“Don’t look at me like that… even I have no confidence of winning against the current Nagato… No, it’s better to say that winning against the current Nagato is almost impossible!” – muttered Yama inwardly as he felt everyone’s expectant gazes upon him…

Of course, he just muttered this to himself and did not say it out loud… but even if he did not say it out loud, this does not mean Yama is not clear about his own situation.

On the surface, he, as the leader of Amatsukami seemed to be extremely calm and indifferent when facing Nagato, giving everyone a sense of oppression and reassurance, but only Yama knows that that’s not the case at all…!

Yama is quite clear about the situation, and if it is up to him, he really doesn’t want to fight… Just standing in front of Nagato, Yama can feel the difference in their strength… even the difference in their Visual Prowess is already obvious.

What’s more, Yama has also sealed a part of his Tenseigan Visual Prowess inside Yui using the Transcription Seal, at the same time, Ryuumyaku/Toyotama-hime is also not with him but is with the Shadow Clone in the Village… so Yama is obviously not at his peak state here… and can’t go all out.

In such a state, if he were to still make any move, neither will he be able to kill Nagato, nor will he be able to seriously injure him, as a result of which, even the deterrence effect against Nagato will be gone.

To be perfectly honest, if it weren’t for the fact that Gedo Mazo was sucking out the Bijuu Chakra out of Yagura and Killer Bee, Yama didn’t even want to stay here for a single extra second.

But no way, he has no other option!

The Akatsuki Organization captured the Jinchuriki of Nibi a few months back during the war of the Best at Amegakure, which means that they already have Nibi under their control. If they are now allowed to capture Sanbi and Hachibi as well, then it probably wouldn’t even take them a month to capture the other Bijuu as well…

And if this were to happen, then the next thing Yama would end up facing would either be Juubi running amok around the Shinobi World under Nagato’s control, destroying any nation who opposes them, as a result, maintaining a fragile nuclear peace or Shinju under Obito, Madara or Kaguya’s control where all living beings would be hung on to the Shinju.

Either way, the situation progressed, and it wouldn’t be conducive to Yama’s ultimate goals, as a result, he has no other option but to stop Nagato or at least delay Nagato and Akatsuki from collecting the nine Bijuu.

So, despite being in a disadvantageous situation, Yama has to make his stand here as a deterrence against the Akatsuki… Moreover, he can’t just remain standing quietly, else Nagato and Obito would become clear about Yama’s disadvantageous situation and who knows what they would then, so gritting his teeth, Yama stepped forward, and said in a regrettable tone, “It seems I shouldn’t have allowed you to escape last time…”

The moment Yama took a step forward, Nagato’s nerves tightened, but he calmed himself, and said in a cold tone, “Maybe… your mistake… this time wouldn’t be the same as the last time… The current me is different from before!”

“Are you now…?” muttered Yama, then tilted his head to the side, and asked disdainfully, “How different are you? Have you grown more arrogant? Or have you completely lost yourself to power? But even then… what about it? What difference does it make?”

Nagato’s face became grim, “You can find out for yourself… This time the result would be completely opposite!”

As soon as Nagato said so, Yama became silent, the words Yama said just now were actually just a small temptation to figure out Nagato’s attitude and confidence.

Yama speculated that since Nagato is currently absorbing two Bijuu from their respective Jinchuriki at the same time, so he shouldn’t be too confident as doing so should be a little burdensome for him.

But from Nagato’s attitude, it seems that he is really eager to fight him…

Moreover, Yama’s tentative words that expressed his own self-righteousness and disdain towards him really angered Nagato… So, Nagato is more eager to defeat Yama.

Of course, Nagato’s uncharacteristic response surprised Konan, and ‘Madara’, they know Nagato for being a cold and indifferent person and didn’t expect that just a few taunting words from Yama would make Nagato lose his cool…

Seeing that Nagato has lost his cool, and was about to recklessly make an attack against Yama, ‘Madara’ stopped him… “Nagato don’t be impulsive!”

Madara’s act of stopping him made Nagato frown, he looked at ‘Madara’ with a questioning gaze, and asked, “What are you doing ‘Madara’?”

