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The colossal golden beast loomed over the Hidden Rain Village, blotting out the sky and obscuring the sun. Looking up from within the village, one's entire field of vision was completely consumed by this gargantuan golden beast. Without even needing to sense its chakra, merely beholding its sheer size was enough to make one instinctively abandon all thought of resistance.
This golden beast was so immensely vast, as if it had stepped straight out of an ancient legend—a primordial behemoth that overlooked the mortal world with disdain, sowing terror wherever it gazed. No... calling it something out of a legend wasn't quite right either. This world's legends held no tales of a golden beast such as this. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that the emergence of this beast utterly transcended all human comprehension, like an unnamed monstrosity from another dimension... or perhaps...
"A god... th-this... this is a god!!!"
"H-Hey... y-yeah! This is a god! This is a god!!"
When people encounter things that are utterly beyond their reach, beyond their understanding, beyond their ability to resist, they "deify" them.
What exactly is a so-called "god," anyway? At the end of the day, just as stated above, it is something people cannot reach, cannot comprehend, cannot resist. When encountering such an entity, people are prone to describe it as extraordinarily sublime and exalted, ultimately creating what is called a "god."
Did this golden Armored Susanoo have any feature that actually resembled a god? No. If one had to name something, it would be the golden radiance ceaselessly emanating from its body. But to the majority of people, upon seeing this beast, the first thing they felt wasn't a sense of holiness derived from the gold, but sheer terror brought on by its colossal size—fear born from the unknown!
Yes, the unknown as well. An ordinary civilian standing on the ground and gazing up at this golden beast—what could they possibly see? They could only see colossal golden pillars of light (its legs) and a vast expanse of golden radiance (its underbelly). Beyond that, it was difficult to see much more. This beast had grown to such an immense size that most people couldn't even make out its full form. Looking up from the ground, its lower half towered upon the earth, while its upper body soared directly into the clouds, its entirety beyond mortal sight.
Its size brought terror and the unknown. The golden radiance brought a faint touch of holiness. Thus, even though this beast didn't particularly resemble a god, the people of the Hidden Rain Village nonetheless cried out one after another: This was a deity!
Their voices, hesitant at first, gradually grew firm and resolute, as if they were the most authoritative voices in all the world, as if they had personally certified it—the beast before them was a god!
"A god! This is a god! A friend of Lord Pain!"
"Yes! That's right! Both being gods... this must be another of Lord Pain's friends from the divine realm!"
"What are you still lying prone for?! Hurry up and kneel! This is a god!"
The vast majority of civilians grew utterly convinced. From the bottom of their hearts, they determined: this was a god!
Much of the credit for this had to go to the golden radiance. Although the golden light wasn't the true catalyst for this phenomenon, it was precisely because of its presence that the beast was tinged with a sense of holiness, making the majority of civilians slightly less terrified. Otherwise, faced with such a colossal beast, most people's very first instinct would undoubtedly have been to flee.
Pain hovered in midair, staring up at the beast stretching endlessly beyond sight above him, momentarily at a complete loss.
It wasn't just the ordinary people of the Hidden Rain who were utterly shaken. Even Pain himself was now finding it difficult to breathe.
The sudden appearance of such an enormous, gargantuan beast delivered a tremendous visual impact. In this moment, even within Pain's heart, the thought of abandoning resistance involuntarily surfaced.
How could a mere mortal possibly contend against a deity?
Even though Pain didn't believe this beast was actually a god, its sheer, unimaginable size was more than enough to strip the vast majority of people of any will to resist.
"Heh..."
With a bitter, rueful laugh, the puppeteer behind the scenes, Nagato, slowly lifted his head. He gazed at the golden beast in the sky and abandoned all resistance.
What else could he do? After executing the Planetary Devastation, his chakra had already been nearly depleted. Now, facing such a beast... how could he possibly win?
No... before Nagato's eyes, there was only darkness. He couldn't see even a single sliver of a chance for victory.
Summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path? But given the Statue's size... wouldn't a single kick from this beast just shatter it to pieces?
