Inside a towering steel spire in the distance, a man watched the Chibaku Tensei in the sky being forcibly shattered. Slowly, he released his pressed palms.
The man had a mane of vibrant red hair, but his frame was gaunt and withered, his body ensnared within a massive life-support apparatus. He looked as though he might draw his last breath at any moment.
This was Nagato.
The true controller of the Six Paths of Pain.
Even though Nagato still had plenty of chakra remaining, he already knew the battle was over. He had lost. It was an utter defeat.
"Nagato, it's time to go."
A humanoid creature with a black-and-white, yin-yang face and a head shaped like a Venus flytrap rose from the floor. It was Zetsu.
Go? Nagato didn't speak; he only stared silently into the distance. Now that Pain has been defeated, where is there left for me to go?
"Nagato, you aren't a god. You shouldn't hold yourself to such impossible standards. To you, this is merely a hurdle on the path to godhood," Zetsu urged. "If you let yourself be tripped up by this, then your former pride will truly become nothing more than a joke!"
Seeing Nagato remain unmoved, Black Zetsu felt a surge of anxiety. If they didn't leave now, it would be too late. Even with his Mayfly technique, if they stayed too close to an entity like Kakashi, they wouldn't be able to escape in time!
"Zetsu, you expected this outcome from the very beginning, didn't you?"
Nagato watched the rain through the window, his voice calm yet tinged with a hint of fatalism. All of his ideals and his arrogance had been built upon the power of the Rinnegan. Now that the so-called "Power of the Gods" had been crushed by absolute, frontal strength, the tower of dreams he had constructed came crashing down.
His goal was to collect the Tailed Beasts and create a terrifying weapon capable of deterring the entire shinobi world—a weapon that would face anyone who dared to start a war. But now, it seemed his ambitions had been cut short before they could even truly begin. He had lost before a single Tailed Beast was even captured.
Moreover, Nagato suddenly realized that perhaps his ideals didn't need to be realized by his own hands. Kakashi's war against the four Great Shinobi Villages had already proven his ambition. Kakashi would unify the shinobi world.
With even Nagato defeated, no one else could stand against him. Kakashi himself was the "terror weapon" that would deter the world. Peace would finally come.
Five hundred years, was it...?
Nagato lowered his gaze, showing no urgency regarding Kakashi's imminent arrival.
"Nagato, are you really willing to let the world fall into the hands of a man like that?" Black Zetsu hissed, sensing Nagato's inner shift. "Look at what he's done! He launched a war without hesitation. Do you know how many innocent lives have been lost? To him, life is nothing more than ants under his feet!"
Black Zetsu was startled. Having lived for a thousand years, he could guess what Nagato was thinking. But how could he possibly accept this? Obito was dead, and Madara's plan had already suffered major setbacks. If Nagato died here too, the Eye of the Moon Plan would become a farce!
Nagato didn't answer. A single slip of paper fluttered down beside him. A faint, weary smile touched his lips.
"She's here."
Konan. She was the person he cherished most in this world.
"Nagato, leave. Now." Konan appeared, and like Zetsu, her first instinct was to urge him to flee. "I will stay behind to stall the two of them."
"You are the wielder of the Rinnegan. This world belongs to you," Black Zetsu added, his desperation peaking.
"I... I'm not leaving." Nagato's expression flickered with hesitation before hardening into resolve. "If my escape requires the price of your life, I will never allow it."
He looked at Konan, his tone brookng no argument.
"To let the fate of the Rinnegan fall into another's hands because of personal feelings... that is far too selfish," Black Zetsu argued, still trying to persuade him. "Nagato, do you realize what you carry on your shoulders? You carry Yahiko's will! You carry our nation! You carry the world!"
Nagato ignored him, his eyes fixed quietly on Konan.
"I see..." Seeing the unquestionable look in his eyes, a helpless, soft smile appeared on Konan's cold, elegant face. "Then we shall die together."