‘Madara’ shook his head slightly, and whispered lightly, “Don’t act rashly… Amatsukami’s Fujin, Homusubi, and Suijin should still be hidden nearby, waiting for the perfect opportunity to take action against us… Tonight’s main objective was to destroy Konoha, defeat the Gokage, and capture our target… we have accomplished almost all of them… We aren’t yet ready to start an all-out war against the Amatsukami… So, it’s best if we retreat here…”

Madara’s words calmed Nagato’s face condensed, especially at the mention of Fujin.

Nagato is quite clear about Fujin’s strength, after all, Fujin is strong enough to not only defeat Hiruko but also threaten the existence of Tendo Pain… which is really outrageous, therefore, Nagato had to really think about what ‘Madara’ said, and consider it again.

When Konan heard ‘Madara’, she was slightly puzzled, and asked, “How can Homusubi be hidden? Isn’t Homusubi standing in front of us?”

Faced with Konan’s question, Obito’s face under the ripple patterned-tomoe-mask was quite uncomfortable, and replied with a bitter expression, “It appears that there are two individuals in Amatsukami with the same Homusubi code-name, and both of them have awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan… the one standing before is different, I am talking about the female Homusubi, she should still be hidden somewhere!”

Shinobi are capable of disguising everything including their body structure, appearance, age, voice, and even gender, however, the colour of Susano’o which is the manifestation of one’s Chakra dominated by Mental energy can not be disguised by any means.

The Color of one’s Susano’o upon the awakening of Mangekyou Sharingan will be fixed, and not change under any circumstances.

‘Madara’ clearly remembers that the colour of Homusubi’s Susano’o at the time she fought against him at Kirigakure was Golden, but the Susano’o of Homusubi who sneaked attacked, and almost sealed him inside the Sword of Totsuka, and currently standing in front of them is Crimson Red.

Although, ‘Madara’ considered the possibility of this change in Susanoo’s colour as a result of acquiring Sword of Totsuka, upon rethinking it deeply, and consulting it with Zetsu, ‘Madara’ denied this possibility…

Since the colour of Susano’o can not be changed, so the only possibility that remains is that these are two different people…!

So, ‘Madara’ inferred that perhaps Amatsukami has two Uchiha Clansmen who have awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan, one male, and one female.

Although, such a fact is hard to accept even for ‘Madara’, and he can’t figure out why would Uchiha Clansmen who have awakened Mangekyou Sharingan chose to betray their clan and join the Amatsukami Organization, the facts are right in front of him, so no matter how much he wants to deny it, he still has to accept such a reality…

Therefore, although uncomfortable mentioning it, ‘Madara’ still reminded Nagato about this information.

“Two Homusubi? Are you sure ‘Madara’?” – Konan’s face grew more worried after hearing this information from ‘Madara’.

“”

‘Madara’ nodded, and continued to persuade Nagato, “This is not all, the Homusubi standing in front of us holds a spiritual artefact called ‘Sword of Totsuka’, it’s an ethereal weapon with an enchanted blade capable of sealing its targets. Those who are stabbed by this sword are drawn into the jar and trapped in a Genjutsu-like ‘World of Drunken Dreams’ for all eternity.

Even I was almost sealed inside the Sword of Totsuka not long ago, and barely managed to escape using a secret Uchiha Jutsu and my vast experience… But there’s no telling if that method would work again…

Therefore, when fighting against Amatsukami we would have to be cautious of Homusubi too!

So, it’s best that we don’t act rashly, and withdraw now that we have completed our objective. Now is not the time to start a full-scale war against Amatsukami, moreover, we are not yet ready for such an all-out war.”

After hearing this piece of intelligence of Homusubi from ‘Madara’, Konan felt that Amatsukami was more dangerous, and she too stepped forward to persuade Nagato, “Nagato, please don’t, you are currently absorbing two Bijuu inside Gedo Mazo, and even if you say that it’s not too burdensome, it will still hold you back if you fight against Yama… so it’s best that we don’t actively seek conflict with Amatsukami… we should retreat with Sanbi and Hachibi in our hands… if we retreat now, we will have three Bijuu in our hands… and then we can passively continue to collect the remaining six Bijuu one by one using various means and planning… After all, Amatsukami, or more specifically, Yama can’t always come to the rescue of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, right?

In this manner, sooner or later we will be able to collect all the Nine Bijuu, and after we have all the Nine Bijuu and revive Juubi, then whether it is Yama, Amatsukami, or the Five Great Nations, none of them would be able to threaten us.”