"Man... truly cannot contend against a god, can he?" Nagato offered a self-deprecating remark and fell silent.
He didn't believe Uchiha Kagaya was a god. But this beast before his eyes... indeed, what should one even call it? Nagato didn't know. Perhaps only the term "god" was fitting.
High above the clouds, Kagaya himself was startled by the sheer size of his Armored Susanoo. How could it be this enormous?!
Its size had far, far exceeded the Five-Tails' original form. It had even surpassed the dimensions of a fully formed Susanoo. Truly, this beast didn't even need to lift a finger. Simply standing here was enough to radiate boundless terror upon all those around it.
After carefully searching his memories, Kagaya recalled that during the Fourth Great Ninja War, when Sasuke and Naruto had used their Armored Susanoo, it hadn't seemed to grow all that much in size. However, what differed from Sasuke and Naruto's case was that during the climactic battle between Madara and Hashirama in the original story, when Madara had donned the Armored Susanoo over the Nine-Tails, its size had rivaled Hashirama's True Several Thousand Hands. Yet afterward, once the Armored Susanoo had been shattered, the Nine-Tails' size had shrunk to the point where it could be grasped in a single hand of the True Several Thousand Hands.
Looking at it from this perspective, the Armored Susanoo must possess the ability to amplify size. It wasn't simply a matter of layering armor on top.
Then, it made perfect sense that Kagaya's Armored Susanoo had grown to such proportions.
"Is this... the legendary Susanoo?" The Five-Tails spoke softly.
Kagaya asked with some surprise. "You know of this thing?"
The Five-Tails spoke unhurriedly.
"Mm... let me think. I can't recall when exactly, but I did indeed see, from a great distance, the Nine-Tails draped in armor of this kind by a certain man. To me, it wasn't that long ago. But to you humans, that must have been a very, very long time ago. Back then, the chakra fluctuations in that direction were simply far too overwhelming—far surpassing even us Tailed Beasts. So I didn't really dare to go closer and look. And therefore, I wasn't certain if what I saw was real. But now, seeing this... it seems it must have been real."
The corner of Kagaya's mouth twitched involuntarily. This was just absurd. When Madara and Hashirama had fought their decisive battle, the chakra they emitted had directly made even the Tailed Beasts—entities that were literally chakra incarnate—feel utterly ashamed and inferior. What the hell is wrong with those two human?!
Seeing that Kagaya wasn't speaking, the Five-Tails continued.
"Come to think of it... why do I feel such an inexplicable sense of familiarity and trust toward you? Also... those eyes of yours... they're the Sharingan, only the pattern is very complex. I clearly remember having seen them before. But when I saw them... I've forgotten. Who you are... I also don't know. However, the fact that you possess a Sharingan of that level, yet haven't forcibly controlled me... this proves that my memory is correct. We must have met somewhere before, haven't we? Well... that can wait. For now, let's first deal with your enemies. You may control me as you please. I'll follow your command. But... ah, never mind."
Although the Five-Tails' words seemed to convey great trust in Kagaya, Kagaya still caught a faint, almost imperceptible trace of loathing in the Five-Tails' eyes. Not loathing toward Kagaya, but toward humanity. Nearly a century of imprisonment—hatred had long since taken root. How could it simply be erased just like that? Even if the Five-Tails harbored an inexplicable sense of trust toward Kagaya, that deep-seated loathing remained, as present as ever.
Kagaya smiled, not minding it. Having such loathing was only natural. If Kagaya himself had been imprisoned for a century without reason, then he certainly wouldn't stop at mere loathing. He would undoubtedly be filled with hatred to the absolute extreme. Breaking free without indulging in a massive slaughter would be utterly impossible. So, putting himself in its place, Kagaya could completely understand the Five-Tails' loathing. That it could still cooperate with Kagaya was already a tremendous act of trust. Had it been the short-tempered Nine-Tails instead, the very first thing it would have done upon breaking free was kill to its heart's content before dealing with anything else.
