The moment those words were spoken, all three of them felt themselves relax.
Facing this great existence, they had unconsciously remained fully focused the entire time.
They were like students who had made a mistake and been caught by their parents, then questioned about what they had recently learned, terrified that an incorrect answer would bring a horrifying punishment.
Therefore, before every cautious response, they had racked their brains in thought.
It was extremely mentally exhausting.
Now that the questioning had ended, everyone naturally felt their minds relax.
But although their minds loosened, their spirits grew increasingly tense.
They had no idea how they had arrived here, so naturally, they were deeply worried about whether they would still be able to return.
Even if returning was possible, whether this great existence would allow them to leave was another enormous question.
All three ninja knew that after capturing prisoners and interrogating them for intelligence, ninja would usually silence them afterward.
Very few captives were ever released.
Their lives were in the other party's hands.
How could they not be nervous?
Under the anxious gazes of the three, Uchiha Yoru spoke again.
"You have provided me with information, so naturally, I must grant you corresponding compensation."
"What do each of you desire?"
"However, I still lack sufficient influence over the shinobi world and cannot directly interfere with the material realm."
"Therefore, I cannot directly bestow rewards such as gold or jewels."
"What you may obtain from me are knowledge, cultivation methods..."
He glanced at the mass of chakra in his hand before continuing.
"Or chakra, natural energy, and spiritual power."
Uchiha Yoru noticed that Momochi Zabuza's and Yashamaru's eyes lit up, while Konan remained unmoved.
He immediately felt that something was wrong.
These deliberately offered rewards were bait he had specifically prepared.
They were meant to entice the three of them into voluntarily contacting him again.
If Konan refused the bait, she wouldn't actively cooperate next time.
He would still have to seize her by force.
That was unacceptable.
Moreover, Uchiha Yoru had brought these people here so that he could eventually make them work for him.
The bait he offered had to be sufficiently attractive.
So what did Konan want?
Inspiration flashed through Uchiha Yoru's mind, and he immediately understood.
He added, "Mm. I am also highly skilled in healing."
"As long as a person is still alive, no matter what injuries they possess, I can heal them quickly."
"Even if they are dead, as long as certain harsh conditions are satisfied, resurrection is also possible."
This time, not only did Konan's eyes light up, but the other two were also shocked and delighted.
Their original thoughts of casually requesting something and immediately leaving vanished without a trace.
Momochi Zabuza asked excitedly, "Great Being, what kind of chakra would I receive?"
"I mean, would it disappear after being used once, or...?"
Uchiha Yoru replied, "It would increase your total chakra reserves. It is not a one-time consumable."
Zabuza was overjoyed and repeatedly bowed his head.
"Thank you so much! I want chakra! That's what I lack most right now!"
Uchiha Yoru immediately crushed the chakra mass in his hand.
Then he extracted a small amount of chakra from his own body, reshaped it into a Water Release structure, and threw it toward Zabuza.
In truth, this portion of chakra was extremely weak.
Only such a faint structure could be transmitted through the karmic thread to the person himself.
The amount of chakra wasn't large, but the effect of the Water Release structure he had constructed was genuine.
It was enough to stimulate the potential of a ninja's Water Release chakra and release the potential they already possessed.
With Momochi Zabuza's aptitude, his chakra reserves should increase by around thirty percent.
He would be satisfied.
After receiving his reward, Zabuza was ecstatic.
Once granted permission, he disappeared from the Divine Court.
Seeing how smoothly he left, Yashamaru also requested a portion of chakra.
He hurriedly asked for permission and left at the first opportunity.
Uchiha Yoru understood that they were genuinely afraid they might not be able to return, so he allowed them to leave without delay.
Only Konan remained.
She respectfully lowered her head and bowed, then asked with hope in her voice, "Great Being, may I ask whether you can heal another person?"
Uchiha Yoru knew whom she wanted healed.
He asked, "Another person? Not yourself?"
Konan replied, "My closest friend."
"Whenever anyone performs treatment, regardless of who they are, they must first understand the patient's condition in detail."
Uchiha Yoru continued, "Now, do your best to recall your friend."