She walked toward him with an air of resignation, which took Nagato by surprise.
"No, I mean I am staying. Konan, you should leave," Nagato said, frowning as she approached.
"Do you really think someone with Kakashi's temperament would spare me after you're gone?" Konan asked, stopping beside him with a look of feigned confusion.
Nagato hesitated. He truly hadn't considered that point.
"That is why you must remain the Savior of this world," she whispered. "Do it for me, alright? Carry my will with you..."
Konan's hand came to rest gently on the back of Nagato's neck. His instincts flared with alarm.
"Konan, what are you—"
Nagato's eyes widened as he realized her intent, but it was too late. A precise strike from the edge of her hand hit his neck. In his weakened state, he had no way to stop her—and he had never dreamed she would strike him.
Darkness rushed in, and Nagato collapsed into unconsciousness instantly. Holding his limp body, Konan fell into a momentary silence.
"Zetsu, I'm entrusting Nagato to you."
With some effort, she lifted Nagato from the machine and handed him over. At the same time, a piece of paper drifted onto Nagato's chest, covered in rows of handwriting. It was Konan's final testament. She was prepared to die for him—just as Yahiko had died for her all those years ago.
"Fine," Black Zetsu replied, looking deeply at the woman before sinking into the ground with Nagato, leaving without a hint of lingering attachment.
Konan turned to look out at the sky. A relieved smile touched her amber eyes. Yahiko, if it were you, would you have done the same...?
There was no need to wonder. Of course he would. That was how Yahiko had died—for her.
Thinking of this, Konan let out a soft laugh and stepped out of the window. Pure white paper erupted from her back, forming wings that carried her soaring into the sky.
Meanwhile, Kakashi had used the black receivers from Pain's body to track the source using Sage Chakra sensing.
"It's her," Hikari muttered, frowning as she watched the woman fly toward them. She glanced at the steel tower nearby. Her sensory abilities told her it was already empty.
She stayed behind to let Nagato escape? Kakashi felt a sense of dissonance. Given Nagato's personality, he wouldn't normally let Konan cover his retreat. It's not like him.
He expanded his Sage Sensing again. Nothing escaped his notice. He detected the chakra that had belonged to Pain—Nagato's chakra—moving away at high speed. With Kakashi's strength, he had an 80% chance of catching them if he pursued now.
But he didn't. Instead, he looked up at the woman standing alone against him and Hikari. If she was willing to stay behind, she wouldn't allow them to pass easily. Even with Hikari there, defeating Konan would likely require the Mangekyō Sharingan, and Kakashi didn't want Hikari using those eyes any more than necessary.
Especially since...
The earth began to tremble. The ground—no, the entire Hidden Rain Village—was shaking.
"That woman actually had a hidden move like this?" Hikari frowned, sensing the abnormality beneath their feet.
The entire foundation of the village was packed with something. Explosive tags. An unfathomable, terrifying amount of them.
"Fifth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf," Konan's voice rang out from the sky, cold and filled with resolve. Kakashi looked up, meeting her amber gaze. "This world does not need you. I will not allow you to hurt anyone else."
Kakashi faced her, his expression unmoved. "So, you've chosen death?"
Sacred Paper Messenger Jutsu.
This was Konan's final and greatest trump card. Six hundred billion explosive tags—a force that could make the entire shinobi world tremble. If this many tags were used on a battlefield, they could turn the tide of any war instantly.
Kakashi had brought Hikari along specifically to have her pin Konan down to prevent this exact scenario. He hadn't expected things to escalate this quickly. But it didn't matter. If Nagato escaped, he could always send Tenzo and Hayama to hunt him down later. Eliminating an unstable factor like Konan was worth the trip.
"My life, my everything... it should have vanished twenty years ago," Konan said. "Because of my most precious comrade, I lived until today. Now, I will do the same for another. Kakashi, I will kill you here. Please... do not hate me."