The Five-Tails was probably one of the more even-tempered among the Tailed Beasts. After all, even its voice belonged to the gentler, softer type.
Controlling the Armored Susanoo, Kagaya took a single step forward. Immediately after, mountains crumbled and the very earth fractured and split apart. Buildings that had miraculously survived the Planetary Devastation now collapsed one after another. The Hidden Rain Village was thoroughly reduced to a field of ruins. And all of this... was simply because Kagaya had casually taken a single step forward.
"The wrath of a god! This is the wrath of a god! Kneel, quickly!"
"Kneel! Kneel! We must not provoke the deity's fury!"
Just one step had utterly terrified countless civilians of the Hidden Rain Village. That single step had already claimed many lives within the village—some shaken to death, others crushed by collapsing structures. All of it had happened.
Kagaya furrowed his brow. Just a single step had caused all this. One could only imagine—if he were to truly unleash a battle here, every single person in the Hidden Rain Village would undoubtedly perish.
But after hesitating for only a few seconds, Kagaya decided to continue. His indifferent regard for human life still hadn't changed.
It was just one village full of people, wasn't it? If they died, they died.
"Uchiha Kagaya!"
It was at this very moment that Pain spoke.
Not just Kagaya—Pain had also realized it. If this beast could cause all this with a single step, then... forget actual combat. Even this beast's simplest movements were far beyond what the Hidden Rain Village could possibly withstand.
"Stop. The people of the Hidden Rain Village are innocent. I surrender myself to your disposal. I have lost."
Nagato's vision for achieving peace might have employed extreme methods, but his ultimate goal was, after all, peace. He was unwilling to see the Hidden Rain suffer massive casualties.
On the other side.
Obito stared at the golden beast in the sky, speechless for a long, long time. At this point, what else could he possibly do?
If Kagaya hadn't come, the Five-Tails breaking free would have been a trivial matter. He could have simply exerted some effort and reasserted control over it. But with Kagaya appearing, there was simply nothing he could do. Even if he wanted to control the Five-Tails, he would have to get past Uchiha Kagaya first. Obito with a single Mangekyo—what right did he have to compete against Kagaya's Eternal Mangekyo?
He grabbed the White Zetsu beside him. Within this White Zetsu's body, a considerable amount of the Five-Tails' chakra had already been sealed just moments ago. Since he could no longer obtain the Five-Tails itself, he had to at least secure some of its chakra.
A swirling vortex materialized. This time, no one stopped Obito. Very quickly, Obito, along with the White Zetsu, vanished from this place.
Nagato... you're on your own. If you die... I will come for your Rinnegan. After all, those eyes were never truly yours to begin with.
In the end, Kagaya still deactivated the Armored Susanoo. The main reason was that maintaining the Armored Susanoo was equivalent to maintaining a fully formed Susanoo. The drain on Kagaya was simply far too immense. The memory from the Warring States era—of activating the fully formed Susanoo for a single battle, only to end up bedridden for two whole months—was something Kagaya had not forgotten.
If Kagaya didn't want to spend the next two months laid up in bed, he definitely couldn't keep the Armored Susanoo active indefinitely. Nagato wanted to talk? Fine. He would deactivate the Armored Susanoo first, then talk. In any case, Kagaya was now on guard. The moment anything went wrong, he could instantly re-form the Armored Susanoo with the Five-Tails.
Bringing Karin and Haku down with him as he leaped off the Five-Tails' body, Kagaya also carried an unconscious Ajisai in his hand.
It should be mentioned here that Karin and Haku were relatively fine. Neither of them was weak anymore. Karin might not have much combat ability, but her chakra reserves were immense—as expected of the Uzumaki clan. Haku had attained strength nearing the Kage level and also possessed considerable chakra. Only Shion was different. She was merely a Chunin. Earlier, when she had been drawn up into the Planetary Devastation, its powerful suppressive force had completely locked down every last bit of her chakra, causing her to lose consciousness directly. It was also fortunate that the Five-Tails had rescued them in time; otherwise, Ajisai might have been slowly crushed to death by the Planetary Devastation.
