Naruto flew at Nagato.
Moonglare hissed through the air, faster than a thought.
Hanabi knew that his every instinct was razor sharp, focused on Nagato, quick enough to alert him about any possible counter. From the other side came Sasuke, twin swords dragging waves of blazing fire behind them.
She knew just how dangerous either of them could be. Which was why she was not stepping in between them, quite simply. Her bow flashed into her hands, and the wind howled.
By the time she released her arrow, Nagato's fist had already collided with Naruto's cheek, and his knee strike had already sent Sasuke flying toward the ceiling, outside of his own flames.
Anko shimmered out of shadows Hanabi wasn't even sure she had noticed beforehand, three metallic, razor sharp blades ready to tear Nagato apart, limb from limb.
Hanabi didn't understand when the woman had been grabbed and thrown, but the next thing she saw, Anko was bouncing against the floor with a shattering sound.
Her arrow whistled, and Nagato smiled as he saw it. Then he ignored it, stepping away from it.
An opening.
Hanabi weaved a chain of hand seals and—
Nagato's hand flashed close to the arrow, and pulled the traces of chakra out of it, without even touching it directly. It hit the wall on the other side of the room, and then clattered uselessly against the floor.
Hanabi blurred forward, shrouded in deadly winds. Sasuke fell from above her, both hands grabbing his longer sword in a perfectly executed helm breaker. How could he still fight, in this state…?
Without having to turn, she saw that Karin had healed Itachi, who was leaping back into the fray, and that she was headed toward Shisui.
Nagato's hand extended up, and some invisible force grabbed Sasuke.
He flicked his hand forward, and the Uchiha was sent toward Hanabi. She caught him with a grunt — he was heavier than he looked. Nagato waved his hand again, but something blocked him.
Naruto had come again, his face bruised pretty badly, but already healing. His hand was extended, just like Nagato's was.
"Interesting." Nagato said with a small smile, dispelling Hinokagutsuchi's fire. "So you've learned how to use the Rinnegan's power so precisely already."
Naruto grunted in answer, his purple eyes meeting Nagato's lighter ones. Both possessed the same eyes, in theory, but they looked pretty different, Hanabi realized.
Nagato's was concentric circles that covered the entire eyeball. Naruto's own were contained within his irises, just like the rest of the Umi ninja. It didn't seem to her that it made a difference in terms of potency, but there was a difference. Potentially because of the way each of them had awakened it — well, Uchiha Madara, technically, in Nagato's case.
Nagato smiled.
He held his hand up, and stopped trying to seize Sasuke.
"I have a proposal for you." Nagato said, entirely unmoving.
"I think I see where you're going already." Naruto scoffed. "You didn't seem to be trying very hard to kill us."
"I know you understand, so I will cut to the chase." Nagato smiled. His posture was impossibly imposing, considering he wasn't doing anything. "Join me."
"Of course…" Naruto muttered.
"The offer stands to all of you." Nagato extended his arms. A calm smile spread upon his lips. "You have all made it here in one piece. That alone proves your worth. I do not believe the Kage themselves could have done so."
"Hmpf." Naruto scoffed. "Then maybe the Kage aren't worth that much."
"Indeed they are not." Nagato smiled. "But we... we are not the Kage. We have the same goal, do we not?"
Anko's rage was simmering, Hanabi could see as much. She wanted nothing more than killing him. But she couldn't. Right now, it didn't seem like any of them could, really.
"I have killed your master, this much is true." Nagato nodded toward Anko, not looking sorry in the least. "And I have killed our teacher. About him, I am sorry." He said to Sasuke, with actual emotion in his eyes.
Both Sasuke and Anko tensed. Anko struck first. Naruto put himself in between the two of them.
"What the hell are you doing?!" She raged.
"He wants to use this opportunity to heal the two Uchiha. And I shall allow it, in exchange for you hearing me out." Nagato smiled. "What else…? Are you waiting on the two others, perhaps…? The ones facing Obito…?"
Naruto's face didn't change, but something in his posture shifted.
"What of them…?" Naruto asked, his voice so cold that it sent shivers down Hanabi's spine.
"Nothing." Nagato smiled. "I do not care who wins their little conflict."
"Aren't you and that man allies…?" Sasuke asked, standing utterly still.
His distaste for Uchiha Obito was obvious. Hanabi echoed his feelings.
According to Uchiha Madara's memories, the two Uchiha had influenced the course of the world's events in the worst possible ways. Over and over again.
Hell, even Akatsuki's current state could possibly be pinned on Obito's meddling.
