As if responding to Yunchuan Hyuga's words, Hanzo curled up and clenched his teeth, forcing himself not to scream again. His pale, aged face twisted into something fierce.
Pain tore at his body and reached deep into his soul. Without his knowledge, the "wedge" was being forged into a shackle on his soul.
The chain's other end rested in Yunchuan Hyuga's hand, yet it also allowed Hanzo's aged body to be reborn. This exchange was already set in place.
Soon, Hanzo's heart began to beat violently, the pounding loud enough to be heard outside his body. Each throb echoed through the room.
Blood surged through his veins like molten rock, bursting forth with each powerful contraction of his heart. His body trembled as it struggled to adapt.
Large amounts of skeletal muscle dissolved under the influence of the blood, then were torn apart and reshaped by a force opposed to Zetsu. Muscle fibers twisted and tightened like ropes beneath the skin, undergoing similar changes throughout his body.
"Lord Hanzo! You, you…"
Shenda and Heiji stared in disbelief at the changes. They watched as Hanzo's withered, pale hair regained a bright golden color, like dead wood meeting spring.
Every cell in his body seemed to breathe as vitality surged from his once frail frame. His shrunken body gradually filled out with renewed life.
"This feeling…"
Hanzo felt his body, silent for over a decade, thaw like ice and snow. Living Chakra flowed through him, awakening strength in every part of his body.
This was what he had always desired. Power and vitality returned together.
Power flowed through his veins and bones like lava, his body temperature rising until it was almost scalding. He felt the urge to release this strength and the joy swelling in his chest.
Release it how?
At that moment, Yunchuan Hyuga seemed to hear something and turned his head toward the outside of the tower. His expression remained relaxed.
"Aren't you curious who planted those White Zetsu?" Yunchuan Hyuga said with a smile. "He's here."
Shenda and Heiji instinctively looked out the window. In the distance, three figures in black cloaks with red clouds walked through the wind and rain, their clothes whipping violently as dark purple ripples filled their eyes.
There was no need for stealth. He was Pain, a "god," a being above humans, using opposing power to pull a decayed hero from a broken throne.
"Go."
Looking at Hanzo, whose body was now covered in black patterns, Yunchuan Hyuga spoke softly. "Let our arrogant 'god' see the power beyond the peak of a 'hero'."
"Go tell him that the future may belong to him, but right now, at this moment, it is still yours."
Hanzo's body trembled slightly, but this time it was not fear of death. It was the heat of blood surging within him.
The hero of the Land of Rain who once dared to resist the Five Great Nations alone had reclaimed the strength and presence lost to age. His back straightened as if the years had fallen away.
"Ha! You brat!"
He laughed at the peak of his vitality, and in the next instant he stood up and vanished from Yunchuan Hyuga's sight. The room was left in sudden silence.
"Whoever that 'lord' you speak of is, thank him for me."
Buzz.
As his words faded, Hanzo appeared atop the High Tower. He looked at the three figures in the distance, a smile on his full face as he bit his finger and flung his blood outward.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
His shout echoed through the morning mist as the ground in the distance shook and split with cracking marks. The earth could not hold still.
"Roar!!"
A massive purple-black monster burst forth, raising its head and releasing a terrifying roar that shook the sky.
The sky was gray like a rag soaked in ink, and endless rain covered the open land as muddy roads twisted and blurred behind the curtain of water. The world looked flat and colorless under the downpour, with only the sound of rain filling the space.
Against this dull gray and black background, four figures walked across the ground in silence. Their steps were steady, and none of them spoke as rain slid off their clothes.
At the front was Tendo Pain, controlled by Nagato. His orange hair was soaked through, plastered to a young face that showed no trace of life or warmth.
Behind Tendo Pain followed the equally expressionless Human Path and Asura Path, along with Konan, whose blue purple long hair was darkened by the rain. The four moved in a straight line, like shadows passing through the storm.
As Amegakure gradually became clearer in the rain ahead, an unexplained unease rose in Konan's chest. She fixed her gaze on the distant outline of the village, her brow tightening slightly.
"Leader… Pain."
She was still not used to addressing Pain so directly. After a brief pause, she corrected herself and asked, "With only the current top three Paths of Pain, is it really fine to face Hanzo?"
Pain did not answer right away, nor did he turn back to look at her. His steps remained slow and measured, as if he were examining land whose order he intended to redefine.
Rain struck everything without pause, becoming the only rhythm of the world. The steady sound drowned out all other noise.
"Konan, I once respected him as well."
Pain still did not turn around. His low and even voice cut through the rain and reached her ears clearly as he said, "But he is no longer the Hanzo he used to be."
The current Hanzo had likely grown so old that he could no longer even summon that salamander. The thought carried no emotion, only cold certainty.
Pain's gaze pierced through layers of rain toward the High Tower standing like a tombstone in the mist. His voice seemed colder than the surrounding air.
"Now he clings to Konoha's Danzo Shimura, hiding in a lofty tower and thinking only of survival. He is nothing more than a corpse waiting to rot."
"Rain cannot wash away the sins of this world, nor past betrayal."
Pain spoke without any change in tone, as if stating an absolute truth. "Only a god can cleanse the filth of the Ninja World and bring peace."
In Konan's eyes was reflected that familiar yet distant back. She heard no hesitation or pity in his words, only the cold judgmental will of Pain.
Rain struck her face, icy and sharp, making her expression grow complex. The discomfort passed quickly and settled into the same quiet calm she had chosen to accept.
The lightness of the paper butterflies faded away, and her gaze became clear and firm once more. She nodded softly.
"Mm." Her reply blended almost completely into the sound of rain, light and brief.
In her tone was the resolve to let go of the past, and also the determination to face a future reshaped by pain. It was the resolve of an apostle walking after a god toward the unknown.
As they neared the gates of Amegakure, they could already see the Amegakure Ninja stationed there. The guards stood firm in the rain, silhouettes tense against the gray backdrop.
"Stop!"
Seeing the vague figures in the rain, the two Amegakure Ninja showed clear vigilance and shouted, "Who are you?"
Pain had no intention of explaining anything to ants, nor did he try to hide himself. He simply raised an arm toward them.
But at that moment, Pain suddenly sensed an extremely powerful presence. It surged toward him from afar like a rising tide.