Otsutsuki (Part I)

by greymatter1098

This is a reboot of my story Otsutsuki. This is an alternate universe story where Naruto is an Otsutsuki that is sent to Earth and found by Minato & taken him by him & Kushina. This universe variant of Asura will be Mito Uzumaki (Minato & Kushina's biological daughter) & Indra will be Sayuri Uchiha (Fugaku & Mikoto's daughter & Itachi's younger sister). Mostly NarutoxSayuri centric

26. Dissolution

Dissolution

3 weeks later (1 month & 1 week since Kushina's revival)

Hokage Tower

Tsunade scanned the report in front of her for what felt like the fifth time, her amber eyes narrowing in disbelief. She had read many horrifying accounts during her tenure as Hokage, but this—this bordered on the incomprehensible. She rolled up the scroll, set it aside, and then, as if her mind was playing tricks on her, opened it again to read it once more.

The Hidden Mist… gone? Completely destroyed? How?

Her gaze flicked to the team of scouts standing before her. "Are you absolutely certain about these reports?"

The lead scout stepped forward, his face grim. "Yes, Hokage-sama. This is the reason all trade and communication with the Hidden Mist stopped weeks ago. When we investigated, the village was nothing but ruins. It's as though the entire area had been obliterated in one catastrophic event."

Tsunade's hand tightened on the scroll. She reread the description of the destruction: buildings crushed into rubble, earth upturned in a radial pattern with a compact center. "You're saying the village was… compressed? Like it was crumpled into a ball and then dropped?"

Another scout stepped forward to elaborate. "The evidence strongly suggests that, Hokage-sama. The damage is consistent with an immense gravitational force. The structures at the epicenter were utterly crushed, and the debris spread outward in a pattern that matches such an event. Our team estimates that the point of impact originated from a height of about sixty kilometers."

Tsunade exhaled sharply, her mind reeling. The power required to accomplish such devastation was beyond comprehension. She slammed the scroll down onto her desk. "Identifying who—or what—did this is now our top priority. I'm calling an emergency council. Notify all the relevant representatives immediately. Once you've done that, get some rest. You've done well."

The scouts bowed and left without another word, their footsteps echoing in the silent hallway.

Tsunade leaned back in her chair, pressing her fingers against her temples. "Shizune," she called, her voice weary. "Bring me some sake."

"What? Right before a war council?" Shizune's voice carried a mix of exasperation and disbelief.

"Shizune," Tsunade repeated firmly, though the sharpness in her tone was tempered by a sigh. "Fine. I'll drink after the meeting."

Shizune offered a small smile, her relief evident. "Thank you, Tsunade-sama. It's the right decision. But… are we really considering war?"

Tsunade stared at the empty sake bottle on her desk, her expression darkening. "We might not have a choice. If this is what I think it is, then we need to send a message: the Hidden Leaf takes threats like this very seriously."

With that, she reached into her desk and pulled out a kunai, stabbing it into the wood with a deliberate motion. Then, drumming her fingers against the desk, she waited.

The air shimmered faintly before a flash of yellow light illuminated the room. A disheveled Minato Namikaze materialized, his breathing slightly uneven as he straightened himself. "Hokage-sama," he greeted, bowing respectfully. "Did I interrupt something?"

Tsunade smirked faintly. "You look like you were busy."

"It's nothing important," Minato replied, regaining his composure. "What do you need from me?"

"An update would be nice," she said, leaning back in her chair.

Minato nodded. "Jiraiya-sensei's network has been invaluable. We've been keeping tabs on the Hidden Rain's activities, but their leader remains unwilling to negotiate. As reported earlier, my team has mapped and scouted a 200-kilometer radius around Amegakure. There's little else to do without escalating the situation."

"What does Jiraiya think?" Tsunade asked, tapping her fingers on the desk.

"He believes Nagato's resolve will falter if given enough time," Minato said carefully.

"And what do you think?"

Minato hesitated, but only briefly. "I think we've wasted enough time. We should infiltrate the city, find Nagato's student, and negotiate directly. Waiting hasn't yielded results."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "You should've done that a long time ago."

"The issue is the civilians, Hokage-sama. An infiltration could put their lives at risk."

Tsunade's expression hardened. "As are all of ours. Enough waiting. We're declaring war on the Hidden Rain."

"Why now?"

Instead of answering, Tsunade tossed the scroll toward him. "Read it."

Minato unrolled the scroll, his blue eyes scanning the text rapidly. Midway through, his expression shifted to one of shock. By the time he finished, his jaw was tight. "This level of destruction…" he muttered. "If this report is accurate, we're not dealing with a conventional threat."

"We aren't," Tsunade said flatly.

"If we're doing this, we should involve the other nations," Minato suggested.

Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "Explain."

"This isn't just Konoha's problem," Minato said. "A single man with the power to obliterate entire villages poses a threat to everyone. If we form an alliance—a united front—we might be able to prevent further devastation. This could be an opportunity to unite the Five Great Nations."

Tsunade considered his words. "An alliance to end centuries of conflict… it's a lofty goal, but one worth pursuing. Do you think the other nations would agree?"

"They've likely already noticed the Mist's destruction," Minato reasoned. "If we frame this as a fight against a shared enemy rather than a war against the Hidden Rain, they'll listen. No one wants to face this kind of power alone."

Tsunade nodded slowly. "We'll need to tread carefully. If we fail to make them understand the true threat, this could lead to even greater chaos. For now, consider your mission complete. Bring everyone back."

Later, in the war council chamber, Tsunade stood at the head of the table, flanked by Jiraiya and several high-ranking advisors. The room was tense, the atmosphere heavy with the weight of the impending decision.

One of the advisors, an elderly man named Homura, frowned as he reviewed the evidence. "The radial pattern of the fallout, the lack of explosive or thermal signatures… You're suggesting this wasn't a Bijuu but a jutsu? A gravitational technique?"

"Yes," Tsunade confirmed, her voice firm. "The area has been thoroughly investigated. All evidence points to a jutsu of immense gravitational power. And based on what we know, the most likely culprit is the leader of the Hidden Rain."

The Daimyo of the Land of Fire stroked his chin thoughtfully. "How can you be certain of this?"

Tsunade gritted her teeth, suppressing her frustration. "We've studied his abilities extensively. The patterns of destruction align perfectly with the techniques attributed to him in our reports. This isn't speculation—it's fact."

Homura folded his hands. "Even so, war is not something to be taken lightly. Are we absolutely certain this is the right course of action?"

Before Tsunade could respond, Jiraiya stepped forward. "We've tried diplomacy," he said. "Letters, envoys, even direct attempts at negotiation. Nagato has refused all of it. Every attempt has been met with hostility. He's made his intentions clear: he won't stop until his vision is realized, no matter the cost."

The Daimyo sighed, leaning back in his chair. "If that's the case… then perhaps war is our only option. I will contact the other Daimyo and propose this alliance. A united front may indeed be the best solution."

Tsunade allowed herself a brief smile, though her expression remained tense. "Any objections or concerns?"

When no one spoke, the Daimyo nodded. "It's settled, then. Let's draft the details of the proposal. We'll need to act quickly to secure the cooperation of the other nations."

As the discussion turned to logistics, Tsunade's mind drifted briefly to the weight of what they were about to undertake. War was never an easy decision, but this time, it felt like a necessity—a final stand against a threat too great to ignore.

Let's hope this alliance can truly end the cycle of violence* she thought grimly.

---

Hidden Cloud

High above the snow-capped peaks surrounding Kumogakure, storm clouds churned with menacing intent. Though the Land of Lightning boasted its share of dramatic weather, the sheer ferocity of this swirling tempest felt uncanny, as though nature itself trembled in anticipation of the battle about to unfold. Rain rarely visited these sky-piercing summits, yet on this day, an icy downpour slashed sideways across the ridges, turning rocky paths treacherous and saturating every ledge. Towering waterfalls, once picturesque cascades, gushed torrentially. In the distance, lightning flashed with frightening frequency, illuminating the silhouette of the massive mountainous cradle that housed Kumo.

Amid this fury of wind and water, Killer B—Kumogakure's prized jinchūriki—emerged from a cramped stone alcove near a precarious cliff face. The pitter-patter of raindrops against his goggles lent a surreal echo to the scene, but Bee paid it little mind. Tall and powerfully built, he exuded the raw confidence of one well-acquainted with impossible feats. Yet even he paused, scanning the watery gloom that stretched across a deep gorge separating him from the lower slopes leading to a small, outlying settlement. That settlement—already battered by mudslides—teetered on the brink of catastrophe.

"Yo, partner, the earth's givin' way,

People might die if we don't save the day."

His rhyme came out a bit forced, but urgency glinted in his eyes. Inside him, the eight-tailed Bijū, Gyūki, radiated calm focus. Having bonded closely with Bee over years of partnership, Gyūki recognized that his jinchūriki's jesting manner masked a deep protectiveness. Still, the Hachibi rumbled in mild exasperation: Bee's incessant rapping in dire moments sometimes frayed even his considerable patience.

"Focus, B. Enough playing around. Let's rescue the villagers."*

"Yes sir, Gyūki, can't let folks down,

We'll keep 'em safe, no need to frown!"

With that, Bee crouched, then hurled himself across the gap, ignoring the swirling gale that threatened to knock him sideways. Midair, his body erupted into massive octopus-like tentacles, each easily large enough to bulldoze entire buildings. The abrupt transformation gave him the leverage to control his trajectory, letting him land on a ledge high above the endangered village. From there, he took stock of the immediate crisis: an avalanche of sludge and boulders was tumbling from the mountain's shoulder, threatening to bury the small settlement in a single lethal wave.

"We can't let that mud bury them, Bee,"* Gyūki warned. *"Get ready. We do the big move."*

The next instant, Bee let more of Gyūki's chakra flood his system, enabling the half-transformation. Enormous tentacles smashed into the sliding mire, diverting part of it sideways. But there was more mud than they'd expected; an entire swath of mountain face was collapsing. Realizing lesser measures would fail, Bee and the Hachibi rapidly formed a concentrated sphere of black, crackling energy at the tip of one tentacle: a Bijūdama, albeit smaller than the full-scale version used in serious combat. They aimed it just above the cascading avalanche, unleashing it with a muffled roar.

A thunderous detonation followed. The mountain's surface, already compromised by the deluge, disintegrated in the bomb's wake. Mud, rock, and shattered debris soared skyward, eventually raining down in scattered chunks far from the settlement. The ground heaved violently beneath Bee's tentacled form, nearly unbalancing him, but after the tremors subsided, the avalanche route was obliterated. A large portion of the slope was simply gone, vaporized. The immediate threat to the village was neutralized.

Exhaling in relief, Bee retracted the tentacles and hopped down amid the cluster of astonished civilians who stared up at him with reverent awe. He flashed a broad grin, raising a hand in a jaunty salute.

"Kami-sama? Nah, I'm just Bee,

Saving your homes, fightin' for free!"

He half-laughed and opened a small notebook from a pouch on his vest, intending to jot down a new rap verse. "Heh, 'wet'… that's a rhyme set I haven't fully used yet…" he mumbled. But just then, a strange tug at his entire being yanked him upward. Startled, he twisted about, eyes narrowing as he caught a glimpse of a black-cloaked figure with swirling red clouds stepping from behind a jagged boulder. Bee's mind flashed instantly to the intelligence from the Allied Shinobi council: the man with Rinnegan, known for annihilating entire villages.

"Bee, transform now!"* roared Gyūki, sensing mortal danger.

Before Bee could fully respond, an invisible gravitational force ripped him off the ground. He flailed momentarily, but quickly stabilized, letting partial tail chakra surge forth to anchor himself. Straining, he recognized the man's distinctive eyes, ringed with abnormal patterns. *That's gotta be Nagato of the Hidden Rain.*

In a swirling gust of watery wind, Bee forced himself to land, severing the enemy's gravitational hold by manifesting the Hachibi's raw power. Twisting the swords strapped across his back, he brandished two blades. "You messed with the bull, so here's the horn,

I'm the star who can't be torn!"

The cloaked man stared impassively, ignoring Bee's couplet. "Hachibi. Hand yourself over, or face the same annihilation as the Mist."

Bee frowned. "The Mist… They got wiped out by you, man? That's messed up. But me, I'm the unstoppable Killer B. You'll regret stepping in my domain."

Before more words were traded, Bee launched forward in a flicker of speed, crossing the muddy gap to slash at Nagato's throat. The Rinnegan user responded with a telekinetic wave: Shinra Tensei. The concussive force halted Bee's sword mere inches from Nagato's neck, but Bee continued pushing with raw muscle and Bijū-enhanced chakra. For a moment, it seemed like Bee might break through the invisible wall. Nagato's eyes widened in genuine surprise—he had never seen Shinra Tensei nearly fail to repel a single attacker.

Still, the Rinnegan's power held. At the final moment, Nagato twisted his palm, intensifying the repulsion. Bee, forced away, quickly adjusted midair. "He's no joke, yo," he muttered, landing with water splashing around his ankles.

But in that instant, the feedback from Shinra Tensei flung Nagato backward off the plateau's edge. He vanished over the drop, though Bee suspected no ordinary fall would kill such an opponent. Indeed, after a tense second of scanning, Bee saw no sign of a body below.

"He's definitely not splat,"* Gyūki cautioned. *"We must remain on guard, Bee."*

Back near the settlement's ruined slope, swirling black clouds parted, letting the destructive rain intensify further. Bee scowled. "If that's the man from the Leaf's warnings, we're in for some big trouble." A moment later, the entire mountain rumbled, and Bee looked up to see the jagged peaks of Kumo's mountainous domain literally heaving. Rocks, ridges, entire blocks of stone rose skyward. Far in the distance, the heart of Kumogakure began to crumble, as if drawn by some monstrous force.

Every villager around Bee let out shrieks of terror or confusion. Boulders that formed the foundation of the settlement started trembling. The low-level ninja stationed there scrambled to form Earth Release jutsu as anchors, but the unstoppable gravitational force pulled them upward. Even Bee gaped, stunned by the scale. Bits of landmass soared into the stormy sky, forming an enormous sphere of debris.

"He's reactivating that rumored technique,"* Gyūki said urgently, referencing the intelligence from the Allied talks about Chibaku Tensei, the technique that had presumably obliterated Kirigakure. Bee felt a pang of dread. If Nagato repeated that cataclysm here, Kumo and all its people would be devastated.

"Then we gotta hush him up fast," Bee muttered. "No time for caution. Sorry, folks." Bee closed his eyes, letting the Hachibi's presence surge forth in full. Partial transformations wouldn't suffice against something that had presumably destroyed an entire Hidden Village. The eighth tail manifested, followed by the others, eventually forming the monstrous silhouette of the Eight-Tails itself, overshadowing the small settlement.

Gyūki's enormous body squatted on the mountainside, tentacles flailing against the swirling gravitational pull. "We can't outrun that ball. We have to disrupt it," the Bijū said. They began condensing a monstrous Bijūdama in front of their maw, ready to unleash it at the source of the gravitational jutsu. If they destroyed the technique's core, the entire phenomenon might collapse.

But abruptly, the gravitational tug halted. The giant sphere overhead shuddered, chunks of earth and rock cascading away like fracturing lumps of clay. Bee's massive eyes flicked around. "Huh? Did someone stop him?"

"We sense three new signatures of Jinchūriki-level power up there,"* Gyūki said. *"Our backup. Possibly Yugito or others."*

Killer B exhaled in relief. "Yugito's on the scene. The big cat's mean." Receding from full Bijū form, he returned to his normal shape, bounding forward. "Time to help her out."

High within a labyrinth of stone tunnels deeper in Kumo's mountainous bowels, a separate drama played out. Omui, a junior Kumo-nin known for anxious overthinking, clung upside down to a stalactite, eyes darting around as he listened to distant roars. A moment ago, he'd worried that their training session with the Two-Tails Jinchūriki would cause a cave-in or tap into volcanic pockets. Now, the tremors reverberating through the mountain indicated an external threat, something more dire than any training accident.

"Volcano or no, we gotta warn them," he hissed. Attempting to slip out from under the vantage. But Karui, his fierce, orange-haired partner, grabbed him. "Get a grip, Omui. The entire village is in danger, it's not some imaginary volcano meltdown." She felt a sudden spike of fear-laced chakra overhead, but forced herself to remain steady.

A final roar of the Two-Tails shook the cavern, then all fell quiet. No more illusions of training—something had drawn Yugito away. Karui pursed her lips. "We can't just hide. Let's move."

