Aren't You Greedy Enough?

41 days until the destruction of the Shinobi World, Amegakure.

Dense, dark clouds shrouded the entire village, and fine rain fell from the sky without end, as if the sorrow of this place could never dissipate.

Jiraiya infiltrated the depths of the village alone, his expression exceptionally grave, his heart filled with countless complex emotions.

The Amegakure of today was brimming with an unfamiliar and oppressive atmosphere.

His heart, however, was even less at peace, for his mission this time was to conduct a deep investigation into the mysterious organization, Akatsuki.

Jiraiya walked slowly through the desolate streets, sensing every faint fluctuation of chakra in his surroundings.

His intuition told him that his movements had likely been detected by the enemy long ago.

Sure enough, inside a cold and damp tower, Nagato gently opened his Rinnegan.

"Konan, Master Jiraiya has come..."

Konan, standing beside Nagato, shuddered at these words.

To her and Nagato, the name Jiraiya undoubtedly represented that past time filled with warmth.

"Master Jiraiya..."

Konan murmured softly, her eyes becoming even more sorrowful and complex.

After a moment of silence, Nagato finally spoke slowly, as if having made up his mind.

"Go, Konan. Invite Master Jiraiya over."

A short while later, as Jiraiya walked through the curtain of rain, his mind constantly pondering his next move, he suddenly sensed a familiar and unique chakra signature.

He stopped abruptly and looked up at the sky. Amidst the falling raindrops, countless pure white paper shards drifted down. Those shards seemed to possess a life of their own, dancing and swirling until they converged before his eyes into a familiar figure.

Jiraiya's pupils constricted slightly, and his heartbeat accelerated a fraction.

He saw the beautiful yet cold woman before him; it was none other than Konan, one of the orphans he had once taught himself.

"Konan..."

"I truly didn't expect that after all these years, you have grown into such a beautiful young woman."

Konan gazed at Jiraiya, her face revealing no expression whatsoever.

After a moment of silence, she spoke indifferently: "Master Jiraiya, Pain wishes to see you."

"Pain?"

But Konan did not give him a chance to say more. She simply stepped back, and the paper on her back extended rapidly, transforming into a pair of giant wings as she floated lightly in the air: "Follow me."

Seeing that Konan did not immediately show hostility, Jiraiya felt a slight sense of relief, though he understood that this meeting would certainly not be simple.

Adjusting his state of mind, he followed Konan's lead, flying slowly toward the tower shrouded in the curtain of rain ahead.

The rain continued to fall silently from the sky, as if it intended to drown the entire Shinobi World completely.

A moment later, Jiraiya finally stopped in front of a tall, cold tower.

He looked up, and at the top of the tower, a figure appeared vaguely.

That figure stood quietly in the rain, radiating an indescribable majesty and sense of oppression from head to toe.

It was Pain—or more accurately, the Deva Path Pain controlled by Nagato.

He opened his mouth to say something, only to find that he could not utter a single word at that moment.

The cold rain dripped onto his face, as if reminding him that the past and the present had long been separated by an unbridgeable chasm.

The Deva Path Pain turned around slowly, his indifferent Rinnegan gazing quietly at Jiraiya, before he finally spoke: "Master Jiraiya, it has been a long time."

The tone... was incredibly cold...

"What exactly are you trying to do?"

"It is time for the Shinobi World to undergo a thorough change."

Nagato's gaze was deep, his Rinnegan seemingly harboring endless compassion and resolve...

"I wish to use my Rinnegan to guide the Shinobi World toward the correct path."

Hearing this, an irrepressible sense of vigilance and doubt rose within Jiraiya's heart.

"Are you Nagato, or are you Yahiko?"

"I am Pain..."

To his ears, Pain's words were undoubtedly filled with provocation and arrogance, practically a declaration of war against the entire Shinobi World.

Jiraiya furrowed his brows, his tone low and stern as he retorted: "Regardless of whether you are Nagato or Yahiko, do you truly believe that with your power alone, you can challenge the entire Shinobi World?"

However, upon hearing this, Nagato merely shook his head faintly.

His expression was calm, carrying a hint of composure and confidence, his voice cold and firm...

"I am not alone, nor do I intend to conquer everyone through force. I have my own methods, sufficient to make those arrogant Five Great Nations voluntarily lower their high-and-mighty posture and learn to listen and cooperate."

Hearing this, deeper doubts surfaced in Jiraiya's heart.

He recalled the intelligence he had previously heard from Kakashi, and his expression tightened as he questioned in a deep voice...

"Is your method not to destroy the entire Shinobi World, forcing everyone to experience pain through disaster and suffering?"

Hearing such an accusation from Jiraiya, Nagato and Konan exchanged a glance, a trace of surprise and confusion appearing in their eyes simultaneously.

Konan frowned slightly and explained softly, "Jiraiya-sensei, it seems you have misunderstood us. We have never thought of destroying the Shinobi World; on the contrary, what we want to do is precisely to save it."

"Save it?"

Jiraiya wore an extremely strange and surprised expression, never having expected that Nagato would give such an astonishing answer.

"That's right."

"We have never had the intention of destroying the world. What we want is to use the Akatsuki organization as the core power to guide the major nations of the Shinobi World to unite and work together to resist the imminent disaster and crisis."

After hearing Nagato's explanation, a wave of fear suddenly surged in the depths of Jiraiya's heart...

He had originally come prepared for a life-or-death battle, never expecting that the reality before him would be the exact opposite of his imagination.

For a moment, both sides fell into an eerie silence.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Amegakure, a large number of Root personnel appeared, with Danzo at their head, merely staring at the massive waterfall before him.

Jiraiya...

He should have already gone to Amegakure and met that brat with the Rinnegan, right?

Closing his eyes gently, Danzo, who had been prone to dozing off lately, had another brief dream...

It was about Shisui...

The scene seemed to be from many years ago, with Uchiha Shisui engaged in a heated argument with Uchiha Yuan...

Shisui stared at the youthful Uchiha Yuan before him: "You say that I am a greedy person?"

Upon hearing this, a mocking smirk curled beneath Uchiha Yuan's calm-as-water expression.

His voice was low and powerful...

"Bestowing too much is, in itself, a form of greed... a craving for benevolence, a coveting of sentiment; and expecting too much in return is a greed for trust, an obsession with righteousness."

He chuckled softly, turning his back and ignoring Uchiha Shisui completely...

"Uchiha Shisui, you pride yourself on being selfless, yet you are insatiable regarding the sentiments of both sides. Are you not greedy enough as it is?"

The atmosphere between the two suddenly grew tense.

Uchiha Yuan's figure became increasingly chilling in the night...

His words pierced through Shisui's long-held self-perception, leaving him with no room for rebuttal.

"You are a devil..."

Greedy, is it...

Is Hiruzen any different...

Coming back to his senses, Danzo looked up to see Kakashi appear...

"Lord Danzo..."

"Ah, Kakashi..."

As it turned out, before arriving at Amegakure, Kakashi had already made contact with Obito.

He had learned a secret regarding the Mangekyo Sharingan...

That was the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

If this intelligence were utilized properly...

However, as the two stared at each other in this moment, a subtle emotional shift stirred within their hearts...