Reincarnated into the world of Naruto by onetim3

Chapter 41: The Next Steps

Whiiiirrr!

A cold wind blew past as Naruto and I stood in the ruins of the paper tree that held Konan and Nagato previously. We stared cautiously at the masked Akatsuki member in the distance as he sat there nonchalantly on a tree branch.

"You! What the hell did you do?" Naruto said with a scowl.

"Hahaha! Well, I came to retrieve Nagato. After all, with Sasuke out of the Akatsuki it is best for me to secure as much power as I possibly can." Tobi said.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked. Tobi took a glance at Naruto before answering, "There's no need for you to know. For now at least." He then turned to me and said, "You sure placed some intricate seals and barriers around the body of Uchiha Itachi. Even I can't get through without paying some consequences. The Third Hokage must place a great deal of trust in your judgement."

I furrowed my brow and said, "So, you went after Itachi's corpse after all? Still planning to use that as leverage to win over Sasuke?"

"Hahaha! Well it doesn't hurt to try. But it seems I will have to give up on that avenue. In my current state I am not strong enough to bear the consequences of those protective seals on his body for now. I never imagined that Itachi would tell Sasuke the truth. I'm curious what Itachi showed Sasuke that he would be willing to put aside that heart of vengeance of his. I was quite confident in Nagato's ability to capture the Nine-Tails, but apparently I thought too highly of him. You also intrigue me Karasuma Izaya." Tobi said.

"Why so interested?" I asked.

"What is it you desire? I could use a man of your talents." Tobi replied.

"Unfortunately I'm not interested." I said.

"Oh? I assure you there are many things I can offer you that Konoha cannot." Tobi said testing the waters. I ignored his offer and said, "What I'm more curious about is that you actually visited Itachi's corpse meaning you bypassed Konoha's barrier without being detected. Itachi called you Uchiha Madara. I find that hard to believe however after so many years."

"Uchiha Madara? Who is that? And why did he visit Itachi's corpse? What the hell is going on? And what did you do with Nagato and Konan?" Naruto asked in frustration.

"This one has no patience I see. I took away Nagato's corpse. I also took away Konan. She'd end up as a thorn in my side after Nagato's death. I'm impressed that you both managed to convince Nagato to revive your fallen comrades in Konoha by sacrificing his life for theirs. What did you say to him to make him change his mind?" Tobi asked.

"Give Nagato and Konan back!" Naruto shouted.

"Hahaha! After I just grabbed them, of course I won't just hand them back. Well, if you're not going to talk then that's fine. I was just slightly curious, but since Nagato has failed I have many things left to prepare. Farewell." Tobi said as he vanished into thin air.

"That bastard!" Naruto fumed.

I let out a sigh. This didn't happen before. Events are definitely changing. I had at the very least wanted for Konan to join our side. I turned to Naruto and said, "Naruto. He's gone. There isn't anything we can do for right now. Let's return to the village first and help repair what damage was done."

"Tsk. Damn it." Naruto said as he clenched his fist.

Fwish!

"Oh? Naruto, you're back." Kakashi said.

"Mn." Naruto said with a complicated look on his face. He looked around at the devastation of the Leaf but let out a soft sigh of relief as he realized that Nagato had indeed revived the fallen. He then recalled the things Nagato had said and how he suffered and how he came to his answer. He thought about what he would have done if they had traded places and what he would do continuing forward. A large crowd soon gathered by Naruto as sounds of cheers could be heard when they saw Naruto walk out from the forest.