Nagato: What?

Rain Country, Akatsuki Organization.

Black Zetsu and Obito found Nagato sitting in his wheelchair and told him what had happened in Konoha.

At first, Nagato didn't care much. If anything, he thought Uchiha Madara was old and washed up—destroying an entire Uchiha Clan and nearly getting himself killed in the process? How pathetic was that? But then he heard that the world might be destroyed because of this guy who awakened his Mangekyo Sharingan in despair, and his whole demeanor shifted.

"What are you two talking about? Madara, are you sure you haven't lost your mind?"

Nagato stared hard at the two men before him, as if watching a pair of raving lunatics. What did they mean, the world was going to be destroyed because of one Uchiha's appearance? Since when did a mere pair of Mangekyo Sharingan have the power to destroy the world?

Even Nagato himself, even with the ultimate weapon in hand, had no confidence in destroying the world. He only believed he could use absolute force to subdue the entire world—that was a completely different concept from destruction.

"Madara, you're not joking with me, are you?"

Nagato looked at the two, shook his head, and chuckled, finding the joke quite amusing.

"Nagato, do you think we'd bother joking with you? Whether it's true or false, go see for yourself. A monster like that might now only be dealt with by those legendary eyes of yours. If we don't kill that monster now, this world might truly face its end!"

Black Zetsu stepped forward and spoke seriously. He recalled the scene he had witnessed back then—that blurry figure seemed to be growing larger and larger, the monster was maturing. Now might be the critical moment to kill the monster and end the apocalypse. If they couldn't kill it...

Then he could only pray that the monster's Dōryoku couldn't recover on its own and would go blind after a while.

Hearing Black Zetsu's words, Nagato fell silent. Deep down, he didn't believe such a thing—it went against everything he knew. But he also understood that these two wouldn't come to him just to tell some alarmist joke or play a pointless prank.

"Let's go, Nagato. Get ready. We have to kill that monster now!"

Uchiha Obito stepped forward, his crimson eyes fixed on Nagato's Rinnegan.

"Fine. Since that's the case, I'll go with you and take a look!"

Nagato nodded. Though he fundamentally refused to believe that a mere pair of Mangekyo Sharingan could destroy the world—while his own legendary Rinnegan, before obtaining the ultimate weapon, couldn't even subdue the entire Ninja World—it didn't add up. But... what if? What if those two were telling the truth?

Nagato's goal had never been to destroy the world. It was to use absolute force to subdue it and become the Kami of a new world. World destruction was something he absolutely did not want.

Soon, just as the sky began to lighten, they arrived at the Konoha Border. By now, the dead, cold, dim domain had already expanded beyond the village. Within that increasingly dark and hazy area, faint traces of white could be seen—it was snowing.

In the sky, Uchiha Yue's figure had grown even more indistinct and dark. The faint light of dawn gathered like a flowing river of radiance, devoured by him entirely, making him stronger, vaster—without limit, without end.

"This..."

Nagato sat in his wheelchair, staring blankly at Konoha, now completely destroyed and turned into an empty village, and at the ever-expanding, blurry, dark domain. He furrowed his brow. The scene before him completely exceeded his expectations. Though he had been told what happened on the way here, seeing it with his own eyes still felt absurd.

This was Konoha, not some small village. To destroy Konoha single-handedly—truly powerful. He estimated in his mind that he could probably do the same, destroy Konoha and all.

But who was he? He was the Kami of the new world, possessing the Rinnegan. And the other party? Just an Uchiha with a pair of Mangekyo Sharingan—yet he wielded such power.

"Nagato, do you see? That monster's power is radiating outward. He's absorbing all energy, growing stronger without stop. If we don't stop him, once that monster's power engulfs the entire Ninja World, that will be the moment of the world's destruction. No living creature can survive in such a terrifying environment."

Black Zetsu stepped forward, staring gravely at the ever-expanding domain. It was larger than before. A pair of Mangekyo Sharingan, maintaining the Complete Body Susanoo continuously, and unleashing this bizarre domain that was clearly a Dojutsu from the Mangekyo Sharingan.

For such a long time, over such a vast range—if this guy's Dōryoku couldn't recover, he should have gone blind by now. Yet he seemed perfectly fine, and the domain kept expanding.

The truth was that this guy could automatically restore his Dōryoku!

This was bad. If this eerie domain had no upper limit to its expansion, this planet would eventually be engulfed. And he, Black Zetsu, would have nowhere to run, no door to enter, and would die miserably on this planet.

"What a monster! Nagato, we have to find a way to kill this monster, or our plan will be a complete failure."

Uchiha Obito stared intently at the massive figure in the sky. Though blurry and dark, it was still barely visible. He clearly noticed that this figure had already doubled in size compared to before.

Susanoo grew stronger the larger it became. They couldn't let this monster keep growing.

"I see it. You don't need to tell me. You two really are..."

Nagato nodded, lowered his voice, took a deep breath, and looked at Konan standing beside him.

"Konan, use your Clone Technique to go over and probe. Find out what's really going on there."

Nagato said. He naturally wasn't going to simply trust Black Zetsu and Uchiha Obito. If he didn't investigate himself, who knew what was actually happening?

"Alright!"

Konan nodded. The next moment, she split off a paper clone, which swiftly moved toward that area.

When the paper clone reached the edge of the Dead Silence Domain, it happened to see some ants on the ground. These ants had stopped moving—all their internal energy had been absorbed, and they were dead. It wasn't just small animals like these; even the plants inside had withered and died.