Redemption

Seeing Issui's confident demeanor, Nagato thought that he might actually succeed, so she decided to trust him.

"Issui, you really surprise me. Although I don't know what peace is, what you just said makes me realize that perhaps you really can bring peace to this world and break the curse. So I believe in you and entrust my ideals, Nagato's ideals, and everyone's ideals to you. I hope you can bring true peace to everyone." Nagato suddenly said with a smile.

Issui happily said, "Believe me, as long as I live, my dream will keep moving forward, and after overcoming numerous difficulties, I will succeed. Peace must exist in this world, and I will firmly grasp it and make it a reality."

Nagato nodded and said apologetically, "I am deeply sorry for the countless destructions I have caused in Konoha. I can resurrect all the people who sacrificed their lives, but I don't have much I can do about those buildings." Nagato decided to use the Outer Path — the Rinne Rebirth— to save all the villagers who perished in the war he started. He wanted to leave a trace of himself in this world and use redemption to put a period to the end of his life.

Konan said with surprise and worry, "Nagato, are you going to use that technique? But your body... if you do that, won't you..."

Nagato shook his head indifferently. "Don't worry about me, Konan. I've entrusted our dream to him. I believe Issui can definitely fulfill our shared dream. Besides, I know my own body; I don't have much time left. Rather than that, I'd rather save more lives. Perhaps then, those I've saved will forgive me. I've already made mistakes my whole life; I don't want to make the same mistakes again. I want to compose the final melody of my life—redemption!"

"Yes, I understand..." Konan nodded somewhat sadly. Although she agreed with what Nagato had done, it meant losing her most important and last companion.

Nagato swiftly Hand Seals, then shouted, "Outer Path — Rinne Rebirth!!"

The instant Nagato Hand Seals, a large amount of visible green energy shot out from his body and flowed towards Konoha.

A surge of life energy pulled the souls of all the dead out of hell. More and more people crawled out from the scattered rubble and sand around them, excitedly looking at their bodies, overjoyed by the feeling of being reborn.

The instant all the dead were brought back to life, Nagato's bodily functions ceased to operate. His Chakra and spiritual energy were almost completely depleted, and even these last vestiges of energy could no longer sustain him. He had one foot in hell, and his life had come to an end.

Konan looked at Nagato with a hint of sadness, her eyes blurry though no tears welled up.

"Issui Kanna, I'm leaving this world to reunite with Jiraiya- sensei. Although I didn't witness the moment you achieved peace, I can foresee that on that day, the world will be incredibly beautiful. Everyone will understand and trust each other, there will be no war, no orphans, and the scent of grass in the breeze... You are a truly perfect person, while I am a flawed one. I hope you can conceal my flaws and bring peace to this world..." Nagato spoke quietly. In the final moments of his life, he understood everything. All that he had fought for was not true peace. Issui's appearance that brought hope for peace to this world...

Issui nodded, then suddenly remembered something and said earnestly to Nagato, "Nagato, since you believe in me, then I will bring true peace to this world. Of course, I also want you to witness the arrival of this world's peace. I will redeem you so that you can see the world's rebirth and peace with your own eyes."

Nagato was astonished by Issui's words. What was he trying to do? To make him see world peace and respect? Was that really possible? He was about to die. To see Issui achieve world peace in the future, he had to live. But how could he live? Resurrect himself? Don't be ridiculous. Apart from the Rinnegan's Rinne Rebirth, could any other technique achieve that? And even if his soul didn't go to hell, his body was already broken and damaged. How could it support his soul staying inside?

Issui the disbelief on Nagato's face, Ichisui smiled and said, "Don't forget I'm Kekkei Genkai ninja. Your Rinnegan can revive people, so why can't my Eye of Heaven do the same?"

Nagato thought about it and felt relieved. That's right, his Eye of Heaven is so mysterious and powerful, who knows if it might have a resurrection Secret Technique like the Rinnegan? If that were the case, wouldn't he be able to live in this world? If that were the case, that would be great, and he could continue to work for the peace of this world.

