White Zetsu brought Nagato to the Valley of Hypocrisy three hours later.

What they saw here were villagers who were tirelessly working to rebuild the Valley of Hypocrisy.

This time, they didn't plan to build the village halfway up the mountain but to expand a peaceful land underground.

The original Valley of Hypocrisy had completely collapsed and no longer existed.

"..."

Nagato, who took in everything at once, silently watched this scene.

Without saying a word, Nagato turned to leave.

Suddenly, at this moment, a childish voice came to his ear:

"Have you come to destroy the peace of the Valley of Hypocrisy too?"

This sentence stopped Nagato in his tracks. The speaker was a boy around ten years old, standing under the shadow of a tree and staring straight at Nagato, asking such a question.

Nagato also looked at this child, who should be a child of the Valley of Hypocrisy.

He had heard that the Valley of Hypocrisy was a gathering place for renegade ninjas, and this child hadn't used Transformation Jutsu, which meant this was his appearance.

Yet, the strange thing was precisely this.

This child, who might be under ten years old, possessed a significant amount of chakra.

His power might be stronger than most of the villagers working there.

Most importantly, this child had seen blood, might even have killed people, and perhaps many.

The indifferent gaze towards the world was nothing like ordinary children who are ignorant of worldly matters.

Nagato shook his head and replied, "No, I came here to find the village chief, but it seems like the Valley of Hypocrisy has already been destroyed."

"Looking for the village chief?"

The child pointed at the ruins of the original Valley of Hypocrisy and said, "The village chief was buried under there, now he's probably dead."

When he said this, his face was a bit grim and twisted.

But then he regained his calm.

"Is that so... That's a pity. I originally had something to discuss with him, but since he's dead, forget it."

According to what White Zetsu said, the village chief of the Valley of Hypocrisy was once a powerful Genjutsu ninja defeated by Uchiha Madara.

Because everyone he knew in the world died in wars, he fled from everything and hid here.

He even used the Illusion Technique on himself to forget the past and created a false personality to serve as the village chief here.

His Illusion Technique was very special, capable of being released over a large area. The Valley of Hypocrisy remained peaceful and undisturbed over the years because of his overwhelmingly powerful range Illusion Technique.

He could make enemies fall for it through smell, and anyone who stepped into the territory of the Valley of Hypocrisy would unknowingly be affected by the Illusion Technique within.

The longer one stays here, the deeper the illusion influence gets, making it harder to defeat the village chief.

He originally thought that since this village chief also had a peaceful ideal, he would be interested in what Akatsuki was doing.

Just by convincing him to abandon that illusion of peace similar to Infinite Tsukuyomi, he could become a help to Akatsuki.

After all, according to White Zetsu, Madara had to exert great effort to escape his Illusion Technique.

People who hold regret and remorse would inevitably be manipulated by his Illusion Technique to become puppets.

Such an excellent person should not waste their life here.

In the last moments of life, offering a contribution to the world's brilliant fireworks would be good.

Now, upon reflection, this wish can't be realized.

"By the way, can you tell me who destroyed this place?"

Although the action failed, it wasn't without any results.

The village chief of the Valley of Hypocrisy, although having his strength diminish due to old age, wasn't someone any ninja could defeat casually.

If he could recruit the ninja who defeated the village chief of the Valley of Hypocrisy into Akatsuki, it would also be a good choice.

The child replied without hesitation, "It was a woman wearing tight black clothing, she had red eyes and controlled a massive blood-colored giant to defeat the village chief."

"Red eyes... Blood-colored giant..."

Nagato murmured, and a person immediately came to his mind.

White Zetsu also suddenly realized and shouted, "Isn't that Uchiha Ruri? What is she doing in the Valley of Hypocrisy?"

"Uchiha... Ruri?"

The child seemed quite interested in this.

Before Nagato could speak, White Zetsu continued to blurt out, "She's an extremely dangerous woman, and awful for using powerful moves directly upon meeting someone!"

According to Tobi, there are two people in this world he fears most, one is Madara, and the other is Ruri.

Unlike Madara, Ruri is a ninja who loves combat more.

Her favorite battle method is to unleash powerful moves at the start of a fight, mercilessly eliminating all enemies before her.

"White Zetsu, shut your mouth, there's no need to say these things to a child."

The hatred in this child's eyes was clear to him.

This child wants revenge against Uchiha Ruri, who destroyed the Valley of Hypocrisy.

But, Nagato doesn't believe he can achieve this.

Letting him know about Ruri is merely sending him to die.

"But this child seems to have some unusual power. Maybe he could cause some trouble for Uchiha Ruri in the future."

White Zetsu scratched his head and said.

"Even so, this shouldn't be done."

After speaking, Nagato left directly.

White Zetsu did not immediately leave but looked at the child and asked, "Kid, what's your name?"

"Name? My name is Ame... No, my name is Hohozuki."