Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

As he spoke, he grabbed the unconscious Konan with one arm and pulled Nagato along with the other, and they ran.

But just as he tried to grab Nagato's hand, Nagato shook him off, and a powerful yet gentle repulsive force sent him and Konan flying. He heard Nagato's voice, which had become somewhat hoarse: "Go, go quickly, don't worry about me, you must live with Konan."

Upon hearing this, Yahiko couldn't stop the tears from flowing.

How he wished someone could help them! He thought of his teacher, but immediately dismissed the thought, because his teacher was also a Konoha ninja and couldn't possibly help them. Then he thought of Hattori Masanari, but this time he couldn't help but feel a deep resentment.

Because the Konoha ninjas were brought by this very person whom he greatly admired.

Neither of them was reliable, and he didn't know who else could help him.

"In times of crisis, people ultimately have to rely on themselves."

In his despair, a line from Hattori Masanari's "The Will of Rain" suddenly came to mind.

"I'm still too weak."

Yahiko thought with immense pain, deeply hating his own weakness.

Now, all he can do is run away. For Konan's sake and to live up to Nagato's sacrifice, he has to be a coward for once.

"Hahaha~, not bad, not bad, choosing you was definitely the right decision."

Ignoring Yahiko and Konan who had fled, Madara Uchiha stared intently at Nagato, whose body had been nearly drained of power due to the forced use of the Rinnegan, and laughed maniacally.

He, as the true master of the Rinnegan, knew all too well the power of it.

This is indeed an incredibly powerful force, but it is also an extremely dangerous one. In addition to having a strong will, one also needs a body capable of bearing this immense power.

Back then, in order to awaken the Rinnegan, he not only spent a lot of time, but his body was also drained by these eyes.

If he hadn't awakened the Rinnegan, allowing him to summon the Gedo Mazo, use it to maintain his life force, and then actively detach the eyes from his body, he would have been sucked to death by the Rinnegan long ago.

Nagato wasn't even the master of the Rinnegan, and his strength was quite weak, yet he was able to forcibly use the power of the Rinnegan and still survive. His talent was truly astonishing.

Nagato was feeling dizzy, and his tinnitus was getting worse. His vision was blurry, and he couldn't see Madara Uchiha's face or hear his words clearly. He could only hear the enemy's disgusting laughter.

But the laughter suddenly stopped, and a faint scream could be heard.

Nagato had no idea what was going on.

"We must hold out until Yahiko and Konan are safely away."

This was Nagato's last thought at that moment, and the obsession that kept him going.

However, he found that his willpower was far too weak compared to the power contained in his strange eyes. It was like a child swinging a hammer much larger than himself; forcing it would only result in killing himself.

Drops of blood dripped from Nagato's nose, making him realize that his life was rapidly slipping away. If he didn't stop using his eyes in time, he would die in less than a minute.

However, it was too late for him to stop the power of his eyes. He didn't know how to stop it, or rather, he didn't have the ability to stop this powerful force.

"Great, I can finally go see my mom and dad."

Such a thought suddenly flashed through Nagato's mind, and she recalled the happy times she spent with her parents, as if she could see them in her mind.

"click~"

A hand silently rested on his shoulder.

In an instant, the uncontrollable power in his eyes was abruptly stopped, and a gentle force was injected into his body, like a clear spring sprinkling on a sapling that was about to wither, giving his collapsing body a reviving force.

Soon, he saw clearly who was helping him. It was a black-haired boy about his age, but unlike him, the other boy gave him a very powerful feeling, no less than the blond Konoha ninja who had just cornered him.

Also, that blond Konoha ninja was injured, and looked quite badly so, coughing up blood in a sorry state.

Finally, his exceptional sensory abilities returned, and he discovered that Yahiko and Konan were still alive, a huge weight lifted from his shoulders. Not only that, but many others in the surrounding area were also alive, having escaped the slaughter by the Konoha ninja.

"That was a close call; you almost got killed."

The black-haired boy smiled slightly when he saw that he had regained consciousness.

"who are you?"

Nagato asked instinctively.

You'll find out later.

The black-haired boy answered.

When Nagato heard what the other person said, he wanted to ask more questions, but suddenly everything went black and he lost consciousness completely.

Kirito used the chakra chains formed by the Adamantine Sealing Chains to bind the unconscious Nagato, then looked at the blond ninja whose face had turned extremely ugly, and sneered, "I didn't expect that the famous you would now like to hide your face and keep smearing Konoha. As expected, you are now a rat in the gutter."

Madara Uchiha's forehead veins bulged instantly after being mocked by Kirito, but he did not make any rash moves.

Because Nagato is currently in Kirito's hands.

Of course he knew who the black-haired boy in front of him was; he had seen him with his own eyes during the day, but he never expected to see him again here.

At this moment, he thought of many things, and even suspected that the mysterious White Shadow level powerhouse was Tohsaka Kirito.

However, he abandoned this idea as soon as it came to mind, because these were two completely different people. The Tohsaka Kirito in front of him did not have Byakugan, and his chakra fluctuations were also completely different.

Considering that the mysterious white-eyed shadow-level expert had assisted the Senju clan in killing Danzo, and now that the other party was here, he could basically conclude that the other party was in cahoots with the mysterious white-eyed shadow-level expert.

"Tohsaka Kirito, right? Hand over the person in your hands to me, and I'll return your teacher to you intact."

Madara Uchiha didn't intend to waste words with Kirito and simply issued a threat.

It was definitely the right choice for him not to kill Sakumo Hatake earlier; otherwise, he might not have any bargaining chips now.

