Chapter 444: Manipulated idiot

"First of all, I think you should be grateful. I just saved his life." Rei self-righteously stated, making the still-unnamed brunette even madder.

Not that he cared how she viewed his depriving Nagato of his sight but he felt like explaining since they had time to waste until Obito finally showed up.

Someone extremely meticulous like him definitely had a way to notify him if his most important pawn was in danger. And even if not, Zetsu was on standby to do just that. After all, a play could not go on without its main actor, no?

"A-and wh-why?"

Surprisingly, it was not the brunette who responded but the still-suffering Nagato who managed to get that resentful question out through his gritted teeth and whimpering.

Rei turned towards him and put his hand on Nagato's shoulder in a friendly manner, "Look, mate, I get it. You think losing your special eyes is bad but to be honest, they were not even yours, to begin with."

Now that stopped the blind boy's seething almost instantly. He still tried to rudely shake off Rei's hand though...

Obviously, Nagato was not a complete fool. Nobody who could create and lead an organization like Akatsuki could be stupid. Arrogant and ignorant... yes. Stupid... no.

Rei counted on that fact and surmised that Nagato did his research on his eyes. It was only natural to be interested in why he had them and how he got them. Yet, not even some Kages knew about Rinnegan. It was so obscure and veiled in myths and legends that it might as well be fiction. Zetsu did his job well and the proper information about those eyes was very hard to get.

That's why Rei's sentence made Nagato still and tempted him no matter how it inwardly made him feel uncomfortable.

Seeing that, Rei smirked, "You didn't really think you are some kind of chosen one, did you?" He playfully rolled his eyes, "Well, in a manner of speaking, you are. You are Madara's chosen one. Those eyes I just ruined belong to Uchiha Madara. The real and dead one, not the ridiculous wannabe that was manipulating you for over the past decade." He nonchalantly dropped the bomb on them.

Nagato grew completely silent when he heard that, even his whimpering ceased. It was obvious he was still in pain from how tightly he clenched his fists but he was too focused on digesting the information.

Ninjas' minds worked a bit differently than civilian ones. They had to consider a lot of information on a daily basis, connecting patterns and deciding the truth from lies. It was a matter of life and death for them so Nagato would not just rashly believe whatever Rei told him without any basis behind it.

But that's where the trap laid. Rei didn't need to present proof. He knew Nagato spent over a decade in Tobi's presence and he definitely had his own misgivings. He just silently let Nagato mull over it for a bit and come to his own conclusions. No matter if they were right or wrong.

"How?" Nagato eventually asked in a quiet voice and Rei gestured for Konan to let the brunette go.

Konan pursed her lips but reluctantly obeyed, appearing next to Rei in a burst of speed, her eyes watching the brunette's every move.

The unimportant girl instantly stood up and worriedly limped towards Nagato, giving Rei a distrustful yet questioning glance.

"Tend to his wound." Rei dismissively said as he reassuringly rubbed Konan's lower back to make her relax a bit.

"Back to your question," He spoke towards Nagato, "I am sure you started learning the Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique, no?"

Nagato slowly nodded, hissing a bit as the brunette slowly pulled away his hands from his face, revealing his face with a horizontal gash going through his eyes and nose. It wasn't a pretty sight.

"And I guess it wasn't exactly your idea, right?" Rei led him to the conclusions he wanted him to arrive at, taking great pleasure at his minuscule reactions like scrunching of his face there, a twitch in his cheek here, or balling of his fists, as Nagato was slowly connecting the dots.

Rei didn't need an answer to his previous question. The thoughtful frown on Nagato's face told him what he needed to know. "Tobi no doubt reasoned it would have been a great boon to have a technique capable of reviving the Akatsuki members." He 'guessed', causing Nagato to flinch at how accurate Rei was.

Theoretically speaking, Nagato already had the King of Hell that could revive people but that only worked on recently deceased. Anybody who died more than just a few minutes before he was tossed as a munchie to the King of Hell's maw would not come back to life. That's where the sacrificial revive technique came to play.

