Gojo Yoru went to chat with Konan almost every three days, or once a week. Sometimes, when he was bored, he even went every day, all to nurture their relationship.
Communication within the mental space worked on a principle similar to the chakra connection comprehended by the Sage of Six Paths. It magnified emotions to the greatest extent, making deception impossible.
In the original story, Uzumaki Naruto was especially skilled at this. Through exchanges in the chakra mental space, he saw Obito Uchiha's past and dreams, and also came to understand Sasuke Uchiha. In the end, he completely won over those two Uchiha, making the former willing to die for him and the latter willing to abandon his hatred and ideas of reform, becoming the Uzumaki clan's ultimate enforcer.
Over the past few years, although Gojo Yoru had never met Konan in reality, their relationship had advanced at astonishing speed.
Because communication in the mental space was like a conversation between souls, it not only made it easier for them to understand each other's thoughts, but also made their emotions far easier to infect and resonate with one another.
Especially when Gojo Yoru took over Konan's body, it was almost like giving her close personal guidance. This made the girl admire him more and more, and at the age when first love began to bloom, she also developed a hazy, indistinct affection.
Those emotions were likewise magnified to the limit within the mental space.
Gojo Yoru had already noticed that Konan's feelings for him had undergone a qualitative change, yet he had no intention of exposing it, nor rejecting it. He was simply waiting for the moment when everything would fall naturally into place.
If there was no affection involved, Gojo Yoru would never take the initiative to change someone's fate.
And among the people whose destined futures he had personally stepped in to alter, there were only three.
The first was Uzumaki Kushina. To Gojo Yoru, her position was extraordinarily special. Their feelings, built from childhood until now, had long since shed all calculation, leaving only pure affection.
Whether Uzumaki Kushina became his enforcer or not no longer mattered. Gojo Yoru only wanted this tomato girl to live happily.
The second was Konan. Back then, he had also reached out to this girl with a mixture of goodwill and calculation.
But after years of getting along, now that Gojo Yoru had already reached the peak of the ninja world in strength, emotion had long since outweighed calculation. He had stopped seeing Konan as a tool a long time ago.
Just as if Konan were ever faced with a choice between two options, and sacrificing her own life would allow Gojo Yoru to survive, she would choose sacrifice without the slightest hesitation.
Likewise, if there were problems with the immortality plan and danger befell Konan and Nagato, forcing Gojo Yoru to choose between letting Konan live or preserving the Rinnegan, he would also choose the former without hesitation.
As long as the fated battle between Ashura and Indra had not yet ended, Gojo Yoru was confident he could create a second pair of Rinnegan.
Even in the worst case, he could wait until Ōtsutsuki Isshiki appeared, along with the extraterrestrial Ōtsutsuki, and use them to realize his immortality plan.
The last was Tsunade. Gojo Yoru had originally thought he would have no connection at all with this woman, who was a full generation older than him and from the same era as Orochimaru.
Even though this woman was exceptionally beautiful, undeniably the number one beauty in the ninja world, Gojo Yoru had never intended to get close to her.
Yet unexpectedly, the mission to infiltrate Amegakure created an intersection between them, and the ambiguous incident in the cave tore open the barrier of age.
Their conversations after the Nawaki incident only made Tsunade stick to him more and more, constantly asking how to improve her reform ideas.
It was also then that Gojo Yoru decided to alter this woman's destined future, letting her complete the Yin Seal ahead of time so that her beauty would remain fixed at its most radiant age.
His postwar guidance in medical ninjutsu, along with living together and taking over her place like a dove occupying a magpie's nest, also caused the relationship between Gojo Yoru and Tsunade to undergo a qualitative change.
It was only because Uzumaki Kushina was by their side, and because of the age gap, that the two of them subconsciously ignored that change.
Almost exactly on the third day after Konan made her own decision, accepted Yahiko's invitation, and returned to Amegakure with Nagato, Gojo Yoru, as usual, used the spacetime version of the Spirit Transformation Technique and appeared beside Konan through teleportation.
"This is..."
Just as Gojo Yoru was about to enter Konan's mental space, he immediately sensed that something was wrong.
Looking out through the window at the steel buildings everywhere and the village shrouded in torrential rain, Gojo Yoru recognized this place at a glance.
It was Amegakure, where he had only come twice before.
Seeing that the room had merely been arranged in a simple way, with barriers set around it, and that Konan was currently sitting cross-legged on the bed, seemingly refining chakra, the spirit-form Gojo Yoru revealed an interested look.
It seemed that Konan had gone through quite a lot over the past few days.
So Gojo Yoru turned into a beam of light and seeped into Konan's body.
"Lord Yoru!"
