Starting with the Uchiha clan, they began cultivating demonic arts.

Chapter 183 Nagato's Return

Three more days passed. In the Land of Fire, in Konoha Village, a ninja with a full head of white hair hurriedly arrived.

"Lord Jiraiya, what... what's wrong with you?"

The Konoha ninja stationed at the entrance looked at Jiraiya as he walked in and asked in surprise. Jiraiya's messy white hair had lost its luster, his eyes were dark-rimmed, and his skin was pale, making him look as if he had aged more than ten years.

Not only that, his clothes were torn in several places, and there were also some dried bloodstains. Through the torn clothes, you could also see some hastily bandaged wounds.

Jiraiya looks disheveled and beaten up no matter how you look at him now.

Considering the identity of this legendary Sannin of Konoha, the gatekeepers stationed at the main gate of Konoha couldn't help but wonder, who could possibly injure such a powerful figure as Jiraiya? Could something major be about to happen in the ninja world?

"Is that Izumo? Please contact Tsunade for me. I have important information to report... Never mind, I'll head over myself first."

Jiraiya was teleported out of Mount Myōboku by Fukasaku using the Reverse Summoning Technique, but instead of returning directly to the ninja world, he appeared on the border of the Land of Wind.

After that, Jiraiya tried to summon the toads of Mount Myōboku using the Summoning Jutsu. However, apart from a few small frogs and tadpoles that he initially summoned, he was unable to summon any of the remaining Mount Myōboku toads.

At that time, Jiraiya knew very well that Uchiha Hiu had killed all the toads of Mount Myōboku. Under these circumstances, Jiraiya could only suppress his grief and take the few remaining toad tadpoles from Mount Myōboku to an oasis on the border of the Land of Wind to settle them. Then he hurriedly rushed back to Konoha.

Along the way, Jiraiya didn't even have time to fully treat his injuries, only giving them a rough bandage, and focused all his attention on traveling.

The strength displayed by Uchiha Tou was simply too terrifying. Jiraiya had to make Konoha prepare as soon as possible. Moreover, because he did not know about the factor that the Sage of Six Paths had given Nagato a power-up, Jiraiya believed that Nagato had been killed by Uchiha Tou. Now, there was probably no one in the entire ninja world who could withstand Uchiha Tou's power.

Of course, Jiraiya had to report this important information to Tsunade, and then see how to resolve it. If necessary, ninjutsu such as the Eight Gates, the Reaper Death Seal, the Reverse Four Symbols Technique, and the Impure World Reincarnation would be used.

The Konoha ninja guarding the gate didn't stop Jiraiya; they simply reported it to the inside. Meanwhile, in the Hokage's office, Uchiha Touya, who had been waiting there, immediately smiled.

"As expected... Jiraiya came to Konoha right away!"

When the entire Mount Myōboku was destroyed, Uchiha Hiyō didn't actually notice whether Jiraiya was dead or not. It was only later, when he was calculating the souls he had captured using the Soul Binding Technique, that he realized Jiraiya's soul was missing.

After that, he examined the soul memories of the toads and obtained information from them, knowing that Jiraiya had escaped from Mount Myōboku.

However, the Reverse Summoning Technique performed hastily at that time could not directly summon Jiraiya back to Konoha; it would most likely take some time.

After returning to the ninja world, Uchiha Hiyu first spent half a day killing all the tailed beasts. Then, for the next three days, he was busy dealing with Konan, turning her into a vessel that obeyed his every word.

As for what happened later, Uchiha Hiu planned to send Konan to infiltrate Nagato's camp, using the excuse that Konan had been summoned by reverse summoning and thus escaped with her life.

Jiraiya was aware of the battle situation and might have noticed some flaws. Although Nagato certainly trusted Konan completely, with the power of the more advanced Rinnegan, he could have easily discovered Konan's identity with just a little bit of suspicion and a hypnotic interrogation.

"Tsunade, Jiraiya is all yours from now on."

Uchiha Touyu turned to look at Tsunade and said something. Tsunade nodded with a somewhat somber expression after hearing this.