Omui's face contorted in worry, but he nodded. They scrambled upward through the labyrinth, eventually emerging near the top of the subterranean network. By the time they found a breach that let them see the outside world, devastation greeted them: entire segments of Kumo soared in the sky, locked in some gravitational mass that partially crumbled. Then, near the horizon, they spied a monstrous, flame-wreathed cat—Yugito's full Matatabi form. Their hearts sank further as they recognized that the enemy had forced even that advanced form.

"No time to lose,"* Karui muttered, voice grim. The pair raced forward to aid their comrade, but before they arrived, they caught glimpses of monstrous carnage—lightning-wielding Kumo shinobi battered or pinned, an unearthly presence unleashing black rods that skewered hapless defenders.

"This is beyond a normal fight,"* Omui whispered, terror flaring. *"We're hopelessly outclassed."*

Karui grit her teeth. "We still gotta do something."

Thus, they pressed on, eventually encountering Samui, battered but alive, near an open gorge. Samui panted, "He's… unstoppable… be careful."

"Where's Yugito?"* Karui demanded.

Samui's voice shook. "Captured. The leader of the Hidden Rain pinned her down, then battered the entire area. She tried to hold him off but… we lost."

They looked at the gaping crater in the distance, where an immense gravitational crater manifested. Bits of Kumo's architecture lay in shambles. Bodies of valiant defenders littered the muddy ground. Far off, a monstrous shadow moved, presumably Bee in Bijū form clashing again. They heard the echo of a Bijuudama, though it never fully discharged.

"Let's regroup," Samui said, eyes flicking around. "We need the Raikage."

Deep in the central district, the Raikage—A, a towering man brimming with lightning aura—stood with fists clenched. He stared in dismay at the floating chunks of terrain. Having arrived from the capital district to find chaos, he quickly realized the assailant was the same monstrous foe rumored to have destroyed Kirigakure in a single assault. The allied intel had warned about a man named Nagato. In typical A fashion, the Raikage roared defiance:

"You think you can walk into Kumo and do this?!" Lightning crackled around him. Without waiting for an answer, he launched forward in a burst of unimaginable speed, leaving an electrified afterimage.

Nagato pivoted. A swirling swirl of water-laced wind hammered him from the side, signifying some ninjutsu used by A's subordinates, but Nagato's Preta Path absorbed it instantly, leaving no trace. The Raikage's fists, wreathed in flickering lightning chakra, crashed forward. In an instant, Nagato raised a palm, unleashing a partial Shinra Tensei. The impact slowed the Raikage's blow, yet a portion of the momentum carried through. Nagato's eyes narrowed in alarm—he recognized this technique from older data about the Third Raikage's lineage. The unstoppable might of the Raikage's body flicker nearly broke through the repulsion barrier.

A grin cracked the Raikage's face. "So you can block my punch? Not for long." He poured more chakra into his next strike. But at that moment, Nagato twisted his remaining free arm, summoning a black rod. A shift in gravitational vectors angled the rod to intercept. The Raikage hissed, forcibly stepping aside. However, the rod elongated unnaturally, tagging A's shoulder. Chakra flared in the Raikage's body, trying to neutralize the infiltration, but a spasm wracked him.

In that split second, Nagato exploited the opening, conjuring a swirling wave of earth that hammered A's side, launching him across the battered courtyard. The Raikage slammed into a collapsed watchtower, dust billowing.

A coughed, spitting blood, the lightning cloak around him sputtering. He forced himself upright, roaring, "I'm not done, you bastard—!" But his left arm hung limp, corrupted by the black rod's insidious energy.

Nagato's gaze was cold. "Kumo's downfall is inevitable. Surrender the Hachibi or face the same ruin as Kirigakure."

Miles away on the outskirts, Bee jolted from an abrupt wave of negativity that shot through his bond with the Raikage—his adoptive brother. "Bro is in trouble," Bee rapped softly, voice unsteady. "We gotta move, can't let him lose." The Hachibi concurred. Bee lunged across the ravaged terrain, racing to the Raikage's chakra signature, but the swirling gravitational pulses continued to hamper him.

"He's messing with entire sections of the terrain,"* Gyūki said. *"Your brother might be pinned soon."*

That fear drove Bee to accelerate, partial transformations surging as needed. He soared over shattered ridges, ignoring swirling debris. In the distance, he glimpsed a glimpse of bright lightning, sure sign of the Raikage's cloak.

At the half-ruined courtyard, A bellowed, "I'll kill you!" even as his left side refused to respond properly. Summoning a last burst of chakra, he lunged anew. Nagato invoked the Deva Path, generating a potent gravitational ripple that hammered the Raikage mid-jump, slamming him into the ground with savage force. The stone cracked from the impact, forming a crater. A coughed violently, blood dripping from his mouth.

Some distance behind Nagato, a group of surviving Kumo shinobi launched a barrage of coordinated lightning ninjutsu. For an instant, arcs of electricity seared the air. Nagato turned, letting the Preta Path absorb all the chakra-based attacks. Then he pivoted his gaze upward, reasserting control over the Chibaku Tensei forming overhead.

"No more distractions,"* he muttered. He put forth a final massive surge of power, reestablishing the gravitational core. The sphere overhead re-stabilized, lumps of mountain rock and destroyed houses rejoining with unstoppable momentum. Cries of terror rang out from the many shinobi and civilians trapped in the gravitational field. Some tried to anchor themselves with ninja tools or jutsu, but the relentless pull overcame them.

"It's over," Nagato said quietly. "Kumogakure will vanish."

As if on cue, a blazing shape tore into the courtyard: Bee, partially shrouded in eight-tailed cloak, swords drawn, letting out a fierce shout. "Let them go, you scum! Kumo's not done!" He aimed a diagonal slash at Nagato's side.

But Nagato had anticipated Bee's return. The Rinnegan user, ignoring the Raikage's attempts to rise, unleashed a broad Shinra Tensei wave. Bee was blasted back, though he braced himself with tentacles. Realizing the direct approach might fail, Bee formed a swirling Bijūdama in his hand, compressing the destructive sphere. He launched it at Nagato from a short distance—too close to easily deflect, he hoped. But Nagato's Preta Path flared, absorbing the sphere. The result was a dramatic swirl of black chakra. For an instant, Bee's heart soared, thinking maybe it might overload the absorption, but the Rinnegan displayed no cracks. The energy vanished into a distortion.

"Bee, watch out—!"* Gyūki roared.

From behind Bee, an amplified gravitational pull seized him. The Hachibi's form was forcibly half-extracted for a second, causing Bee to cry out. The jarring effect nearly knocked him unconscious. Summoning all his might, Bee reasserted control, preventing partial extraction. But his chakra reserves felt battered.

A final push from Nagato pinned Bee to a half-sunken chunk of rubble. Black rods rained down from the sky, forged from chakra, impaling Bee's limbs. He howled in pain.

"No… can't… lose,"* he groaned.

Staggering, the Raikage tried to intervene, even with one arm mostly limp. He roared, lightning crackling. Yet Nagato flicked his gaze at A, launching a concentrated Shinra Tensei that hammered the leader of Kumo to the ground once more. A coughed up blood, vision swimming. *I… failed.*

"Kumo is done,"* Nagato declared, turning his focus fully on Bee. The pinned jinchūriki tried to form another Bijuudama, but the black rods disrupted his chakra.

At that moment, the two-tailed Jinchūriki, Yugito, battered and bleeding, emerged from behind a collapsed structure. She'd freed herself from her earlier entrapment with sheer will. Desperation fueled her: if she didn't do something, Bee and the Raikage were dead. Summoning Matatabi's flame, she pounced in a last-ditch attempt to break Nagato's hold on Bee. Her blazing form soared, aiming lethal claws at the Rinnegan user's back.

Yet Nagato pivoted fluidly, as though expecting it. He slammed one palm on the ground—an Asura Path mechanism triggered, unleashing a torrent of mechanical appendages bristling with blades. Yugito's flaming paw clashed with the metallic protrusions, but a second wave of gravitational push struck her mid-flight, smashing her bodily into the ground. Ribs fractured under the force. She gasped, unable to stand.

"You cause only more suffering. Enough,"* Nagato murmured. He formed another black rod and pinned Yugito as well. With that, both Kumo's Jinchūriki lay helpless, while the Raikage lay half-dead. All around them, the swirling sphere overhead grew, culminating in an unbelievably massive orb that contained huge chunks of Kumogakure's main plateau. From the city center to outlying ridges, everything soared into that dismal sky. Terrified voices carried on the wind.

"You monster… you'll pay for this,"* A rasped, hands trembling.

Nagato turned to him with an icy expression. "The cycle of hatred compels me to do this. Your alliance sought to exterminate me first. I simply returned the favor. Farewell, Raikage."

The final gravitational wave sank A deeper into the ruins, a crushing force that snapped bones. Bee, pinned and forced to watch, roared in fury. "No—! Bro, hang on! Let me… go…!" He struggled, tears streaming.

But the black rods drained him. The Hachibi tried to muster a last surge, but Nagato flooded the rods with Rinnegan-based illusions that scrambled the Bijū's chakra. The entire courtyard fell silent, save for the thunder overhead.

At last, with a decisive motion, Nagato completed the final stage of Chibaku Tensei. The monstrous sphere overhead began drifting away from the city's remains, carrying thousands of captured souls. The partial city blocks that remained on the surface sank into chasms or toppled in avalanches. Nagato watched dispassionately, letting out a slow exhale. The Hidden Cloud, once a proud ninja village perched among these mountains, was effectively destroyed. He'd replicate the brutality that had befallen Ame decades prior, ensuring that no hidden village could threaten him or the Rain again.

"Now… to claim the Eight-Tails,"* he said softly, stepping to Bee's side. The pinned jinchūriki thrashed, but to no avail. "Your chakra belongs to me."

His free hand extended, channeling a specialized Rinnegan technique meant to start the extraction. Usually, the extraction would require the Gedo Statue, but for the time being, he could at least partially subdue the Hachibi. He placed a small sealing tag on Bee's chest.

"No… no, no, no!"* Bee sputtered.

"Bee… I can't hold on,"* Gyūki groaned, its voice weak.

In that moment, footsteps echoed from behind a collapsed tower. A battered Kumo squad—Omui, Karui, Samui (barely alive), and two lesser-known Chūnin—rushed in. They all froze at the spectacle: Nagato about to siphon Bee's Bijū, the Raikage lying in a crater, presumably dead or near it, Yugito pinned, the rest of Kumo in ruin.

Karui, tears of rage streaming, tried to lunge, but Omui held her. "It's suicide," he hissed. "We can't beat him."

Yet Samui, pushing aside excruciating pain, let out a strangled cry: "We… can't just watch him… kill Bee."

They stepped forward in unison anyway, forming hand signs for one final combination jutsu. But Nagato hardly spared them a glance. With a flick of a finger, several black rods materialized, impaling the entire squad in a blink. They collapsed in agony, powerless.

Bee let out a guttural roar. "Stop… I beg you, man…!"

Nagato's eyes glinted with an unnamed sorrow. "Beseeching me for mercy now is pointless. Did your shinobi show mercy to Ame years ago? The cycle is eternal. I am simply the one enforcing a new form of justice."

"No… there's always a better way,"* Yugito gasped pleading from the ground, but her words faltered.

Ignoring her, Nagato pressed his palm firmly against Bee's chest, beginning a partial drain. The Hachibi roared in defiance inside Bee's mind, struggling mightily. But the rods and the Rinnegan illusions scrambled its power. Slowly, Bee's consciousness began slipping, body trembling in seizure-like convulsions.

"Not like this,"* Bee thought in heartbreak. *I promised Kumo I'd keep them safe.*

Before Bee's mind fully faded, Nagato paused, as if receiving a mental signal. The sphere overhead had reached a critical mass, meaning many thousands were fully entombed, ensuring Kumo's extermination. Satisfied, he concluded the partial extraction for the moment. Time was needed to integrate the stolen portion of Bee's chakra into the Gedo Mazo.

"I'll keep you alive until I can fully seize the Eight-Tails,"* Nagato murmured, speaking almost kindly, though his eyes were cold. Then, with a final, chilling calm, he commanded a conjured mechanical crane from his Asura Path to clamp Bee & Yugito's limp forms, tossing him over a shoulder.

He pivoted, scanning the battered courtyard. The Raikage was presumably dead or so close to it that rescue was impossible. Kumo's forces scattered or destroyed. The entire region's once-proud spires had crumbled. *Another hidden village falls* he thought, *and with it, one step closer to forcing the entire shinobi system into submission.*

"Such is the fate of those who stand in my way,"* he declared softly, eyes flicking to the cowering survivors. Then, in a swirl of swirling black rods, he turned away.

Leaving the main war zone behind, he began descending into the ravine, stepping past the broken gates of Kumogakure. He paused only once, letting the acid sting of the cold rain trickle across his brow. Remembering personal losses, the tragedies that shaped him. Then, steeling himself, he pressed onward, the Jinchuriki's unconscious bodies slung over his conjured crane device. With each step, the weighted hush of total victory pressed upon him.

At length, Nagato reached the forest's edge. He crouched, placing a hand on the damp soil. "*Kuchiyose no Jutsu," he uttered, summoning a monstrous avian from the Animal Path. The giant bird cawed, flapping its spiked wings. Carefully, Nagato loaded Bee & Yugito's limp forms onto the creature's back. In a torrent of swirling wind and rain, it launched skyward, heading away from the mountainous ruins.

Nagato glimpsed the final shape of the enormous orb formed by Chibaku Tensei. Large chunks of it had collapsed—maybe partially undone by interference from Yugito or Bee—but enough remained to ensure the region's annihilation. High in the swirling storm, the floating mass hovered like a grotesque reminder of unstoppable might. The entire infrastructure of Kumogakure was effectively annihilated, presumably accompanied by a massive death toll.

"This is how the Shinobi world must learn,"* Nagato told himself. *They forced me to these measures.*

A dull thunderclap rolled across the jagged highlands of the Land of Lightning, punctuating the eerie calm that had settled over the area. The Hidden Cloud village, perched amid mountainous crags and perpetually shrouded in swirling storm clouds, had always carried an aura of formidable defense. Yet on this day, its proud ramparts and protective illusions lay shattered—Nagato, in the name of the Akatsuki, had descended upon the village like a malevolent deity, unleashing the might of his Rinnegan upon the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails Jinchūriki.

In the aftermath of that devastating battle, an unsettling hush prevailed at the outskirts of the Hidden Cloud. Smoke lingered, mixing with the potent tang of ozone from Nagato's jutsu. An entire swath of terrain had been scarred, chalky dust rising where his gravity-based assault had churned the earth. At the center of this destruction stood Nagato: tall, gaunt, and draped in the iconic black-and-red Akatsuki cloak. The swirl of his Rinnegan eyes glowed with chilling intensity as he surveyed the result of his grim labor.

Nagato finally exhaled slowly, satisfied he had removed these formidable threats from the equation.

Then, abruptly, the faintest prickle stirred at the edge of his perception. Rinnegan's domain was vast, allowing him to sense presences through the ceaseless rainfall that blanketed this mountaintop region. Lifting his gaze to the somber sky, he spotted a silhouette descending rapidly, golden chakra swirling around it in a brilliant halo. Rain pummeled the figure, yet the bright aura remained steadfast. Nagato recognized that power at once.

"Naruto Uzumaki," Nagato called out with rigid composure, his voice echoing in the chilly air. As the figure landed gracefully upon a shattered fragment of stone, Nagato noted the teenage Leaf shinobi's unmistakable visage—blond hair, whisker-like marks on his cheeks, and an intense glare shining from mismatched eyes. "I see you're here," Nagato continued, narrowing his Rinnegan. "Truly, you are the source of Akatsuki's many setbacks. One after another, you dispatched Kisame, Deidara, Sasori, Hidan, Kakuzu… Because of you, entire operations crumbled."

Naruto shrugged casually, his right eye glinting with the distinctive swirl of the Kessetsugan, while the left bore the ominous orange ripples of the Rinnegan. "I'm just a professional doing my job," he retorted, voice low yet resonant. Around him, flickers of faint chakra danced along his form, a testament to the monstrous power he now commanded. "Taking down your goons is all in a day's work for a Leaf shinobi."

Nagato gave a dismissive snort. "Typical Leaf ninja," he said with a trace of bitterness. "You hide behind your proud speeches while meddling in affairs beyond your land. You have no idea how your village's sins ripple outward, spawning conflict everywhere else."

