After leaving Amegakure, the masked man's expression turned cold and dark.
He hadn't wanted Nagato to go to Konoha alone, but he had no valid reason to stop him.
The masked man knew that Nagato likely didn't believe his claim of being Uchiha Madara.
But that didn't matter.
As long as they both played along and didn't explicitly call out the lie, there was no problem.
As long as Nagato still pursued his ridiculous goal, everything was under control.
But since he couldn't stop Nagato, what should he do now?
In his opinion, Nagato was being far too arrogant.
Konoha's strength was likely beyond his expectations. Not to mention whether Sasuke Uchiha had transplanted Itachi's eyes to awaken a second Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan,
Just Natsuro's power alone was enough to make the masked man extremely wary.
In fact, Natsuro's strength might not be any weaker than Nagato's, even with the Rinnegan, perhaps even stronger.
Every time he observed him from the shadows, he couldn't help but feel a deep sense of unease.
At that moment, a figure emerged beside him, a being with a half-black, half-white face dressed in the standard black cloak with red clouds of the Akatsuki.
Zetsu.
Zetsu spoke first, "Are you really going to let Nagato go to Konoha?"
The masked man replied with a question of his own. "If he doesn't go, then who will?"
"But if he goes and fails… you might not be able to retrieve the Rinnegan." Zetsu's voice carried a hint of concern.
"Then who could possibly stop Nagato?" the masked man asked back. "...And if he doesn't go, then who will capture the Nine-Tails?"
Zetsu fell silent.
This was indeed a difficult situation.
Black Zetsu, in particular, hadn't expected that after the era of the First Hokage, Konoha would produce another leader with godlike power.
And the strangest part?
Natsuro wasn't even a reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths' descendants. So how had he become this powerful?
It was a mystery that frustrated Black Zetsu. But Natsuro's origins weren't the immediate problem.
The real issue was how to handle the Nine-Tails. Would they really have to send Nagato alone?
After a long pause, the masked man finally gave an order. "Zetsu, be prepared to retrieve the Rinnegan."
Zetsu was shocked. "Are you saying…?"
If that was the case, then…
The masked man actually thought Natsuro had a better chance of winning than Nagato?!
"Nagato might not be able to defeat him," the masked man admitted.
Thinking back on his many secret observations, he knew that if the Rinnegan were still in Uchiha Madara's hands, there would be no doubt of victory.
But…
Nagato, despite his Uzumaki lineage, could never fully unleash the Rinnegan's true power.
So, the masked man seriously doubted that Nagato could defeat Natsuro.
But even so, he couldn't stop Nagato from going. He didn't have the power to restrain him.
So the only thing he could do was prepare for what came next.
If Nagato succeeded, everything would be fine.
But if Nagato failed, they needed a plan to recover the Rinnegan.
They couldn't wait until the moment of failure to decide what to do, if even Nagato couldn't defeat Natsuro, then it was impossible for them to take the Rinnegan back by force.
So they needed another method.
...
Shikkotsu Forest
Meanwhile, Natsuro had no idea what the Akatsuki were planning.
All he knew was that after days of hard work, he had finally achieved results.
Swift Release, he had successfully developed it.
And to his surprise, it gave him a much greater boost than expected.
At first, he hadn't thought Swift Release would provide him that much of an advantage.
But the reality was, once he unlocked Swift Release his speed skyrocketed to an almost terrifying level.
If before, Natsuro was simply a fast ninja, then now, he had reached the realm of godlike speed.
Why had the results been so extreme?
He had two theories: His physical capabilities were already far superior to Hiruko's and even before unlocking Swift Release, his base speed was nearly on par with Hiruko's Swift Release.
Wind and Lightning were his natural chakra affinities.
He had already developed both elements to an extraordinary level. Even when using basic Wind or Lightning techniques, his output far exceeded normal standards.
So, when he fused them into Swift Release, The effect was dramatically stronger than Hiruko's version.
For Natsuro, the boost was almost absurd. And the benefits weren't just about speed.
Swift Release also enhanced all of his physical movements,
Including his hand seal speed, although this wasn't a huge advantage for him... Most of his jutsu only required one or two hand seals anyway.
So even without Swift Release, it wouldn't have made much of a difference.
But what truly shocked Natsuro was, his dynamic vision had improved dramatically.
One of the biggest problems with extreme speed was that the eyes couldn't keep up.
If a ninja moved too fast, their reaction speed wouldn't be able to match their movements.
This was why Kakashi needed the Sharingan to use Chidori safely, without it, his own speed would work against him, leaving him vulnerable.
A high-speed technique was a double-edged sword if the user's vision and reflexes couldn't keep up.
That's why, at first, Natsuro had concerns about using Swift Release constantly.
After all, while he could use Void State to "cheat" with Chidori, that was only for brief moments.
Maintaining extreme speed at all times…
That was a different challenge altogether. Even with Sage Mode, it was likely not feasible.
But after truly mastering Swift Release, he realized all of his concerns had been unnecessary.
The speed boost from Swift Release was comprehensive.
When he concentrated Swift Release chakra throughout his body, His dynamic vision improved at the same rate as his speed. This meant he could perfectly keep up with his own acceleration. No wonder Hiruko had been able to react despite moving so fast.
So that was the reason…
Natsuro nodded in understanding.
From his perspective, Hiruko's Swift Release speed had never seemed that fast.
He had originally assumed Hiruko relied on his own reflexes to handle the acceleration.
But now, he realized it was Swift Release itself that enhanced reaction speed.
Now, Natsuro started considering if he combined this speed with Flying Thunder God…
Who in this world could possibly react in time?
Of course, there was one limitation, he still needed to place a Flying Thunder God mark close to the enemy.
That was the only prerequisite which made him feel a bit frustrated.
At first, when he first gained Flying Thunder God, his opponents didn't know how to counter it.
But as his fame grew, everyone learned about his Flying Thunder God technique.
Now, people had developed various methods to counter it.
The simplest and most direct strategy?
Destroy any object marked with his Flying Thunder God seal.
Since the technique required a physical marker,
As long as his opponents destroyed his kunai or any tagged objects,
Then he wouldn't be able to teleport.
This method did work, it could prevent him from using Flying Thunder God.
But… The real problem was how could someone destroy all of his markers while fighting him?
That was the biggest challenge.
In the end, his opponents were all on guard against Flying Thunder God.
Though in reality…
Even if they knew to defend against it, most of them still couldn't stop it....
But in case they did what would happen...
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Currently on Chapter 347 - Kakashi and Sakumo Hatake
Next Chapter: Chapter 294 - Natsuro's Strength and the Akatsuki's Movements