned. She didn't have a very good impression of Su Xiao.
In Konan's mind, Su Xiao's image was that of someone with unclear morals, covered in bloodlust, and ready to kill at the slightest disagreement.
"What is he doing back here? Does he want to join the plan to capture the Eight-Tails? His target really is the tailed beasts. The tailed beasts he captured were all abnormal."
"The matter of the Eight-Tails has been entrusted to Uchiha Obito. We don't need to interfere."
"Nagato, this..."
"Don't say anymore. Go meet Bai Ye. Although his target is the tailed beasts, he is trustworthy. At least more trustworthy than Itachi or Deidara."
"Hmm."
Konan walked out of the room.
...
Su Xiao walked along the streets of Rain Shinobi Village, wearing a raincoat. After searching for a while, he entered a restaurant.
This was the largest restaurant in Rain Shinobi Village. Although the village was isolated from the world, tens of thousands of people lived here. With the financial support of the Akatsuki, the village wasn't poor. At least everyone had enough to eat and didn't have to worry about war.
Rain Shinobi Village was actually a paradise in the Naruto World. Living here, one didn't have to fear hunger or war. They were protected by a 'god.' Although they couldn't come and go freely, no one wanted to leave.
It wasn't poor, nor was it wealthy. It seemed heavily guarded, but in reality, it was very stable. Even compared to the residents of the Land of Fire, the happiness level here was extremely high. Except for the constant rain making everything damp, everything else was fine.
Su Xiao sat in the restaurant. The residents of the Land of Rain, regardless of age or gender, had a habit of drinking alcohol or eating spicy food. It rained here all year round, and the humidity was too high. Without moderate drinking or spicy food, rheumatism was unavoidable.
Su Xiao inhaled sharply. The food was really too spicy, but the taste was excellent.
Beside him, Bubu Wang was rolling its eyes from the spiciness but couldn't resist the delicious temptation. With tears in its eyes, it ate three large bowls.
The restaurant door was pushed open. Konan walked in, heading straight for Su Xiao, and sat down across from him.
Konan's clothes were soaked by the rain, and water dripped from her blue hair.
Su Xiao only glanced at Konan before continuing to enjoy the meal. Although he was hissing from the spiciness, the deliciousness was irresistible. The spicy fish of the Land of Rain was famous, with a reputation even surpassing Ichiraku Ramen.
"Did you come back for something important?"
Konan spoke, but Su Xiao kept eating non-stop, causing her to frown.
Su Xiao had once thought Konan was a 'support,' until she nearly blew up Obito. Only then did everyone realize this mature woman wasn't a 'support.'
"Is the leader injured?"
Su Xiao's words made Konan's heart tighten.
"Minor injury. He's recovered."
"Suddenly collapsing unconscious counts as a minor injury?"
Su Xiao picked up the glass of ice water beside him and took a big gulp. Bubu Wang leaned over, meaning to leave some for this dog.
Konan looked at the ice cubes in the glass with confusion. How could there be ice cubes in Rain Shinobi Village?
"The leader... is injured. What did you come back for this time?" Konan said this only after weighing the pros and cons in her mind. From Su Xiao's many actions, it could be seen that although he had designs on the tailed beasts, overall, he was still trustworthy.
Su Xiao had offended too many forces. This was also the reason Nagato hadn't fallen out with him despite Su Xiao tampering with the tailed beasts. Such a 'loyal' subordinate was hard to find.
Compared to Itachi, Deidara, and others, Nagato trusted Su Xiao a bit more. When Su Xiao carried out missions, he never dragged things out. Whoever the target was, he killed them.
"Have you seen a medical ninja?"
"I have. The situation isn't good, but it's not too bad either."
Konan sighed. After thinking for a moment, she took out a sealed glass tube containing a small yellow insect.
"Have you seen this kind of insect before?"
Su Xiao put down his chopsticks, wiped his hands, and took the glass tube.
"This should be the egg of a parasitic creature, not an insect. Without a host, this thing has an extremely short lifespan. Preliminary judgment indicates this parasite is magnetic, not hermaphroditic. If it were hermaphroditic, the leader would have been parasitized to death by now. So, this egg won't hatch. It will only absorb the host's vitality. After one to two weeks, the egg will die on its own."
Alchemy Pharmacology included a large amount of biology. With Alchemy Pharmacology at Lv.20, Su Xiao could judge the characteristics of most creatures.
"This..."
Konan's heartbeat began to accelerate. The characteristics Su Xiao described matched those of this 'insect' perfectly.
"Do you... have a way to deal with it?"
Konan seemed to have made some kind of decision. She had no choice but to decide. Given Nagato's current state, he could hold on for at most half a month.
"I'm not sure. It depends on the leader's constitution. If his constitution isn't strong enough, he's dead. If I had been notified immediately after the parasitism, removing the mother body wouldn't have been too difficult."
Putting down the glass tube, Su Xiao felt a bad premonition. Nagato couldn't die, or the main mission would face the possibility of failure. Relying on Obito and the others to attack Konoha was completely unreliable. Moreover, the main mission specified going to Konoha with Nagato. Nagato's death might even cause the mission to fail directly.
"Follow me."
Konan stood up. Su Xiao didn't say anything, just followed behind her.
Five minutes later, Konan stood in front of the room where Nagato was. Tendo stood motionless at the door. Nagato had fallen unconscious again.
"Leader, is this?"
Su Xiao looked Tendo up and down. Feigning ignorance was necessary.
"Come in. What you see afterward cannot be told to anyone. This is the trust Konan and I have in you, even if it's out of necessity."
Konan didn't say anything nice. She just pushed open the room.
A faint foul smell came. Su Xiao immediately saw Nagato, who had already fainted in the room.
Nagato stood on the device for manipulating the Six Paths of Pain. The wound on his chest was severely rotted, and something could be faintly seen squirming inside.