Although she didn't want to harm her old friend, she had no way to refuse Uchiha Tou's request.

A little while later, Jiraiya hurriedly arrived at the Hokage's office. Seeing the composed Tsunade, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"Looks like that Uchiha Tou hasn't made any moves yet? I got back just in time."

"What exactly happened, Jiraiya? And what about Uchiha Tou, whom you mentioned? What is he planning to do? Didn't you go to the Land of Wind to gather information about him?"

As soon as Jiraiya relaxed, he felt pain all over his body. He sat down on a stool in the Hokage's office and sighed.

"Yes, I went to the Land of Wind to inquire about some information, but I still don't quite know what this guy is planning to do. However, I did learn that Uchiha Touyu is indeed plotting something, and his strength far exceeds my expectations."

"Judging from your appearance, that guy probably beat you up!"

"They didn't beat me up... To be precise, I just suffered injuries as a result of the aftermath of the battle..."

Jiraiya's face showed a mixture of bitterness, fear, anger, and even despair. After a moment, he lowered his head.

"Mount Myōboku has been completely destroyed by that Uchiha Tou!"

"All the toads in the entire Mount Myōboku were wiped out, except for a few tiny toads and tadpoles the size of a palm, which I managed to summon and escape!"

Although she already knew this, Tsunade still feigned surprise as she looked at Jiraiya:

"Jiraiya, what on earth happened? Is that Uchiha Tou really that strong?"

"He's stronger than you imagine. Uchiha Touya destroyed the entire Mount Myōboku in less than a minute or two... He could probably destroy Konoha in just that little time!"

As he spoke, Jiraiya coughed twice more, and blood began to seep from the already dark brown bandages on his wounds.

"Enough talk, Jiraiya, let's treat you first!"

Tsunade, her hands glowing green, approached Jiraiya. Jiraiya took a breath and spoke:

"Thank you very much, Tsunade... uh?!"

As the green light from Tsunade's hand touched Jiraiya, Jiraiya immediately felt his chakra flow stop instantly, and then his eyes rolled back and he fainted.

At this moment, Uchiha Touyu, who was standing behind Tsunade, removed his mask and said with a light laugh:

"I didn't expect to win him over so easily. It seems you still trust me quite a bit."

As he spoke, Uchiha Touya used Kamui to pull Jiraiya inside. Then, he spat out a female ninja with blue-purple hair and a cold, beautiful face from the Kamui space; she was none other than Konan, his former captive.

"Lord Touyu, have you captured the teacher?"

"That's right, the one who was just sent into the Kamui dimension is Jiraiya."

Uchiha Touyu glanced at Konan and answered directly:

"Now that Jiraiya's threat has been eliminated, you can go find Nagato."

As he spoke, Uchiha Hiyu took out several black earrings. These were signal markers created by Nagato using Yin-Yang Release, which he had been wearing on Konan's ears. Theoretically, as long as Konan input chakra, Nagato could receive the signal.

Fortunately, Konan initially thought Nagato was dead, but later she was taken into the Kamui dimension by Uchiha Hiu. In that alternate dimension, Nagato couldn't receive Konan's signal.

Later, when Uchiha Touyu entered the Kamui dimension, he turned Konan into a furnace and also retrieved her earrings. Through these two earrings, Uchiha Touyu could also sense how far Nagato was from here.

"According to my senses, Nagato will be able to enter the ninja world in about two days. Before that, you can use this earring to contact him."

Konan silently reached out and took the earring, then looked up at Uchiha Touyu:

"How will I contact you, Lord Feiyu, from now on?"

"Hmm... in that case, I'll leave a mark for you!"

Uchiha Hiyu reached out and entered his collar, leaving a Flying Thunder God seal in the valley between Konan's two peaks.

The crimson three-tomoe mark flickered twice on his fair skin before gradually fading away. Uchiha Touyu nodded with a smile.

"I also used the power of Yin-Yang Release in this Flying Thunder God seal. In this way, as long as you input your chakra, you can contact me. I can also use this location to directly appear next to you, or directly summon you back."

