Footsteps approached behind him.
Naruto and Sasuke landed together, their sandals hitting the cracked stone.
"Y-you… did all this alone?" Naruto's eyes widened as he looked around.
Kakashi didn't turn around.
"You're late." He just gave a small smile.
Naruto ran forward, his jaw open. He looked around at the broken field, the collapsed bodies of the Pains.
"This is… insane. I thought Pain couldn't be stopped!"
"I didn't stop him. I outlasted him." Kakashi shrugged.
Naruto stared at the damage, stunned. "But there are six of them. I thought you needed help. You said we'd fight together!"
Kakashi walked over and gently placed a hand on Naruto's head.
"You'll get your fight," he said kindly. "But this one… was mine."
Naruto looked down, frowning slightly, but still nodded.
Sasuke was quiet. He walked through the field slowly, eyes narrowing. His Sharingan glowed faintly as he looked at the black receivers scattered across the ground.
He crouched down and picked one up.
"These were his control points," he muttered. "But they're empty now."
After he finished speaking, a soft sound came from behind a broken stone.
Hissss.
Yamihibi, Sasuke's snake summon, slithered out of the rubble. Its scales gleamed with a faint shadow shimmer. It held something in its mouth, a black rod, this one still faintly glowing with chakra.
"This one… still hums. Faint signal… but not extinguished yet." Yamihibi dropped it at Sasuke's feet and flicked its tongue.
Sasuke bent down and picked it up. The rod pulsed slightly, almost like a heartbeat.
Kakashi took a step closer. He activated Sage Mode.
His eyes shifted, natural energy flooding in. His senses stretched out. For a moment, he stood still. Listening. Feeling.
Then his eyes opened sharply.
"There," he said, pointing to the northwest, past the ridge. "Behind those hills. Someone is still transmitting. It's not chakra alone. It's connected to something… someone."
"That must be real Pain." Sasuke looked up.
"Then let's end this. Now." Naruto clenched his fists.
…
The three stood together at the edge of the wreckage.
"If the guy behind this is even half as dangerous as those things, we can't waste time." Naruto cracked his knuckles.
"I will scout the path ahead." Yamihibi sank back into the ground with a nod.
"What's the plan, sensei?" Sasuke looked over at Kakashi.
Kakashi's eyes were serious now. His chakra flared quietly. He glanced at the broken horizon, the black hills rising behind the ruined trees.
"We go to the source," he said simply. "We stop Pain's hand… and face the man."
He took a step forward, wind brushing his dark coat.
"This ends today."
The dust around them swirled gently. The battlefield had gone quiet, but something darker waited just beyond the hills.
Kakashi's eyes glowed again, calm, focused, without fear.
God was gone.
Now they would confront the man behind the puppets.
…
As they moved out, Naruto glanced back once at the ruins of the southern gate. His heart felt strange, filled with pride… but also frustration.
He didn't get to fight.
He didn't get to protect the village this time. Kakashi-sensei had done it all. Alone. He clenched his fists tighter.
"I'll catch up," he whispered.
Beside him, Sasuke walked with one hand resting on the hilt of his blade. He didn't speak, but his thoughts were loud.
Kakashi's Mangekyō… wasn't like his own.
Kakashi could bend space and stop time. There were no side effects. No blood loss and no pain.
Even the Pains couldn't lay a hand on him.
Sasuke looked at the older man walking ahead, his posture straight, his breath steady.
'This isn't just strength,' Sasuke thought. This is something else.
'Probably sensei has evolved.'
…
As they approached the far hill, a strange silence grew.
Even the birds had gone quiet.
Sasuke looked ahead, Sharingan glowing.
"There's something strange in the forest," he muttered. "A chakra barrier. Very faint. Hidden."
Kakashi nodded. "A trap. Or maybe… a grave."
Naruto stepped forward. "No more hiding."
Kakashi raised one hand to pause him.
He looked at both of them.
"We go in slow. We finish this carefully."
They nodded.
