Chapter 537: Please Help Me Resurrect Yahiko
When only Naruto and Nagato, who sat opposite him, were left in the room, the air seemed to become even more stagnant and quiet, with only the faint chirping of insects from outside the window adding a bit of background noise to this silence.
Nagato remained silent for a moment, his chest rising and falling slightly, as if he were trying to calm some surging emotion, or perhaps gathering the courage to speak.
His already pale face looked even more bloodless under the soft light of the dining room, almost transparent, as if the tiny blood vessels beneath his skin were visible.
However, his eyes were exceptionally bright, like a burning ember of the last spark, staring intently at Naruto, filled with a mixture of pleading, hope, and an imperceptible trace of anxiety.
Finally, he spoke, his voice even raspier and drier than when they had discussed state affairs earlier, carrying a sense of pleading and hope that seemed almost ready to overflow:
"Sixth Hokage... I want to request that you help me resurrect Yahiko."
He paused, as if using all his strength just to utter the following words, his voice low yet clear: "I also want him... to see with his own eyes the world when it truly welcomes peace."
Having lost those Rinnegan that symbolized the power of God, Nagato had also completely lost the ability to use the "Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique" to resurrect others.
He knew Naruto would not hand the Rinnegan over to him; those were the eyes of the Six Paths Sage.
That forbidden Dōjutsu, which he had once regarded as the ultimate means to achieve peace and had controlled even at the cost of overdrawing his life, had now left him.
However, the spark of hope had not been completely extinguished.
He had heard about the incident that occurred in Hidden Leaf Village earlier where "the First Hokage, Second Hokage, and others briefly appeared," and knew that a Forbidden Jutsu like "Edo Tensei" still existed in the world.
Even if it was just to bring Yahiko back in that form composed of dirt and paper, even if it was only temporary.
He also desperately hoped that Yahiko could see with his own eyes that the "peace" the three of them had promised in the rain during their youth—which they had fought for and even sacrificed everything to pursue—seemed to be truly, slowly descending upon this scarred land, driven by the blond youth before him in a way they had never anticipated.
Aside from this obsession to let his dearest friend witness it, there was another reason that weighed even more heavily on Nagato's mind.
A previous conversation he had with the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi.
That old man, speaking as someone who had been through it all, reminded him that Konan's life should not be forever bound to taking care of him and mourning the past.
If peace truly arrived, Konan should also have the right to pursue her own happiness and future.
Nagato had always felt that Konan admired the bright, cheerful, and charismatic Yahiko.
Now, he didn't know how much longer his broken body could hold out, and he was even less willing to become a fetter to Konan's pursuit of a new life.
If Yahiko could return, perhaps it could also give Konan closure and comfort, allowing her to truly step out of the shadows of the past.
Naruto did not answer immediately.
He pondered for a moment, leaning back slightly, his fingers unconsciously tapping the smooth wooden tabletop, making a light "tap, tap" sound.
In his mind, fragments regarding the principles of Edo Tensei, Orochimaru's research results, the mysteries of the Pure Land and the Soul, and the unfathomable authority of the Six Paths Sage quickly assembled and were analyzed.
"The body of Deva Path Pain, which is Yahiko's original body,"
Naruto spoke slowly, "Although it was preserved by you, during the long period of serving as the core 'Heavenly Dao' of the 'Six Paths of Pain,' its internal organs were deeply eroded and functionally replaced by the Rinnegan's Chakra, basically losing their original physiological activity."
He shifted the topic slightly, "However, if we hand the tissue samples of Deva Path Pain over to Orochimaru, with her achievements in life sciences and cloning technology, it might be possible to use cell cultivation or cloning technology to manufacture a 'blank' physical vessel with the exact same genetic sequence as Yahiko.
This body can maintain physiological functions and serve as a vessel for the Soul."
He looked at Nagato, his gaze honest, not avoiding the difficulties involved: "But, Nagato, the most critical and unavoidable issue lies in Yahiko's Soul."
Naruto's tone became solemn, as if he were talking about a forbidden Domain: "Currently, I am powerless regarding the summoning and manipulation of Souls.
