Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

Today,

Zongxian put this outlandish idea into practice.

Not only did he deceive Pain, but even his companions, such as Chihaya Uchiha, were completely unaware of Sogen's 'little tricks'.

"Where did your original body go?"

Payne stared intently at Zongxian's Heavenly Path clone, who was now wearing a mask, his heart filled with an indescribable unease.

"Humph!"

Zongxian let out a contemptuous laugh through his nose.

"Do you think I'm a fool? Do you expect me to teach you everything I know? If you want to know where my true form is... if you can defeat me, I might tell you if I'm in a good mood. Well, if I actually lose, I definitely won't be in a good mood."

that,

The implication is mockery.

Absolutely!

Pain, enraged, unleashed a powerful attack, Shinra Tensei.

Even though he knew that Uchiha Sogen was deliberately provoking him to keep him occupied and prevent him from tracking down the real Uchiha Sogen, he still couldn't help but get angry. Of course, the key point was that even if he didn't get entangled with Uchiha Sogen's clone, he wasn't confident that he could quickly find Uchiha Sogen's whereabouts.

······

A hidden hiding place

Nagato had used Kagura's Mind's Eye technique several times to search every corner of Amegakure, but he found nothing. He couldn't find the whereabouts of Uchiha Sogen's main body, and he couldn't sense any chakra fluctuations similar to those of Uchiha Sogen's Six Paths clones.

"Nagato?"

Konan looked at Nagato with a puzzled expression, skillfully concealing her unease, lest she burden Nagato further.

"Konan, be on high alert, watch out... Uchiha Mugen's sneak attack."

Several searches yielded no results.

Nagato took a deep breath. He realized that it was not possible to find Uchiha Mugen's main body quickly for the time being. All he could do was to be vigilant and guard against Uchiha Mugen's decapitation tactics, since Uchiha Mugen also had the Rinnegan and had created the Six Paths clones.

Of course I know.

Payne was merely a puppet in name only.

Even if all Six Paths of Pain were wiped out, it would be meaningless. Only by defeating him, the true core hidden in the shadows, could the battle be truly ended. Moreover, after discovering that Uchiha Sogen also possessed the Rinnegan, he realized that he might not be the true enemy yet.

At least,

Uchiha Munen, who also possesses the Rinnegan, is someone who can threaten his life.

A little carelessness,

No way!

[Chapter 378. Amplifying the Summoning Technique]

"He actually has a second pair of Rinnegan?"

After hearing Nagato's concise explanation, Konan was also plunged into indescribable shock. Nagato's Rinnegan was not unique... This not only meant that Nagato would no longer be invincible, but for them, the more terrifying impact was on their beliefs.

After losing Yahiko

They no longer had the guiding light to lead them forward.

After killing Hanzo the Salamander, they lost their target and were trapped in the vast darkness, not knowing where to go.

until--

With the arrival of Obito Uchiha and Zetsu, and under their persuasive words, Nagato gradually established a set of philosophies centered on "Let the world feel pain!" He firmly believed that only by doing so could he bring true peace to the ninja world.

Without experiencing pain firsthand, one cannot understand the preciousness of peace.

Therefore,

This wretched world must also taste this excruciating pain.

Nagato happens to possess the Rinnegan, which is said to belong to the Sage of Six Paths. This gives them a sense that everything was preordained, and that 'divine will' has given them the mission to cleanse this terrible world of its filth and bring a truly peaceful and beautiful new world.

But now the Rinnegan is no longer the only one.

God willing,

It seems there's a bug?

"Nagato, what exactly is going on...?"

"Let's talk about it later!"

Nagato was distracted at the moment, as the remaining five of the Six Paths of Pain were fighting Uchiha Sogen's clones and Uchiha Chihaya respectively. These were not enemies that could be easily defeated, so he couldn't spend a long time thinking about what Uchiha Sogen's words meant, and naturally he couldn't discuss them with Konan.

And

A vague intuition told him that the truth might be something terrifying!

It inexplicably filled him with fear, and even made him not want to investigate the so-called truth. Moreover, as long as he could get rid of Uchiha Munen and destroy those inexplicably appearing Rinnegan, then the gods would still be inviolable.

"We'll talk after we've dealt with this. Be extremely careful of Uchiha Mugen. That guy also has the Rinnegan, and we don't know what methods he used to conceal his existence. If possible, make as many layers of disguise as you can."

"Okay! I understand."

Xiao Nan also took a deep breath.