Konan seemed to have been waiting for Gojo Yoru's arrival.
The moment she entered the familiar mental space, like a galaxy, she showed a brilliant smile that even Nagato rarely got to see and threw herself into Gojo Yoru's arms.
Several years had passed. The girl who had once only barely been able to hug Gojo Yoru around the waist was now only twenty-three centimeters shorter than the god of faith in her heart, roughly the height of one head.
Logically, with that sort of height difference, it was already no longer suitable for her to act spoiled like a little girl.
But since she had already begun to experience first love and some kind of feeling had started to grow in her heart, the girl always relied on Gojo Yoru's indulgence toward her and deliberately did things like this to take advantage of him.
"You're already the famous Angel Lady. How are you still this clingy?"
As always, Gojo Yoru wrapped one arm around Konan, while the other hand patted her head, smiling as he teased her.
Unlike the innocence of a few years ago, Konan had now grown into a graceful young woman, and after going through so many things, she had changed greatly.
She still could not bear to leave Gojo Yoru's embrace, only tilting her head up and smiling until her eyes curved into crescents, teasing him in return.
"If I don't act clingy, how am I, a bounty hunter, supposed to deceive the miracle incarnate who ranks first on the black market bounty list and whose bounty has already broken through two hundred million?"
"So you're after my bounty. Let's see if I don't teach you a proper lesson."
Gojo Yoru immediately put on a fierce expression and began tickling Konan.
"Hahaha..."
In the mental space, the body's sensations seemed exactly the same as in the real world.
Konan was tickled until she rolled on the ground, laughing so hard tears came out, begging for mercy again and again.
"Lord... Lord Yoru, I was wrong, spare me, hahaha..."
In the eyes of the world, the cold, noble, and sacred angel only released the lively nature she had actually never changed at all when she was in front of Gojo Yoru.
Gojo Yoru did not immediately ask why Konan had appeared in Amegakure. Instead, he played with the girl for a while. Only after the two of them lay down upon the galaxy, admiring the scenery they never grew tired of and chatting as they slowly got to the main topic.
"Oh... so something like that actually happened?"
After hearing Konan's report, Gojo Yoru was instantly interested, and even showed an amused expression.
In the original story, Yahiko had willingly gone to his death because of Hanzō of the Salamander's promise. Later, Hanzō of the Salamander also died at the hands of Yahiko, making it a mutual journey to death.
Now, under the butterfly effect caused by Gojo Yoru, Hanzō of the Salamander and Yahiko had become master and disciple, yet in the end, death still could not be escaped.
And Yahiko still could not escape the fate of becoming someone else's tool.
The difference was that in the original story, he became Nagato's strongest puppet, whereas now, he had become a pawn of Madara Uchiha.
What Gojo Yoru had not expected, however, was that Madara Uchiha was in such a hurry. Before even dealing with Obito Uchiha, he had cultivated Yahiko as a pawn, deliberately had him approach Nagato, and taught him Yin-Yang Release and the Six Paths techniques in advance. What exactly was his goal?
Could it be that because Nagato, under Konan's care, had grown faster than in the original story and already possessed the qualifications to use the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique, Madara Uchiha wanted to resurrect quickly?
Or was it for some other purpose?
At that moment, Konan's guilt-filled voice entered his ears.
"Lord Yoru, I'm sorry... I made the decision on my own without discussing it with you."
Lowering his head to look at the girl lying on his chest with a face full of self-reproach, Gojo Yoru could not help but cup her cheeks in both hands and rub them hard, praising her.
"What are you apologizing for? You didn't do anything wrong. On the contrary, you did very well. Only by getting close to those people can we find out who they really are and what their purpose is. The fact that you were able to choose compromise rationally instead of running away blindly shows that you've grown a lot. I'm very pleased."
"Hehe... I knew Lord Yoru wouldn't blame me."
Konan seemed to have long expected this scene. Even with her cheeks rubbed out of shape, she smiled until her eyes narrowed again, instantly melting Gojo Yoru's heart.
After pinching Konan's cheeks for a while, Gojo Yoru smiled meaningfully.
"Since he wants to recruit you, then cooperate with him and see what he plans to do next."
"Okay."
Konan nodded obediently.
Then, as if she had thought of something, her expression turned grave again, and her eyes filled with apprehension.
"But he's very strong. Not only can he use Wood Release to pacify the chaotic era and create a wooden Buddha statue as huge as a mountain, but the white substance on his body also seems to be like the white creatures you told me about, Lord Yoru. It can merge with the earth and vegetation, completely erase all presence, and move at high speed. Even Nagato's Mind's Eye of the Kagura can't detect it."