"Allies of circumstance." Nagato said casually. "He is waiting for an opening to steal my eyes and take over the Gedō Mazō — I assume you know this much, already."
"Some allies you got there." Uchiha Shisui said, drawing closer.
"Indeed." Nagato smiled. "Why do you think I'm recruiting…?"
"To replace Konan?" Anko gritted her teeth.
Anko found herself pinned down.
"Do not speak her name." Nagato said with dreadful finality.
The words fell on Anko like a hammer. Hanabi could see her almost imperceptible flinch, and the sweat that ran down her neck.
Nagato blinked and Hanabi could almost believe she was facing a mere man again.
"Although… We now share pain. Your master died by my hand… and my dearest friend died by yours." Nagato continued. "Even now, I believe that pain is what will bring men together."
"A foolish idea, a deluded one." Sasuke rasped out. Karin came closer and began healing him, too. Nagato didn't interrupt.
"People are foolish beings. Pain is what will unite the world, because the only way they can understand each other is through the fear, the hate, the terrible agony that only pain brings. That is the way people learn."
"This is wrong." Sasuke shot back. "And it will only breed more hatred."
"Wrong." Nagato smiled. "It will breed resignation."
"…Is this how you intend to bring peace…?" Naruto asked him.
"Yes. I will heal this broken world."
"How?" Naruto urged.
"Don't you know it already…?" Nagato lifted an eyebrow. "I will not go for Obito's foolish Infinite Tsukuyomi plan." He shook his head. "This would be nothing more than a dream — a pleasant one, but a dream, nonetheless. I do not see any value in that. And I won't be used to resurrect dead men."
Nagato gave Naruto a long look.
"Although… I am not sure if I even could now." He mused.
"…So you can see that much." Naruto folded his arms.
"Yes. I also came to believe that Obito has no intention of reviving Uchiha Madara, either, for what little it matters. Which means—"
"That he intended to revive the Ten-Tails and become its jinchūriki himself, since there was no way he would let you do it." Naruto finished.
"Got it in one." Nagato smiled. "And it meant that he tried to limit my knowledge of his plan. Konan had her suspicions, and I uncovered the rest myself."
"Did the rest of Akatsuki…?"
"They didn't know about it, no. As far as I know." Nagato shook his head. "Most of our more recent members joined Akatsuki to further their own goals; world domination."
"Is this still your goal, then…?"
"Not exactly. I will complete the incomplete plan that the First Hokage set in motion, decades ago."
"The First…?" Anko asked.
"Yes." Nagato nodded.
"It was a flawed plan. Using the Beasts as weapons was never a good option." Naruto said, looking at Nagato flatly.
"His plan was flawed, but not for this reason." Nagato answered. "The Bijū are unreliable on their own, and their powers too unequal."
"Flawed is what I assume your way to be as well."
Hanabi knew Naruto was just trying to gain time, but Nagato didn't seem to care at all about it.
"I willl get to it. We had a three-step plan to work our way towards our goal. First, we needed to obtain a large amount of money to support our organization."
"And people like Kakuzu got interested, I assume." Naruto said dryly.
"Indeed. Secondly, we planned to set up a mercenary group loyal only to Akatsuki. In order to build their reputation, we accepted any mission below the usual cost. We operated off of the excess funds earned in the first part of our plan."
Naruto frowned.
"Because there hadn't been any wars in some time—" Nagato began.
"The established shinobi villages couldn't afford to charge such low prices, leading the smaller countries to hire Akatsuki over the more expensive shinobi villages." Naruto finished with a grunt. "That's the sort of things that happen when your whole economy is based on conquest and war."
Nagato smiled wide.
"Yes. That is exactly it."
"And then you began wars, hypnotized leaders. All in order to steal the Bijū."
"Partly, yes." Nagato shrugged. "Though there was no real need for us to interfere that much, we just had—"
"To push things along." Naruto finished, shaking his head. "I've heard this sort of twisted logic before."
"By using the power of the tailed beasts, we planned to quell the wars we started, solidifying our reputation and convincing every country to depend on us."
"Except you decided on something else."
"We planned on cornering the market in shinobi labor. Without any business, the other shinobi villages would have collapsed due to the lack of funds. And once Akatsuki was the only major force of shinobi in existence, it would have been easy to conquer the other countries. And then—"
"And then Konan died." Naruto interrupted.
"Yes." Nagato smiled placidly. "Konan died. And I changed my mind. I realized that I didn't need to rely on other people anymore."