A ghost of a smirk tugged at Naruto's lips, though his gaze remained hardened. "It's hypocritical of you to complain about the Leaf," he returned, letting the words drip with irony, "when you're the product of a Leaf shinobi's twisted designs. If not for them, you'd never have come this far down the path of destruction."

That line struck a nerve, and though Nagato's face betrayed only a flicker of vexation, he forcibly reined it in. "Whether or not your leaf shaped me," Nagato said at last, "makes no difference now. I have a purpose that transcends origin."

Naruto's grin grew sharper. "I doubt that. But if my father Minato's people created a monster, I guess it's on me to put it down."

Nagato ignored the jab, raising one hand as droplets of rain slid down his forearm. "You withheld your interference earlier," he noted coldly, "when I subdued the Two-Tails and the Eight-Tails. If you're so bent on stopping me, why wait until after I had them dragged away to the Hidden Rain?"

A slow sigh escaped Naruto, though his posture remained confident. "What can I say?" he began with a half-lidded stare. "Not my village, not my people, not my problem. Now that the Hidden Cloud lost its precious Jinchūriki, it's one less threat to the Leaf's dominance. Made sense to let them handle their own fiasco."

A flash of genuine disgust crossed Nagato's features. "Spoken like a true dog of Danzo's wretched organization," he spat. "No empathy, no remorse. You remind me of the root system beneath a tree: hidden, snaking through the dark, strangling the life around it without guilt."

Naruto shook his head, a humorless grin blooming. "That's rich, coming from the self-styled savior who demolished entire nations. Didn't you flatten the Hidden Mist not too long ago? Or was that some cosmic accident you're conveniently ignoring?"

Nagato's eyes narrowed, the swirl of the Rinnegan intensifying. "Is that your twisted sense of morality speaking? The Mist was always steeped in violence. I forced them to experience a fraction of what they inflicted on their own kind. I bring about real solutions, not hollow gestures."

Naruto barked a mirthless laugh. "Solutions, huh? Destroying villages, forcibly capturing Jinchūriki, and forging some ultimate weapon to terrify the world into submission—very humanitarian, indeed."

An uneasy hush stretched between them, the pitter-patter of rain underscoring the tension. The battered plateau, lined with fragments of broken rock and twisted tree stumps, stood witness to their exchange. Then the hush broke as both shinobi simultaneously tensed, resolve flashing in their eyes.

Nagato inhaled deeply, unbuttoning part of his cloak to free up movement. "I see no more need for discussion," he said tersely. "If you stand in the way of my plan to resurrect peace, I'll kill you here and drag your corpse to the Gedo Statue. That same weapon you mention will reduce everything you cherish to rubble."

Naruto's grin grew wolfish, revealing the faint glint of canines. "Is that so? I'd love to see you try."

In the next heartbeat, Naruto's entire form erupted in swirling golden chakra. Flickering lines of light and intricate patterns traced along his limbs, reminiscent of living flames. Nine massive, luminous tails arched behind him, each radiating an almost tangible heat. The previously calm whisker-marks on his cheeks thickened, morphing into the shape of three distinct trigrams. Two horn-like protrusions rose from his brow, giving him a regal-yet-feral aspect. Six magatama markings adorned his collar, while a prominent circular swirl pattern manifested over his midsection, anchoring the design. He hovered a few inches above the ground, the raw energy of his Kitsune Senjutsu–enhanced Kyuubi Chakra Mode allowing him flight at will. Both dojutsu flared: the swirling labyrinth of the Kessetsugan in his right eye, and the vivid Orange Rinnegan in his left, each brimming with their unique terror.

Nagato wasted no breath marveling at the transformation; instead, he advanced, arms raised, Rinnegan swirling with dreadful potency. If the Six Paths of Pain once acted as his proxies, he would now unify their abilities within his own body. Here, in this battered plain, he would show Naruto the might of a single living god.

At the snap of Nagato's fingers, the sky darkened further, clouds roiling overhead. A wave of gravitational pressure rushed forward, aiming to crush Naruto into the jagged bedrock. Yet Naruto responded with calm efficiency, channeling the Deva Path's power from his Rinnegan. "Shinra Tensei!" he roared, forming a counterforce that canceled Nagato's assault. The collision of invisible forces rumbled like distant thunder, hurling debris aside.

Without missing a beat, Naruto soared forward, conjuring a gargantuan chakra arm from the swirling aura around him. The golden limb, trailing wisps of ephemeral flame, punched at Nagato from above, threatening to bury him. With a mere shift of his stance, Nagato invoked the Preta Path, an aura of absorption flickering around him. The monstrous chakra limb dissolved upon contact, siphoned away in a swirl of greenish haze.

Naruto grunted, eyes blazing. "Absorb that," he snarled, forming an enormous Rasengan in each hand. The orbs crackled with fused wind and lightning chakra, arcs dancing across their surfaces. He clapped them together, producing a swirling sphere bristling with destructive potential. With a roar, he hurled it, the collision of energy howling toward Nagato in a spiraling beam.

Exerting the might of his Asura Path, Nagato's body contorted. The entire left side of his torso split open, revealing a mechanical array of cannons, blades, and jets. A barrage of missiles streaked from his chest compartment, each leaving contrails in the damp air. They impacted Naruto's launched sphere mid-flight, resulting in a chain of massive detonations. The shockwaves ripped across the field, flattening broken rock formations and extinguishing stray flames.

Shields of swirling gold manifested around Naruto's body, each tail contributing to a protective barrier. Sparks and shrapnel rained upon him, but he pressed forward with minimal damage. High above, a savage wind howled, the sky reflecting the fury of their clash.

Ignoring the hazard of friendly fire, Nagato extended his right arm, unleashing a storm of black rods. Each rod bristled with chakra conduction, a lethal hail meant to impale Naruto. Instead, Naruto's Kessetsugan flickered, predicting the rods' trajectories. He twisted and weaved with inhuman grace, golden tails batting away the barbs that came too close. One rod nicked his thigh, drawing a short spurt of blood, but the Kyuubi's chakra instantly sealed the wound.

Nagato pivoted his stance, pressing a palm to the ground. "Animal Path," he intoned, summoning a monstrous multi-headed hound. The beast bounded forth, each head snarling, spittle flying, as it lunged at Naruto from the side. Meanwhile, Nagato shaped hand seals with his free hand, forging a swirling vacuum of wind in front of him—Fūton: Heavenly Cyclone. The vortex whipped toward Naruto, slicing the air in a razor-sharp spiral.

Naruto soared higher, flapping twin tails to maintain elevation. "I can do that too!" he shouted, bringing his hands together. "Wind Style: Gale Pulverizer!" The air around him roared, forming an opposing twister that clashed with Nagato's. The warring currents tore the atmosphere asunder, water droplets splitting into mist.

Below, the multi-headed dog sprang upward with startling agility, jaws snapping at Naruto's ankles. In a blur, the blond shinobi conjured another massive chakra arm from his aura, seizing one of the hound's many heads. With a might reminiscent of a true beast, Naruto flung the canine aside, smashing it into a rocky outcrop. The dog yelped but promptly grew new heads from the impact site. Furious, it leapt again, jaws multiplicating with each strike, a hallmark of the Animal Path's summoning ability.

Naruto exhaled, forging a swirling Tailed Beast Bomb the size of a boulder between his outstretched arms. "Try absorbing this, you worthless mutt." In a breath, he released the bomb downward. The multi-headed dog attempted to leap away, but the gravitational pull of Naruto's Orange Rinnegan pinned it in place. The bomb struck, engulfing the beast in a violent explosion of black and crimson energy. Earth erupted, a crater forming under the dog's thrashing limbs, and with a final piteous howl, the summon dispersed into swirling smoke.

Taking advantage of Naruto's distraction, Nagato soared upward with an abrupt gravitational push, colliding bodily with Naruto. Despite the blow, Naruto steadied himself midair, hooking an arm around Nagato's outstretched limb. With serpentine speed, his golden tails looped around Nagato's torso, tightening like living ropes.

"Give up," Naruto hissed. "You're not leaving here intact."

Nagato's lips curled in faint contempt. "It's you who fails to see the inevitability. I will turn you into an offering for the Gedo Statue, forging a weapon that obliterates everything you love."

Naruto's grin was savage. "And I keep telling you, I'd love to see you try."

Igniting the Asura Path's thrusters, Nagato angled a powerful blast of jets at Naruto's chest. The scorching blaze forced Naruto to break the hold. Freed, Nagato twisted to deliver a chakra rod slash at Naruto's face. Yet Naruto's Kessetsugan predicted the move, letting him parry with a swirling Rasengan conjured at the last second. The rod clattered away, chipped by the ephemeral vortex.

They descended in a chaotic spin, exchanging a flurry of strikes: fists wreathed in gold chakra clashed against swirling black rods, tails lashed out, and gravitational pulses rippled. Each blow shattered the air with thunderous impact. A crater, wide as a lake, formed beneath them from the cumulative force.

Naruto found an opening, driving his knee into Nagato's ribcage. A fleeting flash of pain contorted Nagato's face, but the man retaliated by releasing a wave of Shinra Tensei that flung Naruto back like a rag doll. The blond crashed into a half-collapsed watchtower stump, coughing dust from his lungs. He shot Nagato a glare, body still surging with unstoppable energy thanks to the Kyuubi's regeneration.

Standing tall amidst swirling debris, Nagato shifted the Rinnegan's focus, summoning an invisible gravitational well in his left hand: Banshō Ten'in. He yanked Naruto forcibly forward, the world lurching around them. Naruto grit his teeth, forging a massive Adamantine Chakra Chain from his stomach swirl design. The radiant chain shot outward, anchoring him to a chunk of basalt. The conflicting pulls caused him to spin midair.

In a heartbeat, Naruto reversed the chain's motion, flicking it around Nagato's ankles. The chain glowed ominously, tightening with unbreakable force. Nagato hissed, straining to break free with Asura Path weaponry, but the chain's sealing properties negated the immediate transformations. Naruto, seizing the moment, whipped Nagato overhead, hurling him across the ravaged ground. The Akatsuki leader tumbled in a cloud of dust, battered but still defiant.

Nagato's left arm spasmed. The chain had inflicted real damage. With a grimace, he reconfigured that limb, converting it into a multi-barreled cannon aimed at Naruto. "Burn to ash!" he roared, unleashing a rapid volley of elemental bursts—lightning-laced bullets, superheated wind scythes, and compressed water cutters. The onslaught roared across the battlefield, each projectile a mini-catastrophe.

Snarling, Naruto engaged his flight once more, swirling like a living comet of gold. He used the Kessetsugan's predictive ability to slip through the barrage with minimal scrapes, though a lightning bullet grazed his shoulder, drawing a sizzling line across his flesh. The Kyuubi's chakra hissed, steam rising, knitting the wound shut. "That all you got, you self-proclaimed deity?" he taunted, voice echoing across the devastation.

Nagato's gaze flickered, frustration mounting. "You push me to extremes, Naruto Uzumaki," he muttered. "I'll show you what power truly means."

With those words, Nagato slammed his palms together. A swirl of gravitational energy converged overhead, forming a swirling orb ringed with flickering arcs of black light—Chibaku Tensei. The ground began to quake, chunks of stone yanked skyward in an ever-expanding mass. The force latched onto Naruto, attempting to drag him in.

Naruto hovered in midair, battered by the orb's relentless pull. He recognized the technique immediately: a subjugation that threatened to form a miniature planetoid, entombing him inside. But he refused to be sealed away. Channeling the raw might of his nine chakra tails, Naruto forged an enormous Tailed Beast Bomb. The swirling sphere coalesced in front of his muzzle, crackling with chaotic black and red arcs. With a thunderous roar, he spewed the bomb upward, targeting the swirling nucleus that fueled the Chibaku Tensei.

A blinding flash consumed the sky, the orb warring with the detonation. For a brief instant, it seemed to hold. Then cracks snaked across the forming planetoid, tremendous shards falling away. With a shuddering roar, the entire structure burst. Fragments tumbled earthward, colliding in a hail of debris. Amid that chaos, Naruto's golden form soared free, unbound by the gravitational prison. At that same moment, Nagato lost control of his left arm. The strain from the technique had finally cost him: his entire arm nearly tore free at the shoulder, shredded by the recoil of the technique failing.

A visceral cry of pain ripped from Nagato's throat. Blood spewed from the wound. He staggered, attempting to stanch the flow with shaky chakra. "Damn you, Naruto," he wheezed, agony etched across his features. "I won't… be beaten… not by your folly."

Naruto watched him land with a grim expression. "You talk big about forging peace," he said bitterly, "yet your method kills entire villages, kidnaps Jinchūriki, and breaks every soul in your path. I'd never call that peace."

Nagato glared, half-limping, half-floating backward. His Rinnegan remained fierce despite the blood trailing his lips. "I do what's necessary. You have no clue what it means to shoulder this burden… the entire weight of humanity's hatred. You've only glimpsed illusions, Naruto."

Lightning flashed overhead. For a moment, both men locked eyes. Nagato's pain-laced stance vs. Naruto's unwavering golden glow. Tension crackled, both refusing to yield.

Naruto inhaled, forging another colossal Tailed Beast Bomb. The swirling negativity coalesced, overshadowing the broken earth beneath them. "I told you, I'm ending this here. No more illusions. No more escapes. If you want to play the part of a deity, guess what….you're not dealing with any regular mortal either."

Nagato gritted his teeth. "You or I… only one of us stands."

A savage standoff. Then, just as Naruto prepared to hurl the bomb, the entire battlefield trembled with a sudden shift in chakra. Over Nagato's right shoulder, a faint swirl of summoning energy began to form, courtesy of Kabuto's clandestine mark. The Rinnegan flared, and Nagato cast a final seething glare at Naruto.

"Naruto Uzumaki," he rasped. "This is not over. The next time we meet, your body will be fuel for my ambitions." The swirl intensified, nearly enveloping Nagato. "I'll raze everything you hold dear. And you… can do nothing." The sharp ring of contempt underlined his vow.

Naruto roared, "Running away?!" He flung the Tailed Beast Bomb, the swirling mass of annihilation streaking across the sky with unstoppable momentum. But in that instant, Kabuto's reverse summoning yanked Nagato into an abrupt vortex. He vanished, leaving only a rippling echo in the drenched air.

The bomb soared onward, crashing into an unoccupied stretch of the battered terrain, triggering an earthshaking detonation. An inferno of swirling black and red energy blossomed, scorching the heavens. Thunder boomed, water evaporating in a massive steam cloud. Naruto hovered, chest heaving, tails flicking behind him in agitation as the shockwave buffeted him.

He clenched his fists. The fight had ended with Nagato's escape. The outskirts of the Hidden Cloud lay irreparably damaged, with the entire local topography marred by their battle. Torn between fury at his foe's departure and relief that the confrontation had ended, Naruto exhaled a trembling breath. The rain continued to fall, perhaps in mourning for the devastation wrought across these once-proud mountains.

Slowly, Naruto let his nine golden tails retract. The swirling markings on his body dimmed, returning him to a more human state. Yet the heaviness in his chest only grew. Memories of the Hidden Cloud's stricken Jinchūriki—Yugito and Bee—flashed in his mind. He had refused to intervene, letting Nagato abduct them, all to give the Leaf an advantage. A pang of guilt rippled through him. "They were formidable… but now in captivity," he muttered to himself.

His eyes drifted across the battered horizon. Smoke still rose from charred tree stumps and shattered boulders. Once, majestic peaks guarded the Cloud Village, but now, gaping craters replaced them. The storm raged on, lightning cutting the sky. Naruto felt an odd numbness in the wake of battle. He had triumphed in a sense, forcing Nagato to retreat. Yet a piece of him recognized the hollowness of victory, overshadowed by alliances and manipulations that left a bitter taste.

Stepping gingerly, he traced the muddy ground, scanning for survivors or clues. None emerged. The entire area was eerily silent, devoid of the usual bustle of Kumo's outlying garrisons. Flickers of chakra had vanished from the environment, devoured by the cataclysmic clash. If any remained, they were hidden or fled. A swirl of jumbled emotions coursed through him. He prided himself on being a professional, but the illusions of heroism and protection felt tarnished by the cruelty of the real world.

