Chapter 580

Rain Village.

A drizzling rain was falling. Pedestrians occasionally passed through the streets of the Rain Village, and the entire ninja village had a desolate appearance.

On the upper floor of a tall metal building in the center, in a slightly dark room.

"Cough, cough, cough."

Violent dry coughing came from the darkness. A blue-haired beauty who had fallen asleep leaning against the cold metal wall was awakened by the coughing, her face full of fatigue.

"Nagato, are you okay?"

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Nagato stood at the simple control console used to manipulate Pain and coughed continuously, unable to even speak.

"Nagato, don't control the Deva Path for now, your body..."

"It's fine..."

Blood dripped from the corner of Nagato's mouth. There was a terrifying wound on his chest, circular in shape, about twenty centimeters wide. The skin and flesh on the surface of the wound had rotted, and something seemed to be squirming inside.

This was left behind by a Tier 4 contractor before they died, and it had nearly cost Nagato his life.

Even though Nagato hadn't died yet, his body was getting worse by the day. That red hair, which was already dim, had begun to turn gray, and he could only control three of the six Pains simultaneously.

"Really... is it okay?"

Konan's eyes were full of worry. She had sought out many medical ninja, but unfortunately, these medical ninja were all helpless. Only one person could save Nagato, and that was the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade.

But even if Tsunade were willing to save him, whether Nagato would accept it was another question.

"Konan, how is the situation with the organization recently?"

The Deva Path controlled by Nagato had not appeared, the reason being that Nagato would now fall into intermittent comas. If the Deva Path suddenly collapsed in front of the Akatsuki members, things would be bad; the Akatsuki organization valued strength above all else.

"It's fine."

Konan sighed. Just as she was about to say something, Nagato's eyes narrowed.

"A member has entered the Rain Village. It is... Bai Ye."

"Bai Ye?"

Konan's brows were tightly locked; she didn't have a very good impression of Su Xiao.

The image of Su Xiao in Konan's mind was one of unclear concepts of good and evil, filled with blood energy, and someone who would kill at the slightest disagreement.

"What is he doing back here? Could it be he wants to join the plan to capture the Eight-Tails? His goal is indeed the Tailed Beasts; the Tailed Beasts captured by him are all abnormal."

"The Eight-Tails matter has already been entrusted to Uchiha Madara; we don't need to intervene."

"Nagato, this..."

"No need to say more. Go see Bai Ye. Although his goal is the Tailed Beasts, he is trustworthy, at least more trustworthy than Itachi or Deidara."

"Mm."

Konan walked out of the room.

Su Xiao was walking on the streets of the Rain Village. He was wearing a raincoat, and after searching for a while, he entered a restaurant.

This was the largest restaurant in the Rain Village. Although the Rain Village was isolated from the world, over ten thousand people lived here. With the financial support of the Akatsuki organization, the Rain Village was not poor; at least everyone had enough to eat and didn't have to worry about war.

The Rain Village was actually a paradise in the Naruto World. Living here, one didn't have to worry about hunger or war. They were protected by "gods." Although they couldn't come and go as they pleased, no one wanted to leave.

It was neither poor nor wealthy, seemingly heavily guarded but actually very stable. Even compared to the residents of the Land of Fire, the residents here had a very high level of happiness. Except for the daily rain that kept everything damp, everything else was fine.

Su Xiao sat in the restaurant. The residents of the Land of Rain, regardless of age or gender, had the habit of drinking or eating spicy food. It rained here all year round, and the humidity was too heavy; if they didn't drink or eat spicy food appropriately, rheumatism was unavoidable.

Su Xiao gasped; the food was really too spicy, but the taste was excellent.

On the side, Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang was rolling its eyes from the spice, but it couldn't resist the temptation of the delicious food and tearfully ate three large bowls.

The door of the restaurant was pushed open, and Konan walked in, walked straight toward Su Xiao, and sat opposite him.

Konan's clothes were soaked by the rain, and rainwater dripped down her blue hair.

Su Xiao just raised his head to glance at Konan and then continued to enjoy the delicious food. Although he was gasping from the spice, the deliciousness was irresistible. The spicy fish of the Land of Rain was very famous, and its reputation was above Ichiraku Ramen.

"Do you have something important to do back here this time?"

Konan spoke, but Su Xiao kept eating, which made Konan frown.

Su Xiao had once thought Konan was a "support," until she nearly blew Obito to death, and then everyone knew this royal sister was not a "support."

"The leader is injured?"

Su Xiao's words made Konan's heart tighten.

"Minor injury, already recovered."

"Suddenly collapsing to the ground and losing consciousness counts as a minor injury?"

Su Xiao picked up the ice water beside him and took a large gulp. Xiang Ignoring Bubu Wang leaned over, meaning to leave some for it.

Konan looked at the ice cubes in the cup with confusion. How could there be ice cubes in the Rain Village?

"The leader... is injured. What are you back for this time?" Konan had weighed it in her heart before saying this. From Su Xiao's many performances, it could be seen that although he had ideas about Tailed Beasts, he was generally trustworthy.

Su Xiao had offended too many forces, which was the reason why Nagato hadn't turned against him even though he had tampered with the Tailed Beasts. Such a "loyal" subordinate was hard to find.

Compared to Itachi, Deidara, and others, Nagato trusted Su Xiao more. Su Xiao never dragged his feet when executing missions; whoever the target was, he killed them.

"Have medical ninja seen him?"

"They have. The situation is not good, but it's not too bad either."

Konan sighed, thought for a moment, and took out a sealed glass tube containing a small yellow insect.

"Have you seen this kind of insect?"

Su Xiao put down his chopsticks, wiped his hands, and took the glass tube.

"This should be the egg of a parasitic organism, not an insect. In the absence of a host, the lifespan of this thing is extremely short. Preliminary judgment: this parasitic organism is magnetic, not hermaphroditic. If it were hermaphroditic, the leader would have been parasitized to death by this thing long ago. So this egg will not hatch; it will only absorb the host's vitality. After lasting 1 to 2 weeks, the egg will die on its own."

Alchemy pharmacology contained a lot of biology. With Lv. 20 Alchemy Pharmacology, Su Xiao could judge the characteristics of most organisms.

"This..."

Konan's heartbeat began to accelerate. The characteristics Su Xiao described were identical to the characteristics of this "insect."

"Do you... have a way to solve it?"

Konan seemed to have made a certain decision. She had to; in Nagato's current state, he could last at most half a month.

"Not sure, it depends on the leader's constitution. If his constitution isn't strong enough, he's a goner. If you notify me the first time he is parasitized, extracting the parent body isn't too difficult."

Putting down the glass tube in his hand, Su Xiao felt something was wrong. Nagato couldn't die; otherwise, the main mission would face the possibility of failure. Relying on Obito and others to attack Konoha was simply unreliable. Moreover, the main mission noted that he should go to Konoha with Nagato; Nagato's death might even lead to the direct failure of the mission.

"Follow me."

Konan stood up. Su Xiao didn't say anything, just followed behind Konan.

Five minutes later, Konan stood in front of the room where Nagato was. The Deva Path stood at the door, motionless; Nagato had fallen into a coma again.

"The leader is...?"

Su Xiao looked up and down at the Deva Path; playing dumb appropriately was very necessary.

"Come in. What you see afterward cannot be told to anyone. This is the trust I and Nagato have in you, although it is a last resort."

Konan didn't say any flowery words, just pushed the door open.

A faint stench came, and Su Xiao saw Nagato, who had already fallen into a coma in the room, at a glance.

Nagato was standing on the equipment used to manipulate Pain, and the wound on his chest was severely rotted, with something squirming inside.