Hours later, Pain descended the steps deep within the stronghold.
A pool of greenish, glowing liquid was visible in the distance. Zetsu emerged from the floor beside him as Pain came to a stop in front of the pool.
"Can you tell me what we're looking at here?" Zetsu asked.
"It's called a Lazarus Pit," Pain replied. "A mystical pool capable of rejuvenating, healing, or even bringing a person back to life."
"Wow, that's pretty dope. By controlling this pit, you basically have eternal life," Zetsu said.
"There is no such thing as eternal life for us physical entities—only borrowed time. Besides, even without any external influence, I'm pretty sure I could live past 200 years," Pain said.
"That's pretty good. That means I won't be lonely for a while," Zetsu said.
"And why is that?" Pain asked.
"It's because I've noticed my body constantly replaces every cell that dies instantly, meaning I'll live a pretty long time too," Zetsu explained.
Pain hummed in acknowledgment.
"Anyway, does this thing have any limitations on how many times it can revive a person? Or conditions for revival?" Zetsu asked.
"I don't know if it has limits on repeated revivals," Pain replied. "However, there is a condition: the body must be mostly intact and not decomposed or dead for too long. Otherwise, the soul would have moved on, and reviving the body would only create a violent shell,an entity driven purely by primal instincts, with no memory or reasoning of its former self."
"I see," Zetsu said.
"However," Pain continued, "my case is different. This body has been dead for a while, but I'm preserving it with my chakra. A piece of my soul is piloting it. I'm curious,if I were to jump in, would Deadshot come back and eject me from his body, or would nothing happen?"
"I don't think that's a good idea, but I must admit I'm curious to see what would happen," Zetsu said.
"Let's see, then." Pain unfastened his cloak and threw it at Zetsu before slowly stepping into the pool.
He turned back briefly. "If I show any drastic changes when I emerge, kill this body—but don't damage it too much. Hide it swiftly so I can retrieve it later. Then assume my identity as Pain."
"Understood," Zetsu replied.
Pain then sank into the greenish water.
---
In the training grounds, Thena was still practicing tree climbing.
Max's eyes snapped open from his meditation trance. He realized he had been ejected from Pain's body, though he could still feel the chakra drain from maintaining it,now noticeably smaller than before. He could still vaguely sense the connection with Pain.
Max quickly closed his eyes and tried to reconnect.
Back in Nanda Parbat, Max found himself back in control of Pain's body.
What puzzled him, however, was that he now had Zetsu held in a chokehold. One of Zetsu's arms had transformed into a stake, piercing his abdomen—and bleeding. That was odd.
Pain released White Zetsu. He dislodged his arm and jumped back, rubbing his neck.
"Um… boss? Is that you?" he asked wearily.
"Of course it is," Pain replied.
"Then prove it," Zetsu said.
"Stop wasting my time, Zetsu," Pain said.
"Prove it!" Zetsu repeated. Pain's brows knitted in frustration beneath his mask.
"Zetsu… do you want to die?" Pain asked.
"Oh… it's really you. You scared the hell out of me," Zetsu said.
"What happened?" Pain asked.
"You came out of that water like nothing had happened and told me to keep an eye on Sandra and kill her if she tried to betray us. I refused and asked who you were. You told me you were Max's will and that's when I knew it wasn't you anymore. So I attacked, like you said I should and I was ready to kill the body like you said… which would have been easy because it was pulling its punches when you regained control," Zetsu finished explaining.
"So that's how it is," Pain murmured, glancing at the bleeding wound on his abdomen.
"Sorry about that, by the way," Zetsu said.
Pain formed a handseal. The King of Hell emerged from the ground behind him, opening its massive mouth wide. Pain stepped inside as the mouth closed.
The King of Hell chewed for a few seconds before opening its mouth again. Pain stepped out, noticing the wound on his abdomen was fully healed. The King of Hell sank back into the ground.
Pain felt something new: hunger—a feeling that had not been there before.
He placed a hand on his chest. Thump. Thump. His heart was beating. His body was fully alive.
"Can you tell me what happened to you?" Zetsu asked.
"I don't know, but I have a few ideas," Pain replied.