"Recall his illness and every detail concerning it."
"I have opened the necessary authority. Your memories can be displayed here."
Sure enough, the moment Konan subconsciously thought of Nagato, an illusion of him appeared in the air.
It was hazy, blurred, flickering, and extremely unstable.
Konan covered her mouth in surprise.
However, her eyes remained fixed upon Nagato's image in the air.
Her consciousness involuntarily recalled more details, gradually filling out Nagato's form.
Before long, Nagato's appearance was displayed in full.
His hair was dull and gray, his cheeks sunken, his body emaciated, and his limbs thin.
At a glance, he appeared terminally ill.
No.
It was more than that.
The worst condition in Nagato's body lay in his legs.
They could no longer merely be described as thin.
They had already begun to atrophy.
Uchiha Yoru praised her.
"It seems you and he truly are extremely close friends."
"You also care about him deeply."
"To recall so many details in an instant is remarkable."
"However, I must say that this is still insufficient."
"You should think of even more—more specific details."
"Only then can I determine what is wrong with his body."
Konan saw the tangible result and received encouragement.
As a result, she trusted this great existence's goodwill even more.
She began working hard to actively recall every physical detail concerning Nagato.
She searched for which aspects of the image remained incomplete and where more detail could still be added.
In the end, what appeared in the air could hardly be called a mere image.
It was almost a living Nagato.
Even Uchiha Yoru couldn't help admiring it.
The details were simply too complete.
With a single glance, he could tell that Nagato's body possessed no lingering old injuries.
Every problem originated from a single issue—malnutrition.
Someone was secretly extracting Nagato's blood and life force.
Otherwise, although Nagato had indeed suffered serious injuries before, for a member of the Uzumaki clan, those wounds should have been resolved by eating a good meal and sleeping.
The true reason for his paralysis was that during his recovery, enormous amounts of chakra and blood had been extracted from his body.
Even a massive quantity of life force had been directly drained.
This damaged his foundation and greatly reduced his regenerative ability.
Moreover, although the extraction had eased considerably, it had never stopped.
Nagato's body had never been given a chance to recover.
Under the constant loss of blood, his condition worsened and his healing ability became insufficient, causing his body to deteriorate even further.
Thus, a vicious cycle formed.
Nagato was ultimately one of the finest members of the Uzumaki clan and the Rinnegan caretaker Uchiha Madara had selected from countless candidates.
Even under such harsh circumstances, his bodily injuries had still healed.
But the process had taken far too long.
His body barely recovered, yet the lasting consequences were severe.
The pathological changes formed during the healing process couldn't be reversed and could only remain.
Uchiha Yoru naturally knew that three vampires were draining Nagato's life.
The first was the God Tree.
The second was the Rinnegan.
And the third should be Uchiha Madara, who had spent years carrying black tubes on his back and only finally died in Konoha Year 48.
The solution was simple.
Pull out the tubes behind Nagato and end the matter once and for all.
However, Nagato would probably rather die than accept that.
In that case, Uchiha Yoru could only provide Nagato with an enormous supplement, allowing him to receive sufficient nourishment and rapidly recover.
As long as his body became strong again, his resistance would increase severalfold.
A healthy Nagato should certainly be able to withstand the vampires draining his life.
But how should he do it?
He already possessed something suitable.
A medicinal pill perfectly matched to Nagato's current condition.
It wasn't the type of pill created by the Ōtsutsuki clan by compressing enormous amounts of chakra.
Instead, it was one of the three fish eggs made from the small fish of the underground river—purified rather than diluted.
The energy density of those things was unimaginably high.
Miwa Masayo only needed to lick one to become painfully swollen and experience all kinds of bodily-system disorders.
Even for Uchiha Yoru, swallowing a single one would overload him and cause problems.
They were practically poison.
But for Nagato, whose body had been depleted to this degree and whose life hung by a thread, it was divine medicine.
The Divine Court fell silent.
Konan clasped her hands together.
Her eyes were filled with hope and fear as she repeatedly looked between the god and Nagato's image.
Uchiha Yoru turned Nagato's image back and forth.
He appeared to be conducting an extremely detailed examination, but in reality, he was thinking about a different issue.
