Controlling Human Path, Nagato frowned and looked at the diamond-shaped mark on Hanzo's palm. That mark was what fixed Hanzo's soul in place, making it impossible to pull free.
"What is this?"
As Nagato wondered, black patterns spread out from the mark and covered the right half of Hanzo's body in a blink. Even the soul being pulled out was wrapped in those black markings, which then extended onto the arm of Human Path holding the soul.
With a sudden hum, Nagato felt his vision go dark, then wash over with blood-red. When he opened his eyes again, all he saw was chaos.
"Where is this?"
Looking down at his arms and body, Nagato immediately realized he had been forcibly dragged into a mental space. His pupils shrank as shock appeared on his face.
Someone had traced Human Path back to him and dragged his true soul in. How could such a thing be possible?
In the deathly silence, a hoarse and cold voice echoed from the darkness. It asked in disdain which lowly insect dared to touch its soul.
The owner of the voice seemed to notice something and paused slightly, a hint of confusion entering the tone. It said those were not eyes he should possess and demanded to know where his eyes came from.
What did that mean?
A chill surged through Nagato as he raised his head toward the distance. Within his vision, enormous twisted silhouettes floated in the chaotic mist.
At the far end, upon a towering throne built of pale bones, a figure sat silently, half-hidden from view.
After a month and a half of the new book period, this book is finally going on sale. The time is 12:00 a.m. on June 13, 2025. At 12:00 a.m. on Friday, Shiyue will be waiting here for everyone.
If you have money, support with money, and if you do not, support with your presence. Updates will be added based on first-day subscriptions according to Root. First-day subscriptions are extremely important and are closely tied to future updates.
If the first-day numbers are high, I will have more motivation to add chapters. A first subscription costs only a small amount, so please help by subscribing if you can. I am still a university student, and a senior at that, so balancing schoolwork and writing is quite stressful.
After release, I will keep quality as the priority and maintain a steady output of six thousand words a day, with additional updates on top. What comes next is the bonus chapter plan, so feel free to go all out.
First-day subscription means the subscriptions within the first 24 hours after release. I currently have about three thousand paid followers, so I will use two thousand first-day subscriptions as the baseline. On release day, there will be a guaranteed four chapters.
More than 2000 first-day subscriptions adds one chapter. More than 2300 adds two chapters. More than 2500 adds three chapters, and more than 3000 adds four chapters.
If it somehow exceeds 4000 first-day subscriptions, I will directly add ten chapters. Yes, that is serious.
Now for rewards, which can be accumulated on a single account. One Hall Master adds three chapters. One Sect Master adds five chapters, and one Alliance Leader adds eight chapters.
Silver League and above is honestly something that only exists in dreams. If that really happens, I will add twenty chapters and even cross-dress.
Other conditions also count. When Monthly Ticket reaches 1000, that adds one update, and for every additional 1000 beyond that, it adds two more. So please support with Monthly Ticket.
Three hundred character voice lines add one update. Each level increase in popularity adds one update. One well-made secondary creation adds one update.
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These are only the initial bonus rules and may be updated later. In short, let us work together. Although I will be counting these, there may be mistakes, so you can remind Shiyue.
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Without your Monthly Ticket, continued reading, and comments, Shiyue would not have made it this far. Going forward, Shiyue will do everything possible to update more while ensuring quality.
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The noisy and dense sound of rain from the outside world was cut off by Zetsu. After entering this space, it was replaced by a strange silence. It was not complete silence, but more like sinking into a thick liquid where the passage of time became blurred, filled with a raw and hard to describe presence.
What made Nagato feel most uneasy was the sense of being watched that existed everywhere. He could clearly feel that every inch of this space carried a cold, ancient will filled with malice. The shadowy outlines in the mist looked like pupils watching him, yet when he focused, there was nothing there.
"Who are you?" Nagato shouted, his voice traveling outward without end, as if the place had no boundaries. He frowned, took a step forward, and chose a direction to walk.
As Nagato moved forward, it felt like walking from the shore into the sea step by step. The heavy pressure rose little by little, passing his chest and making him uneasy and short of breath. His steps slowed, but he did not stop.
Then it happened. A drop of blood fell onto the ground beneath Nagato's feet, rippling as if it had landed on water. The red color spread across his vision.
He finally saw the sea of blood beneath him, with everything before his eyes filled by black and red. Within those colors were countless pale bones piled up into a mountain of corpses before him. At the top of that mountain, on a throne of white bones, a figure sat quietly.
One hand rested casually on a skull, while the other supported his chin. His eyes were not fully open, lids half lowered with thick lashes casting shadows. He looked as if he could not be bothered.
"You…" Nagato looked up at the figure atop the corpse mountain and opened his mouth when he saw that face. The figure slightly raised his eyes and looked down at Nagato.
Silence followed, heavy and absolute, more threatening than any words. That gaze did more than see, as Nagato felt his soul and essence being cut apart and examined piece by piece. The sensation made his soul tremble in fear.
Since mastering the Rinnegan long ago, he had not felt this way again. The last time was when Yahiko died before his eyes, when he felt truly weak and helpless. Now, under that high and distant gaze, Nagato felt it again and finally understood a fact.
"There is something within Hanzo that even Zetsu cannot touch."
Under the threat rising from deep within his soul, Nagato instinctively avoided the gaze and lowered his head. The shame and unwillingness that followed came from his heart. He was Pain, a god, yet he was showing fear.