"Alright, enough with the nonsense. Your time is running out. First, I need to take your soul, and then create a new body for you. Don't ask about the specifics yet. I need to take your soul before King of Hell takes it away, before the New Year. If you resist, I'm going to cast a spell." Issui said, his hands quickly Hand Seals.

"Eye of Heaven - Frost, Chen-Yin-Si-Xu, the Ice Soul Seal Technique!!"

Nagato nodded, relaxing his entire body and letting Issui cast the spell on him. In short, he was now treating the worst situation as a last resort, or rather, treating a dead person as if they were alive. Anyway, Issui wouldn't harm him, so he let him do as he pleased.

A large number of pure white snowflakes surged from Issui's body and then flew towards Nagato's side...

Nagato suddenly felt an immense, irresistible pulling force, a force that yanked his soul out of his body. He was certain that what was being pulled from his body was his soul, for as a user of the Rinnegan, he had the deepest understanding of the soul. Once his soul emerged, he could clearly feel a chill creeping towards him from within. His soul saw countless snowflakes flying from Issui's body and drifting towards him, about to fall upon him...

Konan covered her mouth in a mixture of surprise and joy. Seeing this scene again, she couldn't describe her feelings. She was happy that Nagato could continue to live, but she was also shocked that Nagato had fallen into this quagmire and was now under the control of his soul. Should she tell Nagato? After all, it was up to him to make the decision.

Nagato knew that every technique had its flaws, but resurrection Secret Technique like this one, which involved the soul, were even more demanding. His own Rinnegan's Rinne Rebirth caused significant harm to the caster. However, he could clearly sense something different about this technique. The falling snowflakes conveyed a controlling will, an irresistible will, an authoritative will. This Issui technique had a problem, but the flaw wasn't with the caster; it was with the recipient. Presumably, the flaw was that one soul had to submit to the other. If that was truly the case, should he accept it?

The snowflakes fell very slowly. In fact, as Issui became more proficient in using the Ice Soul Seal, he gradually realized that what the naked eye saw was not entirely real. The snowflakes appearing to fall slowly in this world were merely an image. The real snowflakes were constantly traversing the souls of this world. Souls are illusory, and simply rushing towards them would generally not allow one to grasp them. To grasp a soul, one must make contact with the soul itself. The snowflakes emanating from Issui were actually fragments of his soul. These snowflake-shaped soul fragments constantly traversed between the real world and the soul world, searching for paths to contact other souls. If he was lucky, he could strike the location of another soul, or if that soul did not resist, he could quickly find its location. This was why the snowflakes falling from Issui were so slow.

Everyone has their own soul world, and everyone's soul world is different. Entering someone else's soul world is not an easy thing, and capturing someone else's soul is even more difficult.

Although the snowflakes fell slowly, they were only a little slow; they were about to touch Nagato's body.

Nagato was in a dilemma. Should he accept the rule of Issui soul? If he accepted, he could witness the arrival of world peace. If he didn't, he would be forever trapped in hell and would never see world peace again. In a short time, Nagato was filled with countless thoughts.

Fine, in order to witness the birth of my and Yahiko's shared dream, I'll have to give up some things, even if it's my soul. Besides, Issui is someone I trust. Trusting him is trusting myself. I want to see world peace, I want to see a world that is truly filled with mutual understanding. If it were Yahiko, he would do the same.

Large amounts of snowflakes gradually settled on Nagato's body. Nagato accepted the falling snowflakes without any resistance. Each snowflake landed on Nagato's body, sticking to him one by one, merging with his soul.

As all the snowflakes fell on Nagato soul flashed and returned to his own body. However, his body was already lifeless. His soul circled inside his body before emerging from the real world and transforming into a green light that entered Issui's body.

Konan stared in confusion at Nagato's lifeless body lying on the ground. What happened? Wasn't his soul imprinted? If his soul hadn't gone to hell, how come Nagato was still dead? Did the imprint fail?

Whether the imprint was successful or not is only visible to the two people involved (the caster and the recipient). Therefore, Konan assumed that Issui had failed to imprint Nagato's body successfully, perhaps because Nagato had rejected him.

Seeing Konan's confusion, Issui explained, "Don't worry, the imprinting was successful. Nagato's body is lifeless because his body had already lost its life functions, but his soul is still here..."