harleyscars Page 229
Page 229
The central tower of the Hidden Rain Village.
With his arms crossed, Obito spoke with arrogance and excitement, boasting to Konan and Pain about his complete knowledge of the dream world: "...Hmph, in short, that so-called 'dream' holds no secrets for me! I know everything about it, from how to enter to the internal rules!"
However, Payne, seated on the central throne, remained expressionless throughout.
The indifferent Rinnegan stared silently ahead, neither responding nor interrupting, letting Obito chatter on and on.
The atmosphere gradually became tense, with only the sound of rain echoing along with Obito's boastful buzzing.
After a moment, seeing that Pain still hadn't responded, Obito paused in his enthusiastic speech.
"It seems this method won't work on Nagato..." Obito's mind raced, and his interest waned.
He abruptly stopped talking and didn't continue the topic.
A few seconds of silence followed between the two.
Then, as if he hadn't taken the previous words to heart at all, Pain changed the subject and said in a calm voice, "I heard that Itachi captured Orochimaru yesterday?"
Obito was taken aback by Pain's words, realizing that Pain was simply ignoring his earlier suggestion and had changed the subject.
A hint of displeasure flashed in his eyes, but he quickly concealed it, shrugged, and replied dismissively, "That is indeed the case."
Payne nodded slightly, his expression calm, and continued, "What do you plan to do with him?"
Upon hearing this, Obito waved his hand impatiently: "Hmph, you don't need to ask me about such trivial matters. You can do whatever you want with it."
As soon as he finished speaking, Obito stood up, as if preparing to leave: "I have something to do. If there's nothing else, I'll be going!"
He was too lazy to waste any more time.
I've said everything I should and shouldn't have said, and Nagato's attitude remains indifferent, so staying here is just a waste of my time.
Payne nodded slightly: "Then..."
He had just opened his mouth when his voice suddenly stopped, as if something invisible had choked him.
Payne's face suddenly froze.
Obito, who was about to leave, sensed something was wrong, stopped, and turned back to look at Pain with a puzzled expression: "What's wrong?"
Konan, standing nearby, frowned and looked at Payne with concern: "Payne, are you alright?"
The two men's voices startled Payne, who snapped back to his senses. A strange glint flashed in his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.
Payne gently shook his head, then turned to Konan to reassure her, "Konan, don't worry, I'm fine."
Then, Pain turned to Obito and said coldly, "You can leave now."
This is clearly a way of telling them to leave.
Seeing this, Obito knew that Pain was trying to get rid of them.
It seems there's something he wants to discuss with Xiao Nan privately.
He gave a soft "humph," not paying much attention.
Obito spread his hands, shrugged, and said, "Whatever."
Immediately afterwards, space rippled and twisted, and Obito's figure was instantly swallowed by the vortex and disappeared from the spot.
After Obito left, only Pain and Konan remained in the spacious hall.
The raindrops continued to pound against the windowpane.
Konan withdrew her gaze from the spot where Obito had disappeared, turned around and took half a step forward, looking at Pain's expression with concern.
Payne's brows were furrowed, and his expression was somewhat solemn, as if he was still immersed in the strange situation he had just witnessed.
Xiao Nan couldn't help but ask softly, "What just happened? Are you feeling unwell?"
Payne slowly shook his head, his voice low and deep: "It wasn't me... it was Jiraiya-sensei!"
"Jiraiya?!" Konan was taken aback at first, then her pretty face darkened, and she clicked her tongue in displeasure. "Oh, it was him! What happened to him?"
Xiao Nan's eyes involuntarily flashed with disgust and wariness.
Payne did not answer immediately; he stood up with a serious expression and walked to the balcony in front of the French windows.
Large raindrops rolled down the eaves, and the rain curtain blurred the outline of the entire village under the dim sky.
He opened his eyes and looked in a certain direction in the distance, and said in a deep voice, "He ran into Itachi, Kisame and the others, and they're fighting now."
"What?!" Xiao Nan raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.
First came surprise, then a cold laugh.
She crossed her arms and said gloatingly, "Isn't that perfect? Let Jiraiya suffer a bit! It would be best if Itachi could capture him too, so he can keep Orochimaru company in the dungeon!"
She snorted, clearly showing no sympathy for Jiraiya's current predicament of facing a powerful enemy, but rather a sense of satisfaction as if she were venting her anger.
Konan's cold words traveled through Pain's body to Nagato's ears.