After a long pause, he closed his eyes, letting droplets slide down his cheeks. Perhaps in the distance, the Hidden Cloud might muster a final stand, but he doubted it. Nagato had done enough damage. Meanwhile, Danzo's Root would hail Naruto's success in crippling another rival. Naruto scoffed at the thought. "So what?" he murmured. "We keep playing this game until there's nothing left?"

His only answer was the rolling thunder in the skies overhead. Weary, Naruto turned away from the battered outskirts, steps sloshing in the muddy waters. The Tailed Beast power smoldered within him, and though he felt unstoppable, a quiet dread gnawed at his core. Nagato was wounded, minus one arm, but still alive. Sooner or later, they would clash again, perhaps with the entire world at stake.

Then, without fanfare, he vanished in a swirl of space-time chakra, leaving the swirling storm behind him.

---

Hidden Rain

In the Hidden Rain's labyrinthine stronghold, Nagato dropped into a summoning circle, panting, his face contorted with pain from his shoulder joint from where his arm was hanging. Kabuto stood nearby, eyes flickering with curiosity and faint alarm. The Sannin's apprentice stepped forward but offered no immediate words. Blood soaked Nagato's cloak, a testament to the brutality of his fight.

Summoning what remained of his dignity, Nagato straightened. "He forced my retreat," he admitted through gritted teeth. "Naruto Uzumaki… has grown beyond reason."

Kabuto's gaze lingered on the severed arm. "I see you lost something more than your composure," he remarked, voice dripping with clinical detachment. "That will take time to fix, even for me."

Nagato's scowl deepened. "Just do it," he spat. "I still hold the advantage in the bigger picture. The Nine-Tails… belongs to me. I have his location. Eventually, I will capture him, and the Leaf shall kneel." He hissed from the throbbing agony.

Kabuto offered a half-smile. "You speak so confidently, yet it seems the boy overcame you."

Nagato bit back a retort, ignoring the raw throbbing. "He's but an obstacle. Let him relish his hollow victory. In the end, I will subjugate him with my weapon and shape true peace from this chaos."

Kabuto shrugged, leaning in to examine the wound. "Your illusions amuse me. Let's see about your arm." With that, the chambers of the Hidden Rain enclosed them, Nagato's vow resonating silently: the war was far from finished, and next time, he would not let Naruto slip through his fingers.

1 Week later

Fire-Rain Borders

Konan's eyes snapped open, her meditation shattered by an unwelcome presence. The rhythmic patter of Hidden Rain's perpetual downpour echoed through the dimly lit chamber, casting elongated shadows across the sparse room she had been assigned. She had taken precautions—chakra seals, paper traps, and reinforced barriers—yet the man responsible for her interrupted solitude had bypassed them all with unsettling ease.

The door creaked as it swung open. The intruder strode in, uninvited, his steps casual yet deliberate. Konan's muscles tensed as she recognized the man who had betrayed everything she once believed in.

Obito Uchiha.

The sight of him turned her stomach. He had orchestrated the slaughter of the original Akatsuki. He had manipulated Nagato, twisting his noble vision into a nightmare. And now, he had the audacity to stand in her presence as if they were old allies.

"I seem to recall telling you to stay away from me," she said, voice as cold as the rain outside. "I have no interest in speaking with a traitor."

Obito merely chuckled, lowering himself into a chair without invitation. "Ah, but that would be ignoring Minato-sensei's desire for us to… reconcile." He leaned back, arms draped over the chair's sides in a display of calculated ease. "So, you and Minato-sensei. How did that happen?"

Konan's lips curled in disgust. She despised the man before her, but after learning the full extent of his crimes—how he had engineered the deaths of Yahiko and countless others—hatred was an inadequate word to describe what she felt. If she had her way, Obito would be enduring a fate far worse than death.

"What do you want?" she snapped, unwilling to entertain his provocations.

Obito crossed his legs, his indifference palpable. "Indulge me." He met her gaze with a lazy smirk, and when she refused to look him in the eye, his amusement grew.

"Is it the sex?"

Konan shot to her feet, hands trembling with suppressed fury. "If you have nothing of value to say, Uchiha, then leave."

Obito waved off her outrage, his voice dry. "I'm not particularly interested in your dull little love affair anyway. I came here for something far more important." He paused, letting the moment stretch. Then he said it.

"What are you going to do when the Hidden Leaf declares war on the Hidden Rain?"

A chill swept down her spine. The air in the room felt suddenly suffocating. "What did you just say?"

Obito gave an exaggerated sigh, tilting his head. "Ah, my mistake. I didn't realize your hearing had deteriorated. Let me repeat myself." His Sharingan gleamed under the dim light. "What will you do when the Leaf comes for your home?"

Konan clenched her fists. "They wouldn't. Minato, Jiraiya-sensei… they promised—"

"They promised to *try* and find a peaceful solution," Obito corrected smoothly. "But tell me, Konan, how exactly do you expect them to negotiate when Nagato has made it clear he's willing to slaughter entire villages to achieve his vision?"

"Nagato must have had a reason for attacking the Hidden Mist," she argued. "There's no proof he would target any other village."

Obito let out a low, knowing chuckle. "Do you honestly believe that?" His Sharingan flared as he studied her, dissecting her every reaction. "We both know Nagato is after the Tailed Beasts. I left a certain Three-Tails in the Hidden Mist, and what did he do? He massacred an entire village to retrieve it. He could've taken the Jinchūriki and left. Instead, he turned the entire region into a graveyard."

"They were a threat."

"A threat?" Obito echoed mockingly. "The Mist was still recovering from civil war. Their forces were fractured, barely holding themselves together. What possible reason would they have to threaten the Hidden Rain?" His smirk widened. "I would know. I controlled the Mist from the shadows for ten years."

Konan turned to the window, her jaw tightening. Raindrops streaked down the glass, blurring the outside world.

"Maybe," she murmured, "if the Mist had simply surrendered their Jinchūriki peacefully, then—"

Obito's laughter cut through her words like a blade. "*Surrendered their Bijuu peacefully*?" He wiped a nonexistent tear from his eye. "Listen to yourself, Konan. Do you even hear how ridiculous that sounds?"

She had no time to retort.

A split-second later, her body moved on instinct, paper shuriken forming around her in a deadly halo before launching toward Obito with lethal precision.

A massive chunk of wood shot from the floor, intercepting her attack in an instant. Konan's eyes widened.

Wood Release.

Before she could react, tendrils shot forward, snaking around her ankles and binding her in place. More emerged, wrapping around her torso, constricting until she could barely move.

Obito's voice carried a dry amusement. "Did you think I came unprepared?"

Konan struggled, attempting to shift her body into paper form, but the moment she did, the suppressive properties of Wood Release sapped her chakra, rendering her immobile.

"Hashirama's Mokuton," she realized, her pulse pounding. "You stole it."

Obito sighed. "Borrowed, actually. And it's quite useful for moments like these." He stood up, stepping toward her bound form. "I came to talk, but it seems that's no longer necessary. I have the information I need." His Sharingan spun ominously. "You are an enemy."

A new voice interrupted. "That's enough, Obito."

Konan's heart clenched as Minato emerged from the shadows. His presence, usually a source of assurance, now filled her with dread.

Obito barely spared him a glance. "If I were you, *sensei, I'd have her locked in a secure location until this war is over." His tone darkened. "The alternative isn't nearly as pleasant."

Konan turned her furious glare to Minato. "You *promised* Jiraiya-sensei and me that you'd find a peaceful way to resolve this!"

Minato's face was a mask of restrained grief. "We *tried," he said evenly. "But Nagato has refused every attempt at negotiation. He's killed tens of thousands. He's declared war on the world. There is no peaceful resolution anymore."

"You're lying!" she spat.

Minato's voice grew sharper. "Would you have me hand over my son to be butchered for the sake of your so-called peace? Did you really believe I'd let the Hidden Leaf sit idly while Nagato constructs a weapon that could erase entire nations?"

Konan's breath hitched. "You don't understand. He *believes* in this. He—"

"He's lost himself," Minato cut her off. His normally kind blue eyes were cold. "Konan, we *both* lost Yahiko. And now you've lost Nagato, too."

Tears stung her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

"Once Nagato is dead," Minato continued, "this ends. No more villages burned. No more innocents slaughtered. *No more pain.*"

Konan winced, turning her face away.

Minato softened, his voice almost pleading. "You *have* to understand. This isn't about revenge. This isn't about power. This is about stopping someone before he destroys everything—including the very people he claims to protect."

The room was silent, save for the steady drip of rain against the window.

Konan swallowed hard. "*I trusted you*."

Minato's face twisted in quiet regret. "I know."

Obito exhaled. "Enough of this. You'll have plenty of time to contemplate your misplaced loyalty while under house arrest." He raised a hand, the wood around Konan tightening further.

Konan's mind raced, but her body refused to obey.

As the prearranged sealing sigils activated, Obito watched her with an unreadable expression. His words, however, were devoid of pity.

"Let's go."

The tendrils dragged her deeper into the chamber, and the door shut with a cold finality.

Nagato stood atop the colossal tower at the heart of the Hidden Rain, gazing into the unending storm that blanketed his city. The rain had always brought him solace. It was a constant—one of the few things in this world that did not change, did not betray, did not falter. It wept for the world, for its ceaseless agony, for the pain he had suffered, for the pain he had inflicted.

His remaining hand curled into a trembling fist at his side, while his other arm—or what was left of it—hung limply, a stark reminder of his failure.

Naruto.

The name itself was an irritation, a brand upon his mind that refused to fade.

That *brat*.

His jaw clenched at the memory of their battle outside of Kumo, where the fool had pushed him harder than anyone had in years. The Hidden Cloud's Jinchūriki had been an afterthought—mere obstacles in his path. He had planned for them, accounted for their interference. But Naruto had arrived like an unrelenting storm, shattering his calculations, breaking through his most powerful techniques, and in the end, stealing from him what he was having a hard time regaining.

His arm.

He had *underestimated* him. That was the mistake. That was the flaw. He had thought himself invincible, even against the brat who had dismantled so many of Akatsuki's finest.

Kakuzu. Kisame. Itachi. Even Obito.

One by one, Naruto had taken them all from his organization.

Nagato exhaled sharply, suppressing the fury that threatened to boil over. Losing his composure would accomplish nothing. He had plans to fulfill, a vision to complete. His ruined arm had been a setback, nothing more. A lesson in humility, perhaps. But not a deterrent. He had already arranged for Kabuto to replace it—the man's eerie enthusiasm for his experiments was disturbing, but his skill was undeniable. A replacement limb, reinforced with enhancements, would soon be his, and then—

He would kill Naruto himself.

That boy. That *Leaf Shinobi*. That insufferable, arrogant child had plagued his vision for too long.

Yes, when the weapon was ready, when the world was on the precipice of change, Naruto Uzumaki would have the distinct *honor* of being the first life he personally snuffed out.

Jiraiya's latest letter had arrived earlier that day, but he had barely glanced at it. The old man's desperate words were no longer worth his attention. Even now, Jiraiya clung to the belief that he could be reasoned with, that he would somehow be swayed back to his old self, back to the naïve fool he had been before Yahiko's death.

Nagato's lips curled into a sneer.

The *Shinobi Alliance* must have thought their newfound numbers would intimidate him. That if they stood together, he would hesitate. That he would yield.

Fools.

Now they had paid the price.

Many more would suffer. Countless more would die.

And none of it mattered.

The Shinobi world, in its current form, could not be allowed to exist. It was a cycle of misery and death, perpetuated by a system built upon war. As long as Shinobi endured, suffering would endure. This world did not need Shinobi. The only true path to peace lay in the obliteration of the system itself, and he would ensure that its end came at his hands.

The collection of the Bijuu was nearly complete. Once they were gathered, once their power was harnessed, he would create a deterrent so absolute that the very thought of war would become a relic of the past.

Through pain, the world would learn peace.

Even if he did not live to see it, his actions would establish a standard. A moment in history that people would look upon with horror, a reminder of what war had wrought. They would curse his name. They would denounce him as a monster.

And in doing so, they would denounce the system that had *created* him.

How could they all be so blind?

Did they not see what he saw? As long as Shinobi existed, there would be slaughter. As long as people wielded chakra as a weapon, there would be no understanding. Peace was an illusion without someone to enforce it through power.

That was where he and Jiraiya differed.

Jiraiya believed that the *process* and the *end result* were one and the same. That peace could be achieved through cooperation and understanding.

But Nagato knew the truth.

The *process* did not matter.

Only the *result* did.

He exhaled slowly, eyes narrowing at the rain-soaked horizon. He had to be pragmatic. Fighting without an arm was not impossible—he remained the most powerful Shinobi alive, as far as he was aware—but it was a disadvantage he could not afford, not when his final war was approaching.

Attacking the Hidden Leaf with such a handicap was a risk. One he would not take needlessly.

He could, of course, rely on his original *Six Paths of Pain, spreading his abilities among them as he had done in the past. But that would not be enough. It would not have been enough in Kumo, and it certainly would not be enough to raze Konoha to the ground.

No, when he struck, he would do so at his full strength.

And when Konoha fell, the rest of the world would follow.

The Tsuchikage, the stubborn old man who had spent decades avoiding war, would break first. His hesitation, his fear of drawing his people into another conflict, would make him weak. When he saw Konoha burn, when he witnessed the devastation firsthand, he would surrender.

Then there was Suna.

The weakest of the Five Great Nations. Orochimaru had struck a fatal blow against them when he assassinated their previous Kazekage, and they had yet to recover. Suna was no threat. They would submit as soon as Iwa did.

One by one, they would all fall.

And when the world had finally understood his vision—when they had learned the meaning of pain—then, and only then, would he allow himself to rest.

Nagato tilted his head back, letting the rain soak his face, cool against his heated skin.

Naruto had taken much from him.

But soon, he would take everything from Naruto.

The boy's death was inevitable. It was fate.

And he would make sure that it was slow.

A fitting *lesson* for the last obstacle in his path.

---

Naruto hovered in the sky, high above the Hidden Rain Village, where the thick storm clouds rumbled beneath him like an ocean of darkness. Even from this height, where the air was thin and cold, his presence was unmistakable. His chakra burned like a beacon, an anomaly in the vast expanse of the storm. He could feel Nagato's senses brush against him, the Rinnegan user undoubtedly aware of his presence, yet unable to do anything about it.

Nagato was weakened, his reserves drained from his battle against Naruto. The loss of his arm was proof enough of his vulnerability, yet here he stood—no, here he *lingered*—observing rather than acting.

His *Byakugan, activated in his left eye, cut through the dense layers of rain and mist, granting him an unobstructed view of the village below. He could see the shinobi patrolling the streets, the civilians huddled in their homes, and, most importantly, the lingering traces of the Eight and Two-Tails' presence before they had been forcibly reverse-summoned away.

This entire village was under Nagato's dominion, his will imposed through fear and power. The Hidden Rain was no longer a village—it was a *prison*. And yet, despite the opportunity to strike, Naruto remained motionless.

"Why do you hesitate?"*

His father's voice—Ichiro Ōtsutsuki—resonated in his mind, the imprint of his biological parent's chakra stirring within his subconscious. The celestial tone of his voice was calm, yet carried an underlying impatience.

"You are more than capable of going down there, freeing the Jinchūriki, and eliminating Nagato in his weakened state. There is nothing stopping you."*

Naruto sighed, not in frustration but in measured patience, as though he had anticipated this conversation. He had grown used to these talks with his parents, their chakra lingering within him, offering guidance—sometimes unsolicited.

"You think it's that simple?"* he replied in thought, keeping his focus on the village below. *"If I go down there now, I'll be tearing through the Hidden Rain with no way to avoid collateral damage. Hundreds of civilians could die. I'm trying to avoid that."*

There was a brief silence before Ichiro spoke again, his tone sharper this time.

"If that is your concern, then why didn't you finish him when you had the chance?"*

Naruto tensed, his jaw clenching. He already knew where this was going.

"He got away,"* Naruto muttered.

Ichiro's response was swift, almost scolding. *"Only because you let him. You prolonged the fight when you should have ended it. Had you been going all out from the beginning, Nagato would have been dead many times over."*

Naruto exhaled sharply, annoyance creeping into his voice. *"Yeah, well, things don't always go the way we plan, Dad."*

"No. They don't. But a warrior of your level should *make* them go according to plan."*

The lecture was getting under Naruto's skin. He could already feel his irritation bubbling, and as much as he respected his father's wisdom, Ichiro had a way of making him feel like a student again—like a reckless boy in need of guidance rather than a seasoned warrior who had fought battles that would shake the heavens.