The Domain of the Soul involves the Pure Land, reincarnation, and even the fundamental rules of this world; it is a forbidden zone that is more mysterious, harder to touch, and harder to interfere with than physical regeneration.
Even Souls as powerful as First Hokage-sama and Second Hokage-sama, after briefly appearing due to Uchiha Hikari's Dōjutsu, have returned to the depths of the Pure Land due to the direct intervention of the Six Paths Sage. Furthermore, some special restriction or anchoring seems to have been imposed on them, making it impossible to summon them again through the conventional Edo Tensei."
He paused, and seeing the light in Nagato's eyes gradually dimming, he still added a harsher reality: "The Six Paths Sage, as the controller of the Pure Land, seems to have extremely high authority and strict rules regarding interference with the flow of Souls between the living world and the Pure Land.
Without his permission, or unless encountering some extremely special, rule-breaking situation, wanting to precisely summon a specific Soul that has been deceased for many years from the depths of the Pure Land—especially a Soul like Yahiko's, which might have long completed the purification process of the Pure Land and even entered a new cycle of Reincarnation—the difficulty... is immense.
In fact, from the information currently available, it is almost impossible."
Nagato listened quietly, his body seemingly frozen into a statue.
The last spark of hope in his eyes dimmed bit by bit along with Naruto's calm and clear analysis, finally returning to a deep, dark gray.
His hands resting on the armrests clenched unconsciously, his emaciated fingers turning white at the knuckles from excessive force, trembling slightly as if trying to grasp something that was about to dissipate completely.
"Is that so..."
After a long time, Nagato let out a low sigh, almost squeezed from the depths of his chest.
The sigh was very light, yet it seemed to carry a weight of a thousand tons, filled with endless regret, loss, melancholy, and a trace of struggle that had long been buried deep in his heart, which he had always been unwilling to give up, only to be completely crushed by reality at this moment.
He slowly lowered his eyelids, no longer looking at Naruto, but staring blankly at his own hands, which had become emaciated, pale, and covered with fine wrinkles due to years of illness, overdrawn Chakra, and life in a wheelchair.
Resurrecting Yahiko, allowing that dearest friend who had lit up their dark childhood like the sun to see with his own eyes the embryonic form of the peace they dreamed of, was perhaps the last and deepest obsession in his broken body and tormented Soul, a ray of glimmering light that had supported him through the long dark years.
Now, even this last ray of light seemed to have become out of reach following Naruto's calm, almost cruel analysis, finally annihilating behind the barriers of reality.
The dining room fell into a long, suffocating silence. The night outside the window seemed to grow deeper, and the chirping of insects seemed to drift far away.
The soft light elongated the silent shadows of the two, casting them onto the walls and the floor, intertwining together, looking exceptionally lonely and heavy.
Naruto could clearly sense the deep, almost tangible sadness and helplessness emanating from Nagato. It was an emptiness after hope was completely shattered, a bewilderment of having nowhere to place his obsession.
He understood this emotion; he experienced the pain of losing someone important more than anyone.
However, he also knew better than anyone that the boundary between life and death, and the mysteries of the Soul, were Domains that even Immortals could not easily step into.
There were some things that even he was currently powerless to do.
If he used Kamimusubi to save Yahiko, it would change the original course of history, and if he swapped the Yahiko of that time with a clone, there would also be a certain risk.
Moreover, Kamimusubi was currently suspected of being banned, and if it couldn't be used, no matter how much planning was done, it would be meaningless.
Lastly, Yahiko's resurrection brought no benefit to Naruto; currently, Yahiko not being resurrected was actually beneficial to Naruto.
When going to the Pure Land in the future, Naruto wanted to bring Nagato along; Nagato could also be considered a Kage-level combat power.
Those Rinnegan were still being researched in Orochimaru's hands; if he could persuade Nagato, he could also have him serve as a gatekeeper of the Beyond-Kage level again.
Perhaps once Nagato, who had been transplanted with Hashirama cells, adapted to his body, it wouldn't be impossible for his strength to reach the Peak Beyond-Kage level.
Once the Six Paths Sage was dealt with, resurrecting a single Yahiko would be a piece of cake.
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