"How would I know if what you're saying is true or false? You're too insidious, shameless, and despicable. You have no bottom line at all. Unless I see you in person, I will never believe you."

Kirito sneered when he saw Madara Uchiha using Sakumo Hatake as a bargaining chip.

In fact, after failing to find Sakumo Hatake and Madara Uchiha, he began to think about how to find Madara Uchiha and safely rescue Sakumo Hatake. After much thought, he concluded that the only way to accomplish this was to strike at Madara Uchiha's Achilles' heel.

Therefore, Nagato's Rinnegan is the key.

So he quickly went to Amegakure and hid there, waiting for Madara Uchiha to arrive.

He bet that Madara Uchiha was already worried about Nagato's Rinnegan and would come and take it away.

Sure enough, Madara Uchiha really came.

However, he never expected that Madara Uchiha would be so ruthless as to target the civilians of Amegakure.

Sure enough, once a person crosses their bottom line, their psychological limit will only go lower, there is no lowest point.

He didn't know why Madara Uchiha did this, but he could only lend a hand, since these Amegakure civilians were the foundation for Hattori Masashige, his White Zetsu clone, to rebuild Amegakure in the future.

This resulted in him only managing to launch a sneak attack on Madara Uchiha, inflicting considerable injury on him, and failing to force Madara to use Izanagi to save his life again.

"You have no choice but to trust me. Now, immediately, hand over the person in your hands to me, or you will only get a corpse."

When Madara Uchiha heard Kirito mocking him again, his killing intent grew stronger. He wished he could kill Kirito and Sakumo Hatake, whom he had hidden in his lair, immediately. However, since the Rinnegan was in the hands of the other party, he had no choice but to suppress his killing intent and continue to threaten him.

He wasn't afraid of not being able to threaten Kirito, because he discovered that Kirito was too soft-hearted and still had many ties in his heart. This was Kirito's weakness. As long as he grasped these weaknesses, he wouldn't be afraid that Kirito wouldn't obediently submit.

"I told you, you have no bottom line. Your words are not to be trusted. Let me see Mr. Hatake, or you can forget about getting him."

Kirito gave a firm reply.

Just as he just said, he doesn't trust Uchiha Madara at all. Who knows if Hatake Sakumo is dead or alive? If he returns the Rinnegan to him now, this unscrupulous old man might turn around and kill Hatake Sakumo, or even continue to use Hatake Sakumo to threaten him.

That's absolutely possible.

The current Uchiha Madara is no longer the arrogant and overbearing Uchiha Madara of the past; he is now just a rat hiding in the gutter, insidious and cunning, willing to do anything to achieve his goals.

Madara Uchiha was surprised by Kirito's tough attitude. He wanted to continue threatening him, but he found Kirito inserting his hand into one of Nagato's eyes and skillfully taking out a Rinnegan from Nagato's eye socket, then pretending to crush it.

In an instant, Madara Uchiha felt as if Kirito had squeezed his heart.

Chapter 248: The Temptation of the Rinnegan

"and many more!"

Madara Uchiha instinctively shouted, trying to stop Kirito from destroying the Rinnegan.

Although he was extremely disgusted by being blackmailed, the Rinnegan was the most important part of his Eye of the Moon plan. Losing even one Rinnegan would have a huge impact on his Eye of the Moon plan.

He doesn't have time to slowly cultivate a second pair of Rinnegan.

Moreover, the conditions for the birth of the Rinnegan are too harsh, and it was only by chance that he was able to evolve his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan into the Rinnegan.

Therefore, no matter what, the Rinnegan must not be lost.

"Hehe, it seems these eyes are indeed very important to you. Well then, if you don't want to lose them, do as I say and bring Mr. Hatake to me. The place is the usual spot."

Seeing that Madara Uchiha had backed down, Kirito immediately sneered.

The next moment, he took out the remaining Rinnegan from Nagato's eye socket.

This Rinnegan is indeed a treasure. It looks like a pair of eyes, but after being taken out, it looks like a pair of gemstones. It does not show any signs of shrinking after losing its host. The only difference is that the luster in the eyes has become slightly dimmer.

"Don't get cocky. If you dare to destroy even one of them, I will destroy everything and everyone you care about. Don't try to provoke me. You know I have that ability, right?"

Madara Uchiha, of course, was unwilling to be led by the nose by Kirito, and made another threat.

He had already decided that once he successfully retrieved the Rinnegan, he would teach Kirito a lesson he would never forget, making him suffer terribly.

Over the years, no one in the ninja world who dared to provoke him in this way has ever escaped without paying a price.

"That despicable old man is just disgusting. I used to think he was a hero, but the more I get to know him, the more I realize he's a vile madman, a dog without any bottom line and devoid of humanity."

When Kirito heard Madara Uchiha threaten him like that, his heart tightened, and he cursed inwardly.

Although he was cursing Madara Uchiha in his heart, he had to admit that this guy was a man of his word.

If he really destroys the Rinnegan, this inhuman madman will definitely do something incredibly crazy. Being targeted by such a powerful yet unrestrained guy is really stressful.

If he could, he really wanted to destroy the Rinnegan here, and then kill Madara Uchiha here.

Unfortunately, he couldn't.

Even now, he still lacks the chance to defeat this madman.

"This thing might be a turning point."

Kirito gently pinched the incredibly elastic Rinnegan, thinking to himself.

How could he not covet the Rinnegan?

When Yahiko brought Nagato to Amegakure, he had considered taking Nagato's Rinnegan, but he was worried about being relentlessly hunted down by Madara Uchiha, which would hinder his own development. So he used his strong rationality to give up this huge temptation that was within reach.

The situation has changed dramatically, and the Rinnegan is now in my hands.