Nagato slowly lifted one hand.
The movement wasn't fast at all, but in the end, he managed to point to his own eyes.
"These eyes… are the source of all sin."
By now, Nagato's exhaustion was written in every line of his body.
"I'm willing to offer them up and use Rinne Tensei no Jutsu (Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique) to revive the Amegakure shinobi and civilians who were just killed in the aftermath of my battle."
He paused, as if it took every last bit of strength he had left to force out the next words.
"This is the only atonement I can make. Please… don't interrupt my jutsu."
Yahiko and Konan's expressions changed in an instant.
More than anyone, they understood the price of that forbidden technique.
The caster's life.
"Nagato! Don't!" Konan rushed forward and gripped his icy-cold hand, throwing caution to the wind.
Yahiko stepped in front of Nagato at once, facing Shinju with urgent eyes.
"Shinju-dono! Nagato, he just—"
Shinju raised his hand.
That one simple movement silenced everything they were about to say.
He walked forward, passing by Yahiko, and came to stand directly before Nagato.
His gaze met the Rinnegan, those eyes that contained overwhelming power, and he shook his head lightly.
"I refuse."
Those three words rang out clearly, leaving all three of them stunned on the spot.
Yahiko's plea and Konan's tears tangled together in the air.
A victor refusing the most valuable spoils offered by the defeated—
that was not how things were supposed to go.
"Nagato, your Rinnegan is a treasure left to this world by the Sage of Six Paths. Using it just to revive a handful of people—don't you think that's a waste?"
Shinju's tone was calm, unreadable.
"I want you alive. I want you to use these eyes to witness an era of true peace—
an era that you will help create with your own hands."
"Believe me, that era will come. And you'll have the chance to stand with me through the process… but you'll also have to pay your share of the price."
"That… will be the best atonement—for you, for Yahiko, and for everyone who died along the way."
Nagato's mind went blank for a moment.
Did he… still have a chance?
Yahiko and Konan were equally dumbfounded.
They had imagined countless endings:
Execution.
Imprisonment.
Having the Rinnegan ripped from his skull.
They were already prepared to accept the very worst.
But the solution Shinju offered had gone far beyond anything they could have imagined.
He wanted them to use their own power… to help build a truly peaceful world.
Those words struck straight at their weakest point.
Wasn't that exactly why they'd founded Akatsuki in the first place?
The wish the three of them had once made together under Jiraiya's guidance?
Shinju's gaze never left Nagato.
"I need your power, Nagato. Your strength—and the strength of those eyes."
"In the future, there won't be as many wars. Because I'll end them. You won't need to destroy anything anymore. From now on, your eyes will only be used for building."
He spoke like someone outlining a massive blueprint, every word thick with planning and purpose.
"Under my command, there's a special division—the Divine Court Forbidden Jutsu and Technology Integration Research Institute."
"It gathers the greatest minds in this world, including the Second Hokage, Tobirama, and Orochimaru."
At the mention of Tobirama, both Nagato and Yahiko shuddered involuntarily.
Orochimaru was easier to accept—he had been a member of Akatsuki once, Nagato's subordinate even.
But the one who truly inspired awe was the legendary Hokage, creator of countless forbidden techniques.
Even Orochimaru, for all his madness, was still a scientist.
"I want you to join them… as a 'special research fellow.'"
"Your mission is to work with them to completely unravel the secrets of the Rinnegan and develop every constructive possibility it holds."
Shinju raised one finger.
"Chibaku Tensei (Planetary Devastation) can create celestial bodies…
but that means it can just as easily be used to carve mountains, build cities, or even reshape deserts."
He raised a second finger.
"Shinra Tensei (Almighty Push) can destroy everything…
but it can also be used to deflect typhoons and tsunamis, guarding the homes of tens of thousands."
A third finger.
"Ningendō (Human Path) can rip out souls…
but that same power can be used to delve deep into the realm of the mind, treating emotional wounds that medical ninjutsu can't touch, erasing the psychological scars left by war."
"The summons of the Animal Path, the life force of the Gedō Mazō (Outer Path Demon Statue), the chakra absorption of the Preta Path…"
"The Rinnegan's power, in your hands, has only ever been used in its shallowest, most brutal form."
Each of Shinju's sentences was like a beam of light piercing into Nagato's mind—
a mind that had been sealed away by hatred and pain for over a decade.
He had never thought about the Rinnegan's power from this angle.
He had spent all these years immersed in killing and betrayal.
Of course he'd never considered how to create anything… or build anything.
He had always treated the Rinnegan as a weapon of revenge, a tool of coercion to impose "peace."
Destruction, punishment, intimidation—
those words summed up everything he believed about these eyes.
Construction, protection, healing—
no one had ever told him those were options.
They felt so unfamiliar… and yet, he couldn't deny the surge of emotion they stirred.
He looked at the boy in front of him—so young in age—
and for the first time, truly understood the gap between them.
It wasn't just a gap in strength.
It was a gulf of vision, of capacity, of the scale on which they saw the world.
He had been trapped in his personal pain and narrow vision of "peace,"
while the other had his eyes on the entire world.
The heart that hatred had frozen solid in Nagato's chest… finally melted completely in that moment.
He lowered his head—the head of someone who had once proclaimed himself a god.
That simple movement carried more weight than any struggle he'd ever made.
"…I understand… Shinju-dono."
His voice was filled with deep reverence now.
"I, Nagato, am willing to offer you these eyes, this body, and all of my loyalty… until the very end of heaven and earth."
Konan looked at Shinju, gratitude shining in her eyes.
This boy had not only spared the most important person in her life…
he had given them a future far more meaningful than death.
He had saved Nagato's body—
and more importantly, his soul.
Nagato's heart now belonged to him completely.
He had transformed from a "god" who once tried to destroy the world…
into a builder of a new order.
Shinju studied him, then smiled in satisfaction.
"Good."
"Then, as your first 'benefit' for joining the institute—"
He extended his right hand, and a mass of vividly green chakra, brimming with pure life energy, gathered in his palm.
The sheer volume and purity of that chakra far surpassed Tsunade's Byakugō no Jutsu (Strength of a Hundred Technique).
He pressed his hand down onto Nagato's shoulder.
A vast flood of yang-release chakra surged into Nagato's withered body—
a body that had been devoured and hollowed out for years by the Gedō Mazō.
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For 20+ Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!]
[[email protected]/Draumel]
[Thank You For Your Support!]