Well, Rei did have Zetsu tell him precisely how Obito managed to persuade Nagato to learn a suicide Jutsu so it was less about guessing and more about simply being manipulative.

"What he didn't tell you is that you were just a pawn supposed to revive Uchiha Madara when it is time, sacrificing your own life in the process." Rei revealed decades of secret plans with one sentence, feeling extremely smug about that accomplishment.

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While Nagato fell into silent contemplation, it was actually the brunette who gasped at the implications, "The technique was supposed to work without Nagato having to die." She exclaimed, reluctant to believe it.

"Sure, it does." Rei shrugged. He knew about that from Kaguya. She could do that easily depending on the strength of the revived person... not that she would waste her chakra for others like that. "But only if he had a more advanced form of Rinnegan. Unfortunately for him, he is an Uzumaki. He can wield the eyes to a very limited degree because of his ancestry but he would never be able to evolve it. Not naturally, at least."

Rei suddenly blinked as he finished explaining and his eyes gave the woman an inquisitive look, "By the way, what's your name? I think I forgot to ask."

That earned him a small nudge to the side from Konan and a prompt eye roll.

"I am Amagi Mika." The brunette said with a frown, her hands not stopping to tend to Nagato's wound.

When Rei heard her name... he shrugged her existence off. At first, he thought she was a canon character he was forgetting about but he had no recollection of a character with that name. As he thought, she simply was not important.

"You are quite skilled at medical ninjutsu." Konan quipped.

She was glad about that. Usually, it was her who kept the 'prisoners' alive. Mika being capable of healing enabled Konan to just relax and let Nagato's life in her hands. After all, the woman clearly cared more about his life than Konan ever would.

"Mhm." Mika neutrally hummed, not willing to start a conversation with the woman who almost killed her. She could still feel the painful tingle from the small cut on her neck.

"Rude." Konan frowned, causing Mika's cheek to twitch a bit.

The brunette wanted to scream that she was almost decapitated just a few moments ago by Konan so being rude was a mild response in her opinion but... she was smarter than that and kept quiet, focused on helping Nagato while glaring to nowhere.

While this was going on, Rei was screening the town with his senses, quite surprised at the instilled order and the improved quality of life of the inhabitants. Being under Akatsuki clearly helped this town a lot and he was a bit curious if other settlements in Ame were like this.

'Not all that villains do is bad, huh?' He thought. He doubted Akatsuki would be the villain from the perspective of the Ame people. Not after their lives were improved so much thanks to them.

And yet...

Rei looked at Nagato with a sigh. The redhead clearly knew only might makes right. That was the entire basis behind his 'gather the bijuu and threaten the other nations' plan. As stupid as it was, Rei could see it working.

Of course, as with everything, it would require some poor, ignorant, and arrogant sods to die so the others could see he was not joking but... in a world like theirs, the strongest could easily take the reins.

Nagato also obviously wanted to improve people's lives and Rei blamed Jiraiya for his naive outlook. The man was no true ninja. He might dress like one, and he might have a semblance of thinking of one instilled to him by Jiraiya but…

He was just a misguided idiot with too much power to be healthy who was manipulated from his early childhood. Whether that manipulation was done by a white-haired peace-loving pervert or fake Madara, it didn't matter as it caused its fair share of damage.

Nagato could not think for himself. Even if something was clearly fishy with Tobi for years, he ignored it and blindly chased his stupid goal. Rei… really couldn't understand the man.

'Speaking of fake Madaras.' Rei turned around, his hand snapping upward and catching the wrist of a person that appeared from a swirl.

Rei looked at the kunai that was supposed to end up in his back and raised his eyebrow at the new arrival. "Did you really think this would work?" He looked at the man with an orange swirl mask whose single Mangekyo Sharingan was glaring at Rei from behind it in utter rage.

"Do you have any idea what you have done?" The fake Madara menacingly growled.

Rei just pleasantly smiled at that, "Why don't you explain it to me as if I was five?"

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