"Mom, can you please tell Dad that he's being too overbearing?"* Naruto groaned, looking for an escape.

There was a pause. Then, the soft, measured voice of *Hikari Ōtsutsuki* echoed in his mind, her presence always a steady contrast to his father's.

"Actually, Naruto, I agree with your father on this."*

Naruto blinked. Then blinked again.

"Wait, what?!"* he sputtered, completely taken aback. *"Et tu, Mom?!"*

Hikari's voice held a hint of amusement, but her words remained firm. *"I understand that you have your reasons, but your father is not wrong. You held back. You let Nagato dictate the flow of battle when it should have been the other way around. You gave him openings. You allowed him to survive. And now he is still alive, still a threat, still making his moves while you *observe*."*

"That's not—"* Naruto started, then stopped himself. There was no point arguing. He *had* prolonged the fight, he *had* given Nagato more chances than he should have. But it wasn't as simple as his parents made it sound.

Taking a deep breath, he ran a hand through his sky-blue hair, exhaling slowly before responding.

"Look,"* he said, his tone calmer, more measured, *"I'm working with something here. I have a plan. I need you both to trust me on this, okay?"*

There was another pause, this one longer than before.

Finally, Ichiro let out a small *huff, and Hikari sighed softly. The two looked at one another, as if contemplating whether to press the issue further. But in the end, they chose to let it be.

For now.

"Very well,"* Ichiro conceded. *"But do not mistake patience for hesitation. When the moment comes, you must not falter."*

"We will trust you,"* Hikari added. *"But remember, Naruto… mercy has its limits."*

Naruto nodded to himself, grateful that they had relented, even if their words still weighed heavily on his mind.

With his focus back on the village below, he allowed his *Byakugan* to pierce deeper into the streets of the Hidden Rain. His sight scanned the figures moving below—Nagato's enforcers, his agents, the civilians who lived in constant fear of their supposed *god*.

Nagato had built himself a kingdom of suffering, a place where people lived not in peace, but in quiet submission. Even now, Naruto could see the remnants of the battle that had taken place. He could see the villagers peering cautiously from their homes, wary of another conflict, another disaster.

"They're afraid,"* he thought.

Afraid of Nagato. Afraid of war. Afraid of *him.*

That was the weight of power. That was the burden of those who could shape the world with their hands.

He could strike now. He could descend upon the Hidden Rain like divine retribution, uprooting Nagato's reign in a single decisive act. His *Otsutsuki form* surged with overwhelming power, his celestial chakra an inferno of divine energy. His *Kessetsugan* gleamed in his right eye, ready to unravel reality itself.

But was that the right path?

No.

Not yet.

He was waiting for the *right* moment.

He took another deep breath, letting the tension in his body dissipate, then turned his gaze back to the village below, watching, waiting.

For now, he would be patient.

For now.

1 Week later

Cavern under the Former Hidden Mist

"Come back this afternoon," Kabuto said, casually tossing a surgical scalpel into the air before catching it between his fingers. "I'll have the arm ready by then, along with everything needed for the operation." His smirk widened as he twirled the blade with practiced ease. "You sure have a knack for losing limbs. What's up with that?"

Nagato's expression remained impassive, his piercing Rinnegan eyes locked onto Kabuto in a brief, unreadable silence.

"Ensure that your puppet finds a solution soon," he said, his voice cool and detached. "Time is not on our side."

Kabuto's grin never faltered. *Dodging my question, huh? Figures.* He gave the scalpel another effortless spin before nodding. "Alright."

Nagato turned slightly, his gaze shifting beyond Kabuto. "Where is she?"

"Checking the seal," Kabuto replied, a glint of amusement in his eyes. "She's in a *very* good mood right now, to put it lightly."

Nagato took another moment to scrutinize the snake-like medic, his gaze filled with quiet calculation.

Kabuto blinked. "What?"

"I will speak with her first," Nagato said, voice unwavering. "The story remains as we discussed. You still haven't completely mastered control over her mind, have you?"

Kabuto clicked his tongue, shrugging nonchalantly. "No."

Nagato offered no further words and simply turned on his heel, disappearing down the dimly lit corridor.

Kabuto exhaled through his nose, giving his knife one last twirl before setting it down on the nearby table. *What a delightfully unpleasant individual* he mused, rubbing his temples in mild frustration. Despite his overwhelming power, Nagato was devoid of charisma, completely lacking the qualities that typically defined an effective leader. The only reason anyone followed him was simple—*fear.* Strength alone ruled the Hidden Rain, and the people knew that defying Nagato was tantamount to suicide.

Kabuto leaned back, considering the implications of such a rule. Strength could secure loyalty, yes, but only as long as that strength remained unchecked. Once it faltered—even slightly—those who bowed today would rebel tomorrow.

Kushina had understood that flaw better than anyone. Despite the fragmented nature of her mind under their control, some remnants of her old self persisted—memories of her ideals, her beliefs. She had always despised tyrants who ruled through brute force, believing that power without wisdom led only to isolation. She had been right.

Kabuto had seen countless leaders rise and fall during his years as a double agent. Those who sought power to secure their thrones, those who indulged in endless selfish pleasures, and those who were simply too blind to see the inevitable collapse of their rule. And then there was *Orochimaru*—the only person Kabuto had ever truly admired.

Orochimaru had never desired a throne, nor had he wasted time on fleeting desires. His only pursuit had been knowledge—an endless, insatiable hunger for understanding. That singular obsession had made him something beyond human.

And yet, even he had perished.

Kabuto exhaled slowly, fingers pressing against his forehead. He needed to clear his thoughts. He needed to focus. The game was far from over, and there was still much to do.

---

Nagato moved through the dimly lit cavern, his lone arm hanging limply at his side. The walls around him were jagged, rough, and featureless, their dull gray surface stretching endlessly into the shadows. He barely noticed them. Long ago, he had discarded any concern for aesthetics. Beauty, ugliness—such concepts were meaningless in the face of true purpose.

All that mattered was his vision. A world without war. A world where pain had meaning.

His steps echoed through the underground passage, deliberate yet unhurried. He knew what he would say when he saw her. The dead woman—his most useful tool—had worked tirelessly, her efforts carved into the rock in an intricate web of sealing formulas. Even now, the faint reddish glow of the seals pulsed in the dim light, stretching across the ceilings and walls like veins feeding an unseen heart. She had spent countless sleepless nights perfecting the seal, her body no longer needing rest. Such efficiency could only be achieved by the undead.

Nagato glanced at the containment area ahead, where four of the remaining Jinchuuriki were still bound by the massive fūinjutsu. The Eight-Tails' host, Killer Bee, lay motionless, thick black chains of sealing energy wrapped around him like constricting serpents. The Two-Tails' Jinchuuriki, a kunoichi from Kumo, was unconscious, her body twitching every so often as if caught in a nightmare. The Three-Tails and Five-Tails' hosts were similarly restrained, their chakra drained to near exhaustion.

The Four-Tails and Six-Tails had already been sealed inside the Gedo Mazo. It was only a matter of time before the others met the same fate.

Nagato clenched his remaining fist. Soon, everything would fall into place. Once his new arm was attached, he would force Kabuto to reveal the secrets of the Edo Tensei, whether the man was willing or not. He had learned his lesson about trust. *Konan had taught him that.* If she had truly believed in him, she would have surrendered. Instead, she had turned against him.

He hated thinking of her as an enemy. There was a time, long ago, when he had sworn to protect her, alongside Yahiko. He had believed that Yahiko's death had only strengthened their bond.

He had been wrong.

"After everything I did for her—"*

A voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Ah! There you are!"

Nagato halted at the entrance of a vast underground chamber. The space was large, its towering walls covered with the dense inscriptions of Kushina's intricate sealwork. Strange how this vast network of caverns had remained hidden beneath the Hidden Rain for so long, even when its creation was clearly man-made.

"I was just checking the seal," Kushina said, turning toward him, her expression one of pride. "It's working perfectly. Isn't it magnificent?"

Nagato let his gaze wander across the chamber. The thick sealing formulas pulsed with an eerie reddish glow, stretching from the floor to the ceiling in symmetrical perfection. There was a time when he might have found them beautiful. Now, they were simply tools, necessary means to an end.

"It's… less overwhelming than I expected," Kushina continued, her voice carrying an edge of excitement. "The Ten-Tails' presence is much weaker than I anticipated. The seal isn't even close to reaching full capacity, which is a relief!"

Nagato studied her carefully. There was a certain satisfaction in her expression, an eagerness that had not dulled even in undeath.

"The capture of the Ten-Tails was not as successful as hoped," he admitted.

Kushina's enthusiasm faltered slightly, her brows knitting together in concern.

"But," he continued, lifting his lone hand to silence any premature despair, "we have successfully extracted and sealed several of the Tailed Beasts. The Ten-Tails is now greatly weakened. I only have one more task for you."

"Anything," she answered immediately.

Nagato noted how smooth her face had become, the telltale cracks of Edo Tensei repaired since their last meeting. Kabuto had clearly wasted time on unnecessary modifications.

"It seems the Jinchuuriki that the Nine-Tails devoured are still alive," he stated. "Some of them have managed to escape. I—"

"Escaped?!" Kushina's voice rose sharply. Her eyes, wide with sudden desperation, locked onto his. "Does that mean my daughter could still be alive?!"

Nagato paused for a moment, weighing his response carefully. "I do not know," he admitted. "Come with me."

Without waiting for her reply, he turned and began walking toward Kabuto's laboratory.

Kushina followed in silence, but her thoughts were racing. If the Jinchuuriki had escaped, then wasn't it possible—*wasn't it possible*—that Mito was still out there? However slim the chance, she couldn't ignore the hope that bloomed inside her.

They were winning. The Ten-Tails was faltering. The seal was holding.

If Mito was alive… then maybe…

Maybe Naruto was too.

She swallowed hard. The memory of her children flashed before her—her baby girl, barely a year old, chubby hands reaching out with innocent wonder. The image of her son, his golden hair as bright as the sun, his cerulean eyes filled with unyielding determination.

Had they died?*

The thought clawed at her. It had been years, and yet, the hope still lingered, no matter how cruel it seemed.

She hesitated before speaking again. "How did you not know this was possible? Aren't you the Sage of Six Paths, the one who created the Bijuu?"

Nagato continued walking, his tone impassive. "The Ten-Tails existed long before I was born. It is as old as the planet itself. Even I do not fully understand all of its workings."

Kushina exhaled. "I see." A pause. "Where are we going?"

"To see the Jinchuuriki. I will need help extracting their Bijuu. Kabuto will be joining us. We will speak further then."

"I understand," she murmured.

He was ending the conversation. That much was clear. He had no interest in lingering on her concerns. Still, she couldn't let go of the hope that now burned in her chest.

As they neared the boundary of the massive seal that restrained the Eight-Tails, Kushina stole a glance at the glowing inscriptions. She had done this. She had crafted this prison for a god. *She had won.*

And yet, all she could think about was her children.

Mito had barely lived before death would have taken her. The last she had seen of her baby girl, she had been peaceful, innocent—so small, so fragile. The Fates wouldn't be so cruel. They wouldn't take *everything* from her. Not when she had already lost so much.

Naruto… Minato…

Had she failed them?

Nagato let out a short, almost inaudible breath beside her. She didn't know if it was one of impatience or something else, but she chose not to ask.

She held onto her fragile hope with all her might.

Mito… please… be alive.*

---

Konoha

The dim glow of lanterns illuminated the Nara compound's main room, casting long shadows on the polished wooden floor. The scent of herbal tea lingered in the air, a telltale sign that Shikaku had been around earlier. But the usual tranquility of the Nara household was currently being disrupted.

"My turn, my turn, my turn!" Nawaki shoved Shikamaru aside and plopped down in front of the shogi board with a confident grin. "I'm going to destroy you!"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "If I crushed Mito without breaking a sweat, there's no way you're even coming close."

"Hey!" Nawaki shot back, waving a fist in the air. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"Shikamaru is right," Ino chimed in, crossing her arms as she leaned against the wooden beam by the entrance. "You're way dumber than Mito. Let me try instead."

Mito, who had been watching from the side, smirked at her twin brother. "You should totally play, Nawaki. We could all use the entertainment."

"Exactly!" Nawaki declared. "I'll win and prove all of you wrong!"

Shikamaru sighed as he began setting up the board. "If you want to embarrass yourself, I won't stop you."

Ino shook her head and scoffed. "Just make sure you humiliate him so bad that he rethinks all his life choices, Shikamaru."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Shikamaru lazily moved the first piece. Nawaki did the same, practically slamming his piece down with confidence. Shikamaru mirrored his move before glancing up at him. "By the way, weren't you and Mito supposed to be stuck in the hospital?"

Nawaki blinked. "Huh? How'd you know?"

"You two rejected the daily training session we invited you to earlier," Shikamaru explained as he jumped one of his pieces forward.

Mito leaned back, propping herself on her hands as she lazily stretched. "Yeah, well, we had to be 'monitored' because of that stupid kidnapping attempt."

Nawaki made a move and jabbed a thumb at his sister. "Exactly! But there's no way we were gonna rot in there when we feel fine."

Shikamaru gave them a flat look. "So you just left?"

"Not without covering our tracks," Mito added smugly. "We left clones in our hospital beds. No one will notice as long as we're back before our next check-up."

Ino looked unconvinced. "You do realize this is a *terrible* idea, right?"

"Relax," Nawaki waved a hand dismissively. "Mom won't find out. We'll be back before she even checks in."

Shikamaru snorted. "If you believe that, you're dumber than I thought. If the Hokage finds out you snuck out while you were still *technically* under medical observation, it's not going to be pretty."

Mito huffed, rolling her eyes. "She's always making a big deal out of things. We're fine."

"You're definitely *not* fine if Kakuzu nearly got you both last time," Ino pointed out.

Nawaki scowled at the reminder, but Mito just smirked. "Oh please, we *totally* would have beaten him if we weren't caught off guard."

Shikamaru sighed, shaking his head. "You guys are impossible."

He made another move, and within seconds, his piece struck down Nawaki's general.

Nawaki gaped. "You distracted me!"

"Obviously," Shikamaru said, resting his chin on his palm. "But that was entirely your fault for putting your general *right* in my assassin's path. No excuses."

Mito grinned. "Get wrecked, Nawaki!"

Nawaki huffed, crossing his arms before moving his next piece. "I did that on purpose. To make you overconfident." He pointed a thumb at the floor with an exaggerated flourish. "Now that you're cocky, you're going down!"

Shikamaru yawned. "You do know that in psychological warfare, you *don't* tell your opponent what you're trying to do, right?"

"I have no idea what that means, but you're still going down!"

Ino snorted. "This is painful to watch."

Shikamaru barely glanced up as he pushed another piece into position. "By the way, how exactly do you plan on getting back to the hospital unnoticed? Your clones might keep up the act for a while, but what happens if someone checks?"

Nawaki grinned. "Simple. I left my clone sleeping. No one will suspect a thing."

"You *do* realize that you could've just asked your mom if you could leave, right?" Shikamaru asked. "Considering she's your *mother* and all."

Mito added, "You know she probably would have let us out if we asked, right?"

Nawaki moved a piece forward aggressively. "What invitation?! I didn't hear *anyone* saying we could leave!"

Ignoring him, Shikamaru casually took out another of Nawaki's generals.

Nawaki pulled at his hair in frustration. "WHAT THE HELL?!"

From the side, Mito smirked. "I give him five more rounds before he's completely wiped out."

Ino grinned. "Five? That's generous."

"You *cheated!*" Nawaki accused.

"How?" Shikamaru asked, amused.

"You *distracted* me!"

Mito leaned in and picked up Nawaki's Kage piece. She then grabbed Shikamaru's assassin piece and placed it beside it with a dramatic flourish. "You suck at this."

"Huh?! What did I do?!"

"You left your Kage completely unguarded!"

Nawaki stared at the board before groaning. "Fine! I demand a rematch!"

Shikamaru sighed, stretching. "Yeah, no. You should probably *learn* how to play first before challenging me again. Otherwise, this is just boring. Either ask my dad for some beginner guides or watch me beat Mito next."

Mito scoffed. "Oh please, I'm not nearly as bad as *him.* I'll put up a fight."

Nawaki sat on the side next to Ino, scowling. "I bet she loses in ten rounds."

"Bad bet," Ino said smugly.

"Why?"