"This… Everything you told us was just what you told most members." Naruto shook his head. "We have seen the same from Kabuto's memories. It was not your real plan."
"I told you to be a bit more patient, didn't I?" Nagato sighed. "Of course I didn't tell most of them — especially the lower-ranking members — the actual plan. Or even worse… Obito's plan."
Nagato smiled before continuing.
"If we told them that we were going to trap everyone in a genjutsu, including them, they wouldn't have gone along with it.
"Yes." Naruto said flatly. "People generally dislike being told that they are going to be trapped in a dream forever. I wonder why that is."
Nagato laughed a true, honest laugh.
"Indeed."
"You were going for something else."
"Yes. In truth, the Beasts were to be used to create a deadly Kinjutsu. One that could wipe out one of the Five Great Nations in the blink of an eye."
Silence stretched.
"We are almost there, now. But with three missing Bijū, we are still somewhat... lacking in firepower."
Which would still be more than enough to wipe a village, a city from high up. Easily. Just not an entire Nation. And for the god Nagato thought he was, that probably wouldn't do, as far as demonstrations went. Nagato continued.
"My true plan would have been more appealing for many of our members, because as the ones with the super weapon, we would have been at the top. These were people who were in for world domination, after all."
"This would not work, either." Naruto shook his head.
"And why not?" Nagato asked. "Whichever side asked us to use the weapon first would have wiped out the opposing country. It would effectively scare all of them into never using the weapon again. It would scare other countries into never starting a war; lest they be wiped out too. The shared fear and pain will bring peace, in time."
A man stepped closer.
"Until people forget that fear and the weapon had to be used again." Uchiha Itachi said.
"Peace, like anything else in human history, is cyclical." Nagato nodded. "I do not mind having to remind people of the cost of peace."
"Wars will just be fought on smaller scales. The real losers will be smaller countries and villages." Shisui contested.
Naruto knew it to be true.
"Maybe you understood me wrong. Anyone shall have the ability to request the use of the Kinjutsu. It is a true equalizer."
"That will just change the nature of war." Itachi said flatly. "Vicious and bloody and brutal is what it still is going to be. They will be fought through proxies. More assassinations and government overthrows is what we can expect. More coups. That's what your mutually assured destruction will lead to. More violence, more warfare and more suffering — just not where it is seen immediately."
"That…" Nagato began. "Is the world we live in currently."
"Living your life knowing that the world will erupt one day, that your weapon will strike and life as you know it will end… That's no way to live!" Shisui said hotly. "People have hopes, dreams. Ambitions. All of this would go up in Bijū fire, on another country's demand. This would just be escalating the conflict several levels higher. A simple news article, a political maneuver could trigger it… Anything! Everything will be futile; pointless. The fear will always be there."
"That is the point." Nagato smiled. "With fear comes caution. And the fear and pain will lead to respect, in time."
"What we would get is terror attacks and biological warfare instead of full blown war." Itachi shook his head.
"Now that... was more Orochimaru's domain, wasn't it…?" Nagato reminded dryly.
"You make no sense." Anko gritted out, ignoring the barb. "Blasting the Nations to oblivion will never stabilize the world, it will just create circumstances for future conflict, for all the reasons they have enumerated."
"That's because he's working on a false premise." Naruto shook his head. "While there are definitely incorrigible elements that have to be removed by force… his philosophy is unsustainable."
"Oh?" Nagato lifted an eyebrow, now amused.
"What happens when there is a bigger fish in the pond…?" Naruto asked.
"Are you perhaps insinuating that you might be this bigger fish…?"
"That is not what I'm saying." Naruto shook his head. "Once this weapon is used, there will be no shortage of people trying to replicate it. What happens then...? This is simply too harsh a way to rule. People will rise up and everything will unravel. There is no room for people to want to do better. No room for everyone to benefit from progress."
"You talk about cooperation…? Altruism, even." Nagato said flatly. "Yet your methods are just as forceful as mine."
"Perhaps." Naruto acknowledged. "But the world, as it is now, needs a good culling. It starts by the men in power. Once people more interested in peace are in place, the rest will fall into place over the generations."
"That's another way of ruling through fear."
"Call it what you want." Naruto shrugged. "I do not care. Power will be needed either way, no matter the intention. Our way will minimize the bloodshed."
Hearing this, Sasuke growled.
"…Granted, I have stumbled on the way." Naruto admitted. "I made mistakes, too many of them to count."
"That is to be human, isn't it…?" Nagato asked softly.
Naruto laughed. "Spare me your compassion."
