My Villainous Life Starting with Naruto

Chapter 116 Chess Piece, Two-Person Bait

The deep underground.

Madara Uchiha looked up, and what slowly moved in his eye sockets was still the three-tomoe jade that did not belong to him.

"I'm back." The voice echoed in the darkness, and a white humanoid figure, seemingly sculpted from latex, reappeared underground.

"I saw Luna... He was with Nagato Uzumaki."

"A battle broke out in the Land of Rain, Hanzo of the Salamander died, and the leader of Akatsuki committed suicide."

"The Moon God appeared last; he seemed to be coveting the power of the Rinnegan."

"Nagato Uzumaki is quite close to him." White Zetsu paused, then asked, holding his head.

"Do we need to retrieve the Rinnegan?"

Madara remained silent for a long time before finally speaking calmly:

"His eyes are with him; they won't run away."

"Wow, so confident, no wonder he's Madara." White Zetsu's personality has always been carefree, and even when facing this man who has become a legend in the ninja world, he sometimes doesn't act seriously.

"And what about the moon goddess?"

"Kill him, that masked clown. Let the pawns take care of him."

"A chess piece? You mean Obito Uchiha? But we haven't gotten our hands on him yet."

"Yes, soon." Madara closed his eyes again, absorbing the golem's chakra to sustain his life.

"No one can escape fate, and neither can a pawn."

……

"Nagato, it hurts a little." Konan frowned, but didn't turn around.

"I'm sorry." Nagato Uzumaki was drenched in sweat.

"Yahiko has always been the one to apply the medicine for you. I have no experience and I reopened your wound. I'm sorry."

"It's alright," the purple-haired woman smiled, reassuring her companion instead.

"I'm not in pain."

"Feel sorry."

Silence spread through the room.

Suddenly, Xiao Nan spoke softly:

"Nagato, you've apologized to me thirty-four times today."

"I'm sorry, Xiao Nan, I..."

The purple-haired woman didn't turn around; she simply raised her arm and stretched it back, precisely pinching Nagato's mouth shut.

"Stop apologizing. Yahiko's death wasn't your fault. I've never blamed you. If I were in Yahiko's shoes, I would have run into that kunai too."

A wet sensation came from the back of her hand, and tears dripped down Xiao Nan's hand until they hit her back.

"Don't cry, don't cry, Nagato." The purple-haired woman's voice was gentle, as if she were comforting a heartbroken child.

"You are a man with the eyes of a sage, you cannot be so fragile."

However, Konan's face, which was turned away from Nagato, was also covered in tears.

The three grew up together, and Yahiko and Minami were even lovers. They considered each other to be a part of their own bodies.

Losing Yahiko was more painful than having limbs torn off.

However, after the sadness, life must go on.

Nagato wiped his eyes and saw that Konan's back was stained with his tears, the graceful arc of which was dotted with water droplets, reflecting a beautiful shimmer when the light shone on it.

He dared not look anymore.

Minami was a family member she grew up with, and also Yahiko's lover who died for her...

He was so ashamed he almost gouged out his own eyes.

Nagato silently found a blanket and covered Konan with it.

"Damn Hyuga Yuto..." he suddenly cursed.

The purple-haired woman sighed:

"I didn't expect Hyuga Yuto to make a sudden move. It's strange. He doesn't seem like the kind of heartless person. Even if he were to kill me, he should have done it quickly."

"It's not surprising that Konoha ninjas would do something like this. Apart from Jiraiya, they're all devils in human skin," Nagato Uzumaki sneered.

His parents were mistakenly killed by Konoha ninjas, and Yahiko also died in the schemes of Konoha and Amegakure. Nagato felt that the ninja village that boasted of being a towering tree was the ugliest and darkest place in the world, and had no good feelings towards it at all.

……

Konoha Village, Hokage Building.

"So the result is that Hanzo of the Salamander is confirmed dead, we've lost twenty-three elite ninjas, and Akatsuki only has one strongest member of the Uzumaki clan left... He even has the Rinnegan, right?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi slammed the three reports heavily on the table and pinched the bridge of his nose:

"Shimura Danzo, can you give me some good news?"

Danzo remained silent for a long time without uttering a word.

The team suffered a crushing defeat and gained nothing except the information that "the Akatsuki organization possesses the Sage's Eyes".

"You may leave." Hiruzen Sarutobi asked no more questions, simply waving Danzo out of the room.

Soon, only Hiruzen Sarutobi remained in the room.

"Salamander..." he muttered to himself, feeling a bit of a headache.

The reason why the strategy of helping Amegakure quell the rebellion was implemented so smoothly, and even the ninjas of Konoha's main force were mobilized, was not only because Hiruzen Sarutobi wanted to form an alliance with Amegakure on a grand strategic level, but also because he had his own purposes.

—He wants to bring Hanzo the Salamander into the group that's besieging the Moon Goddess!

The plan to ambush them had already been devised in the Land of Rain, and Konoha had helped Amegakure, so there was no reason for Hanzo of the Salamander to disagree.

Unfortunately, fate played a cruel joke on Hiruzen Sarutobi.

If we remove Hanzo, there might be an opening in the encirclement... We need to add more troops. The deal with Kirigakure is almost finalized, so next...

Hiruzen Sarutobi got up, pondered for a moment, and went out through the hidden door of the office into a secluded room.

Pushing open the door, a sickly-looking girl sat inside.

"Miko." Hiruzen Sarutobi took a puff of his pipe:

"Is it a good stay here? I heard you like colorful glass beads. The ANBU will bring some over when they deliver the food tonight."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Hyuga Yoshiko smiled. Although she was still emaciated, her complexion and demeanor were much better than before.

She started eating on time, practicing ninjutsu on time, and even chatting and laughing with the ANBU who were taking care of her.

All the changes stemmed from a sentence that Hiashi Hyuga said to her:

"Miko, perhaps Shinji isn't dead."

That's right, Hyuga Yoshiko was sent over by Hiashi himself!

Although he didn't know why the Hyuga clan made such a sacrifice, Hiruzen Sarutobi accepted it gladly.

If the Moon Goddess is Shinji Hyuga, then Miko is indeed an excellent bait.

Of course, she was just one of the many baits...

The Third Hokage was absolutely confident that Tsukuyomi would not be able to steal any of the bait.

An irresistible bait, an unbeatable master, and an inescapable encirclement.

These are the things that Hiruzen Sarutobi prepared for Tsukuyomi.

Amidst the swirling smoke, the Third Hokage sat beside Miko.

"Miko."

"Lord Hokage?"

"Are you scared? Although I haven't told you the specific plan, you should be able to guess that what the village wants you to do is very dangerous, and to be honest, the village can't force Hyuga if you don't want to."

Hinata Miko was slightly startled:

"I didn't think that much about it... As long as I see Shinji, as long as he's still alive, I'll be content. Besides, aren't the Hokage and the clan leader also here?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi paused for a moment, knocked the ashes off his cigarette in the yard, smiled at the Hyuga girl, then got up and slowly walked away.

Just before leaving, he suddenly spoke, his voice so soft that only he could hear it.

"Everything is for Konoha."

(End of this chapter)