Renjiro silently assessed the room. He noticed the remaining Six Paths beginning to converge outside the sanctuary; their chakra signatures were closing in, ready to strike. His immediate conclusion was cold and certain; they couldn't attack without risking Konan. Nagato couldn't physically pursue him. Renjiro still had Hiraishin.
Mastering Hiraishin before this encounter may have been the single most important decision of my life, he thought, his internal voice carrying the weight of his realisation. Without it, the Chibaku Tensei alone would probably have killed me. Without it, finding Nagato would have been almost impossible.
He looked at his own chakra reserves; for perhaps the first time in years, they were genuinely low. His EMS, Susanoo, Hiraishin, Flame Phantom, sealing techniques, and prolonged combat had pushed him dangerously close to his limit.
A grim amusement flickered through him.
Well… that's new.
He realised Nagato had actually managed to exhaust him.
Renjiro studied Nagato carefully rather than immediately demanding answers. He noticed something bothering him; Nagato's power was monstrous, but his actual combat execution wasn't as overwhelming as Renjiro expected from someone possessing the Rinnegan.
He mentally reviewed the fight; the predictable five-second Shinra Tensei interval, the excessive reliance on shared vision, the rigid positioning, the predictable deployment of the Paths, the poor adaptation to Hiraishin, and the heavy dependence on the Six Paths rather than direct personal combat.
He began wondering: how long had Nagato actually been using the Rinnegan? Did he truly understand all of its abilities? Was Nagato powerful but inexperienced? Was the Six Paths system compensating for weaknesses in his own combat experience?
He's terrifying, Renjiro concluded, his internal voice cold with analysis. But he's still learning how to be terrifying.
Meanwhile, Nagato studied Renjiro with increasing concern, mentally reconstructing the entire battle. He listed the abilities Renjiro had demonstrated; EMS, Perfected Kinetic Vision, Susanoo, Adamantine Sealing Chains, Hiraishin, extraordinary taijutsu, sealing, Hyper-Condensed Chakra, Flame Phantom, Chakra Devourer, and the genjutsu. He recognised something strange; almost none of Renjiro's abilities fit conventional Mangekyō mechanics apart from the genjtusu. The Flame Phantom was the only ability Nagato could confidently associate with an ocular power. Everything else seemed to come from Renjiro's own training, bloodline, sealing knowledge, or something Nagato didn't understand.
Nagato realised this made Renjiro even more dangerous; killing the Flame Phantom didn't necessarily stop Hiraishin, destroying Susanoo didn't remove Renjiro's sealing, and exhausting his chakra didn't necessarily stop his spatial mobility. He began calculating whether Renjiro was actually bluffing about Konan's mark.
Nagato internally considered the possibility of simply allowing Renjiro to kill Konan. His reasoning was cold; Renjiro's Mangekyō techniques had limits, Konan's death was survivable, and the Gedō Art: Rinne Rebirth could potentially restore her. He weighed the cost; the price would be enormous, but if sacrificing his lifespan allowed him to get Konan back, he would consider it.
He subtly shifted his posture.
Renjiro noticed immediately.
Without Nagato saying anything, Renjiro smiled slightly. He realised exactly what Nagato was considering. He casually spoke before Nagato could act.
"If you're thinking about reviving her after I kill her…"
Nagato's expression changed, his Rinnegan narrowing.
"The mark remains relevant even after death," Renjiro continued, his voice carrying the weight of his certainty. "If you revive Konan, I can reapply the illusion. I can trigger the chakra-draining function again. I can repeatedly force you to spend life force reviving her."
He framed it as a fun attrition battle, his voice dark with amusement.
"My own chakra expenditure is significant but manageable. Yours is catastrophic. You'd run out of life before I ran out of ways to kill her. It'd be a fun war of attrition"
Nagato realised Renjiro had understood the Rinnegan's ultimate trump card without ever having seen it directly.
The sanctuary began shaking as the remaining Paths converged outside the chamber. Yahiko's Deva Path entered first, followed by the remaining bodies positioning themselves around Nagato.
"Any attack means Konan dies," he warned.
Nagato ordered the Paths to remain still. The reversal was striking; the Six Paths that had once surrounded Renjiro were now effectively surrounding their own weakness.
Renjiro explained that killing Konan wasn't even his worst option. He could simply take her with him; Hiraishin meant Nagato had no realistic way to stop his escape. He explained what would happen afterwards; he would extract information from Konan about Akatsuki's members, bases, contacts, contracts, objectives, financial structure, and movements. More importantly, he could reveal Nagato's true identity and location. He made it clear that the Five Great Nations would immediately learn that Pain wasn't some supernatural god, but a physically crippled man hidden underground, remotely controlling corpses.
