At this moment, in the ruins of the residential district streets.
"Kakashi Hatake!"
Tendō Pain's voice had lost its god-like calm and indifference.
Instead, it was a hoarse sound, seemingly forced out from between clenched teeth, as if his deepest taboo had been touched: "What exactly did you do?!"
The intense killing intent in that voice caused cold sweat to break out on Kakashi's forehead.
The ability of the sword 'Jealousy' was indeed useful, summoning an 'image' of the enemy. However, every time it was used, the enemy was enraged.
At a time like this, if the 'image' was too weak to restrain the enemy, the wielder of the blade could be in serious danger.
The current 'image' seemed rather weak, completely unlike the formidable and cold enemy, even appearing a bit flippant and unthreatening.
And, did he seem a little... unintelligent?
However, looking at this 'image,' Kakashi had a strong sense of déjà vu...
"Hmm?"
Yahiko on the wall seemed completely unaffected by the killing intent. His gaze shifted from Kakashi to Tendō Pain, raising an eyebrow.
"Hey, hey," he tilted his head slightly, showing a puzzled expression. "You look like you're having a really bad day."
"Wait a minute, I have a feeling you look a little familiar."
He scrutinized Tendō Pain's cold face, subconsciously looking up as if trying hard to recall something, muttering, "Like from somewhere..."
"Are you the same kind of idiot as Guy?" Kakashi couldn't help but inwardly complain. "Why don't you even recognize what you look like?"
"Kakashi, don't joke around."
Hearing Kakashi's words, Yahiko maintained his somewhat comical, clasped-hands pose and shook his head seriously. "I'm not that grim, miserable, and perpetually stone-faced."
"Besides, why would I be twisted enough to stick all those strange black rods in my face?"
"But, you really do look like me," he mused, looking over Tendō Pain. "Almost like a long-lost twin brother who unfortunately has a perpetually deadpan face and late-stage chuunibyou..."
At this, he suddenly wore a look of realization. "Could it be that Mom and Dad were up to something when they were alive..."
"But that's not right, the Rinnegan belongs to Nagato, not me... Hiss, could this guy actually be my dad and Nagato's mom's kid..."
"Wait!" Kakashi's pupil constricted at a certain keyword. He immediately interrupted the seemingly rambling speculation, asking urgently, "The Rinnegan? Nagato?"
"Yeah, the Rinnegan," Yahiko confirmed with a matter-of-fact tone, as if it were common knowledge.
However, seeing Kakashi's bewildered expression, he seemed to understand something. "It looks like in this world, Konoha and our Akatsuki organization aren't on good terms?"
"You don't even have intel on the Rinnegan? Actually..."
"Enough!"
An intensely cold voice interrupted Yahiko's words. Tendō Pain suddenly raised his hand.
Banshō Ten'in! (Universal Pull!)
A powerful gravitational force instantly acted upon Yahiko on the wall.
However...
Yahiko, as if anticipating it, lightly flashed, narrowly evading the pull, landing steadily on another broken wall.
"Stop playing these childish word games and feigning ignorance."
Tendō Pain slowly lowered his hand, his Rinnegan coldly fixed on Yahiko. "Did you think your little actions could escape my sight?"
Hearing this, Kakashi was startled, looking at the 'image.' Yahiko on the wall, hearing Tendō Pain's words, slowly lost his slightly foolish smile.
He was silent for a moment, then shrugged.
"As expected, I can't fool you," Yahiko sighed. "No matter which world it is, you're the smartest among the three of us, aren't you... Nagato."
He called out the name directly, causing Tendō Pain's eyes to briefly flicker.
"However," Yahiko slowly grinned, "this is enough."
Vwoom!!
As his words fell, a huge and pure wave of energy suddenly burst from his body!
Vivid orange markings, like eyeshadow, abruptly appeared on the sides of Yahiko's eyes. The shape of his pupils transformed into the horizontal slit-pupils of a toad.
At this moment, Kakashi finally understood where that strange sense of déjà vu came from.
"Sage Mode?" He stared intently at Yahiko's eyes. "Jiraiya-sama's Sage Mode?!"
No wonder it felt familiar.
That flippant, carefree manner was exactly like Jiraiya-sama.
So, the summoned 'image' was actually Jiraiya-sama's student?
And from the look of it, this guy in front of him could even use the true Sage Mode, not the incomplete version like Jiraiya-sama, which required assistance from the two Great Sages.
"Nagato."
Yahiko stood on the broken wall, his eyeshadow vibrant, his horizontal pupils deep. He looked down at Tendō Pain and said, "Now, let's talk properly."
"Why did you turn into this? And..."
He paused, glancing at the devastated streets, the burning buildings, and the smoke-filled air.
Finally returning his gaze to Tendō Pain, his expression became serious, and his tone heavy. "Did you do all of this?"
"..."
Tendō Pain remained silent, his Rinnegan merely staring intensely at the hauntingly familiar face on the wall.
"So," Yahiko seemed to understand something from the silence, a complex, knowing smile appearing on his face. "The me in this world, I'm dead, aren't I?"
"Was I killed by Konoha ninja? Or by Hanzō-sensei?"
His tone was calm, as if stating a fact unrelated to himself.
"You are wrong."
Tendō Pain did not directly answer his question but slowly spoke: "The path you chose for Akatsuki, for Amegakure, was wrong from the very beginning."
"I was not wrong," Yahiko shook his head, completely unwavering. "I have verified the feasibility of this path in another world."
"No matter what difficulties we face, as long as the three of us—you, me, and Konan—are together, there is no problem we cannot solve."
"Communication and understanding, though difficult and slow, are genuinely paths to peacefully resolving conflict."
"Even if the me in this world unfortunately died."
