Disability

"No, I have to survive, damn it!!!"

Jiraiya roared in his heart as he was slowly pushed forward at an excruciating pace. At that moment, his determination to live reached its peak. With the two ninjas pushing him, Jiraiya's upper body gradually left the Dead Silence Domain. Then, the two ninjas lost all their strength and collapsed.

The two toads on Jiraiya's body regained a trace of energy for their Summoning Technique after leaving the Dead Silence Domain, and the technique automatically dispelled, making them disappear.

"Food..."

Jiraiya's consciousness cleared somewhat, but there was almost no energy left in his body. Overwhelming hunger gnawed at his mind. He slowly raised his hand and bit down on it. He needed food. He needed energy.

If he could not make his body move, the Dead Silence Domain would soon engulf him again. That would be the moment of his complete death. That was absolutely unacceptable. Everyone had paid for his barely surviving with their lives, not so he could lie there and wait to die.

Jiraiya slowly raised his hands and began crawling across the ground, dragging his numb lower body behind him. Slow. Tormenting. Desperate. Gradually, he felt colder and colder, and his heartbeat began to slow.

"Croak, I have to survive, damn it!!!"

At that moment, Jiraiya suddenly clenched his teeth. Adrenaline surged, his silent heart pounded madly, and he exerted all his strength with both hands, dragging his lower body forward a short distance. Only his legs remained inside. Then Jiraiya collapsed onto the ground.

He had run out of strength again.

Yet he did not give up. He slowly raised his hand, bit down on it, and began tearing at it. Enduring the pain, he ripped off a mouthful of flesh from his hand and swallowed it...

In the end, Jiraiya was rescued by the arriving Konoha Ninja. After treatment by medical ninjas and an examination, it was discovered that both of Jiraiya's legs had completely necrotized below the knees. To save his life, his legs were successfully amputated. From then on, he became a disabled man without legs. In the end, Jiraiya had not even managed to get close to Uchiha Yue before turning himself into a cripple.

This was what had happened: after activating Sage Mode, Jiraiya discovered that the Dead Silence Domain absorbed the energy in his body very slowly in that state. After estimating it, he concluded that he could stay inside for some time in that state.

So Jiraiya went in. Whether or not he saw Uchiha Yue, he would turn back as soon as he could no longer endure it. With the energy in his body, making one round trip should not have been a problem.

However, Jiraiya had been wrong. As he continued deeper, the rate at which his energy drained also kept increasing. When he was still two-thirds of the distance away from Uchiha Yue, he became afraid. He fled. But by then, the energy in his body could no longer support his escape from the domain. In the end, he could only collapse helplessly onto the ground. If those Konoha ninjas had not risked their lives to save him, Jiraiya would have died long ago.

Those ninjas had not failed to consider other methods, such as using ninjutsu to pull Jiraiya out. However, no matter what kind of ninjutsu it was, once it entered the domain, it dissipated in an extremely short time. It was completely useless, damn it!

Left with no choice, they could only risk their lives to rescue Jiraiya. Had they been even a little later, Jiraiya might truly have died inside.

Uchiha Yue was still asleep. Perhaps he was devising even more powerful ninjutsu, or perhaps he really was just sleeping. Who knew?

But as long as he was not killed, the Dead Silence Domain would continue expanding as he grew stronger, until it completely enveloped the planet and brought ultimate cold and silence.

Not long afterward, the other Ninja Villages also learned what had happened in Konoha. After understanding the details, they found it laughable. Konoha had brought this entirely upon itself. If Danzo had not also wanted to make a move against the Uchiha Clan, how could they have provoked such a terrifying figure?

However, in order to learn more, the other Ninja Villages also sent people to the Konoha Ruins to investigate what exactly had happened. Perhaps they could even recruit this super-strong expert named Uchiha Yue into their own village.

"Cough, cough..."

In a room within the Akatsuki Organization, coughing rang out. On the sickbed, a frail figure slowly opened his eyes.

"Where am I..."

Nagato looked at the familiar ceiling and struggled to sit up.

"That's great, Nagato, you're finally awake! Don't get up yet. Your body is in terrible condition right now."

Konan, who had been guarding the bedside all this time, immediately revealed an expression of delight when she saw Nagato awaken. Seeing Nagato in that condition, she had already prepared herself for the possibility that he might never wake up again. There was no helping it—Nagato's injuries had been far too severe. His lower body had been completely gone, while his upper body had been nearly cooked through.

"Konan? I'm still alive?"

Nagato leaned against the headboard as that terrifying light flashed through his mind. Damn it. If so much of his Chakra had not been drained away, he would not have been in such a miserable state.

He had almost—almost died!

The next moment, Nagato sensed that something was wrong. He subconsciously lifted the blanket and discovered that this was not his own lower body.

"Nagato, you're awake. There's no time for you to rest. We're in serious trouble now."

At that moment, Uchiha Obito and Black Zetsu walked over and spoke to Nagato.

"Madara!!!"

Upon hearing Uchiha Obito's voice, Nagato abruptly raised his head.

"It's all because of you, you idiot, going around with that clan extermination plan! If it weren't for you, how could that monster have been born?! How could I have ended up like this? You fucking dare show your face in front of me?!!!"

Nagato glared at Uchiha Obito and shouted furiously. He was truly enraged now. He had almost—almost died. That person's power was simply not something a human could possess. He was a complete monster.

"..."

Hearing Nagato's words, Obito felt somewhat awkward. Uchiha Yue had indeed appeared because of their so-called clan extermination plan. Obito himself knew that the Uchiha Clan required tremendous stimulation to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan. What in this world could be more stimulating than the extermination of one's entire clan?

It could be said that Uchiha Yue's emergence had been entirely brought about by him and Uchiha Itachi. Without their help, a monster like Uchiha Yue—so overwhelmingly powerful and beyond human ability to contend with—would never have appeared.

"Enough, Nagato. There's no point discussing who was right and who was wrong anymore!"

At that moment, Black Zetsu stepped forward and spoke.