The psychological blow landed hard. Nagato realised that killing Renjiro wasn't enough; allowing Renjiro to leave was also dangerous. Konan couldn't be sacrificed, and Akatsuki's secrecy was now at risk.
Long silence. Nagato looked at Konan, then at Renjiro. His expression changed from ideological certainty to reluctant calculation.
"What do you want?"
Pain had effectively been forced to negotiate.
Renjiro didn't ask about the Akatsuki's ideology, the Rinnegan, or Nagato's plans. He asked the same question he had been asking since the battlefield.
"Why the hell did Akatsuki attack us?"
He specifically asked whether Konoha was targeted, the Chūnin Exams were involved, and the Suna infiltrators were connected.
Nagato finally answered.
"The attack wasn't intended to destroy Konoha," he said, his voice thin and strained. "It was designed to delay Minato and Renjiro in Kumogakure."
Renjiro immediately caught the implication; someone wanted Konoha's leadership away from the village.
"Who hired you?"
Nagato hesitated.
"The client was anonymous. Akatsuki received no identifying information. The payment was 10 million ryō."
Renjiro actually paused. For the first time, Nagato saw genuine surprise from him. He calculated how absurd the amount was; far beyond normal S-rank mission compensation. Even for an elite mercenary organisation, that was an enormous contract.
Ten million… just to keep us in Kumo? he thought, his internal voice sharp with calculation. The delay itself was apparently worth more to someone than the destruction of a village.
He immediately asked the next logical question.
"Was Akatsuki also responsible for the simultaneous breach of Konoha's barrier?"
Nagato genuinely looked confused.
"No."
His answer was immediate. Renjiro watched his face and chakra response carefully. Nagato explained that their assignment was strictly to delay Minato and Renjiro; they were not responsible for the Konoha attack.
Renjiro's suspicion intensified. There were two separate operations occurring simultaneously. Someone else had attacked Konoha while Akatsuki was deliberately keeping its strongest leadership away.
He studied Nagato for several seconds. He realized Nagato had little reason to lie about the contract; more importantly, the explanation fit the battlefield circumstances. He mentally connected the Chūnin Exams, the Suna infiltration, the Konoha barrier breach, Minato being forced to return, himself remaining in Lightning Country, and the attack on the delegation. The pieces began forming a much larger conspiracy. Akatsuki was a component of the operation, not necessarily its architect.
He finally relaxed his grip slightly and deactivated Rakuin no Kagami. Konan collapsed, completely exhausted. Nagato immediately reacted, his body tensing, his chakra surging. Renjiro caught her before she hit the ground, then tossed her toward Yahiko's Deva Path. Nagato's emotional reaction was subtle but obvious; the Deva Path caught Konan, its hands trembling, his eyes fixed on her still form.
Renjiro prepared to leave. He gave Nagato one final warning; Akatsuki should think very carefully before accepting another contract against Konoha. Nagato expected a threat. Instead, Renjiro began revealing knowledge that he should have no possible way of possessing.
He turned slightly toward Nagato, his EMS spinning, his voice becoming almost casual.
"Don't ever cross Konoha again, Pain."
Then the revelations began, one at a time, each one landing with devastating impact.
"I know your real name."
Nagato's eyes widened.
"Nagato Uzumaki."
Complete silence.
Renjiro continued, his voice cold and deliberate.
"Your parents: Ise and Fūso Uzumaki. Konan's identity. Yahiko's identity. Your connection. Your childhood."
He paused, letting the weight settle.
"And I know who taught the three of you how to fight in the rain. Jiraiya."
Nagato's Rinnegan widened in horror. Konan, despite her exhaustion, stared at Renjiro with an expression of utter disbelief. Neither understood how he could possibly know. Renjiro had just demonstrated that their identities weren't secret, their childhood wasn't secret, Yahiko wasn't merely an anonymous corpse to him, and their connection to Jiraiya was known.
Nagato's entire perception of Renjiro changed. He was no longer merely a powerful Konoha shinobi, an EMS user, or an unusually skilled Uzumaki. He was someone who apparently knew secrets buried decades ago.
Renjiro gave them no explanation. He simply turned away, and his Hiraishin formula activated. Yellow-red chakra began illuminating the sanctuary as he prepared to leave. Nagato tried to process everything, and Konan looked toward him. Neither spoke.
Renjiro disappeared.
The sanctuary suddenly felt much smaller. Konan lay beside Yahiko's corpse, Nagato still connected to the mechanical rig, and the Six Paths stood silently around them. The empty space where Renjiro had stood seemed to echo with the weight of everything he had revealed.
Who… is this man? Nagato thought.
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