Talks in Amegakure II

"So . . . What do you think?" Shiki asked.

"Hmm . . . I certainly see your point . . ." Nagato started.

"And, if possible, your way of doing things certainly seems better when compared to mine." He continued.

"But . . . It is even harder to pull of that my plan, which is not by any means easy in the first place." Nagato added.

"A fair point . . ." Shiki said before pausing.

"But?" Nagato continued Shiki's words.

"But it does not take into account my capabilities and those of Mugetsu, something you have no way to know." Shiki said.

". . ." Nagato paused.

"You certainly don't lack for confidence . . ." He said.

Shiki chuckled in response.

"Well then . . . How about this?" he said, activating his Rinnegan and looking Nagato in the eyes.

As for Nagato, he kept thinking Shiki could not further shock him and kept being proven wrong as he looked at his Rinnegan and instinctively felt that it was more powerful than his own.

"So, what do you think of this?" Shiki asked.

"Y-You- How!?" Nagato could not properly form words. Thinking himself to be the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths due to his doujutsu and being told how different and special he was, how he was fated for greatness due to his eyes, seeing someone else with them, eyes even better than his . . .

There were truly no words to describe what thoughts and feeling went through Nagato.

"Do you want to know the nature of these eyes?" Shiki asked.

"Do you want to know how I got them and, more importantly, how did you get them?" He continued to ask.

"I . . ." Nagato was not quite sure what to say.

Shiki chuckled once more.

"Well . . . I'll return later. In the meanwhile, I suggest all three of us keep this meeting to ourselves." Shiki said and unleashed his genjutsu which the Ame pair felt.

"What was that?" Konan asked, even before Nagato could.

"Insurance that you do not speak of what happened here." Shiki said and it chilled them to the core.

To think the man in front of them had such power that they were at his mercy was quite frightening indeed.

And so Shiki left, leaving the two companions to discuss what they had learned.

Nagato immediately called for the Six Paths of Pain, having already replaced the three he lost so that they were not so much at Shiki's mercy during his next visit and then, he turned to Konan.

"What do you think of that man's words, Konan?" He asked.

"Nagato?" Konan was a bit surprised at her friend taking the initiative to ask her that kind of question.

"I might be a little biased so i think that your evaluation might be more accurate than mine." Nagato explained.

Konan nodded and shared her view of the matter.

"You know I never trusted Madara so I won't go there but I don't really see a reason for the Reaper to lie to us. At least not an obvious one." She started.

"Hmm . . ." Nagato bade her to continue,

"The show of force he most likely intentionally put on leads me to believe his position is far stronger than we initially believed." Konan said.

"I agree, but what do you think he wants from us?" Nagato responded.

"I'm not sure but what I do know is that the Reaper likely considers our cooperation convenient but not necessary. In other words, our support is ultimately inconsequential for him and would only make whatever he wants to accomplish easier." Konan explained her view of the matter.

"Yes . . . His Rinnegan . . . I felt it to be considerably more powerful than mine and just three of his main subordinates were capable of facing three Paths simultaneously in two successive battles and hold an absolute advantage." Nagato commented.

"As such, this goal of his . . . Whatever he needs from us, it is likely not military assistance but something else." Nagato deduced.

"I agree. Mugetsu must have a lot more reserve power than we currently know and, even though it's hard to track their movements, they seem to have put a major focus on territory so the Reaper may want our cooperation for a seamless integration of our Land of the Rain." Konan suggested.

"Hmm . . . You may be right . . . Whatever the case, hearing his proposal seems to be the right move but we should still be ready for a breakdown in negotiations." Nagato decided.

And so, the pair waited for Shiki's next visit while making plans for how they would respond to the various scenarios that they postulated might occur.

A few days later, Shiki was back, carelessly avoiding all the beefed up detection methods and defenses, appearing right in front of Nagato and Konan again.

"I seems you've prepared a better welcome this time." Shiki commented on the present Six Paths of Pain.

"It is my view one should always be prepared for the worst but we desire to talk today, not fight." Nagato responded.

"Oh, I meant nothing by it. And I do live by the words, "Hope for the Best. Prepare for the Worst." So I'm not offended in the slightest." Shiki explained.

"I see . . ." Nagato simply replied.

"Besides, they won't make that much of a difference if negotiations breakdown into fighting anyway." Shiki added causing the two Ame shinobi to tense up a little.

The utter casualness of Shiki's words only renewed their suspicion that he and his Mugetsu were a lot more powerful that the world and the Akatsuki realized.

"Very well then. We would like to hear the proposal that you no doubt have." Nagato said.

"Excellent!" Shiki said before taking out a Soul Contract Tag and explaining its use.

Internally deciding that the man in front of them had no reason to cheat them with said tag, the two decided to follow Shiki's example of letting a drop of blood fall onto the talisman and so it was activated.

"Lies are not permitted in the contract so I'll start by swearing everything I've shared so far with you is the truth. If you want proof, you can just attempt to lie to me and observe how it is impossible." Shiki declared.

Not taking his word for it, the two indeed tried a harmless lie but they found no sound escaped their mouths as they were automatically restrained.

Noticing this, Shiki said.

"Quite a nifty tool for negotiations isn't it?"

But the two Ame shinobi did not entertain a response.

"Guess I should get this discussion started." Shiki thought out loud.

"First of all, the Rinnegan. I said I'd explain the truth of these eyes to you so I shall do so now." He started.

"The Rinnegan is a kekkei genkai or more like a kekkei mora of a clan called the Otsutsuki, the mythical Sage of the Six Paths was a descendant of this clan who went by the name Otsutsuki Hagoromo." Shiki said.

"With me so far?" He asked and Nagato bade him to continued. And so he did.

"Hagoromo had two sons named Indra and Ashura that inherited his spiritual might and physical might respectively. Ashura got a powerful constitution and incredible lifeforce while Indra inherited a downgraded version of the Rinnegan that came to be known . . . As the Sharingan."

Nagato and Konan's eyes widened.

"Now when I say this, I'm sure you can already guess how one can obtain the Rinnegan right?" Shiki asked.

"Rejoining the Sage's powers that were split between his two sons." Nagato said.

"Precisely. And I'm quite sure you did not do such a thing, neither do I sense both of those bloodlines in you so . . . How could you end up having the Rinnegan?" Shiki said.

"Then . . . It can o-only be that . . ." Nagato's voice started shaking as his words trailed off and his worldview crumbled.

"Those eye were not originally yours." Shiki calmly said.

"How can that be!?" Konan asked with shock.

"Someone implated them into him as a child and messed with his memories. As for who that was, I'm sure you can guess." Shiki explained.

"Madara . . ." Konan whispered.

"Quite right." Shiki confirmed.

"But why?" Nagato suddenly asked.

"I do have some ideas but that's all they are. I'm not omniscient after all." Shiki shrugged.

"Those eyes probably belonged to the real Madara and the fake Madara, the masked man that you know probably was responsible for implanting them into you when you were a child." He explained.

"Why would he do that? He could have just used them himself instead of going through the process of implanting them into someone and then manipulating them into doing what he wanted." Nagato said.

"You underestimate the burden of those eyes. Someone who has not awakened them cannot simply implant and used them. Their body would crumble under the pressure, just like your body is currently." Shiki explained.

"But why me specifically?" Nagato asked.

"He needed some that could handle the burden of the eyes, even if only temporarily, and that's why he chose you. You carry the bloodline of Ashura, being gifted with a powerful life force that could handle those eyes for a relatively long period of time before crumbling." Shiki added.

"I'm a descendant of the Sage of Six Paths?" Nagato asked with some disbelief.

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