The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path! Such Terrifying Power...

[Ōnoki: "Speaking of which, how does someone get the Rinnegan?"]

[Fourth Raikage A: "Are you born with it?"]

[Ino Yamanaka: "Nagato's skin is so pale..."]

[Tenten: "You have a strange way of choosing what to focus on..."]

The scene continued.

"Yahiko, Yahiko!" Konan shook Yahiko.

"Where are we?"

"I found them!" Nagato said, his expression conflicted.

"Fate brought us to the Konoha Sannin, and we finally found Master Jiraiya..."

In the footage,

the three dropped to their knees with a thud, ready to ask to become his disciples.

The scene shifted.

"Who are you?"

Jiraiya stared at the three of them, looking utterly bewildered.

Nagato leaned against the wall and studied Jiraiya curiously—or, more precisely, stared at his Forehead Protector.

At the same time,

Jiraiya noticed something unusual about Nagato.

A strange Chakra was emanating from him...

"Please teach us Ninjutsu! You're Konoha Ninja, right?" Yahiko looked at the three of them with a serious expression.

"Thank you. This is a gift..." Konan held out a flower made of paper in both hands.

"I'm going to kill these brats..." Orochimaru said coldly.

The three children froze.

"I've seen too many war orphans. Their lives are miserable. Killing them here might be better for these brats."

Orochimaru's voice was low and raspy.

"Stop, Orochimaru. You and Tsunade go back first. I'll look after these children!" Jiraiya's face was full of concern.

"Think of it as making up for some of our sins..."

The scene changed.

"Let's eat!" The four of them were eating in a cabin.

"I took care of the wild boar in one shot with Fire Release Ninjutsu..." Jiraiya laughed heartily.

"Sensei, I've learned how to fish!" Yahiko beamed with joy.

As Nagato ate, tears slowly rolled down his face.

"And so, the four of us began living together... But it wasn't long before that incident happened."

Back in the present, Nagato looked down at Naruto.

"What incident?" Naruto asked, looking puzzled.

The scene shifted.

A group of Iwagakure ninja rushed in to attack.

Seeing that Yahiko was about to be killed, Nagato was suddenly overcome with rage!

Nagato used the power of the Rinnegan once more,

instantly wiping out the Iwagakure ninja.

"And I did it unconsciously..."

Soon, Konan and Master Jiraiya arrived at the scene.

"Yahiko, are you all right?" Jiraiya asked, his face full of concern. He looked up and froze.

Nagato's eyes were strange, unlike anything he had ever seen, and they carried an ominous Chakra...

"It seemed I possessed some kind of special power... the Dōjutsu of the Rinnegan!"

"After that, Master Jiraiya, who hadn't wanted to teach us Ninjutsu, began teaching us.

He said Ninjutsu was meant to protect ourselves."

Jiraiya looked at the three of them with a serious expression.

"In my case, it seemed to be so I could control the power of the Rinnegan...

But I was afraid of my own power. Hatred would make me lose control,

and I felt I had done something wrong. I was constantly tormented by guilt."

The scene changed.

Young Nagato sat on a bridge, gazing out at the sea. Master Jiraiya patted him on the shoulder.

"Is this about what happened before...?" Jiraiya looked gently at the weeping Nagato.

"Yahiko was hurt, and I hated the enemy so much I clenched my teeth.

My mind went blank, and I forgot everything.

By the time I came to my senses, they had already fallen..." Nagato's voice was conflicted.

The Great Toad Sage's prophecy echoed in Jiraiya's mind, and he frowned deeply.

"Ever since then, I've been afraid. Hatred made me lose my reason, and I defeated the enemy...

I could have found a better way..." Nagato's voice was thick with tears and self-reproach.

"Enough, Nagato!" Jiraiya interrupted him sternly.

"I don't know whether what you did was right or wrong, but thanks to you, Yahiko is all right. You protected your friend." Jiraiya patted Nagato on the shoulder.

"You did nothing wrong... No one will blame you."

Nagato raised his head, tears streaming from his eyes.

"When you're hurt, you remember the hatred. When you hurt someone else, they resent you, and you feel guilty."

The words Jiraiya had spoken then overlapped with the scene in the present.

"But it's because you know that pain that you can be kind to others.

People only grow by experiencing pain.

Growing up means learning to think for yourself about what you should do," Nagato said weakly.

"Know pain, think, and then find an answer..."

The scene shifted.

"I just want to protect those two, no matter what pain I have to endure," young Nagato said firmly.

"Is that so?" Jiraiya nodded.

"Sensei, what are you always thinking about?"

"Wars never stop in this world, and there's suffering everywhere. I want to change all that.

What is peace, anyway? I'm searching for the answer too..." Jiraiya gazed into the distance.

Over the next three years, the three continued to grow and become stronger.

Jiraiya looked at young Nagato and said gently:

"Long ago, people fought frequently, and wars were even more brutal than they are now.

Back then, a monk was the first to explain the principles of Chakra, hoping to lead the world toward peace!"

"Ninjutsu isn't just a form of military power. It's also a teaching meant to guide people toward peace. That monk was the Sage of Six Paths."

[Ōnoki: "So those fairy tales are all real..."]

[Fourth Raikage A: "Just how powerful was the Sage of Six Paths..."]

[Madara Uchiha: "Hmph, nothing more than a grain of sand..."]

The scene continued.

"He could be called a savior of this world. Like you, he also possessed the Rinnegan."

Jiraiya looked at Nagato with a conflicted expression.

"You might even be the Sage reincarnated... I feel as though the Sage's wish rests in your eyes."

The scene shifted.

"After entrusting his hope for peace to me, Sensei left us," Nagato said, shaking his head.

Soon,

the Akatsuki was founded,

and Yahiko gathered many like-minded friends.

The Akatsuki gradually became famous.

But later, they fell into an ambush set by Hanzō and Danzo...

Yahiko died right before his eyes,

and Nagato, enraged beyond measure, immediately used the power of the Rinnegan.

Nagato saved Konan,

only to fall into another of Hanzō's ambushes. His feet were injured in an explosion.

Without another word, Nagato activated Outer Path Mode.

The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path instantly unleashed its power,

wiping out all the surrounding ninja in one sweep!

Witnessing the astonishing destructive power, Konan could not keep her eyes from trembling.

"Aaaah!!!"

Nagato drove the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path with all his strength,

and it soon drained every last bit of his Chakra. In an instant, he became skin and bones.

At the same time,

the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path fired a giant purple dragon, slaying every enemy in its path...

Nagato told Naruto the full story behind everything, holding nothing back.

After listening, Naruto's eyes were filled with complicated emotions.

At that moment, he began to understand his senior fellow disciple...

[Mizukage Mei Terumi: "I get it, I get it. In short, this was Danzo's fault!"]

[Ōnoki: "Danzo sure knows how to play the game (thumbs up)"]

[Fourth Raikage A: "Good thing Konoha has Danzo, or it really would have become the strongest in the Shinobi World..."]

[Fourth Kazekage Rasa: "Elder Danzo is truly wise (laughing while covering face)"]

(Who do you want to see next?)