The Land of Rain is a country washed by rain year-round.
In this land shrouded in damp cold, the Hidden Rain Village exists in its own unique way.
Takuno's footsteps entered this jungle of steel.
What met his eyes were countless strange buildings constructed of cold metal.
They had cold, hard lines and sharp angles, and even more impressive were the giant drainage pipes scattered throughout the village.
He paused for a moment, his gaze penetrating the continuous curtain of rain.
He could clearly see that this falling rain was no ordinary water.
Every drop of rain quietly contained a faint trace of chakra.
"Rain Tiger at Will Technique..." Takuno muttered to himself.
This was precisely the secret technique Nagato performed through the Tendo Pain he controlled.
This technique allows the user's chakra to blend into the ubiquitous rain, turning it into sensory tentacles that silently shroud the entire village.
Any unusual movement that enters the range of the rain cannot escape his control.
The chakra consumption of this Ninjutsu is actually not low; it generally requires the use of raindrops, and the Land of Rain, where it rains year-round, provides the perfect environment for this Ninjutsu.
Otherwise, even if Nagato is of the Uzumaki Clan, he couldn't possibly use his own chakra to sustain this endless rain indefinitely.
Takuno slowly raised his palm, and a few drops of icy rain fell into it.
He focused his perception, and a slight chakra fluctuation came from his fingertips.
Every person's chakra is a unique imprint, a product of the fusion of physical and spiritual energy, as unrepeatable as a fingerprint.
At this moment, he was confirming the other party's chakra from this rain.
A moment later, he withdrew his hand, his vision piercing through layers of rain, precisely targeting a specific location deep within the village.
Having determined the direction, Takuno set off, walking forward at a leisurely pace.
Amazingly, the densely falling raindrops containing the power of surveillance seemed to encounter an invisible barrier the moment they were about to touch his body.
The rain naturally slid down along some invisible curve, flowing along the contours of his body, without leaving even a single water mark on his dark clothes, let alone touching him in the slightest.
Along the path he walked, it wasn't that no one was present; they were all wearing the special Shinobi uniforms of the Hidden Rain Village and breathing masks.
However, not a single one of them noticed Takuno; even as Takuno passed right before their eyes, he didn't attract any attention.
Soon, Takuno passed through the labyrinth of steel and pipes, finally arriving in front of a building with an even more bizarre style.
Stepping inside, the light became even dimmer.
He saw an impressive sight.
An emaciated figure was deeply seated in a specially made chair, almost merging with the shadows.
With withered limbs, sunken eye sockets, and the protruding skeletal outline under pale skin, it was precisely the owner of the Rinnegan, Nagato.
Beside Nagato, a blue-haired woman was carefully tending to him, her movements gentle and focused.
She was the "Angel" Konan, the resilient Shinobi who protected her comrades with Paper Ninjutsu.
They were completely unaware that an uninvited guest had already stepped into the core of this silence and was silently watching them.
Takuno looked at the two who were oblivious to his arrival and suddenly snapped his fingers.
"Snap!"
That sound seemed to strike directly at their nerve endings, so crisp it was heart-stopping.
Nagato and Konan were instantly struck as if by lightning, their bodies tensing up within a thousandth of a second.
Surging chakra erupted, circling rapidly around the two.
"Who?!" Nagato shouted sharply, the purple light of his Rinnegan suddenly flaring in the dim light as he scanned the corner where the sound originated.
Konan also immediately entered a combat stance, paper sheets silently gathering at her sleeves, her gaze cold and alert.
Only then did their gazes pierce through the gloom and lock onto the figure that had appeared at some unknown time.
He stood there casually, as if he had always existed there.
The other party had never even thought of hiding!
And that familiar, iconic Fox Mask covering his face instantly awakened all their daunting memories regarding "The Collector."
"Long time no see," Takuno said with an elusive smile. He slowly paced forward, his gaze sweeping over their tense bodies and wary expressions. "It seems you're doing... tsk, it doesn't seem very well."
This seemingly casual greeting, in the air so tense it had solidified, was more like a condescending scrutiny.
"The Collector?!" Nagato stared fixedly at him, the wariness in his eyes almost becoming tangible.
The scene just now was like a heavy hammer striking his perception; the other party could actually perfectly hide his presence at such a close distance until he chose to expose himself!
If not for that snap of the fingers, he and Konan would probably still be in the dark.
