Kairen ignored Ōnoki's furious shouting.
He withdrew, feeling that Doctor Snake's projection still needed some optimization, and suggested,
"Let's keep some privacy—just ninjutsu-ify the phone."
"Okay!"
"Back to the palace! Let's continue the court meeting!"
Canon shouted, "Set out~"
...
Rain Hidden, a huge light screen hung in the air, showing the four Kage arguing over who should be the commander-in-chief.
Nagato stared out the window with a pale face, puzzled by Kairen's move:
"What is this? Kairen's move really makes it hard to understand."
Konan snorted coldly. "He just wants to show off."
Nagato glanced at Konan. In her words, he could feel her disdain for Kairen, and also a deep sense of familiarity.
Nagato probed, "Konan, did you already know Kairen before?"
Konan shook her head. "No. Why?"
"Oh." Nagato nodded.
Konan moved closer to Nagato and said in a serious tone,
"Nagato, I've figured out the identity of that mysterious person. He is—"
A vortex appeared at once, and Obito slowly emerged.
Nagato and Konan became alert. This was where Nagato's main body was hidden; they hadn't expected Obito to find it.
Which meant they had been under Obito's surveillance all along.
Konan looked at Obito coldly. "Uchiha Obito, stop hiding it. I already know your identity. You want to use Akatsuki to make the whole world daydream—keep dreaming."
Even after his identity was exposed, Obito didn't fly into a rage. He gently lifted the pumpkin-like mask, revealing a face half intact and half scarred.
"I'm sorry for deceiving you all this time under the identity of Uchiha Madara. After all, Obito is just a nobody, while Madara is a hero of the Warring States."
Without him noticing, the Six Paths of Pain had encircled the area, and he felt more confident. Nagato stared coldly at Obito.
"I don't care who you are. From now on, you're not allowed to use Akatsuki anymore. I absolutely do not agree with your daydream."
Obito spread his hands. "That's not a daydream. That's a peaceful and beautiful ideal world. Humans will no longer have wars, and children will no longer need to hone their killing skills."
Konan's Paper Release struck like a venomous snake, sharper than blades, and in the blink of an eye pierced Obito—but what she hit was only a phantom.
Konan took a fighting stance.
"Stop lying to us. We will never believe you again. Tell me—did Yahiko's death have anything to do with you back then?"
Konan instinctively sensed that Yahiko's death was not simple. Nagato's Rinnegan had been discovered, and she herself had been captured alive by Hanzō…
Everything seemed as if a pair of big hands were controlling things from behind the scenes.
Obito revealed that crimson Sharingan. "So what if it did?"
Thunder flashed outside, illuminating Obito's terrifying face.
Since his identity had been exposed, Obito simply stopped pretending.
I, Uchiha Obito, am laying my cards on the table! I'm the mastermind. I'm done pretending.
"You—" Nagato widened his eyes and glared at Obito.
Yahiko's death was the most heartbreaking thing in his life; even more heartbreaking was that the one who designed all of this had been using him.
Obito greatly enjoyed the hatred on Nagato's face. He folded his arms and said with a faint smile,
"Nagato, do you really think you're the chosen one of heaven, so the Sage of Six Paths' eyes chose you?"
Nagato clenched his fists, his chest heaving with anger. "What do you mean?"
Obito said slowly, "Your eyes are Madara's."
Konan sneered. "Impossible. Uchiha Madara died long ago, in the Valley of the End."
Obito smiled. "Madara didn't die. He survived, and even fused the power of the Senju, obtaining the Rinnegan that can change destiny."
"Nagato, you're just a sacrifice—either to maintain the Rinnegan, or to become the sacrifice to revive Madara."
Nagato steadied himself. "Me?!"
Obito laughed loudly. "From the day the Rinnegan was implanted in you, your fate was already arranged."
"The deaths of your parents, the death of your friends, and the deaths of your companions—only by understanding pain do you grow stronger. Nagato, that's what you said, right?"
"Now, do you feel pain over your own helplessness, being tangled in the spider's web?"
Konan looked at Nagato's face, which was shifting between light and dark, so agitated that her face flushed, as if she couldn't believe her tragedy had been designed by fate.
"So… so that's how it is…"
"…Nagato!" Konan wanted to persuade Nagato to pull himself together.
But Obito suddenly turned the guns on her.
"And the woman by your side—do you think she's still the same? She was lying in Moku Kairen's arms this morning."
Konan glared at Obito. "Bastard!"
Nagato's face alternated between green and red, turning extremely ugly.
His kidneys were already bad; with such a blow pressing down on him at the same time, it left Nagato's head buzzing.
Konan hurriedly reminded him, "Nagato, Nagato, are you okay? Nagato."
Nagato suddenly raised his head. Those emotionless Rinnegan eyes looked at Konan, suppressing a rage like a mountain fire.
"Konan, is what he said true? You—"
Konan fell silent. She could neither explain nor refute it.
Konan's silence was an admission.
Nagato suddenly burst into laughter. "Hahahaha… Fake! Fake! Everything is fake, including me, including this world."
Konan had changed too. What in this world was still worth holding on to?
Obito watched quietly, then curled his lips.
"Right, this is a false world. Nagato, join hands with me. Let's create a beautiful dream together."
"Cough, cough, cough…"
Nagato suddenly coughed up bright red blood. Konan stepped forward to wipe it for him, but was stopped by the Deva Path.
Nagato stubbornly lifted his head and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
"Since this world is false, then I will… destroy it!"
At that moment, Nagato's expression synchronized with Deva Path Pain—becoming lofty, becoming cold and inhuman.
At this moment, Nagato had completely fallen to the dark side.
"Nagato, what are you trying to do?" Konan asked.
Nagato formed a hand seal and suddenly vanished, along with his Six Paths of Pain.
"Nagato—" Konan shouted anxiously.
Obito was a bit stunned. Tobi jumped out and laughed.
"We screwed up. Nagato's head is full of destroying the world now."
Obito steadied himself. "Don't panic. Don't worry about what he's doing. What we want is the Rinnegan. How long can that body of his hold out? Let him have his final madness. After the madness comes the vulture's feast."
Obito turned into a phantom and slowly disappeared into the air.
Only Konan was left where she stood, a little lonely, a little desolate.
"Nagato, what are you trying to do?"
"Roar—"
A thunderous roar echoed through the drizzling village, and immediately a gigantic black shadow, taller than a tower, appeared in the village.
It was brown like wood, with a piece of white cloth tied around its head.
Konan's pupils shrank. "The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!"
Nagato stood weakly atop the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, with the Six Paths of Pain protecting him at his side.
Facing the village he had always protected, Nagato's face was full of cold indifference.
"Be destroyed!"
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