And then together, they stepped forward
The sun dipped lower behind the trees.
And the final truth of "Pain" waited in the shadows beyond.
The path to the giant paper tree was quiet. Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto moved cautiously through the underbrush, shadows lengthening as dusk settled.
The tree stood tall made of layers of thick paper, its surface veined with glowing chakra threads pulsing faintly like a heartbeat.
"It's like a living trap," Sasuke whispered, his eyes glowed red as he scanned with his Sharingan.
Naruto nodded, trying to stay calm, but his nerves still tingled.
Kakashi scanned the air with his Mangekyō Sharingan, sensing faint chakra flows weaving through the paper veins.
The air was thick with stillness, too still.
Suddenly, a figure appeared at the tree's base. It was Konan, silent as the night. Her eyes met theirs without surprise. She did not attack.
Kakashi gave a slight nod, acknowledging her presence.
Konan's expression was unreadable, calm, almost sad.
She stepped aside, allowing them to pass without a word.
Inside the hollowed core of the tree, the atmosphere was cold and charged. Nagato lay hooked to long black chakra conduits, veins of energy flowing into his frail body.
Despite his weakened form, his purple Rinnegan eyes glowed intensely, watching.
The black chakra rods floated near him, guarding his fragile form like sentinels.
Kakashi stepped closer, his team behind him.
Nagato's voice was low but firm.
"You probably came for the Rinnegan. The power to end the cycle. But power alone does not bring peace."
Kakashi met his gaze.
"We're here to end the cycle by protecting what matters," he said quietly. "Not with words, but with strength and will."
Sasuke's Mangekyō eyes never left Nagato. He felt the weight of the moment, a battle of ideas before any fight.
Naruto stayed silent, watching, absorbing every word.
Nagato spoke again, his voice cold.
"Pain is inevitable. Hatred is the chain that binds all men. Peace is an illusion held by the weak."
Kakashi's eyes narrowed.
"You may believe that, but I know this: the world only changes when someone stands and fights for hope."
Sasuke added quietly, "Power alone without direction leads to destruction. True strength is balance."
Nagato's Rinnegan glimmered.
"The cycle will repeat. You think stopping me is the end? You are mistaken."
Naruto clenched his fists but stayed silent, feeling the weight of the words but also the strength of resolve in his comrades.
While speaking, Kakashi's Mangekyō flickered, sensing something nearby, a faint, hidden chakra.
He scanned carefully but said nothing.
'Not yet,' he thought. 'Let him reveal himself.'
Inside, Kakashi's mind raced. He knew the signature.
Obito.
His former friend. Now his enemy.
Kakashi's plan was to bait Obito, to let him act first, then respond with everything he had.
Suddenly, the air shifted.
A shadow flickered at the edge of their vision.
Obito appeared, silent and deadly.
His eyes locked on Nagato's Rinnegan.
Without hesitation, he lunged.
Kakashi 'barely' had time to react.
Obito's fingers closed around one of Nagato's eyes.
Kakashi's Mangekyō activated instantly.
Space bent.
In a flash, Kakashi snatched the other Rinnegan away before Obito could claim it.
Obito growled, surprised but not deterred.
Chaos exploded.
Obito fled, taking one Rinnegan with him, leaving destruction behind.
Konan cried out but could not stop the swift betrayal.
Nagato's body slumped, drained.
His voice was barely a whisper:
"The Ten Tails… war is coming… it's unstoppable…"
Konan rushed to his side, mourning silently.
Kakashi quickly sealed the area, weaving a complex chakra barrier.
He turned to Sasuke and Naruto.
"There's more to this man," Kakashi said quietly, his eyes sharp.
"Madara is alive in some form… but this man is someone else."
Sasuke looked confused but listened.
Kakashi's mind raced.
'Obito… he wants the Ten Tails, to start the Tsuki no me.'
'I need to face him soon.'
'The Genesis Seal… if I can absorb that chakra safely…'
He remained silent but determined.
A new battle was on the horizon.