After lamenting over his fate (and briefly questioning why life didn't come with patch notes), Nagato sensed both of his puppets arriving at their destinations.
Unlike ordinary beings, these puppets didn't sleep, eat, or complain about joint pain. Their chakra was constantly supplied by Nagato himself, making them fast—very fast. He couldn't help but feel a quiet sense of pride.
"This must be what parenthood feels like," he muttered. "Except they don't talk back."
Nagato closed his eyes, focusing deeply on the Flying Thunder God technique. His heartbeat quickened—not from fear, but from a strange cocktail of nervousness and pure nerdy excitement.
This is it, he thought. The moment I become cool.
He clenched his fists.
"If possible," he whispered to himself with absolute sincerity,
"I want to summon Susanoo and open the Gundam era."
And just like that—woosh.
He vanished from his spot, leaving behind only a faint ripple and a breeze dramatic enough to make even Itachi jealous.
Nagato reappeared inside a deep, dark cave. Shadows danced on the rocky walls, giving it the perfect ambiance for a villain's Instagram photoshoot. His two puppets stood like loyal statues, silent and eerie, just as he left them.
He surveyed the cave.
"Cozy," he murmured. "All it needs is mood lighting and fewer chances of dying."
He began placing paper bombs around strategic points—except these weren't your everyday fireworks. They were wired into a barrier so complex even a Hyuga would get a migraine trying to decode it.
"Step in here, and poof—bye-bye, invader," he said proudly, patting a rock that would absolutely explode on contact.
Once satisfied, Nagato vanished again, this time with one of his puppets in tow. The pair reappeared near Iwagakure, also known as "that place with all the rocks and terrible Wi-Fi."
Repeating the setup with the precision of a paranoid wedding planner, Nagato laid more traps and barriers. Paper bombs, chakra seals, and a little sprinkle of over-preparation—he was practically decorating with destruction.
Mission after mission, he zipped around the land like a highly caffeinated delivery ninja, always staying one step ahead.
Back in Amegakure, Nagato assigned one of his puppets to train Konan and Yakihiko.
Konan, with her deadly paper techniques and mysterious grace, was essentially origami meets judgment day. Yakihiko, though greener than a genin with stage fright, showed enough promise to be worth the investment.
Nagato, meanwhile, pulled out his map like a man looking for the nearest ramen shop.
His eyes narrowed.
A figure was speeding toward his location—fast.
Using his Rinnegan, he scanned the area...
But saw nothing.
"No chakra... no signature..." he whispered. "Oh great. It's either a ghost... or worse—a White Zetsu."
Cue internal screaming.
Wasting no time, he bolted toward base number two.
"Base one's compromised anyway," he grunted. "Let Zetsu enjoy his empty cave. I even cleaned the floor."
Base one, thanks to Nagato's own ridiculous ingenuity, was tucked inside a space-time ninjutsu akin to a storage scroll. It looked real, but it was faker than a filler arc.
Reaching base two, Nagato used Flying Thunder God again, teleporting his Deva Path straight in.