This was simply... a naked declaration of strength!
If the other party harbored killing intent and chose to launch a sneak attack at that moment... the consequences would be unimaginable!
Nagato was not unfamiliar with the fame of "The Collector."
In that earth-shattering battle at Iwagakure, the other party had suppressed the entire village single-handedly, forcing Tsuchikage Onoki to hand over Tailed Beast chakra, long ago pushing the name of The Collector onto the altar of the peak of power in the Shinobi World.
At that time, when Nagato reviewed this intelligence, he still held a bit of arrogance in his heart; he believed he could do the same relying on his Rinnegan.
Therefore, despite his surprise, he viewed The Collector more as a powerful but not necessarily unattainable goal.
After all, it wasn't like he hadn't seen The Collector; a long time ago, the other party had taken advantage of his vulnerability and snatched an arm from the Gedo Statue.
Back then, if he hadn't exhausted all his chakra to deal with Hanzou, The Collector would have been no match for his Rinnegan at all.
Nagato naturally couldn't believe that someone whose strength was inferior to his own at that time and could only take advantage of a crisis could surpass him in strength after the same amount of time had passed.
So, in Nagato's view, this incident could only prove that Iwagakure was likely strong on the outside but weak on the inside, having long lost the dominance of the Five Great Shinobi Villages!
Even since then, a richly rewarded mission to "assassinate The Collector" from Iwagakure had once caused him a moment of interest.
That huge reward was enough to greatly accelerate the Akatsuki's grand plan to collect the Tailed Beasts.
However, after careful consideration, they ultimately chose to give it up.
The reason was also simple.
First, The Collector's identity was like a mystery shrouded in thick fog; the vast Shinobi World only heard his title, but no one knew his true face.
Every time he appeared, it was like a ghost appearing suddenly, and after completing a feat, he would vanish without a trace, leaving no clues to follow, making assassination impossible.
Secondly, even Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan, lacked full confidence in his heart that he could completely keep The Collector there.
Because the impression left by the other party when snatching the Gedo Statue was too deep; the other party's caution and endless methods made him understand that killing him would definitely not be that easy.
And once they failed, not only would they be unable to obtain the huge reward, but more terrifyingly, it would completely enrage such a calculating existence.
If The Collector were to interfere at a critical moment in the Akatsuki's future collection of Tailed Beasts, the consequences would be disastrous.
Finally, and most importantly, the other party only took Tailed Beast chakra and did not seize the Tailed Beasts themselves, which did not directly conflict with the Akatsuki's ultimate goal.
Weighing the pros and cons, that tempting reward was ultimately suppressed by reason.
But now!
Right here on this high tower of Hidden Rain, when The Collector appeared before them in such an inconceivable way and with a suffocating sense of pressure.
The residual sense of superiority in strength in Nagato's heart completely collapsed.
He finally realized how shallow his original judgment had been!
The depth of the masked man before him far exceeded any of his previous imaginations!
He even suspected that when the other party snatched the Gedo Statue, he actually hadn't exposed his true strength at all.
The strength the other party exposed then was just to toy with them!
"What have you come here to do?" Nagato's voice was low, carrying an unquestionable pressure.
The power of the Rinnegan was latent around him, yet it was enough to make the entire space feel suffocated.
At this moment, the figure of Tendo Pain suddenly appeared like a ghost, standing silently in front of the two, his cold pupils also focused on Takuno.
Takuno, however, appeared exceptionally relaxed, as if he completely didn't see their wariness.
He just casually waved his hand: "Don't worry, you no longer have anything worth my collection on you."
Nagato pressed his lips tight, responding with silence.
He absolutely did not believe this rhetoric.
The Rinnegan, this pair of eyes hailed as the "Eyes that Control Life and Death," is a supreme ocular treasure that the Shinobi World dreams of, a foundation of power enough to overturn the world.
How could anyone turn a blind eye to it?
Unless... it was a Shinobi like Master Jiraiya who pursued peace with great righteousness in his heart.
However, The Collector Takuno's past style of action had nothing to do with that; his very existence was filled with a dangerous aura of plunder and possession.
"Don't believe it?" Takuno seemed to be able to pierce through every bit of doubt in Nagato's heart and laughed softly.
The laughter echoed in the empty high tower, carrying a hint of playfulness.
