Although Senju Haruto possessed abilities nearly identical to his own, Uchiha Madara held a decisive advantage: eight tailed beasts already under his control.
"In any case, we head to Konohagakure first."
Madara's thoughts were sharp and resolute. He had returned to life in this era—how could he possibly abandon the Moon's Eye Plan, the scheme he had painstakingly prepared for decades? Even if Senju Haruto was truly as powerful as Black Zetsu claimed, what of it? He was Uchiha Madara. He too commanded Wood Release, the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, and the Rinnegan.
"A descendant of Hashirama, is he? I would very much like to meet him."
With that, Madara accelerated toward Konoha. Being a shinobi originally born in the village, he knew the roads well. Kanbō Bridge, where he had revived, sat within the borderlands between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth—it was not far from the Leaf at all.
"The Nine-Tails…"
Madara's eyes narrowed as he fixed his sights in the direction of the village. Black Zetsu followed, employing his floating technique to keep pace.
Meanwhile, near the central tower of Amegakure.
Despite fighting with all her strength, Konan could not withstand the combined might of Haruto and Jiraiya. The clash of jutsu ended swiftly—Konan was overwhelmed, her tenketsu sealed by Haruto's precision.
With Haruto's current power, killing her would have been effortless. But Konan was Jiraiya's student, and that bond of teacher and pupil carried weight. Thus, Haruto spared her life, sealing only her chakra to prevent her from fighting further.
Inside, however, Konan was torn apart. On one side was Nagato's dream, on the other, her beloved teacher Jiraiya. Both were precious bonds to her.
Haruto, however, cared little for such conflict. He had no interest in prying information from her lips. Instead, he pulled a black receiver from Yahiko's corpse, entered Sage Mode, and clenched it tightly. Through reverse sensory tracing, he pinpointed Nagato's location.
"Come with me."
Haruto released Sage Mode and took the lead. Jiraiya followed behind, guiding the sealed Konan along.
After a long silence, Konan finally asked, "When you find Nagato… what will you do? Kill him?"
Haruto instinctively glanced back at her, then shook his head.
"I'm no demon. In truth, Jiraiya and I only came to investigate the Akatsuki. You were the ones who attacked us first. Remember what I told you? What I seek… is to bring true peace to the shinobi world."
He spoke without hesitation. There was nothing Nagato had that Haruto desired. He had already awakened the Rinnegan himself. Tailed beast chakra could be obtained simply by completing his sign-in trials. The only reason he had even come to the Rain Village was because the sign-in system had issued a mission here.
Nagato, to him, was merely an obstacle to be faced—not an enemy fated for eternal conflict.
Konan fell silent again, unable to decide what to do.
It wasn't long before they arrived at Nagato's hiding place within the Rain's central tower. But what awaited them was a sight drenched in despair.
Nagato's once-vibrant red hair had faded to lifeless white. His arms hung limply at his sides. No chakra stirred within him.
"Nagato!"
Konan screamed his name and threw herself toward him.
But Nagato was already gone. His lifeless body bore hollow, empty sockets where the Rinnegan had been torn out.
Someone had taken his eyes.
Konan's mind instantly conjured an image—the masked man. The one who had guided Yahiko to found Akatsuki, the one who had always hungered after Nagato's eyes. It had to be him. When Nagato's end became inevitable, the masked man must have struck, killing him and stealing the Rinnegan.
"How could this happen…"
Jiraiya's heart twisted as he looked upon his fallen student. Nagato's body was gaunt, wasted, a shell of the brilliant youth he once knew. And now, mutilated, even his eyes stolen.
The tragedy was unbearable.
But Jiraiya noticed something else.
"Wait… wasn't Nagato the true leader of Akatsuki? Every piece of intel I've gathered pointed to him. If he was the leader, then even in death, he should have gone down fighting, burning the last of his strength. Not like this. Not in such pitiful ruin. Unless…"
Unless there was someone behind him.
Turning toward Konan, Jiraiya sought the truth in her eyes.
Noticing his gaze, Konan hesitated, but then steeled herself. She had lost everything—Yahiko and Nagato were her entire world. With nothing left, only vengeance remained.
"It was Madara," she said at last, her voice low and grim.
She began to recount everything that had happened since Jiraiya left them years ago. Yahiko had dreamed of peace, working tirelessly to achieve it. Then, a masked man appeared, calling himself Uchiha Madara.
"Uchiha Madara?"
Jiraiya froze. That name was like thunder in his ears. Even now, in the Valley of the End, the stone statues of Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara stood as eternal reminders of their legendary battle.
"Yes. He guided Yahiko and Nagato, leading them to found Akatsuki. He told Nagato the method to bring peace to the world."
Haruto nodded slightly. He was well aware of these events. After Yahiko's death, Nagato had been strung along like a puppet, manipulated at every turn. Nagato truly believed that gathering all the tailed beasts would allow him to force the world into peace through overwhelming power. But the truth was, even with all the beasts, it would have been meaningless. He was only ever someone else's pawn.
And now, the pawn had been discarded.
"If my guess is right," Haruto interrupted, his tone grave, "the masked man is already on his way to Konoha."
Both Konan and Jiraiya turned toward him.
"It's very possible," Konan agreed with a firm nod. "Akatsuki has already captured eight tailed beasts. Only the Nine-Tails remains—its jinchūriki, Uzumaki Naruto. Now that the masked man has taken the Rinnegan, the only thing left for him to seize is the Nine-Tails."
At that moment, Haruto's ears rang with the familiar voice of the sign-in system:
Congratulations, Host! You have reached the sign-in location! Sign-in process initiated! Exiting midway will count as failure!
1%… 23%… 77%… 89%… 100%!
Sign-in successful! Reward acquired: Four-Tails' chakra.
"The Four-Tails…" Haruto murmured inwardly. With this, he was now only three tailed beasts away from gathering all the chakra needed to become the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki.
But the system's voice was not finished.
New sign-in mission: Travel to Konohagakure. Reaching the destination will yield your next reward.