A Six Paths-level ninjutsu—for a mere Chunin, the disparity was almost beyond description. Even Kage-level experts found it nearly impossible to resist a Six Paths-level technique, let alone a Chunin. Having a Six Paths-level technique used on her... was truly far too great an honor for Ajisai. Even though she was merely collateral.
"Alright. You may now dispose of me as you see fit. I no longer have the strength to resist."
A short while later, Kagaya met Nagato. Ensconced within his massive machine, Nagato was as emaciated and skeletal as ever. He lifted his head and spoke words of surrender.
Kagaya replied. "My objective was never you, right from the very start. Wouldn't it have been simpler if you had just obediently handed over the Five-Tails?"
Nagato smiled faintly, without a trace of regret.
"But that... was something I had to obtain. Peace requires the Tailed Beasts. I couldn't hand it over."
"Is peace more important than your life?"
"More than that. My life... is far, far less important than peace."
"Fine. Then let me ask you this: aren't the Tailed Beasts also lives? You say it's for the sake of peace—does that mean you must trample upon the lives of the Tailed Beasts?"
"Uchiha Kagaya... I don't regard you as an ordinary child. So you should understand—in this world, there is no solution that saves every single life. Using a few lives to save the majority... I believe that is the correct path. Saving all lives... that is the fantasy of a child. And neither of us are children anymore."
Kagaya pressed his lips together. He couldn't refute that. Indeed, a solution that saved all lives... did not exist.
"You're right. In that case... have you prepared yourself to give your life for your ideals?"
Nagato smiled with carefree, unburdened ease.
"I've been prepared... for a very, very long time."
Indeed. Nagato's current physical condition had deteriorated so severely that practically every time he drove the Paths of Pain into action, he was burning away his own lifespan. Giving his life for his ideals—Nagato hadn't merely reached the level of "being prepared." He had long since been putting it into practice.
Nagato's legs were crippled. So he used what little remained of his life as fuel, pushing himself forward toward peace. Expend all his life, exhaust everything he had—he still wanted to see, even just once, the glorious age of peace. Just one glance would be enough. Just one glance...
Only... it seemed he wouldn't be able to see it, after all.
Kagaya raised his hand and aimed it at Nagato. In a daze, Kagaya saw Hashirama's shadow superimposed upon Nagato. Both were shinobi who pursued peace. Both were idealists. Perhaps they truly shared some similarities. Only... it wasn't complete. The shadow upon Nagato wasn't fully there. Of course... Nagato was Nagato. Hashirama was Hashirama. How could they ever be exactly the same?
Kagaya lowered his hand.
"Using the Tailed Beasts to threaten the world, forcibly halting warfare, suppressing violence with violence—your idea has feasibility. But the path... is wrong, Nagato."
Gathering all the Tailed Beasts to threaten the world and forbid the existence of war—this idea seemed sound on the surface. Yet, in truth, what would gathering all the Tailed Beasts create? It would create the Ten-Tails! Would the Ten-Tails help Nagato achieve peace?
Perhaps it would. Turn everyone in the entire world into White Zetsu... wouldn't that be peace?
Heh...
In the end, Kagaya still didn't kill Nagato. This shinobi world might not have peace, but it was precisely for that reason that those who pursued peace were needed. Idealists might be very foolish, but their ability to inspire and move others... was immense.
How to put it... Kagaya's heart had softened, he supposed. But then again, his objective had never been Nagato in the first place.
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T/N: The author is really making my head dizzy on what exactly he want Kagaya to think and behave? One second Kagaya have zero guilt or hesitation on taking human lives, like shown in this chapter "It was just one village full of people, wasn't it? If they died, they died.", His indifferent regard for human life, and etc etc. and the next second all of the sudden his heart is soften, he spare Nagato. Like what?? You say your objective is never Nagato, but for some reason you have zero problem leveling the whole village and killing the civillian because why not?
...Sorry for the rant;)