"As you wish." Nagato smiled. "My system is sustainable. The way to use the Kinjutsu will be transmitted to people who understand its importance. Can you say the same…?"
"Are you talking to me…? Umi? Or all of us…?" Naruto asked. "Because I'm afraid we don't all see eye to eye."
"You, in particular, then. You and your group would be the only people holding things together, if you had your way."
"Not really, no." Naruto shook his head. "It wouldn't be this sort of peace. There are more levels to this."
"Still. What happens when you die? Even if you did manage to steer the shinobi world in the direction you want to… It's all over once you die. All you managed to do was delay the inevitable."
"Again, what we're aiming for is a lasting peace." Naruto told him.
"Are you going to say that you shall entrust the work to the next generation…?" Nagato almost laughed. "This is relying on too many people. It will never work. It is the way the villages work—"
"I know." Naruto nodded. "Blind faith that every generation that comes next will continue to move toward peace."
Naruto paused.
"Unreliable, at most. That's exactly why we're not doing things this way." Naruto finished.
"…Oh?" Nagato leaned forward, eyes gleaming with curiosity.
"I want global order and stability. To unite the people of the land behind one banner. One that is not as rotten as our current society. For this, I'm willing to get my hands dirty. All of us are. The Umi shinobi, I mean. I don't speak for the rest." He amended himself, when the Uchiha gave him strange looks. "We'll take over."
"You didn't answer my question." Nagato shook his head. "Accumulating power between a few individuals… would work for you, this much is true. These eyes would make it even more likely." He acknowledged. "If you were to become the strongest group of shinobi in the world… which you might well be already… you could ask for anything… and the world would have to give it to you. Uniting the world would only be too easy."
Naruto waited for him to continue. Solely because they were all close to healed.
"But once you're gone, this all crumbles." Nagato finished. "Unlike my Kinjutsu plan."
Naruto chuckled.
"Now… Who said we planned on leaving anytime soon?" Naruto asked.
Nagato understood.
"I see." He said slowly. "You intend to use the Rinnegan to make yourself more."
"People will see that a unified world makes everything better, in time. If I have to watch over the world until the transition is over, I'll do it." Naruto nodded. "And hopefully, I won't be alone in that."
A few smiles.
"Once the world is united, the same way the people of the villages are united — but hopefully better… All we will have to do is keep that peace going. War will be a thing of the past."
The silence between them lasted for a long while.
"It is an interesting solution." Nagato finally said. "I assume I can not convince you that our ways can work together…?"
"No."
Nagato smiled. He had expected it.
"We have the same eyes. Why don't we see which one of us can truly change the world, then…?"
"That's a lot of pretty words." Naruto said dryly. "Your goal is simply terrorizing the entire world, isn't it…? Nothing more, nothing less… and nothing after that."
"Call it what you want." Nagato smiled.
"I assume you have already created the Kinjutsu." Naruto began. "…And that we are standing on its result."
The fortress-city itself.
"Why don't we see…?" Nagato asked.
"No matter." Naruto said. "I think I understand you. You won't use it before the day is over. Before you showed the rest of the world how powerful you are. Before the world hands you the remaining jinchuuriki."
A grin.
"Indeed."
"I made a few promises. I can't let you have the Bijū." Naruto said, his eyes turning hard again. "Nor the world."
"Then it is your final decision on the matter." Nagato nodded.
"Yes."
Similar answers were echoed across the room. The seven of them encircled Nagato.
"Of course." The man nodded. "Then I'm afraid I can't let any of you leave, for… different reasons. It's nothing personal, is it…?" Nagato asked, with a polite smile.
"Not really, no."
Something in the air shifted.
"I'll make it personal, then." Nagato smiled. "And maybe… once you understand true pain, you will change your mind."
"I highly doubt it." Naruto said flatly.
"I will do to you the same thing I did to Hanzo. I didn't just destroy him." Nagato said evenly. "I also killed his parents, his wife. His children. Distant relatives, down to the last infant."
There was a pause.
"After I razed and burned their residences to the ground, I turned to all those who were ever connected to Hanzo. Until nothing — and no one — was left. It was retribution."
"Fascinating." Naruto grunted back. "Am I supposed to recoil in horror…? Do you think you're the first person to think of such a thing…?"
He himself had done so, in other lives.
"That's up to you." Nagato smiled. "But I will do things differently. I won't start by you. You will be the last one left alive."
"Enough. Prepare to die, Nagato."
"Of course. Prepare to lose everything, Naruto."