Haseo held a toad leg and Black Cat's tail in his left hand, while gripping the collars of Yahiko and Konan from behind with his right. Lightning Release arced faintly around his body as he stood precisely beyond the edge of the crater Nagato had caused with his "explosion."
At that moment, Nagato himself wasn't entirely sure what he'd just done. One thing was clear though—Haseo was still standing, which meant none of his attacks had had any effect.
At the same time, he'd nearly exhausted every last drop of chakra in his body and endured unimaginable mental strain. Therefore, the next moment, Haseo's figure instantly blurred within Nagato's vision.
Nagato swayed slightly, then fell down into the crater he had created, filled with immense unwillingness. At this point, he probably thought all of them were definitely going to die.
Techniques like Shinra Tensei, Universal Pull, or Planetary Devastation, which directly manipulated force fields, consumed not only an incredible amount of chakra with each use but also placed enormous mental stress on the user—that much went without saying.
Even regular ninja obtaining such eyes probably wouldn't be able to control their power freely—it was something that worked best in its original form. Even Nagato, who came from the Uzumaki lineage, couldn't wield Rinnegan abilities as smoothly as Madara could.
The next moment, Haseo appeared beside Nagato and kicked away a horizontal beam headed toward him. Nagato might have enjoyed blowing up the entire building, but now it was up to Haseo to clean up after him; otherwise—
Firstly, his little companions would all get blown to death, and secondly, Nagato himself would probably be crushed by falling debris.
After all, an entire house had floated up into the sky. Come on, wouldn't a collapsed building even fail to kill an unconscious brat?
"Therefore," Haseo said, "when attacking enemies, you should at least consider the threats your techniques pose to allies. You used such deadly moves so casually—clearly Jiraiya's training still has quite a ways to go."
Although Haseo felt sore around his waist, his discomfort definitely hadn't come from merely standing around talking.
You gotta be kidding me? He might've been "playing games," but the kid was fighting for his life. Who had time to think about that during those critical moments?
He tossed a pile of construction debris into the lake—never mind the pollution and environmental damage—and threw the two children in his hands onto Nagato before planting the toad atop them.
Nagato had fainted; the remaining two either passed out from the shock of Nagato's attack or due to the massive G-forces during Haseo's high-speed movements as he dragged them along while dodging. In short, the only one still conscious was Haseo himself.
Well, maybe his cat was still conscious too.
Black Cat twitched its tail lightly, flipped upward, climbed onto Haseo's arm, and then made its way along his arm to his shoulder.
"So is anyone gonna show up to clean this up anytime soon?"
As he spoke, Haseo removed the mask covering his face and tucked it inside his robe.
Truthfully, Haseo was deeply hoping that Nagato would summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. It was precisely for this reason that he had put on such a clumsy performance while Jiraiya was away. But reality proved he had been overly optimistic... Naturally, Haseo had already foreseen beforehand that things were unlikely to go as planned.
That small chance of "luck" simply didn't happen—disappointing, yes, but also more realistic.
If the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path had appeared here, Haseo naturally had a whole series of "backup plans." But without it showing up, he wouldn't have any way to go after the Rinnegan—he instinctively knew that any attempt now to seize or destroy the Rinnegan would absolutely fail.
Chances were, Black Zetsu was already hiding inside Nagato's body. The second Haseo made a move, that guy would grab those eyes and slip away before anyone could catch up. Just like what faintly surfaced in Haseo's memories—the so-called "devoted son" who had waited countless years for these eyes to revive his beloved mother. There was no way he would let Haseo take them so easily.
Even though the Rinnegan resided within Nagato, they had never truly escaped from Madara Uchiha's control—or rather, even more directly, from both Black and White Zetsu's influence. That much was an undeniable fact.
Once Haseo attempted to damage the Rinnegan and failed, the consequences would be unpredictable. His strength was still too weak—he hadn't even fully mastered Sage Mode yet—and he lacked the power to face the possible overwhelming crisis ahead. Everything would only work out if the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path appeared before him; otherwise, nothing would come of it.
Though the Rinnegan was indeed a "key item," only when together with the Demonic Statue could Haseo make any meaningful move now.
He carried an entire set of strategies and considerations locked deep within his heart, never sharing a single word—not even with Tsunade, the one closest to him.
In the end, Haseo wasn't ready to become a "legendary ninja" just yet—Nagato was just a kid, and picking on children didn't exactly scream legendary.
Retirement still lay far off in the future, which meant Haseo had no choice but to honestly follow the most difficult path ahead.
Life keeps throwing curveballs, and more often than not, reality bites hard. As Haseo wore a gloomy expression, nearly wishing to squat by the lake and light a cigarette, two things came to mind: first, he remembered that he had never developed any smoking or drinking habits, and even if he had, his family would've stopped him long ago; second, someone was rushing toward him at high speed from across the lake.
The moment the summoned toad's signal vanished, Jiraiya noticed instantly. Realizing something unexpected had happened, he hurried back as fast as he could. Yet upon arrival, he found that the house he had built just hours ago was gone.
Hadn't he only left a short while ago?
Not only was the house missing—it was as if it had never existed at all.
What was even more bizarre was that a person who seemed like a walking trouble zone was standing by the lakeside, wearing an expression of intense anguish. Jiraiya's mind went blank the moment he saw this scene, instantly sensing that something terrible had happened.
"Haseo, what are you doing here? I certainly didn't receive any notice saying you'd be coming to the Land of Rain!"
Haseo glanced at Jiraiya and wondered why the man's lips had turned so pale.
"Actually, I was just out walking my cat when I ran into this massive explosion—felt like a full-blown natural disaster."
Not a soul would buy that story. Walking a cat from Konoha to the Land of Rain? Might as well take it for a stroll on Mars while you're at it.
"If you're worried about those kids, they're just behind us. They're fine—just unconscious," Haseo added.
Jiraiya rushed past Haseo in a flustered state, took a few quick steps forward, and soon spotted the three children stacked together. After a brief check, he confirmed they were indeed only unconscious, just as Haseo had said.
Jiraiya let out a breath of relief. If Haseo showed up here and the only consequences were unconscious kids and a destroyed house, wasn't that sheer luck? The damage level was far below Jiraiya's worst expectations.
Then, Jiraiya suddenly realized something: "Wait... Was this really *my* mistake?"
Indeed, Jiraiya had fallen for it.
Haseo Yu's Leadership Tactics:
1. Always grab the moral high ground when you can.
2. When the chance comes, flip the script—and point the finger elsewhere.
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