Konan reached out and gently touched the mark on her skin, then slowly moved closer to Uchiha Touyu. Her clothes were half-undone, revealing a patch of fair skin.

"Lord Tou, didn't you say Nagato wouldn't enter the ninja world for another two days?"

"I'm afraid I won't be able to see you for long periods of time in the future, so let's not waste these next two days..."

Uchiha Touyu naturally accepted such a good opportunity without hesitation. He didn't care that this was the Hokage's office and immediately pulled Konan and Tsunade along to start practicing the Joyful Union Technique.

Two days later, a travel-worn figure flew into the sky above the Land of Wind.

"Finally back in the ninja world... According to Jiraiya-sensei, the Land of Wind is Uchiha Tou's stronghold. I wonder if he's here too?"

As Nagato soared through the sky, his eyes held neither joy nor sorrow, his entire face cold and hard, like a stone statue.

Having lost all his comrades and his teacher, and witnessed the destruction of Mount Myōboku, Nagato's only thought now is to seek revenge on Uchiha Hyuga.

Nagato's Sage Mode senses spread out, expanding to tens of kilometers in an instant. He sensed as he flew, but unfortunately, he only sensed the chakra of ordinary ninjas and did not detect Uchiha Tou.

Nagato gritted his teeth. The Land of Wind was vast, and although his perception range was wide, it could only cover a small part of the country.

It would take at least one or two months to thoroughly scan the entire Land of Wind using sensory abilities.

Not to mention that such perception would have a lot of oversights, the other party couldn't possibly stand still in one place. Moreover, if the other party wasn't in the Land of Wind, he couldn't possibly scan the entire ninja world!

"How about... we go to Sunagakure? That should be Uchiha Tou's base, right?"

After searching for a while without finding a solution, Nagato changed his approach and began to think about whether he could force the Sand Ninja to hand over Uchiha Touu.

Although given Uchiha Tou's personality, he probably wouldn't care about Sand Ninja, Nagato doesn't have many options right now, so he can only try this method for now.

However, at that moment, Nagato suddenly sensed a strange signal constantly contacting him. His expression changed, revealing a look of surprise and delight. He quickly transferred his thoughts towards the direction of the signal.

"Xiao Nan!! Are you alright!? That's so great!"

As the wave of longing spread, Nagato soon saw Konan constantly sending him signals and immediately shouted out in surprise.

He then turned around, no longer thinking about Sunagakure or Uchiha Touya, and directly located Konan's signal, using the Summoning Jutsu.

With a bang, and after a puff of white smoke, Konan appeared in front of Nagato. Nagato looked at his only companion with excitement and found that although Konan looked a little haggard and tired, her complexion was rosy and her skin was healthy and plump, and she had not been injured.

"I'm fine, Nagato... I used the Divine Paper Technique to dodge that guy's Shinra Tensei, and later I was lucky enough to be sent out by the Toad Sage using the Reverse Summoning Technique."

"At that time, I was also sent directly to the Land of Wind. During this time, while recuperating from my injuries, I also gathered some information in the Sand Village."

"Thank you for your hard work, Xiao Nan!"

Nagato looked at Konan with a relieved smile, and even the burning anger that had been raging since leaving Mount Myōboku subsided considerably.

Konan lowered her eyes slightly, feeling a little guilty. However, Uchiha Touyu's control abilities had already penetrated her mind, and when she thought of Uchiha Touyu's orders, this slight guilt was quickly put aside.

"Nagato, I have something important to tell you. In the days before you returned, Uchiha Tou had already taken action against all the Tailed Beasts!"

"Attack the Tailed Beasts?!"

Nagato's expression changed slightly. After meeting the Sage of Six Paths in the Pure Land, he now had a clear understanding of the origins and development of chakra evolution in the entire ninja world, and naturally knew what those tailed beasts represented.

Even after the Sage of Six Paths passed on his power to him, he instructed him that if he still couldn't defeat Uchiha Hiu, then he should continue to seek the power of the Tailed Beasts, which was the closest source of chakra to the Primordial God Tree.

(End of this chapter)