He picked up his white cloak and draped it over his shoulders. Turning to Zetsu, he said, "Now go. Keep an eye on Sandra, and kill her if she tries to betray me."
"Is that… still you, boss?" Zetsu asked.
Pain did not answer. He conjured a black rod.
"Ok, ok, I'm going. Sheesh," Zetsu said, sinking into the ground, leaving Pain alone, deep in thought.
Max opened his eyes and smirked.
"Well… this is an unexpected development."
Pain's body was now semi-autonomous and alive.
He concluded this because he had brought Zetsu into Nanda Parbat to monitor Sandra—he hadn't wanted to place the cursed tongue Eradication Seal on her yet because she had willingly joined him. When the body acted on its own and told Zetsu to do exactly that, it confirmed it truly acted through his will. And since it was still siphoning chakra from him, it could still theoretically use the Rinnegan abilities he had assigned it,and he could still take over if needed.
But this new feature of pain still needed testing to see if he has a personality or goals of his own.So letting him act independently for now was not wise.
Max was broken from his thoughts by Thena's excited voice.
"Look, Dad! I can finally stand on a tree without falling!" she said, balancing upside down on a branch.
"Good. You're a prodigy at this. I thought it would take longer, given your huge chakra reserves," Max said.
"Haha, I'm awesome!" Thena said, then jumped down from the tree.
"Can you teach me a jutsu now?" she asked.
"Well, I suppose," Max replied. "But first… how far are you on the Chakra Theory book I gave you?"
"I've already finished it!" Thena said proudly.
"Ah, really? Can you summarize the nature of chakra and the basic three Academy jutsus?" Max asked.
"Yes," Thena replied confidently.
"Chakra is the fundamental energy that ninjas use to perform jutsu,". "It's created by combining two types of energy within the body: spiritual energy, which comes from the mind and consciousness, and physical energy, which is derived from the body's cells and physical activity.
Proper control of chakra is essential for performing techniques safely and efficiently. If too much chakra is used at once, it can harm the body. If too little is used, the technique might fail.
Chakra travels through pathways in the body called tenketsu. Ninjas use handseals to manipulate and shape chakra more effectively. Those who have mastered a specific jutsu can even reduce the number of handseals required—or skip them entirely."
She paused, then listed them carefully. "There are eleven handseals in total: Ram, Boar, Dog, Tiger, Snake, Hare, Ox, Rat, Dragon, Horse, and Monkey."
Max nodded approvingly. "That sounds about right. You're taking this seriously, which is good. Now, proceed with the three Academy jutsus."
"Okay," Thena said confidently.
"Clone Jutsu creates a copy of the user. The clone can perform basic actions but cannot attack, because it is not fully tangible.
Transformation Jutsu allows the user to transform into another person, an animal, or an object within their size range.
Finally, Substitution Jutsu lets the user swap positions with a nearby object to avoid an attack" Thena finished
"Can you use them?" Max asked, tilting his head.
"No," Thena admitted. "I've tried, but I can only use the Transformation Jutsu and the Substitution Jutsu."
"You've actually been practicing them?" Max raised an eyebrow.
"Yes," she said proudly. "Every day, while you're still asleep. That way, I can give you a few extra hours of rest."
"That's my girl," Max said, ruffling her hair as she giggled in delight.
"Well," Max continued, "the reason you can't use the Clone Jutsu yet is simple. It requires a very precise, tiny amount of chakra. Right now, you can't produce that small, controlled amount. Every time you try, you overload it, and it fails."
"Oh! I get it," Thena said, slapping her fist into her palm. "So I just need to keep working on my chakra control!"
"That's the spirit," Max encouraged.
He leaned back, thoughtful. "Now, about the jutsu you want to learn… You first need to understand chakra nature. Chakra has five elemental affinities: Wind, Fire, Earth, Lightning, and Water. Each element has strengths and weaknesses against another.
Water is strong against Fire but weak against Earth.
Earth is strong against Water but weak against Lightning.
Lightning is strong against Earth but weak against Wind.
Wind is strong against Lightning and Fire but weak against Earth.
Fire is strong against Wind but weak against Water."
He paused, letting her absorb the information. "Understanding these relationships is crucial. A well-chosen element can give you a big advantage in combat."
End of chapter