"Once he uses that ability to merge into the wooden Buddha statue, even if Nagato and I join forces, we would still be no match for him."
"You don't need to become his enemy. Just cooperate with him," Gojo Yoru said with a disdainful smile. "It's only Wood Release. Nothing to worry about."
Just as attributes countered one another, in Madara Uchiha's eyes, everyone other than Hashirama Senju was trash.
Because he could not defeat Hashirama Senju, his Susanoo and genjutsu were both countered by Hashirama Senju's Wood Release and his absurdly massive chakra.
But in Gojo Yoru's eyes, Hashirama Senju was actually less threatening than Madara Uchiha.
Just as Hashirama Senju countered Madara Uchiha, Gojo Yoru's spacetime kekkei genkai countered Hashirama Senju's Wood Release and monstrous chakra.
No matter how hard Wood Release was, before a dimensional slash, it was as fragile as thin paper.
No matter how versatile it was, it could do nothing against intangibility and the Flying Thunder God Technique.
By contrast, Madara Uchiha's Sharingan possessed powerful genjutsu and still belonged to the type that Gojo Yoru, whose chakra was comparatively weak, feared the most.
Moreover, the Perfect Susanoo could fly, and at present, Gojo Yoru had no way to deal with that.
He had also never fought against Limbo shadows before, so Gojo Yoru did not know whether his spatial perception could detect them.
Even if he could sense them, his spacetime kekkei genkai still would not be enough to truly kill them.
At present, Gojo Yoru did not regard visible Yang Release ninja as opponents at all. The only ones he feared were invisible Yin Release ninja with bizarre and unpredictable methods.
"Yes!"
Seeing Gojo Yoru so confident, Konan, who worshiped him blindly, instantly stopped taking Yahiko seriously.
Then she continued lying on Gojo Yoru's chest and told him about everything she had experienced over the past few days.
Gojo Yoru also told Konan about becoming a jōnin instructor.
Only when his spacetime chakra was nearly exhausted did Gojo Yoru return to his original body under Konan's reluctant farewell.
This trip to see Konan had brought Gojo Yoru tremendous gains, while at the same time giving him the feeling that a storm was about to arrive.
The fact that Yahiko could use Wood Release: Wood Human Technique not only meant that a very large amount of Hashirama's cells had been implanted into his body, but also that Tobi was fully cooperating with him and had handed over control of the body to him.
How strong was Tobi?
In the original story, Obito Uchiha and Yamato had already demonstrated that clearly.
Obito Uchiha only needed to put on Tobi's armor. He did not even need to use any abilities at all. Relying purely on physical ability and Kamui while playing the fool, he toyed with Deidara and Team Seven, making even Itachi Uchiha and Nagato deeply wary of him.
By merely raising his forearm, he could casually block the full-force strike of Suigetsu Hōzuki's Executioner's Blade. This was defensive power no ninja should possess. Even Gojo Yoru's Earth Release: Hardening Technique could not achieve that.
Just by possessing Yamato's body, Tobi could use a miniature version of the True Several Thousand Hands wooden Buddha statue, and could even use the wooden Buddha statue to perform composite ninjutsu of the five releases.
If not for the fact that Tobi lacked intelligence and combat experience, his strength would have surpassed even the Six Paths of Pain. He was a genuine super-kage-level powerhouse.
Now, Yahiko, who could use the Wood Human Technique and also summon the salamander to release the greatest poison in the ninja world, was likewise a super-kage-level powerhouse, with strategic deterrence that absolutely ranked first in the ninja world.
No wonder he had developed the idea of becoming a god, because he truly possessed that ability and qualification.
Gojo Yoru did not believe Madara Uchiha had gone to such lengths to kill Hanzō of the Salamander and direct Yahiko into becoming his pawn merely to teach Nagato Yin-Yang Release and the Six Paths techniques ahead of time.
He definitely had some secret unknown to others.
But fortunately, Gojo Yoru still held the advantage.
No matter what, they would never imagine that Konan was Gojo Yoru's person, nor that the two of them could meet in secret without anyone knowing.
As long as Konan remained as an informant, no matter what Yahiko did, Gojo Yoru would know immediately.
And Gojo Yoru did not believe Yahiko and Madara Uchiha could pose a threat to him in such a short time.
Because...
In the living room, Gojo Yoru stared at the calendar on the wall and muttered,
"There are still four months left..."
Four months was a long time, after all, more than a full season.
But within a single year, one season was also very short, and four months made up only one third of that time.
Gojo Yoru's premonition was growing stronger and stronger.
Four months later, his body and his world would undergo earth-shaking changes.
These four months might also be those people's last chance.
End of Chapter
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