Hidden deep within the tower, Nagato kept his eyes slightly closed, maintaining constant control over the Six Paths of Pain.
When he heard the news that Jiraiya might also be captured, his expression became complicated.
Deep down, Nagato still harbors a lingering, inseparable affection for her former teacher.
"Jiraiya-sensei..." Nagato murmured the name, his gaze flickering uncertainly in the dimly lit room.
In fact, he never wanted Jiraiya to actually be captured by the Akatsuki organization.
Jiraiya had been conducting undercover investigations in Amegakure for the past few days, and Nagato had been watching every step of his clandestine actions.
However, due to his deliberate guidance and concealment, Jiraiya has yet to find any core information about Nagato or Akatsuki.
Nagato's original plan was to wait until Jiraiya couldn't find any clues and left Amegakure on his own after all his efforts had been in vain.
But he never expected that Jiraiya would run into Itachi and Kisame today.
Now that the two sides are fighting, if Jiraiya is captured, then what will happen next...?
This might be difficult to handle!
Just as Nagato was caught in a dilemma, the chakra fluctuations of Jiraiya that he sensed through the rain suddenly stopped, and then completely disappeared from the Amegakure area!
This sudden change made Nagato open his eyes abruptly, exclaiming, "...Disappeared?!"
On the balcony, Payne's body trembled.
Could it be... that they escaped?
Payne dared not be careless. He quickly stepped out from under the eaves, braving the fine rain to reach the edge of the terrace. He closed his eyes, concentrated, and once again activated the Rain Tiger Freedom Technique.
The entire Hidden Rain Village was laid bare in his perception; the flow of chakra of any living being was completely visible.
A few seconds later, Payne slowly opened his eyes and confirmed, "Indeed, it wasn't an illusion... it really disappeared."
Xiao Nan followed closely outside, raindrops falling on her paper flower hair ornaments and dripping down her cloak.
Seeing that Payne looked strange, she quickly asked, "What's wrong? What happened?"
Payne turned his head slightly to look at her, a complex expression flashing across his eyes before turning into a soft sigh: "Nan, you're probably going to be disappointed... He's gone."
"What?!" Xiao Nan's eyes widened, revealing an expression of disbelief.
She gritted her teeth, awkwardly turned her face away, and muttered under her breath, "Hmph, he's lucky!"
Pain gazed silently down at the rain-shrouded Amegakure, his tense muscles finally relaxing slightly as he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Although Konan appeared disdainful, Nagato was secretly relieved that Jiraiya had ultimately escaped.
Otherwise, if Jiraiya were to be captured by the Akatsuki, it would be truly difficult to know what to do with him, this "god".
Killing them is not an option, nor is keeping them alive.
Now that the other party has escaped, it may be the best outcome for both sides.
The rain was pattering.
Konan stood beside Payne, and it took her a long time before she finally turned her gaze away from the distance.
She lowered her eyelashes, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Payne, what that masked man just said..."
Xiao Nan's voice was filled with doubt and worry.
Earlier, Obito made some outrageous remarks here, claiming that he knew everything about the dream world, which made Konan very concerned.
She misses Yahiko very much.
Payne slowly turned around.
Rain dripped from his orange hair onto his shoulders, and his expression returned to its usual calm and aloof demeanor: "His words are unreliable. They shouldn't be taken seriously."
Payne's voice was calm yet firm, without the slightest hesitation.
Nagato always knew.
The relationship between her and that masked man was purely based on mutual exploitation; they weren't even friends.
How could Nagato possibly believe everything he said?
Nagato always maintained a high level of vigilance towards Obito.
No matter how sweet-talking the other party is, he will not place his hopes on someone of unknown origin.
Hearing Payne's resolute answer, Konan nodded silently: "You're right."
After a brief silence, Payne took one last look at the village still shrouded in rain, then turned and walked back inside: "Let's go, there's still a lot to take care of."
Xiao Nan responded and followed Payne out of the balcony.
……
at the same time.
Mt. Miaomu.
Fukasaku and Shima's home.
The clear sky was filled with the warm sun, the air on Mount Myoboku was fresh, and birds chirped, creating a tranquil afternoon scene.
The toad hermit Fukasaku was sitting cross-legged on the open ground in front of the wooden house, with a scroll spread out.
He swiftly formed complex hand seals, then slammed his palm into the center of the scroll and uttered a low shout: "Reverse Spirit Communication Technique!"
With a soft "bang," white smoke suddenly exploded on the scroll.