The moment the laughter fell, the hazy mist around his left eye quietly dispersed!
That pupil, which had been hidden all along, was exposed without reservation to the gazes of Nagato and Konan.
Time seemed to freeze at this moment.
"How is that possible!"
Nagato's and Konan's pupils contracted violently at the same time, and they cried out in shock, their faces filled with unbelievable horror!
What met their eyes was indeed a Rinnegan as deep as an abyss!
But that was by no means the Rinnegan form Nagato was familiar with.
Deep within that pupil, which flowed with an ancient and mysterious purple light, three pitch-black tomoe rotated slowly, emitting a more overbearing and unpredictable pressure!
There was no doubt that it was a Rinnegan, but it was a form that transcended their knowledge and stood above their understanding!
"Do you believe it now?" Takuno's voice carried indifference as it rang out clearly. "I have no interest in your pair of Rinnegan."
Nagato and Konan were struck as if by lightning, standing frozen on the spot, completely overwhelmed by the massive shock.
A second pair of Rinnegan... a second pair of Rinnegan really exists in the world!
This completely shattered their inherent understanding.
What was even more terrifying was that this Rinnegan embedded with tomoe, the phenomena it displayed and its potential power, seemed to be even above the Rinnegan Nagato possessed!
Takuno looked at their frozen expressions, and the curve of his mouth deepened.
He nonchalantly raised his hand and crisply snapped his fingers.
Buzz!
The air emitted a slight and strange vibration.
Behind him, space rippled with invisible waves like a water curtain.
Without any sign, without any matter as a basis, a giant throne with an ancient style and flowing with dark gold luster materialized out of thin air!
It just hovered there in the void, as if it had existed there since ancient times.
Takuno sat on it in a relaxed posture, resting his chin on one hand, waiting at his leisure for the two people in front of him to struggle to recover from these successive shocks.
Nagato's gaze stared fixedly at the throne that appeared out of thin air, his heart already in turmoil.
With the power of his Rinnegan, creating a stone seat of the same shape would be easy, but the essence of that is the transformation and reorganization of material forms.
But Takuno's method... he actually saw no matter as a foundation!
That throne was "something from nothing" in the true sense, born directly from the void!
This kind of method completely overturned his boundary of understanding of Ninjutsu, power, and even the rules of the world!
Creation out of thin air! Is this really within the scope of what Ninjutsu can achieve?
"Is this... is this the ability contained in that three-tomoe Rinnegan?"
Stormy waves rose in Nagato's heart; he could only attribute this incomprehensible miracle to the mysterious and unpredictable pupil in the other party's eye.
He couldn't imagine that even without these eyes, Takuno's own power could also create this throne.
Or rather, Takuno had long reached a realm of strength that the entire Shinobi World could not understand.
Even the "God" Pain Nagato, who stood at the pinnacle of the current world, at this moment, clearly felt the smallness and powerlessness of his own cognition being ruthlessly crushed.
Takuno's existence was like a bottomless dark abyss, its depth far exceeding his limit of imagination regarding strength.
Time passed slowly in the oppressive silence. Takuno sat on the throne, watching Nagato and Konan as they slowly recovered.
The corner of Takuno's lips finally curled into an almost imperceptible arc.
"Now," his voice was steady, "do you believe it?"
Nagato took a deep breath, the residual shock in his Rinnegan not yet completely dissipated.
He met Takuno's gaze, his voice low and raspy:
"Your strength... indeed far exceeds our understanding." He paused with difficulty. "With the level of power you've shown... I can't imagine you have any need to deceive us."
This was the cruel reality brought by the disparity in power, a logical perception based on absolute crushing strength.
When the gap is like a chasm, lies become redundant and meaningless burdens.
The other party only needed to show the tip of the iceberg of his power to destroy their doubts.
Konan, on the side, remained silent, the color not yet fully returned to her exquisite face.
As Nagato's words reached her ears, she couldn't refute them, nor could she immediately digest this subversive shock.
All she could do was accept Nagato's bitter conclusion.
Takuno's strength itself was the most convincing proof.
"Very well."
Takuno seemed not at all surprised by their reaction, and he changed the subject.
"Then, we can now talk about cooperation."
"Cooperation?!"
Amidst their bewildered expressions, Takuno spoke words they couldn't understand.
With the other party's strength, what could possibly require him to seek their cooperation?