"Because Mito is *actually* good at shogi," Ino pointed out.

"But Shikamaru is… well… *Shikamaru.*"

"Yeah," Ino drawled, "A lazy genius who thinks he's smarter than everyone else. I bet Mito can make him sweat."

"You're on!"

Ino grinned. "Loser has to treat everyone here to ramen at Ichiraku's every day for a *week*!"

Nawaki smirked. "Oh, you're so going down."

Mito rolled her eyes. "You *do* realize that means you're betting against *me* right?"

Nawaki paused. "Wait—"

"Too late!" Ino declared. "Bets are final!"

Shikamaru groaned. "Troublesome."

Mito cracked her knuckles as she settled across from him. "Alright, Nara. Let's see if you can actually beat me in fewer rounds than you did my idiot brother."

Nawaki sulked. "I am *not* an idiot."

"Shut up, Nawaki."

"Shikamaru, *destroy* her," Ino encouraged.

"Just play already," Shikamaru muttered as he moved his first piece.

Mito smirked. *This was going to be fun.*

---

With Konan

Silent as the night itself, countless thin strips of paper drifted through the hospital ward, moving with calculated precision. Not a single whisper of noise betrayed their movement as they fanned across the floor, creeping toward their target. Konan's expression was impassive, yet her mind raced.

She had only one objective. The girl in the hospital bed before her.

It didn't matter if she was a child. It didn't matter if she was sleeping peacefully, blissfully unaware of the danger closing in. All that mattered was that this girl—Mito, the Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails—would be taken.

By the time the Hidden Leaf realized what had happened, it would be too late.

They had broken their promises. *Lies.* That's all their words had been. They had sworn they would not bring harm to the Hidden Rain. They had claimed they sought peace, a diplomatic resolution. But what had they done instead? Declared war on her home. Set their sights on the annihilation of her people.

She had been a fool to believe in them, even for a second. She had let herself hesitate, let emotions she had buried for over a decade surface when Minato Namikaze and Jiraiya had extended a hand to her.

But Nagato had never wavered.

Even when he turned against her, even when he had tried to remove her from his ranks—perhaps even from this world—he had not lied. He had always known what had to be done. And deep down, she had too.

If she delivered Mito to him, he would have no choice but to see her value. To accept her again. She would prove her loyalty, prove her conviction.

The paper filaments reached the edge of the hospital cot, surrounding the unconscious girl who slept soundly, her chest rising and falling in deep, steady breaths. A tiny puddle of drool pooled beneath her cheek as she exhaled softly against the pillow.

Konan hesitated for a fraction of a second.

Then the paper moved.

The filaments curled around the girl's small frame, wrapping her gently but firmly in a cocoon of white. The bindings tightened, securing her completely, ensuring she could not resist—though, of course, resistance was impossible in her unconscious state.

Across the room, Nawaki remained undisturbed in his own bed, his rhythmic breathing unchanged. He, too, was fast asleep—but Konan paid him no mind. The boy was irrelevant. Her mission was the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, and she had no intention of overcomplicating things.

The moment her objective was secured, she turned sharply, wasting not a second more.

The time for hesitation had long since passed.

Without another glance at the room she was leaving behind, Konan disappeared into the night.

---

Nara Compound

"Oh crap!" Mito suddenly shouted, making everyone flinch.

"What is it?" Nawaki asked, his brow furrowing in concern.

Mito's eyes widened as she focused inward. "Someone just kidnapped my clone!"

Shikamaru immediately steepled his fingers, deep in thought. "Can you tell who it was?"

Mito nodded, her jaw tightening. "I need to tell Mom."

Nawaki was already on his feet. "I'm coming with you."

"Me too," Ino said firmly. "If someone's targeting you, then you shouldn't go alone." She turned to Shikamaru, giving him a small, apologetic smile. "I'm going with them."

Shikamaru exhaled, leaning back slightly. He understood. The situation took priority. Still, it was a shame. He had been enjoying the challenge of their match.

"Go," he said simply.

With that, the three turned and rushed off, leaving Shikamaru behind.

Land of Water

Deep below the ruined terrain surrounding the Hidden Mist, a network of twisting tunnels led to a secret compound illuminated by a series of pale, bluish lamps. The air felt oppressively damp, heavy with the scent of stale moss and old stone. In the largest chamber—a rough-hewn cavity carved from ancient rock—towered the Gedo Statue, its colossal silhouette an unnerving presence in the flickering light. Foreboding rods protruded from its head, each signifying a stage of the grand design undertaken by the Hidden Rain's self-proclaimed god, Nagato.

At the chamber's far end, set upon a platform of carved granite, stood Kushina Uzumaki. Her red hair was unbound, trailing down her back in an inky waterfall. Around her, the air pulsed with unearthly energy, golden strands of Yin Kyuubi chakra swirling in gentle eddies. She was fully immersed in the intricate process of sealing multiple Tailed Beasts. Runes, carefully etched into the floor over weeks of painstaking labor, glowed in rhythmic succession, forming a vast circle of layered fūinjutsu.

Nearby, four subdued forms lay at the edges of the circle, each bound by thick ropes of glowing chakra and lines of arcane script. The Jinchūriki of the Four-Tails and the Five-Tails had already been sealed into the Gedo Statue, their battered bodies now hollow vessels. The Eight-Tails, Two-Tails and Three-Tails vessels remained partially conscious, twitching as the last remnants of their powerful Bijū were forcibly extracted. Their moans of protest, muffled by thick paper seals affixed to their mouths, reverberated in the cold air.

The statue itself appeared ravenous: its maw opened wide, a vortex swirling in the cavity. Each time Kushina invoked another ring of the fūinjutsu, the swirl intensified, siphoning enormous slivers of Tailed Beast chakra into its depths. The extracted chakra joined the store within the Gedo Mazo, bolstering the monstrous entity that Nagato believed would bring absolute peace—or absolute devastation.

Though undead, reanimated by Edo Tensei, Kushina strained visibly under the effort of controlling such potent chakra flows. Her Edo Tensei body did not tire in a conventional sense, but the mental burden of orchestrating multiple seals at once weighed heavily on her. In life, she had been renowned for her mastery of sealing techniques, yet even so, she had never attempted an operation on this scale: simultaneously locking away the 8-Tails, 2-Tails and 3-Tails while also allowing the Gedo Statue to siphon out the Kyuubi's Yin half from her own reanimated form.

A shimmering orange glow coursed around her torso, marking where the Yin Kyuubi's essence overlapped with the fūinjutsu matrix. Each time a portion of her Kyuubi chakra was drawn away, the script inscribed on her Edo Tensei flesh pulsed in protest, as if torn between two masters. She could feel her Edo Tensei anchor flicker, threatened by the monstrous push-and-pull of the demonic energy.

She gritted her teeth, refusing to falter. *I can endure this* she told herself. The Sage of Six Paths, after resurrecting her, had demanded unwavering dedication to finalizing the Tailed Beast extractions. Kabuto, on the other hand, had proven more cunning, always testing her loyalty. Torn between two manipulative forces, Kushina had clung to the single hope that her efforts might mitigate further destruction, if only a fraction. She prayed her compliance would buy time—time that might spare innocents in the wider world.

Her gaze drifted to the battered forms of the Jinchūriki near the circle's perimeter. Their eyes were glassy, drained of all vigor. A pang of memory struck her: *Naruto, Mito… my precious children.* For a moment, her concentration wavered. If these stolen Bijū could be corralled, was there any chance it might open a path to her children's salvation? *Focus, Kushina* she reminded herself, forcing the ephemeral hope aside.

A trembling quake tore through the chamber, a sign the sealing was reaching its culmination. Rocks tumbled from the ceiling, sending echoes down the labyrinth. Gusts of displaced air whipped Kushina's hair about her face. The runes on the floor glowed in frenzied pulses, and the Gedo Statue roared silently, mouth opening wider as it devoured the 8-Tails, 2-Tails and 3-Tails. Slivers of bluish and orangish chakra flared, merging into the statue's core.

At length, Kushina slammed her hands together, forming the final seal. A thunderous clap reverberated, and arcs of raw Bijū chakra shot upward, then spiraled into the statue's maw. The Tailed Beasts vanished from their hosts, leaving only inert bodies in place. With that, the last stage of the extraction concluded. The circle's glow died to a faint ember, the entire chamber bathed in the leftover haze of spent energy.

Gasping, Kushina staggered to one knee, pressing a hand to the floor for support. This was not physical exhaustion but a mental toll, a result of orchestrating so many overlapping seals. The quake subsided, replaced by a hushed tension. Through the swirling dust, she glimpsed the Gedo Statue now brimming with stolen power—eight Tailed Beasts, minus the Seven-Tails that had eluded them.

At that precise moment, Kabuto's voice echoed down a side tunnel, his tone high and mocking. "Nicely done, Kushina. You managed to seal the tailed beasts with minimal fuss. Let me guess: the Yin Kyuubi portion within you also got swallowed, yes? The Gedo Mazo must be feeling quite satisfied."

Stepping into the flickering torchlight, Kabuto advanced with a lazy, confident gait. He wore the same medic-nin attire as always, tinted with an unsettling aura of glee. Behind him, metal trays clinked with syringes and scalpels. *Why does he always carry his tools around?* Kushina wondered fleetingly.

She rose, shoulders taut. "It's done," she said curtly.

Kabuto smirked, adjusting his glasses. "Let me guess, you're upset about the statue devouring your precious Kyuubi chakra? Don't be. It's all part of the plan."

Her lips trembled with unvoiced frustration, but she remained composed. "So now we have the 2-Tails, 3-Tails, 5-Tails, and 8-Tails plus my half of the Nine-Tails sealed inside that monstrosity. The 7-Tails remains unaccounted for?"

"Actually," Kabuto corrected, "the 7-Tails is incomplete. Orochimaru kindly procured a wing from that beast decades ago, extracted from a previous Jinchūriki. We fed that to the statue in your absence, so we've approximated the 7-Tails' essence. That portion, combined with the rest of our acquisitions, brings us dangerously close to our goal."

---

Later

The dim cavern was barely illuminated, casting long shadows over the three figures within. Two lay motionless on separate table surfaces.

The third, the surgeon, twirled a scalpel in one hand and held an anesthetic-filled syringe in the other. "The procedure will follow the usual method. It will take roughly two hours to fully and successfully attach the arm. After that, the recovery process remains unchanged."

Nagato paid no mind to Kabuto's explanation, instead directing his gaze toward the White Zetsu that would serve as the source of his new limb. The creature stared back with its usual vacant expression, devoid of fear or resistance. Kabuto smirked as he made the final preparations—such an outcome was to be expected.

One of the primary challenges of limb transplantation lay in overcoming the body's natural rejection response. An unfamiliar appendage, brimming with foreign biological material, was often seen as a threat by the immune system. While Orochimaru's advancements had made it possible to graft a limb regardless of compatibility, the process became significantly more time-consuming. When a suitable donor was available, it was far more efficient to utilize it.

White Zetsu specimens were the ideal candidates for such procedures. Their adaptable cellular structure meant that integration with the recipient's body was considerably smoother. Unlike a human donor, a Zetsu wouldn't scream, resist, or weep—it would simply accept its fate as a disposable tool.

Kabuto examined the scalpel in his hand, its blade glowing with chakra. "Do you truly believe she can devise a method to extract the Bijuu more efficiently within the timeframe you've given her?"

"It is of little consequence." Nagato turned his head from where he lay. "The request is one of convenience, not necessity. There is no harm in seeking efficiency. If your subject proves incapable, the extraction will proceed as originally intended."

"Oh?" Kabuto idly spun the syringe between his fingers before setting it aside. "And you're not concerned that she might stray from your instructions and uncover the truth?"

"I have measures in place. Should they fail, you will eliminate her. She will have outlived her usefulness."

"Naturally." Kabuto approached the Zetsu, scalpel in hand. The blade pulsed with a faint, green glow. As the procedure began, Nagato turned his thoughts inward, contemplating his new arm. It would take several days to fully integrate and open its chakra pathways, days that Konoha would no doubt use to react to Kumo's destruction and adjust accordingly.

A sickly sound filled the air as Kabuto sliced through flesh with surgical precision.

---

Elsewhere (Land of Water)

Konan moved with relentless speed, her body slicing through the night sky as sheets of paper dispersed and reformed around her. She had failed. The child she had kidnapped had been a clone—a decoy, a deception she hadn't anticipated. *They knew.* They had seen through her plan, perhaps expecting her betrayal long before she had even made the decision to act.

There was no turning back now. Konoha was lost to her. The moment she had taken action against them, she had burned the last fragile bridge between her and the only other home she might have known. Nagato was all that remained. She had nowhere else to go.

The ring on her finger—the symbol of her allegiance to Akatsuki and their means of locating one another—pulled at her senses, drawing her toward an unexpected destination. *The Hidden Mist.*

Why would he be there?*

It made no difference. Wherever he was, she would find him. She would *beg* for his forgiveness if necessary. She had doubted him once, let her heart waver, and for what? For promises that had been lies? For a fleeting dream of peace through negotiation? She should have known better.

She pushed higher into the sky, scanning the horizon below. The land stretched vast and uninterrupted beneath her, devoid of any sign of pursuit. If Minato had wanted to hunt her down, he could have done so effortlessly. He was the fastest shinobi alive. He could have marked her with the Hiraishin, caught her before she had even made it out of Konoha's territory.

But he hadn't.

Why?

Did he love her?*

The thought struck her like a kunai to the chest, but she quickly forced it from her mind. *No.* Love was a foolish illusion, an indulgence she could no longer afford. Whatever they had shared—whatever intimacy had once existed between them—was nothing but the remnants of a past that had long since crumbled.

Minato had lied to her.

He and Jiraiya had promised her that Nagato could be redeemed. They had assured her that the Hidden Rain would not suffer under Konoha's wrath. And yet, both promises had been broken. They had *betrayed* her.

There was no going back. Only forward.

Nagato's vision was the only one that mattered now. Delusional as it might seem to some, she knew there was *truth* in his ideals. He alone had the power to break the cycle of war and suffering. He would forge a world where Yahiko's death—where the deaths of so many—would never be repeated.

A world without pain. A world of order. A world of peace.

It was the only future worth fighting for.

---

Nagato strained to move, but his limbs remained unresponsive. "What… is this?"

His Rinnegan eyes bore into the man he had once considered an ally, suspicion and fury swirling within them.

"If I had attempted anything head-on, I would have lost immediately. You were wary of me, keeping a close watch on my every action whenever I was near you," Kabuto said, his grin stretching wider, filled with amusement. "But what you didn't anticipate was that I could strike from a different angle."

His voice brimmed with satisfaction as he continued, "I poisoned your donor beforehand. By now, your muscles should be deteriorating, your heart slowing, and your chakra pathwayscollapsing." Kabuto gestured at the White Zetsu dismissively. "Zetsu clones are perfect for transplant material. They share an adaptable genetic code, making rejection minimal. But I decided to… modify the procedure."

A faint rasp escaped Nagato's throat, his jaw set in fury. "Kabuto… you dare defy me?"

Kabuto's chuckle reverberated. "I do more than defy you, my dear deity. I overthrow you. The moment you entrusted me with your surgical needs, you sealed your fate. The White Zetsu clone you used as a limb source is infused with a lethal poison. The second it bonded to your chakra system, it began corrupting your body. Even the Rinnegan can't purge it."

Nagato tried to raise his right arm, but the muscles twitched uselessly. The Rinnegan glowed in frantic pulses, as though searching for a counter-jutsu. Veins bulged at his temple, sweat beading. "You'll regret this," he hissed, voice trembling. "I am the pinnacle of—"

"Of tyranny," Kabuto interjected. "Of cruelty and incompetent leadership." He shrugged. "You've outlived your usefulness. Did you really think I'd remain your sycophant forever? I learned from Orochimaru: knowledge is power, and using that knowledge on a 'deity' like you is a once-in-a-lifetime treat."

Nagato mustered a last wave of gravitational force, attempting Shinra Tensei, but the poison in his veins short-circuited the technique, causing only a faint ripple of air. His eyes blazed, but his limbs refused him. "You… wretch…" he mumbled, breath ragged.

Kabuto stepped to the side, rummaging in a tray of surgical implements. He retrieved a small, cylindrical jar filled with preservative fluid. "Time to extract those precious eyes," he said coldly, selecting a slender scalpel that pulsed with medical chakra.

