In the medical tent, Nagato slowly opened his eyes.
The glaring light made his Rinnegan contract slightly. In his blurry vision, he saw Yahiko and Konan keeping watch by the bedside.
"Nagato, you're finally awake." Yahiko's voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping, but the joy in his eyes was impossible to hide.
Nagato tried to push himself up, only to find every muscle in his body protesting.
Fragments of memory flooded his mind like a tide… Hanzo's betrayal, his friends' deaths, the summoning of Gedo Statue, and that Konoha's Ninja...
"Yahiko, is this the Pure Land?" Nagato asked in confusion.
"Haha, we haven't completed our mission yet. How could we die so easily?" Yahiko grinned. "It was Chiaki Setsuna who saved us."
"Ah?" Nagato's eyes were bewildered.
"That giant serpent of his has a special healing ability. The reason he didn't tell us was because he wanted to stimulate your eyes to fully awaken." Yahiko explained.
Suddenly, the tent flap was thrown open. Blinding sunlight cut through the dimness like a sword.
Setsuna stood silhouetted against the light, holding a steaming bowl of medicine in his hands. The pungent aroma of herbs instantly filled the space.
"Looks like I came at just the right time." Setsuna handed the medicinal soup to Konan and looked at Nagato. "Drink it. It will help your injuries."
"Thank you for saving us." Yahiko bowed solemnly, expressing his gratitude once more. "This kindness, we will remember forever."
"Oh, thank you." Nagato, lacking strong opinions of his own, saw that Yahiko, the pillar of their group, had said this, and hurriedly added his thanks.
Setsuna smiled slightly, a flicker of amusement in his eyes: "If you truly want to thank me, how about joining Konoha? I need Akatsuki's strength."
The air in the tent instantly froze. Yahiko's body stiffened noticeably. He slowly straightened up, a determined light shining in his eyes: "I'm sorry, Commander-sama. Akatsuki's ideal is peace. We will never become tools of a great Ninja Village."
Setsuna seemed to have anticipated this answer. He walked over and sat down on a wooden crate in the center of the tent, his posture casual yet carrying an undeniable authority: "Peace? Do you know what true peace is?"
Yahiko answered without hesitation: "The absence of war is peace."
"The world's resources are finite." Setsuna's voice suddenly became low. "So-called bountiful harvests are merely the corpses of the starved crushed and used as fertilizer for new fields. Peace leads to population growth, resources become scarce again, and to survive, humans pick up weapons once more… this cycle has continued for thousands of years."
Yahiko listened, somewhat bewildered. He had never thought this deeply.
Were war and peace really cyclical? Then what was the meaning of everything he did?
"Then... is peace never possible?" Konan's voice was so soft it was almost inaudible. A few petals from the paper flower in her hand unconsciously wilted and fell.
Setsuna stood up and walked to the tent entrance.
He lifted the flap, letting the afternoon sunlight stream in: "We cannot change this cycle, but we can change the world, so that this cycle never arrives."
Nagato couldn't help but ask: "Then how can that be achieved?"
Setsuna turned around, the sunlight forming a halo behind him: "If we only know to seek inwardly, of course the world's resources are finite. But if we turn our gaze beyond the world, towards the vast cosmos, then you will discover that the so-called struggles between great nations are mere fights over a snail's horn."
Yahiko was not blinded by the beauty Setsuna described. Instead, he asked: "But such a process isn't achieved overnight. The path to the stars is very long. What if resources run out before that?"
Setsuna provided an answer: "Increase resource utilization efficiency, and restore Chakra and science to their proper places."
Yahiko frowned: "That's not easy to accomplish. Even if everyone knows it's the right thing to do, people don't necessarily do what's right."
"Therefore, we must unify the thinking of all nations with absolute power." Setsuna's voice was firm. "Then forcibly implement new systems and technologies. We cannot let humanity's energy be wasted on meaningless struggles any longer."
"Still war, then?" Yahiko hesitated slightly. "Can't we first develop ourselves, then use the power of example to attract other nations to join?"
Setsuna shook his head slightly: "I'd also like to use gentle methods to implement this. But what do you think the price of becoming an example is? Kumogakure has always been the neighbor who stocks up on weapons while others stock grain, then directly launches war to plunder resources."
Nagato's Rinnegan contracted slightly. He remembered the plundered villages on the borders of the Land of Rain.
In this world, weakness is a sin. If you are weak and wealthy, then that is a heinous sin.
Setsuna's voice softened: "The reason I quelled the war between Konoha and Sunagakure was to reduce meaningless sacrifice and end this farce as soon as possible."
A strange light flashed in Yahiko's eyes, as if he saw a brand new possibility: "This way... can it really bring peace?"
Setsuna revealed a meaningful smile: "I will definitely achieve it."
He sighed silently in his heart: 'Idealists are always like this. Once they lose their paradise, they create an even more terrifying hell. Rather than that, it's better for me to control the direction, for me to lead these idealists forward.'
At that moment, Nagato suddenly asked: "What if one day the resources in the cosmos are also completely occupied? Even if the universe can expand infinitely, what if the rate of resource generation can't keep up with the expansion of human ambition?"
Setsuna was left speechless, then chuckled, 'Nagato's neural pathways were a bit long, wasn't he? Still dwelling on this issue?'
Setsuna laughed: "That's why I said this cycle won't disappear, only be postponed as much as possible. If it really comes to that point, it won't be a Great Ninja War, but a Cosmic War. However, that's at least billions of years from now."
After saying this, Setsuna left the tent. Nagato watched the swaying tent flap and asked in a low voice: "Yahiko, do you really believe him?"
Yahiko didn't answer immediately. He walked to the washbasin in the corner of the tent, looking at his own weary reflection in the water: "Nagato, do you know? I've been running in the dark, but I was never sure if this path was correct."
"But as a leader, I cannot stop. I must become everyone's beacon, become the goal for those behind me... But perhaps, I was never a qualified leader to begin with."
Nagato looked at his close friend in shock. He never imagined that the eternally optimistic and positive Yahiko bore such immense pressure within.
"Our previous ideas were indeed too naive." Konan said softly.
"Now, I can finally, like those who trusted me, move forward in the dark towards the direction Setsuna points." Yahiko turned around, a relieved smile actually appearing on his face.