She wasted no more words and wove a series of hand signs.
In an instant, the Hidden Rain Village convulsed! The ground disintegrated; the towers collapsed! The entire village was being torn apart and destroyed by the Sacred Paper Messenger Jutsu. Countless sheets of paper swarmed toward the sky, every single one marked with the kanji for "Explode."
Even the ground beneath Kakashi and Hikari's feet turned into a sea of paper bombs. Hikari looked on in shock, instinctively moving closer to Kakashi. Against a technique of this scale, even she would have to retreat!
But seeing Kakashi remain composed, her anxiety vanished.
"Don't bluff," Kakashi said calmly. "It only makes you look weak."
Since she had chosen death, Kakashi wouldn't mind being the one to send her off.
"Arrogant," Konan whispered. Under her control, the sky-blotting paper bombs surged toward them. Simultaneously, the ground beneath them vanished as the "earth" of paper bombs split open, sending Kakashi and Hikari plummeting into a seemingly bottomless abyss of explosives!
"Kakashi!" Hikari cried out. She moved to manifest her Susanoo to carry him out of the danger zone.
"It's fine."
Kakashi remained calm. He wrapped one arm around Hikari's waist and held a single hand sign before his chest with the other.
A brand-new technique unfolded!
At that moment, the first explosive tag detonated right in front of them. Like a line of falling dominoes, billions of tags began to trigger in a chain reaction. Continuous explosions erupted around them, a relentless storm of fire and pressure that showed no sign of stopping—one after another, on and on.
This was a method far more powerful than Tobirama Senju's Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags. Tobirama's technique was only infinite in theory; in practice, it was limited by the number of tags available. Even if Tobirama had lived for a hundred years, he could never have produced six hundred billion tags.
But Konan, with her Paper Style secret techniques, had achieved the impossible.
Enveloped in a mysterious barrier at the center of the explosions, Kakashi and Hikari continued to fall. Suddenly, a massive, snarling dog's head pattern appeared on the ground beneath them. A strange formation flared to life, and a barrier protected them as something began to surge up from the depths.
A massive black claw thrust out from the formation! Then, a terrifyingly large, black canine head emerged beneath their feet! The head was so colossal that it caught Kakashi and Hikari, hoisting them back up toward the surface of the sea of explosions.
Despite the constant blasts, Hikari could finally see what they were standing on. It was a giant hound made entirely of black rock! Supported by Kakashi's massive reserves of chakra, the black beast stood hundreds of meters tall even on all fours. Its sheer size was breathtaking.
Asahi-Tora: Earth Style – Heart of Granite.
This was the strongest technique within Kakashi's Earth Style repertoire. It was also the only technique in the Asahi-Tora style—which combined swordplay with ninjutsu—that did not primarily rely on a blade. This rock hound wasn't just a simple Earth Style construct; Kakashi had infused it with Yang Release chakra to give it physical vitality.
"I've noticed... why are all your Earth Style moves related to dogs?" Hikari looked at him, finally catching the pattern. "The dog heads on the Mud Wall were one thing, but even your summons are dogs?"
Kakashi fell silent for a moment. "...That's not important."
He had expected his "wife" to praise his impressive summoning, not critique his aesthetics.
In the sky, Konan looked down and saw the gargantuan beast rising through the sea of paper bombs. Her heart sank. She didn't believe for a second that Kakashi would expend this much effort just for a showy summon.
Konan tried to fly higher to gain distance, but a sense of crisis washed over her. Below, the rock hound snapped its head up, locking its gaze onto her.
Before she could react, the massive beast coiled its limbs and lunged, leaping with a force that cleared the entire sea of explosions in a single bound! As it soared toward her, Konan could almost hear a low, gutteral growl vibrating in the beast's throat.
In her panic, she saw Kakashi standing atop the hound's head. The shimmering blade of his spectral sword had reappeared in his hand.
Sage Art: Yang Release – White Lightning.
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