Nagato's chest heaved, silent fury raging in his glare. The poison gnawed at his chakra coils, each attempt to break free further crippling him. Summoning the final vestige of his will, he tried to conjure a Chakra Rod, but only a faint black wisp emerged from his palm. Kabuto smacked it aside casually with a scalpel.

Leaning over Nagato's face, Kabuto tapped the scalpel near the Rinnegan orbs, grinning. "You asked about your worthless plan? This is the answer. I'll keep the Gedo Statue for myself. Once I figure out that Edo Tensei trick from Orochimaru's notes, I'll gain control over your entire domain… maybe even resurrect you to serve as my puppet."

With that, he pressed the scalpel's tip at Nagato's eyelid.

Nagato tried to scream, but his jaw locked. A faint, agonized moan escaped as Kabuto's greenish medical chakra carved through flesh. The next moments were a nightmare of precise cruelty, the surgeon prying free the ringed eyes that had once commanded Shinra Tensei and Chibaku Tensei. Blood streamed down the man's cheeks, blending with the acrid, artificial fluid Kabuto poured to preserve the ocular tissue.

Finally, Kabuto placed the Rinnegan orbs in the jar, sealing it. Nagato's body seized, powerless. He could no longer see, though he felt the agony of the wide gashes in his eye sockets.

"Done," Kabuto said, letting out a breath. "And now… your fate." He hovered the scalpel over Nagato's chest, peering at him. "Should I keep you around for further experiments? Hm… no, that's too risky."

A final savage motion sank the scalpel into Nagato's heart. The once-invincible figure convulsed, choking on his own blood. The man who boasted of godhood perished on a crude table in a hidden laboratory, undone by the cunning of a single medic-nin.

Silence followed, broken only by the drip of fluid from the jar containing the stolen eyes.

A stunned presence loomed in the corridor: Kushina. She had stepped away earlier to finalize the sealing ritual's aftershocks, but she returned drawn by the echo of screams and tremors. Now, she stood at the threshold, witnessing the final blow. The Edo Tensei woman froze in disbelief, eyes wide at Kabuto's twisted smile, his scalpel glinting with fresh blood. Nagato's limp form lay in a grotesque sprawl, the Rinnegan absent from his face.

"K-Kabuto," she stammered. "What… are you…?"

He turned slowly, raising the jar of swirling fluid to show her the ringed eyes. "Do you like them?" he asked, mocking sweetness in his tone. "Our dear god neglected to see the possibility of me betraying him."

Her mind reeled, the entire vile scene cutting the ground out from under her convictions. Yes, she had disliked Nagato's tyranny, but to watch him murdered in cold blood, pinned by poison… And the White Zetsu clone lying dismembered to one side. Limbs parted from its body, an expression of pained resignation frozen on its chalky face. *This is monstrous* she thought.

She raised a trembling hand to her mouth, tears pricking the corners of her eyes. The cavern shook from residual chakra disturbances, presumably from the newly sealed Tailed Beasts. *I finished the extraction… I…* She realized with sudden clarity that her efforts had fueled this madness, delivering power to the Gedo Mazo.

Kabuto placed the jar with the Rinnegan on a metal tray, wiping a fleck of blood from his cheek. "I can explain," he offered, though his grin suggested otherwise. "In fact, I intended for you to see this. We no longer require Nagato. You served your function admirably, containing the 2, 3, 5, and 8-Tails, plus a chunk of the 7-Tails, the corpse of the previous 1-Tailed Jinchuriki… and your own Yin Kyuubi portion. The statue's well on its way to forming the Ten-Tails."

She swallowed, voice trembling. "So… the plan was to… unleash that monster? You're insane."

Kabuto's laughter was hollow. "Oh, I wouldn't dream of letting it run wild. But with the Rinnegan in my possession, and your Edo Tensei immortality to harness the statue's energies… The possibilities are endless. I might even surpass Orochimaru's wildest dreams."

Kushina took a step back, glancing at the sealed Jinchūriki who lay in the adjoining chamber. The entire lair pulsed with leftover chakra from the monstrous ritual. She recalled the fleeting hope she'd clung to: that Mito or Naruto might still live. That the world might see an end to war. Now it all seemed impossibly distant.

---

Konan's Arrival

Hours passed in silent flight, the wind battering against her as she raced toward the remnants of a fallen nation. When she finally arrived, the sight that met her eyes was nothing short of devastation.

The Hidden Mist, once a formidable stronghold, now lay in utter ruin. Its once-mighty structures had been reduced to skeletal remains, shattered and strewn across the landscape like discarded bones. Smoke still curled from the husks of fallen buildings, the scars of battle etched deep into the ruined earth.

Nagato had done this.

She knew that without question. And yet, the scene still sent a shiver through her.

Below, scattered figures moved amidst the wreckage, like scavengers picking at a carcass. They were shinobi from the other villages—*land vultures* waiting to claim whatever territory the Mist had left behind.

Disgusting.

She clenched her fists. *The weak prey upon the weak. The strong dominate the strong. That is the way of the world.* This was why Nagato's path was the only correct one. If left unchecked, the cycle would repeat, over and over. Villages would rise, villages would fall, and countless lives would be lost for nothing.

But soon, that cycle would be broken.

Descending in a silent blur, she maneuvered through the cover of the clouds, angling toward an isolated section of the ruins. Her instincts guided her to where she needed to be.

Nagato wasn't above ground.

He was waiting *below.*

She had to find him.

And when she did, she would devote herself fully to his cause.

No more doubts.

No more distractions.

Only the dream of peace, and the power to enforce it.

---

Underground Cavern

Kabuto took a slow breath, steadying himself as he faced the woman before him. The cavern trembled violently, dust and small rocks dislodging from the ceiling as the *Gedo Mazo* continued its terrifying transformation. Even through the shaking earth, his voice remained measured, almost *calm*—a stark contrast to the chaos around them.

"He made me do it."* His words came effortlessly, a well-practiced lie slipping from his tongue. *"I had no choice."*

Kushina remained motionless, her brilliant red hair whipping in the gusts of chakra that pulsed from the monstrous form in the distance. The *Juubi* was awakening. The culmination of years of planning, of manipulation, of war—everything was coming to fruition. And yet, here she stood, demanding answers.

Kabuto had expected as much.

Seeing that she would not speak, he continued, voice unwavering.

"It has been thirteen years since your death. Your son is alive. Your daughter is alive. The Hidden Leaf still stands. And there is no Ten-Tails… yet."*

Kushina trembled, her golden chains flickering with the raw *Yin chakra* she had expelled into the seal. She had spent *everything*—the remnants of the Kyuubi's power that still existed within her—just to ensure that the *Eight-Tails* and *Three-Tails* were properly sealed within the statue. It had taken all her skill as an Uzumaki, all her experience, all her resilience. And yet, now, at the final moment, she was forced to confront a truth that threatened to break her entirely.

She had been deceived.

But to what extent?

She couldn't pull her gaze away from the bloodied form of the man she'd once believed to be a *god*—Nagato, his lifeless body sprawled across the cold stone floor. And standing above him, his glasses reflecting the dim, flickering light of the cavern, was *Kabuto.*

Kushina had trusted him.

Her mind screamed at her, *demanding* that she continue to trust him. After all, hadn't he helped her? Hadn't he shown her the path when she had been brought back into this unfamiliar world? But the evidence lay before her, undeniable and grotesque.

Her voice was barely a whisper.

"How can I trust you?"*

Kabuto sighed, as if exasperated. His silver hair shimmered in the dim glow, the cavern continuing to tremble around them as the *Gedo Mazo's transformation into the Juubi* neared completion.

"You have to understand,"* he pleaded. *"As I said, I had no choice."*

He gestured toward Nagato's *motionless corpse, as though his very existence had been nothing more than a footnote in history.

"He was no Sage of Six Paths. His name was Nagato—just a delusional man, a self-proclaimed god of the Hidden Rain who just happened to be born with the Rinnegan."*

Kushina clenched her fists.

"You lied to me."* Her voice was stronger now, her *adamantine chains* slithering across the floor like vipers. *"Who are you?"*

Kabuto barely blinked. *"I'm Kabuto. Yakushi Kabuto. I studied under Orochimaru. That much was never a lie. And I am not from the Hidden Mist. I am like you—a citizen of the Leaf."* He took a step forward, his expression softening. *"You have to believe me."*

Kushina *stepped back*.

She couldn't.

Everything she had been told—about Nagato, about the war, about the so-called *"truths"* she had been fed—*all of it had been false.*

Her throat tightened.

"The tears you shed… for the family you never had… those were lies too?"*

Kabuto didn't hesitate. *"Yes."*

Her *heart clenched*.

"It was all to convince you of the story,"* he admitted, unflinching. *"But now that Nagato is gone, I can finally tell you the truth."*

Another tremor shook the cavern, a *deep, guttural roar* vibrating through the air as the *Gedo Mazo's body shifted violently, its monstrous form contorting as it absorbed the final traces of chakra.*

Kabuto's smirk widened slightly.

"And believe me when I say that I am telling you the truth."*

He took another step forward.

"I am not trying to get you to do anything, Kushina. If I were truly your enemy, I could simply dispel you. You are nothing more than an Edo Tensei—a specter doomed to disappear once your soul finds peace, or when I decide to release it."*

She shuddered at the *coldness* of his words.

"I am explaining this to you because I care about you, Kushina."*

Kabuto *reached out* his hand, his voice softening to a whisper.

"If nothing else, trust that I am your friend. Please."*

Kushina stared at his hand, her *mind warring with itself*.

She wanted to *reject him, to fight, to demand justice for all the lies.

And yet…

She slowly *lifted her own hand, fingers hesitantly *brushing against his palm.*

Kabuto *smiled*.

"I will start from the beginning."* He gestured toward the lab. *"Then you will understand why you are here. Afterward, I will take you back to the Hidden Leaf. Don't worry—your children are alive and well. I am sure you will be very happy to see them."*

Kushina *nodded numbly, allowing herself to be guided back into the lab. The heavy doors *slammed shut* behind them, locking her fate in place.

---

In the oppressive silence that followed, *paper began to stir.*

Thin, delicate sheets pooled together from the walls of the cavern, folding over themselves with elegant precision. Like a whisper of wind through the ruins, they *coalesced* into the *slender figure* of a blue-haired woman.

Konan *stood motionless, her golden eyes narrowing as she processed everything she had just witnessed.

Finding the *hidden underground chamber* had not been difficult. She had followed Kushina through the maze-like tunnels, trailing her to the place where she had sensed Nagato's presence.

But what she had *found instead*…

Nagato was dead.*

The *pathetic snake* who had once served Orochimaru had murdered him.

Tears *burned* at the edges of her vision, but she refused to let them fall.

Nagato, you idiot.*

He had trusted the wrong people. He had driven her away, refused to let her stand beside him when it had mattered most. If she had been there, if he had just given her the chance—

Maybe he wouldn't have died this way.

Maybe she could have *saved him.*

The *cavern trembled violently, the *Gedo Mazo* nearing its final evolution. *The air was thick with urgency.*

Konan's expression *hardened*.

Kushina Uzumaki.

The *woman Minato had loved, the one who had left a gaping wound in his heart.

Konan had been the one to *fill that void*. She had understood him, *healed* him. Their bond had been forged in the depths of *shared grief and understanding*.

And now, for *some reason, *Uzumaki Kushina had been revived.*

Konan *exhaled sharply, steeling her resolve.

Nagato had been *betrayed*.

She would *avenge him.*

She would *destroy* the man who had dared to *steal her friend's life*.

And as for Kushina?

She *would not allow* that woman to return to her home.

Konan had spent *years* speaking to Nagato through Yahiko's corpse. She had seen firsthand the *pain* that came from resurrecting ghosts of the past.

Minato did *not need* that pain.

Kushina was *dead*.

And she would *stay* that way.

A trap. A swift, calculated *execution*.

This would end here.

As the *final roar of the Juubi* echoed through the cavern, Konan *vanished into the darkness, preparing for the confrontation to come.

Nagato would *not* be forgotten.

And neither would his *vengeance.*

Konoha

The night stretched on, the deep blue of the sky barely disturbed by the flickering stars above. The Namikaze House was quiet, save for the occasional rustling of leaves caught in the midnight breeze.

Minato sat atop the rooftop, bathed in the pale glow of the moon, allowing the night air to settle around him. He exhaled slowly, eyes fixed on the distant horizon. Hours had passed since the attempted *kidnapping of his daughter, Mito, and the fallout was still heavy on his mind.

Konan's actions had not been a mere *act of war*—they had been an act of *desperation*. She had known exactly what she was doing. *Taking Mito from him* would have been more than a strategic blow—it would have been personal.

Minato *tightened his grip* around the cup of water in his hands.

He had let her go.

She had infiltrated his home, believing she could *steal away his child, and he had still let her flee.

She must have known, deep down, that he had been watching. That if he had wanted to, he could have *ended her right there.*

But instead, he had allowed her to run, watched her fly into the night with nothing but *fear and failure* driving her forward.

He had done it deliberately.

Because now, she was running straight into the lion's den.

A *shinobi* landed beside him, appearing out of the darkness without a sound. The man *set down two cups* of steaming water between them before taking a seat.

"So,"* the newcomer spoke, his voice calm but laced with curiosity, *"where is she now?"*

Minato took a sip from his cup, letting the warmth settle before responding. *"She traveled toward the Hidden Mist. Judging by the terrain of her landing, I'd say she's already in the Land of Water. Now she's underground, following someone—but my seal's range doesn't extend far enough to tell me who."*

The man hummed thoughtfully. *"Underground… Hidden Mist… if there's a secret base beneath that village, it's likely an old lair of Orochimaru's. That snake had a habit of collecting underground hideouts like trophies. Wouldn't surprise me if one of them was buried deep beneath the Mist."*

Minato nodded, his thoughts shifting to the *plan* that had been set in motion.

The *apartment raid* had been a *test, a setup designed to gauge *Konan's true loyalties*. If she had reacted differently—if she had passed *Obito's test*—the result might have been different.

But now?

Now, there was *no doubt*.

She had chosen Nagato.

She had chosen war.

Minato sighed, setting his cup down. *"The moment she gets within three meters of Nagato, it will be over."*

His companion didn't reply. He didn't need to. They both understood what this meant.

The *war would end before it even began.*

A single assassination—swift, efficient—could prevent *tens of thousands of deaths.*

A small sacrifice for the greater good.*

At least, that was what *Danzo* would say.

Minato clenched his fists. *If it meant placing his life, or Konan's, at risk… so be it.*

His companion stretched, standing lazily. *"Well, I'll leave you two to it. I've got… other important things to do."*

Minato raised a brow, unimpressed. *"'Important things.' Oh, sure you do."*

The man *grinned*. *"Hey! Women are important. Have some respect."*

From the shadows, *Obito chuckled*. *"Sensei, do what you have to do. We'll call when we need you."*

The man clapped his hands together, a look of mock triumph crossing his face. *"See? He understands me! I'm off. Can't keep Tsunade-chan waiting. Send me a toad if I'm needed."*

With that, he *vanished in a puff of smoke.*

Minato shuddered slightly. *"Tsunade… chan. I wonder how Jiraiya is still alive after calling her that to her face."*

Obito smirked, shaking his head.

Minato handed him the other cup of water. *"Anything happening yet?"*

Obito took a slow sip before answering. *"No. But she's setting up some kind of trap."*

"For me?"

Obito shook his head. *"No… not that kind of trap. If she knew she was being tracked, she wouldn't be so obvious. Whoever she followed is probably an enemy of hers."*

Minato's expression hardened. *"An enemy of an enemy…"*

"Is not necessarily a friend,"* Obito finished.

They were thinking the same thing.

They only had one chance.*

Intervening too early could *ruin everything*. If they acted before she reached Nagato, the plan would fail. *Lives would be lost.*

Obito exhaled deeply, downing half his cup in a single gulp before setting it aside. *"I'll be ready."*

Minato nodded. *"Good."*

The night stretched on in silence, the only sound between them the occasional rustling of the wind.

Then, after a few moments, Obito *shifted uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his head. *"I need to step away for a bit."*

Minato glanced at him. *"Something wrong?"*

Obito gave an easy smile. *"Nah. Just drank too much water. Bathroom break."*

With that, he stood, dusted himself off, and disappeared into the darkness.

He moved quickly, *putting distance* between himself and his sensei. The further he went, the more *his easy expression fell away, replaced by something colder.