How could he send the fish egg to Konan while preserving his dignity?
Directly sending it over definitely wouldn't work.
Dispatching a ninja to deliver it would be even worse.
For a god, either method would be far too undignified and completely inconsistent with the lofty image he ought to possess.
Suddenly, Uchiha Yoru stopped moving and asked, "What is your name?"
Konan was startled, then hurriedly answered, "My name is Konan."
Uchiha Yoru continued, "Mm. Konan, would you be willing to exchange your reward for another?"
Konan immediately felt her entire body weaken.
She muttered, "Even a great existence such as yourself cannot heal Nagato?"
"Of course I can heal him."
Uchiha Yoru maintained the same measured pace as he explained, "Nagato's bodily problem is neither illness nor injury."
"Something is extracting large quantities of chakra and life force from him."
"It is as if an enormous wound upon his body is constantly bleeding."
"If that wound is not closed, no form of healing will have meaning."
Konan's eyes lit up.
She immediately connected his words to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
But her gaze soon dimmed again.
She knew Nagato would never abandon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
It was his only hope of avenging Yahiko.
Konan felt deeply regretful, but she still asked, "Great Being, may I ask whether Nagato can be healed without closing it?"
"Yes. I possess medicinal pills."
Konan was overwhelmed with delight upon hearing this answer.
She felt as though her heart might leap from her chest and nearly lost control of herself and stood up.
Uchiha Yoru continued, "However, I am currently too far from the shinobi world and cannot deliver one to you."
"After all, you are not my believer..."
Before he could finish speaking, Konan immediately left her seat.
She walked onto the imperial path and knelt upon the ground.
"I am willing to become your believer!"
"Please—please tell me how I should worship you!"
...
Konan opened her eyes and discovered that she was still inside the room.
The soft patter of rain outside continued as before.
She immediately found the only remaining clock.
After checking the time, she discovered that only several seconds had passed.
No.
Perhaps no time had passed at all within the Divine Court.
[Could it be that I despaired over Nagato's condition and had a dream?]
Almost at the same moment, inside a house in Kirigakure, Momochi Zabuza opened his eyes.
And upon Sunagakure's walls, Yashamaru, who was currently on duty, also opened his eyes.
Neither of them entertained the idea that they had merely dreamed.
They could both feel a miraculous chakra being transmitted into their bodies from an unknowable source.
The instant that chakra appeared, a mysterious formula formed along with it.
Before they could react in any way, their bodies began heating slightly.
Their chakra circulation suddenly accelerated, while the meridians it traveled through underwent subtle adjustments.
Some mysterious power deliberately highlighted those tiny changes, prompting them to notice the details.
Then Zabuza and Yashamaru felt their chakra increasing.
It was as if an enormous faucet had been purchased from some unknowable place, pouring a violent flood of chakra into their bodies.
There was no need to doubt it.
This was merely an illusion-induced misconception.
The true source of the chakra was their own cells.
The formula and subtle meridian adjustments merely stimulated their latent potential.
They brought some previously uncontrolled cells under command while activating cells that hadn't been sufficiently trained and weren't contributing their full strength.
Depending on each person's potential and level of training, their total chakra could increase by thirty to fifty percent.
Momochi Zabuza and Yashamaru were both highly promising young geniuses in their respective villages.
The potential released this time approached fifty percent, saving them at least two years of growth.
"The Great Being... was real!" they both exclaimed.
Their unease vanished in an instant.
They immediately cast aside all doubt and began looking forward to the next time the great existence summoned them.
Yashamaru even began worrying that his eagerness to leave might have displeased the great existence, causing him never to be summoned again.
Ninja was a profession in which every second of growth mattered.
Ninja were cautious and suspicious, but they would never spend too long doubting or repeatedly verifying something.
They couldn't afford to.
The moment Uchiha Yoru proved his reward to Zabuza and Yashamaru, they no longer had any doubts.
Conversely, when ninja failed to receive an immediate and tangible benefit, their suspicion wasn't merely for show.
Konan's reward couldn't be fulfilled on the spot.
Therefore, after waking, she became deeply suspicious and hesitated for a long time.
