Tsunade wasn't the world's best medical-nin for nothing, and within an hour, Nagato had a fresh pair of eyes in his eye sockets.

A while later, back in the Uzumaki compound, Yuna, Konan, and Nagato were sitting in the same room, and Nagato was about to remove the bandage from his freshly acquired eyes.

Nagato removed the blindfold and moments later opened his eyes, revealing two crimson eyes with three tomoe in them.

"So this is what the world looks like through a Sharingan.

"

"How are you feeling, Nagato? Is everything okay? Is there any pain or an uncomfortable feeling?

"

Nagato smiled a little at Konan's concerns and shook his head in denial.

"Everything is fine. However, I can feel that my eyes are constantly draining my chakra. It is not that much, but it would accumulate over time and completely drain me if I were to keep them open constantly.

"

"Want me to put a seal on it to cut off the permanent chakra drain? I can make it in a way that you can activate and deactivate it within a split second.

"

Nagato pondered Yuna's offer and nodded his head in acknowledgment. Yuna covered Nagato's eyes with her hands for a short moment before removing them again, revealing a pair of black eyes.

After thanking Yuna, Nagato closed his eyes again and reopened them to reveal an activated Sharingan.

"With this, the first step is done. Well, I have no idea if I will ever be able to regain the Rinnegan, but I won't give up.

"

Yet again, Nagato closed his eyes a sunk deep into his own thoughts.

"Well, might as well do the first step right away. I might have chosen another path by now, but one thing hasn't changed…

"

Blood started flowing out of the corners of Nagato's eyes.

"I know pain.

"

Nagato opened his eyes, revealing his freshly evolved Mangekyou Sharingan. It took the form of a red octagram with a black dot in the middle.

"So, what abilities did you gain?

"

Nagato considered not telling Yuna about it or straight-up lying, but he decided not to do so. Despite everything she put him through, Yuna helped him quite a lot as well, so he decided to be truthful to her.

"My left eyes can cast a powerful genjutsu that forces the victim to relief the worst even of their life.

"

"That's quite fitting for Pain.

"

Nagato ignored the jab and continued speaking.

"The other one engulfs what I'm looking at in never-melting ice.

"

"Ohh, reverse Amaterasu. That sounds like it has something to do with me.

"

Nagato nodded his head in acknowledgment. When he realized his new abilities, he came to the same conclusion.

"One ability represents my past and the other the future you decided to give me. I was your enemy, and no one would have said anything if you had killed me, but you decided to give me another chance to fulfill my goal. For that, I am thankful.

"

"Don't mention it. Honestly, I would like to give that ice a try, but since that would deteriorate your eye-sight, I'm willing to wait until you use it in combat to get a sample.

"

"I understand. Thanks again.

"

Meanwhile, Karin was walking through the corridors of the Uzumaki compound in a good mood. It turns out that Yuna was more than willing to reward and punish Karin for her battle against Hidan, which resulted in rather intense night activities and her current good mood.

'Haa~ It's been a while since my mind was that close to breaking. How dreadful. I can't wait to experience it again~'

A short while later, Karin saw Tayuya, who was standing in front of a window and looking through it with a dazed expression, attracting her attention.

"Yo, Tayuya, what are you doing? You look confused. Can I help you somehow?

"

Tayuya flinched when Karin started talking to her, but she visibly relaxed when she saw the speaking.

'Thank god it's not Yuna-sama.'

"No, it's nothing. I'm fine, Karin.

"

Karin's eyebrow rose when Tayuya started deflecting her questions. Tayuya was usually not the type to bottle stuff up and would normally speak her mind without a filter, so the situation was definitely strange.

"Come on; you should tell me your problem. Even if I can't help, sharing the issue will at least lighten the burden. Aren't we friends?

"

Tayuya rolled her eyes at that last question. Although they have been working together for a while now, and Tayuya did consider Karin to be her friend, there were quite a few opportunities in which she would vehemently deny even knowing Karin.

After thinking about it some more, Tayuya decided to tell Karin what had happened.

"Hisoka asked me for a date. As in, a 'romantic date between two people who want to start dating' and not the 'let's go shopping together' one.

"

"Mhh? That's all? Isn't that a good thing?

"

"I'm… not sure? I told her I needed some time to think about it.

"

"Huh? Why didn't you accept? I got the feeling that you liked her as well.

"

"*Urgh* That's what I'm currently thinking about. I'm not sure what it means to like or love someone.

"

"I see. In that case, I'm probably the wrong person to speak to.

"

That actually surprised Tayuya a little. After all, it wasn't exactly a secret that Karin loved Yuna.

Naturally, Karin saw Tayuya's doubts and couldn't help but chuckle about it.

"I don't love Yuna-sama…

"

Tayuya's eyes widened in shock when Karin said that, but Karin's following words cleared her doubt.

"…I'm utterly obsessed with her.

"

As Karin said that, a glint of insanity passed through her eyes as she started hugging her own body and wiggling around.

"Ahh~ Every moment I spend separated from Yuna-sama is a wasted moment. I love her. I want to be by her side. I want her to mess me up. I want her to make me her toy. I want her to crush my mind~

"

While Karin descended into her madness, Tayuya cautiously took a few steps away from her. On the one hand, who knows what the crazy person in front of her will do? One the other, she didn't want any drool flying on her clothes.

'Well, didn't she say she loved her anyway? Oh well, no point arguing with her when she is in that state, so who cares. Probably something about having surpassed the state of love or something like that.'

Tayuya shrugged her shoulders and decided to ignore Karin in favor of her own pondering.

'Well, do I or don't I accept the date? Do I like Hisoka? Well, it's rather cute how she gets flustered when doing simple stuff like sitting close to me. Makes me want to bull…*cough… tease her. Oh well, f*ck it, I will accept.

At the same time, Hisoka was strolling through Konoha in an excellent mood.

'Well, she didn't agree, but she didn't reject me either, so I will see it as a win for now. After all, if she didn't find me at least likable, she would have rejected me instantly.'

However, simply not getting rejected was not the real cause for Hisoka's excellent mood.

'Haa, I'm so happy my ass didn't get shinra tenseied yesterday.'

As someone who knows canon, she obviously knows what happened to Konoha when Pain attacked it: It was blasted to smithereens.

'I mean, I trust Yuna-sensei, but who would sleep well when they knew that someone with a god-complex would drop a nuke on your head soon even if you have something you think could stop the nuke?'

A few moments later, Hisoka noticed Tayuya approaching her with a slight smirk and a light blush on her face, resulting in Hisoka smiling as well.

'Yup, I think today will be a good day as well~'