Something *final.*

When he was sure he was alone, *he rolled up his sleeve*.

A *seal* pulsed faintly against his forearm, glowing with an ominous red light.

He turned his gaze *back, toward where Minato and Jiraiya remained—completely unaware.

His lips pressed together.

"Forgive me, sensei."*

And then, with a final flicker of *chakra, he *reverse-summoned himself away.*

Gone.

Straight to the *Gedo Mazo.*

---

Land of Water

Underground Cavern

The underground cavern *shook violently, tremors rippling through the stone walls as the *Gedo Mazo howled in its metamorphosis*. Dust and debris crumbled from the ceiling, the entire structure groaning under the sheer force of the transformation taking place beneath their feet.

Kabuto *remained unfazed, calmly sealing away the storage scrolls that contained the *latest casualties of their conquest*. His hands moved with surgical precision, but his gaze remained fixed on the woman before him—the *red-haired revenant, her expression taut with unease.

"Those Jinchūriki you saw,"* he continued smoothly, *"were all captured after failing to defend their villages—villages that Nagato obliterated."*

Kushina's fingers *curled into fists*.

"The people?"*

Kabuto's *smile never wavered*. *"Slaughtered. Like sheep."*

She *exhaled slowly, forcing herself to process the enormity of what she had been told.

"The Hidden Mist… they were one of the victims, weren't they?"*

Kabuto *nodded, adjusting his glasses with an air of practiced detachment. *"Yes. The Three-Tails' Jinchūriki was none other than Yagura—the Mizukage himself."*

A dull weight settled in Kushina's chest.

"He's been hunting them down,"* she murmured, *"capturing the Tailed Beasts."*

"Not just to create a weapon, Kushina."* Kabuto's voice dropped into a near whisper. *"Nagato sought to birth something beyond comprehension—something beyond human control."*

Kushina's heart *pounded painfully* as the cavern shook once more, the force of the tremors nearly *knocking her off balance*.

"You mean—"*

Kabuto's grin widened. *"The Jūbi. The true progenitor of chakra itself. That's what this has all been about."*

Kushina turned her gaze back toward the *jar* that sat atop the steel table. *Inside, floating in a sickly fluid, were the legendary eyes of the Rinnegan—the very source of Nagato's power.*

"What are you planning to do with those?"* she asked, her voice quiet, but laced with suspicion.

Kabuto's *expression softened, the edges of his usual smirk fading into something *more deliberate*.

"I'm going to give them to you."*

Her *breath hitched*.

"Why?"*

Kabuto took a slow step forward, reaching out to *caress her cheek* with cold fingers. *She stiffened, the touch sending *a sharp shiver down her spine*.

"Do you still doubt me?"* he murmured, voice low, almost… intimate.

Kushina's body *remained rigid, though she willed herself to *stay still*. She wouldn't let him see her discomfort.

"You are the most beautiful human being in the world,"* Kabuto whispered, his thumb grazing her jawline. *"You remind me of someone… someone I had long forgotten."*

He pulled back slightly, just enough for her to *meet his gaze*.

"You remind me of Mother."*

A faint chill *pricked at the edges of Kushina's mind, the way he said it—*the weight behind his words*—sent something dark slithering through her gut.

She forced herself to *breathe evenly*. *"Who is 'Mother'?"*

Kabuto's *golden eyes gleamed, his expression unreadable. *"A dream. An identity I lost long ago."*

The cavern *shuddered violently, and for a moment, the howling of the Gedo Mazo *nearly drowned out their words*. The sheer magnitude of chakra coursing through the air was *suffocating*.

Kabuto *leaned closer, his face hovering mere centimeters from hers.

Kushina's *instincts screamed at her to move, but his *grip tightened, holding her in place.

Then, before she could react, he *pressed his lips against hers*.

She *froze*.

A part of her mind, the part that had once *trusted him, told her to *let it happen*.

To accept it.

To *move forward*.

But another part—*the part that still remembered Minato's touch, the warmth of his arms, the way he had looked at her with nothing but love*—that part of her *recoiled violently*.

The lies.

The manipulation.

The deception that had been woven so intricately around her, making her believe she was working for the *greater good*.

She had trusted him.*

He had lied.*

Everything within her *screamed*.

Kabuto pulled back, *eyes gleaming with triumph* as he brushed a strand of red hair from her face. *"And besides,"* he continued, *"as an Uzumaki and a former Jinchūriki, your chakra reserves are immeasurable. Combine that with your state as an Edo Tensei, and you are… truly remarkable."*

Kushina's *jaw clenched, her breath coming out in uneven bursts as she struggled to suppress the *rage and disgust* twisting in her gut.

Kabuto casually *retrieved the jar, cradling it in one hand as he studied the *glowing, ringed eyes within*.

"You would be capable of techniques beyond comprehension,"* he mused. *"Jutsu so powerful, they could reshape the very fabric of the battlefield. You could level mountains, carve new landscapes, erase entire Hidden Villages with a single command."*

His gaze flickered back to hers, lips curling into a *knowing smile*.

"Your power would be unfathomable."*

Kushina *felt her stomach churn*.

Another *earthquake* rocked the cavern, the very air itself *crackling with unstable chakra*. The *Juubi's awakening* was near.

Kabuto let out a *satisfied sigh, as if relishing the *chaos unfolding around them*.

He stepped closer again, *eyes piercing into hers*.

"And yet…"* He tilted his head slightly, his smirk widening. *"You're hesitating."*

Kushina's *breath hitched, her mind a swirling storm of *conflicting emotions*.

Could she really trust him?

Was she even meant to *have a choice?*

She was already *dead*.

The cavern trembled again, and the *deafening roar* of the Gedo Mazo *shook her to her core*.

Her heart pounded.

What was she supposed to do?*

---

Konan stood *still as a shadow, high above the cavern's entrance, the *cold wind whipping through her paper-thin form*. Her preparations had been *meticulous, her strategy *impeccable*. Everything was set.

The entire underground *labyrinth* had been *rigged with explosives, each *tunnel, each escape route, layered with *explosive tags*—*hundreds of them, embedded within the very rock itself. If Kabuto tried to escape through any passage, *if he even twitched in the wrong direction, she would *know*.

There was *no escape*.

If he ran, he would be *buried alive beneath the ruins of his own treachery*. If he stayed, he would be *consumed by the inferno she had prepared*.

This cavern would be his tomb.*

Konan clenched her fists, her *nails biting into her palms*. *Even if she succeeded, it wouldn't change anything.*

Nagato would still be *dead*.

And she… she would still be *alone*.

She forced the thought aside, eyes narrowing at the *dark abyss of the tunnel below*. Inside, her *clone* remained stationed just beyond the entrance, prepared to *deliver her wrath* to the man who had *betrayed and defiled everything Nagato had built*.

But if *nothing happened within the next two minutes, she would have no choice but to *detonate the trap immediately*.

If Kabuto had already detected her presence and was *stalling, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction. If he thought he could *hide* in that cavern, *waiting for her to leave*…

He could think again.*

Her *smirk was cruel, an unfamiliar *malice curling at the edges of her lips*.

She would *erase* him.

Along with everything he had worked for.

Including the *Gedo Mazo itself*.

The *ground rumbled beneath her feet, the entire cavern *quaking* as the *Juubi's transformation accelerated*. The sheer *density of chakra bleeding into the air* made her stomach turn.

There was *no more time.*

Her fingers flicked in a precise motion, triggering a *silent command*.

Every *orifice of the cavern*—every *possible exit* for *hundreds of meters in every direction*—was now primed for *obliteration*. The explosive seals, *buried deep within the rock, would *detonate simultaneously, bringing the entire *underground structure* crashing down.

Even if Kabuto *somehow survived the initial blast, the sheer *tons of debris* that would collapse upon him would ensure his *annihilation*.

And if the *Gedo Mazo* was *destroyed before the Juubi could fully manifest*?

Then she would have won.

She would have robbed him of his prize.*

She closed her eyes for a brief moment, inhaling deeply, letting the *bitter air fill her lungs*.

Then she whispered—soft, unwavering, resolute.

"Die."*

She activated the seals.

The *earth groaned, twisted, screamed.*

The world *exploded in fire and stone.*

Kabuto admired his handiwork having just implanted the first Rinnegan into Kushina's eye.

Kushina's sudden arrival in the hidden laboratory had not escaped Kabuto's notice. Even as he stood at the center of that grim chamber, blood and debris scattered around, he felt the shift in the air the moment she stepped inside. He had already caught the faintest trace of her scent through the swirling chakra and musty stone—Uzumaki Kushina, the Edo Tensei vessel he had so painstakingly manipulated. Yet there was something else as well: a third presence, drifting at the edges of his awareness. That subtle intrusion tasted of damp paper and simmering anger, quickening his pulse in a way few threats could.

He almost smiled, despite the tension. Konan—Nagato's devoted lieutenant—was likely the specter lurking just out of sight. She must have realized by now that her God was dead, the Rinnegan pried from his cooling corpse. She might be setting traps, readying an ambush so lethal that few in the shinobi world could emerge unscathed. Kabuto thought fleetingly of making a dash for it, escaping before she sprang her plan. But if he left, he would abandon the Rinnegan. He found the idea repulsive. Surrendering that legendary dōjutsu, after everything he had risked to claim it, would be a mark of shame he could never wipe away.

He had surveyed the macabre tableau before him: Nagato's lifeless body in a bloodstained sprawl, the jar containing the extracted Rinnegan resting on a gleaming metal table, and Kushina standing a few steps away with horror etched across her face. The flickering torches illuminated twisted lumps of flesh, lingering evidence of Kabuto's dissection. He imagined how it must look to her—a scene of atrocities, an abomination that contradicted every last hope she had clung to.

Thoughts whipped through Kabuto's mind in a furious blur. If he attempted flight, he would likely be cut down by Konan's paper spears the instant he neared the surface. Besides, even if he did somehow slip away, living forever with the knowledge that he had let the Rinnegan slip from his grasp was too heavy a burden to carry. That unique ocular power, the pinnacle of shinobi evolution, lay right here, so close he could all but taste its promise. He refused to relinquish it.

Yet if Konan truly lay in wait, and he had to fight her directly, the odds of victory seemed bleak. Neither Kabuto nor Kushina, in their current states, could hope to overcome Konan at her full strength. And with his Edo Tensei thrall's spirit already so fractured, forcing her to battle in earnest might break the delicate balance he had spent months crafting. He had pondered a quick self-implantation of the Rinnegan, but Orochimaru's notes indicated that any new user required time—possibly years—to master such a power. He lacked a proper mentor, an Uchiha or Sage to guide him, meaning no immediate salvation lay in that approach.

He had glanced sidelong at Kushina. The naive, red-haired woman was his best option. By combining the Edo Tensei's immortality with the Rinnegan's resurrection capabilities, he might orchestrate a scenario that saved his life even in the worst circumstances. Placing his scalpel down beside the jar, he refined the plan in his mind. First, recall the fundamentals of Edo Tensei: an immortal soldier, unkillable so long as the technique remained in effect. Second, the jutsu would only dissolve if he released it or if the bound soul achieved peace. Kushina's torment practically guaranteed she was far from peaceful.

Third, the Rinnegan itself could restore life, but it was beyond Kabuto's immediate reach—he had no mastery over it yet. He suspected, however, that if he feigned imminent death and seeded the idea in Kushina's mind, she might eventually use the Rinnegan's powers to resurrect him as an Edo Tensei or attempt some half-formed resurrection technique. She had grown reliant on him, manipulated by contrived affections and illusions of safety. Even if she didn't fully believe him, her guilt and confusion would drive her to keep him alive, if only to glean answers.

He had moved closer, deliberately bridging the distance. With false tenderness, he had cupped Kushina's chin and pulled her into a kiss. She stood transfixed, tears brimming, uncertain whether to recoil or surrender to the only anchor she had in this nightmare. Kabuto relished her trembling form, the luscious destruction unfolding in her widened eyes. She was his masterpiece, a broken spirit fashioned into a tool—forever dancing at the cusp of despair.

His mind surged with final details: once she learned to handle the Rinnegan, he could forcibly dispel her, retrieve those eyes, and harness Edo Tensei's full potential. Then he would raise her again, a hapless pawn to obliterate the Hidden Leaf and kill her own husband. The raw beauty of that scenario made him shiver with anticipation. She was an exquisite tapestry of tragedy, perfect for him to embroider with suffering. He was the artist; she was the canvas.

Outwardly, he allowed a soft smile, feigning sincerity. As she looked at him he spoke gently about an intruder. He said he had only sensed this presence just now, offering excuses with the best simulation of sorrow. "I can't protect you," he whispered. "Konan is too strong. You must flee, live on… And if in the future you find the means to resurrect me, I know you will. I love you, Kushina."

In that instant, he had prepared to implant one more eye into Kushina, intending to accelerate her transformation. If she possessed even a partial sliver of the Rinnegan's abilities, she might become a more suitable vessel. But right as he raised his scalpel again, a dark figure materialized from the adjoining corridor—a swirl of distortion pulling matter inward. Before Kabuto could blink, a gleaming blade lopped off his forearm, sending the scalpel clattering to the floor. He stifled a scream of agony, eyes darting to the intruder.

The assailant was masked, but not in the typical spiral shape once associated with "Madara." Instead, a portion of his face stood exposed, riddled with scars. In a swift motion, the man's blade arced again, decapitating Kabuto in a single lethal stroke. Blood spattered across the damp stone floor. Kushina gasped, staggering back in shock. The body of the silver-haired medic collapsed in a twitching heap.

A moment of stunned silence pervaded the cavern. The figure stepped forward, stooping to pick up Kabuto's severed head by the hair. His single visible Sharingan glowed ominously in the dim torchlight. At last, he dropped the head, letting it roll aside. Then he faced Kushina.

"It's been a long time, Kushina-san," he said softly.

She stared, uncertain whether to move or speak. This masked man exuded a chilling aura, yet his voice carried an odd familiarity. "Who… who are you?" she managed, voice quavering.

A mirthless chuckle emerged. "I expected you might not recognize me." He inclined his head. "Remember the Kannabi Bridge? I promised I'd ensure that mission's success—no matter the cost."

Kushina froze, eyes widening. In her fractured memories, the name of that mission flickered—a storyline involving Minato's old team, a tragedy. The masked man tapped the left side of his face, where scarring twisted the skin. "Couldn't do it without a scratch, I'm afraid," he said drily.

"Obito?" she whispered, the name drifting from her lips like a faint prayer. She had known an Obito back in her day, a sweet but clumsy boy, never the menacing figure before her. Yet those fleeting details merged with the partial recollections swirling in her reanimated mind.

Obito gave a low laugh. "Yes. I've come a long way, Kushina-san." Then, with a swirl of space-time chakra, he reversed-summoned himself away—taking whatever secrets he desired from Kabuto's forsaken lair.

She stumbled forward, mind spinning. Kabuto's corpse lay decapitated, the Rinnegan jar spilled across the stone. The hideous remains of Nagato stayed where they had fallen. Above her, the Gedo Mazo rumbled with monstrous potential, still coursing with stolen Bijū chakra. She had no illusions that Konan might be lurking, or that the entire place could collapse at any moment.

As if on cue, a chain of detonations rocked the cavern. Explosive tags must have been planted throughout the structure, perhaps by Konan. Thunderous blasts reverberated, sending fissures rippling through the floor and walls. Rocks rained from the ceiling. The entire underground complex was moments away from annihilation.

Kushina had only seconds to register the horrifying swirl of events—Kabuto's betrayal, Obito's reappearance, the unstoppable progression of the Juubi's revival, and the lethal threat of Konan's sabotage. She snatched the jar containing the Rinnegan on instinct, though a voice in her head questioned why she bothered. Then she pivoted, Edo Tensei instincts kicking in. Surviving the final conflagration was still possible—her reanimated form could regenerate if not wholly buried. She had to flee or face an eternity entombed in rubble.

The explosions grew closer, flames licking the interior as stone arches cracked. She glimpsed a corridor caving in, blocking half the chamber with molten rock. A final, colossal detonation shook the Gedo Mazo's foundation. Lights flickered out, replaced by a surge of dust-laden darkness.

Kushina forced her trembling legs into motion, weaving through the falling debris, ignoring the swirling guilt and confusion in her mind. The last thing she heard before another explosion deafened her was the echo of Obito's faint laughter, lingering in the cavern like a specter of regret. Then the world went white as the explosion consumed everything in a cataclysm of roaring fire.