[Was it truly not a dream?]
[Could chanting the Great Being's true name really establish contact with him?]
[Could I have fallen under an illusion?]
Konan spent a long time checking every detail.
Even after ruling out the possibility of an illusion, she still couldn't make a decision.
Then Nagato's painful groan came from the other room.
Konan immediately rushed over and discovered that Nagato was suffering another cramp.
The frighteningly thin muscles upon his withered legs were spasming, pulling his fragile bones back and forth.
Years of illness and pain had caused all the tendons in Nagato's legs to atrophy.
The joints between his bones had lost their cushioning protection.
Even the slight trembling caused by cramps in such thin muscles made his joints produce cracking sounds.
It was particularly horrifying to hear.
Konan hurriedly threw herself forward and manipulated sheet after sheet of white paper to wrap around Nagato's legs.
She tightened them forcefully to suppress the spasming muscles and fixed every joint in place.
The shaking in his legs stopped, but the cramps continued.
They were convulsions caused by iron deficiency, zinc deficiency, calcium deficiency—perhaps a deficiency of every trace element.
His muscle cells were hovering at the edge of death, betraying the subconscious commands of the brain and erupting in a desperate final struggle.
How could the instinctive struggle of life be so easily suppressed?
After an extremely long time, the sweat-soaked Nagato finally became still.
Whether he had fallen asleep or lost consciousness was impossible to know.
In any case, he had stopped moving.
Konan gathered her courage.
With tears in her eyes, she cleaned the unconscious Nagato's body and changed him into clean clothes.
Afterward, she washed the filthy clothing, dried it over the fire, and folded it neatly.
Only after finishing everything did the strong girl's body go limp.
She collapsed weakly beside Nagato's bed.
Konan cried silently, using it to release her emotions.
However, her tears had already dried up.
Not a single drop remained.
Finally, she made her decision and left the room.
Konan stepped outside the house.
Without the slightest hesitation, she walked into the rain and gracefully knelt in the muddy water, allowing the rain to soak her entire body.
She murmured:
"Descendant of the Crimson Flame God-King and the Yellow Earth God-King."
"Supreme Sovereign of the Great Divine Power of Dragons."
"Emperor of the Auspicious-Talisman Divine Court who opened the Immortal Path of the shinobi world."
"Great Heavenly Emperor, I beseech your gaze and pray for your favor!"
Konan softly recited the words again and again.
Her voice gradually grew louder.
Within her heart, the image of a colossal divine figure slowly appeared.
As that figure became increasingly clear, her fear and helplessness transformed into peace.
Before long, the spoken prayer disappeared.
But within Konan's heart, those phrases echoed ever more clearly, forming an increasingly precise direction.
Finally, they were perceived by Uchiha Yoru several thousand kilometers away.
Along with the prayer came a faint golden thread of faith.
Uchiha Yoru reached out and held the third golden thread in his hand.
He couldn't help smiling bitterly.
"It finally arrived."
"A three-part honorific name can truly be heard through the unseen."
"That is somewhat unexpected."
"However, Konan took so long to decide."
"It seems she still doesn't trust me."
He had invested the greatest amount of effort and resources into Konan.
Yet the feedback from her faith had been the slowest and weakest.
Strictly speaking, the only problem on Konan's side was that the feedback hadn't arrived quickly enough.
She couldn't immediately experience a personal benefit like Zabuza and Yashamaru.
Still, the fact that it had arrived was enough.
Once Konan completed the entire process and received the final benefit, her faith would likely become far purer than that of the two young ninja.
It would also become incomparably steadfast.
After all, the miracle of reviving the dead and restoring flesh to bare bones was a divine act engraved into the deepest part of every intelligent soul capable of understanding death.
It belonged absolutely to the domain of gods.
Why did Nagato dare call himself a god whenever he met someone?
Wasn't it because the Rinnegan had granted him mastery of the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique, an ability capable of resurrecting the dead?
No matter how powerful his combat strength became, that alone could never make him regard himself as a god.
After all, he wasn't powerful enough to become a god among mortals and casually part the shinobi world's hair down the middle.
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