"As long as you and Konan do not give up the will to communicate, as long as you have the courage to trust others and let go of hatred, surely more people will be willing to be like you..."
Before Yahiko could finish, Tendō Pain's eyes narrowed savagely.
"Absurd!"
Tendō Pain let out a low roar, and the surrounding chakra surged out.
"Communication? Trust? Letting go of hatred?!" His voice trembled with rage. "How dare you assume your trust and forgiveness will be reciprocated by others?"
"Do you think those naive words can satisfy the insatiable greed of the great nations? Can they stop their ambition to spread war across every inch of land?"
"Do you know how many lives of comrades who trusted you will be ruined by your naivety?!"
He stared intently at Yahiko, saying word for word, "The childish, naive theories you cling to have long been ruthlessly and repeatedly crushed into dust by reality, Yahiko!"
When he finally shouted the name, his voice carried an extremely complex pain.
Hearing this, Yahiko was silent for a moment, the light in his eyes dimming slightly. But then he slowly shook his head. "You have probably endured suffering I cannot imagine."
"But precisely because the world is so full of hatred, Akatsuki should try even harder to become the light that breaks the darkness. Pain and hatred solve nothing."
"We, too, faced countless difficulties and suspicions."
He continued, his tone steady: "Hanzō-sensei's initial conservatism and distrust, the continuous pressure from the great nations on our borders, the internal poverty and suffering..."
"Every single one was a huge challenge, but we never believed that military conquest or creating fear was the answer."
"We spoke with Hanzō-sensei, showing him our plans and sincerity, organizing the populace for self-help, dredging rivers, rebuilding homes, and letting everyone see concrete hope."
"We even managed to establish non-official communication channels with open-minded individuals in the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind, gradually resolving misunderstandings."
At this point, he looked at Tendō Pain again, his gaze sharp and sincere, as if trying to pierce through the cold shell to the soul behind it.
"Trust is not naiveté; it is a bridge that requires courage and sacrifice to build."
"It is fragile, yes, but because it is fragile, we must protect and repair it, not abandon it and utterly destroy it."
"If even we give up, then there truly is no future."
Undoubtedly, he described the picture of an idealist struggling but never giving up and achieving tangible results in reality.
Yahiko's voice dropped. "What I see now is a soul consumed by pain. However, inflicting your pain upon the entire world is not..."
"Enough."
A cold, stiff voice interrupted Yahiko's steady narration.
Tendō Pain stared fixedly at Yahiko's eyes, still clear and full of "foolish" hope. The surge of rage and disgust in his heart was about to burst through his chest.
The Nagato manipulating Tendō Pain from afar found the 'imposter's' claim of achieving "tangible progress" through "dialogue and communication" laughable!
"Look around you."
Tendō Pain raised a hand, pointing to the surrounding devastated ruins, the groaning injured, and the fear-stricken civilians. He said coldly, "I can forgive what Konoha did to us."
"But do you think they will forgive me?"
Hearing this, Yahiko opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but looked at the surrounding corpses and fell silent.
Why not?
The emotional turmoil that had previously surged in Tendō Pain's eyes was replaced by coldness and disgust, as if he were looking at a twisted, hideous, and repulsive fake.
This Yahiko was from some world lucky enough to be fake, a world not yet consumed by desire and hatred!
The very existence of this Yahiko was a complete denial of everything he was, a mockery of his own real, bloody, despairing world!
At this moment, Nagato, looking at that familiar face, felt only sickened!
"You fundamentally don't understand anything."
Tendō Pain's tone became cold and lifeless again, but beneath that coldness was a murderous intent ready to unleash destruction.
"This is not the beautiful world you claim can be achieved through 'communication,' nor is it the world you claim can function properly through 'understanding.'"
"War, death, betrayal, pain, despair, hatred... that is the true face of this world, the eternal undercurrent."
"And you are merely a pathetic, destiny-favored image. If your only purpose in coming here was to make me feel disgusted and angry..."
With that, Tendō Pain slowly raised his hand, his palm directed at the "image" that disgusted and angered him. He said coldly, "I admit, you succeeded."
"Then, let me use pain to make you feel reality."
Banshō Ten'in!
Vwoom!!
An irresistible, terrifying gravitational force instantly clamped down on Yahiko on the wall!
Yahiko's body abruptly stiffened, as if seized by an invisible giant hand. He was dragged by that brute force, accelerating rapidly toward Tendō Pain!
The speed was so great that it created a sharp whistling sound in the air.
In the process of being uncontrollably pulled, Yahiko did not, and could not, weave hand signs. His cheeks puffed out.
Sage Art: Water Release: Wild Water Wave!
A massive blast of water, infused with concentrated natural energy, roared out from his mouth.
The volume and power of this water cannon far exceeded a conventional Wild Water Wave. Enhanced by the Sage Mode, it was an unstoppable force that slammed toward Tendō Pain, who was using the Universal Pull!
The huge water cannon, accelerating under the influence of the gravity, violently surged towards Tendō Pain!
"A Ninjutsu taught by Jiraiya-sensei," Tendō Pain thought. "He can use it without hand signs after entering Sage Mode?"
Jigokudō (Naraka Path), who hadn't moved yet, took a step forward, trying to shield Tendō Pain with his body.
Shwick! Clang!
Kakashi Hatake, as if predicting his movement, intercepted Jigokudō Pain even faster.
The two simultaneously swung their short sword and black receiving rod, producing a sharp ringing sound, and sparks flew!
A massive force hit Kakashi. The web of skin between his thumb and forefinger went numb, and his body was jolted backward repeatedly.
Tendō Pain took in everything. Looking at the slamming water cannon, the coldness in his Rinnegan intensified.
"Shinra Tensei!" (Almighty Push!)
Boom!
An irresistible repulsive force suddenly erupted from him!
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