She temporarily suppressed the various distracting thoughts lingering in her mind, formed a hand seal, and snowflake-like pieces of paper flew out from her sleeves, assembling together around her. From the outside, one could see that the colors of these pieces of paper changed abruptly after they came together, quickly blending into the surrounding walls and floor to form a new room.

This is--

The art of the God of Paper.

Konan possesses one of the strongest secret techniques. Her disguise is so excellent that it can even deceive Nagato's Kagura Mind's Eye technique. In the past, whenever Pain went out on missions, Konan used this technique to hide Nagato, who was not easy to move. Even among the Akatsuki members, apart from Zetsu and Obito Uchiha, others such as Orochimaru and Kakuzu have never seen through Konan's perfect disguise.

Precisely,

Even Obito Uchiha never saw through it.

Obito Uchiha only knew of Nagato's existence and that Pain was merely a 'god' promoted by Nagato, but he never saw through Konan's disguise using the Paper God Technique.

but,

Whether such a disguise could fool the Byakugan's search, or even Uchiha Sogen, who might still be holding some unknown trump card... Nagato and Konan weren't really sure either; at this point, they could only do their best.

All I could do was pray that I wouldn't be easily exposed!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"What exactly... what happened?" Black Zetsu, who was watching the battlefield from the shadows, was bewildered. He couldn't understand what was going on. The moment Human Path grabbed Uchiha Sogen's ankle, he thought the dust had settled. He knew very well what kind of abilities Human Path possessed.

Once the soul has been extracted.

Uchiha Sogen is finished, and with Uchiha Sogen's demise means the end for all the Konoha ninja. Everything will return to normal, and he will finally free his mother from her thousand-year imprisonment...

Just as he was envisioning a bright future,

The unexpected turn of events nearly caused his brain to overheat and be cooked in an instant.

Human Way,

I actually messed up.

Not only did they fail to pull Uchiha Sogen's soul out, but Uchiha Sogen also broke his head with... 'Wind Release Technique'? Immediately afterwards, Uchiha Sogen took out a white mask and put it on his face.

It was a plain white mask with really nothing special about it.

Except for the character '天' on the forehead.

But that's not surprising. If you can write the word "shit" with skill, that's admirable. The mask's main function is to bring back some of the attention that was originally scattered on Sogen's face, and focus it all on Uchiha Sogen's light purple eyes... Hmm?

Light purple?

Black Zetsu wondered if he was seeing things.

As for the claim that he was under a genjutsu... that's absolutely impossible. His mother bestowed upon him an indomitable spirit and will, and a thousand years of time had not brought him any significant wear and tear. Even Uchiha Shisui's rare Mangekyou Sharingan eye technique, which could modify the consciousness of others, was no match for him.

Therefore,

It could only be a trick of his eyes, otherwise how could he have mistaken the Mangekyou Sharingan for the Rinnegan?

however--

The harsh reality left him no room for compromise.

Although he did not inherit his mother's Byakugan, his eyesight was absolutely perfect. And while he could have mistaken it once, he couldn't possibly be blind forever and not understand the color of Uchiha Sogen's eyes, could he? That would be too much of a self-deception.

Furthermore,

After a brief respite of less than a minute, the fierce battle between Pain and Uchiha Sogen resumed in less than a minute. This time, Uchiha Sogen brazenly used the signature techniques of the Rinnegan: Shinra Tensei and Bansho Ten'in.

really,

What shattered the Human Path's head wasn't some Wind Release technique, but Shinra Tensei.

but,

But this... how is this possible?

Why did Uchiha Munen possess the Rinnegan? How did he awaken it? Even Madara Uchiha, to be honest, spent many years successfully awakening the Rinnegan, while Uchiha Munen was only a few years old. How could he awaken the Rinnegan without any guidance?

Black Zetsu was bewildered at that moment.

Even the unwavering will honed over a thousand years couldn't help but slacken slightly at this moment. He had spent a thousand years and finally managed to create a successful case like Uchiha Madara, only for a young man from the Uchiha clan in his early twenties to open the Rinnegan so easily on his own.

Always felt,

All the efforts and sacrifices I've made over the past thousand years seem to have become insignificant and cheap at this moment.

"Damn it! What on earth is going on?"

Black Zetsu's expression instantly turned ferocious.

Uchiha Sogen has awakened the Rinnegan, so... the idea of ​​using Nagato's hand to correct the overly powerful Konoha suddenly becomes too impulsive and risky. The future that was originally a sure thing is suddenly shrouded in a deep fog.

future,

Where will it go?

He was no longer confident.