An iron tower loomed over the Rain Village.
Outside the tower, the world was nothing but dim gray. Sheets of rain blurred the boundary between sky and city, merging everything into one.
Nagato sat quietly in his mechanical wheelchair, back to the door.
His thin frame was swallowed by a wide black robe, hiding the sharp, jutting lines of bone beneath.
On his bare back, black receivers pierced deep into his skin, extending backward into the silent, towering statue behind him.
The Gedo Statue kept him alive.
The Gedo Statue was also devouring his life.
The door to the room was kicked open, slamming against the wall.
A figure staggered in.
Obito struggled to stand, using his one remaining arm to brace himself against the wall.
The clothes on half his body were shredded. His mask was nowhere to be seen, revealing a face crisscrossed with wounds.
"I'm back."
Konan's gaze dropped to his empty left sleeve, her brows drawing together slightly.
"The mission failed?"
"The Three-Tails was taken. Kisame failed as well," Obito said, leaning against the wall as he fought to steady his breathing.
"Who was it?" Pain spoke at last.
"Konoha," Obito replied once his breath had evened out a little. "An organization calling itself Shintei. Their leader is Namikaze Shinju—the son of Namikaze Minato."
Konan's expression shifted.
"The Fourth Hokage's son?"
"He wasn't alone," Obito continued. "He brought people who shouldn't exist in this world anymore. The Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama… 'Konoha's White Fang,' Hatake Sakumo… and Uchiha Shisui."
Senju Tobirama. Hatake Sakumo.
Names recorded only in history, people who should have long since decayed into dust.
"Edo Tensei?" For the first time, Nagato's voice rippled with emotion.
"No," Obito denied immediately. "They're alive. Flesh and blood, their own consciousness, and their power is at its absolute peak. This is completely different from the forbidden technique the Second Hokage created."
Nagato fell silent.
Zetsu emerged from the shadows in the corner, his half-black, half-white face unreadable.
"That's impossible. To resurrect the dead and restore their peak strength—that's beyond the scope of ninjutsu."
"It's the truth," Obito snapped, his voice rising. "Kisame was taken down by Hatake Sakumo and Senju Tobirama working together. Even I was beaten so badly I had no power to fight back."
Shintei.
The power hidden behind that name had already gone beyond the realm of the known.
Nagato closed his eyes.
Even the Rinnegan—the eyes praised as belonging to a creator god—was trembling faintly.
The "godlike" power he'd pursued… felt so small in the face of a true miracle.
Obito sensed Nagato's silence, and the quiet made him uneasy.
"Nagato, we can't afford to wait any longer!" He took two hurried steps forward. "That Namikaze Shinju, and Shintei behind him—they're a cancer on this world! They're destroying the very foundation of the new world we're trying to build! We have to wipe them out before they grow any further!"
Konan watched Obito's near-manic expression, her eyes turning cold.
She walked to Nagato's side and lowered her voice.
"Nagato, the situation has changed. Konoha's strength far exceeds what we anticipated. Maybe… we should lie low for now and draw up a new plan."
Nagato didn't respond to her.
His gaze drifted out through the tower's window, to the ceaseless rain beyond.
This village held all of his and Yahiko's and Konan's dreams and pain.
"Yahiko…" he murmured, as if speaking to someone who could never answer him again. "You said you wanted to become a bridge that would bring peace to the world… But if, on the far bank of that river, stands a god that nothing can shake…"
"Can our bridge still reach the other side?"
Obito heard the uncertainty in his tone, and the anxiety gnawing at his heart intensified.
"Nagato! Don't you dare forget how Yahiko died!" he shouted. "It was Konoha's Root—Danzo's schemes—and Hanzo's betrayal. This rotten world took Yahiko from us! Only by making them taste the same pain will they learn to crave peace! That's Yahiko's true wish—have you forgotten?!"
Yahiko's death was a wound in Nagato's heart that could never heal.
That day, he had lost almost everything.
He'd lost his legs.
He'd almost lost himself.
Nagato lowered his gaze.
Above his palm, several ring phantoms shimmered into being.
The "Hokuto" ring representing Kakuzu.
The "Santai" ring representing Hidan.
The "Gyokunyo" ring representing Sasori.
And finally, the "Seiryu" ring representing Deidara.
Those phantom rings had all lost their chakra glow, turning dull and lifeless.
One by one, they were Akatsuki's core combat forces, comrades who had come together for the same goal. To say he felt nothing at their loss would be a lie.
And just moments ago, his connection with Kisame had also been severed.
The "Nantou" ring representing Kisame gave off its last faint flicker of chakra… then vanished completely.
It meant Kisame was either dead, or imprisoned… and tamed.
Now, Akatsuki's members had been reduced to only a handful.
This organization that had once made all five great nations wary… was practically a hollow shell.
Were their enemies… truly "gods"?
Obito looked at Nagato's hollow expression, his complete loss of a leader's bearing.
He knew that ordinary words could no longer reach him.
He would have to use his final bargaining chip—to pull Nagato back from the edge… or push him over it.
"What are you still hesitating for, Nagato?!" Obito urged, his voice raw. "Are you going to let Yahiko's ideals—and everything Akatsuki has done—turn into nothing but a dream?!"
He pointed at the massive Gedo Statue looming behind Nagato.
"We still have a chance! This is our last trump card! As long as we capture the Nine-Tails and gather all the Tailed Beasts, we can continue the Moon's Eye Plan! We can create a perfect world! A world… where Yahiko still exists! And we can make these so-called 'strong enemies' vanish along with it—kill two birds with one stone!"
A world where Yahiko existed.
Nagato's body trembled, almost imperceptibly.
Yes… Yahiko.
Everything he'd done, every sin he'd committed… had all been to create the peaceful world Yahiko once dreamed of.
If that world… could hold Yahiko's presence…
Obito's words slithered into his mind like a snake, coiling tighter and tighter around his faltering resolve.
Konan's face was filled with worry.
She could feel Nagato being forced step by step into a place from which there was no return.
She wanted to speak.
But in front of the name "Yahiko," any persuasion felt powerless.
The sound of the rain grew heavier.
Nagato slowly turned his wheelchair, facing the two men in the room head-on.
The violet Rinnegan in his eyes no longer held any confusion.
He stared at Obito, and that gaze made a chill run down Obito's spine.
"You're right."
"Yahiko's sacrifice can't be wasted."
He placed his hand on the Deva Path Pain beside him. Cold chakra began to flow.
"This world has twisted the meaning of peace. Then I will be the one to guide it back."
"I'll make Konoha—and the entire world—experience the pain of a god."
The Deva Path Pain's eyes opened, the Rinnegan identical to Nagato's.
"Pain Rikudou, all units move out."
"Target: Konoha."
"I will unleash—"
"Chou Shinra Tensei (Super Almighty Push)."
(End of Chapter)
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