Disabled

"No—I will survive, no matter what!!!"

Jiraiya roared in his heart, being pushed out at an agonizingly slow pace. In that moment, his will to live reached its peak. Under the shove of those two ninja, his upper body slowly left that domain, and then the two ninja collapsed, all their strength spent.

On Jiraiya's body, the two toads, once out of the Dead Silence Domain, had their Summoning Technique regain a sliver of energy, automatically dispelling and vanishing.

"Food..."

Jiraiya's consciousness cleared slightly, but at this moment, he had almost no energy left inside him. An overwhelming hunger gnawed at his mind. He slowly raised his hand and bit down on it. He needed food, he needed energy.

If he couldn't get his body moving, the Dead Silence Domain would soon engulf him again, and then it would be his final death. That was absolutely unacceptable—everyone had sacrificed their lives to let him barely cling to life, not to wait for death.

Jiraiya slowly raised his hand and began crawling on the ground, dragging his numb lower body forward inch by inch. Slow, agonizing, despairing. Gradually, he felt colder and colder, his heartbeat growing slower and slower.

"Ribbit—I will survive, no matter what!!!"

At that moment, Jiraiya gritted his teeth fiercely. Adrenaline surged, his stagnant heart pounded wildly, and with both hands, he hauled his lower body forward a stretch, leaving only his legs inside the domain. Then Jiraiya collapsed to the ground.

He lost his strength again.

Yet he didn't give up. He slowly raised his hand, bit down on it, and began tearing. Enduring the pain, he ripped a piece of flesh from his hand and swallowed it...

In the end, Jiraiya was rescued by Konoha ninja who arrived in time. After treatment by a Medical Ninja and examination, it was found that his legs from the knees down were completely necrotic. To save Jiraiya's life, his legs were successfully amputated. From then on, he became a cripple without legs. In the end, Jiraiya hadn't even managed to get close to Uchiha Yue before turning himself into a disabled man.

Here's what happened: after entering Sage Mode, Jiraiya discovered that in this state, the Dead Silence Domain absorbed his energy very slowly. He estimated that in this form, he could enter for a while.

So Jiraiya went in, planning to return if he couldn't hold on, whether or not he saw Uchiha Yue. With his energy reserves, he figured making a round trip shouldn't be a problem.

But Jiraiya was wrong. As he went deeper, the rate of energy loss kept accelerating. When he was still two-thirds of the distance away from Uchiha Yue, he panicked and fled. However, the energy inside him could no longer support his escape from the domain. In the end, he collapsed helplessly. If not for those Konoha ninja risking their lives to save him, Jiraiya would have died long ago.

Those ninja hadn't thought of other methods, like using ninjutsu to pull Jiraiya out. But no matter what technique, once it entered that domain, it dissipated in an extremely short time—utterly useless, no matter what!

With no other choice, they could only desperately drag Jiraiya out. Any later, and Jiraiya might have truly died inside.

Uchiha Yue was still sleeping. Perhaps he was calculating an even more powerful technique, or perhaps he was genuinely asleep—who knows?

But as long as he wasn't killed, this Dead Silence Domain would keep expanding as he grew stronger, until it completely enveloped the planet, bringing ultimate cold and stillness.

Soon after, the other Ninja Villages learned of what happened in Konoha. After understanding the details, they found it laughable—this was entirely Konoha's own fault. If Danzo hadn't moved against the Uchiha Clan, how could they have stirred up such a monster?

Still, to get a handle on the situation, other villages sent people to the Konoha Ruins to investigate what was really going on. Maybe they could even recruit this super-strong Uchiha Yue into their own village.

"Cough, cough..."

In the Akatsuki Organization's room, coughing echoed. On a sickbed, a frail figure slowly opened his eyes.

"I am..."

Nagato stared at the familiar ceiling, struggling to sit up.

"Thank goodness, Nagato, you're finally awake! Don't get up yet—your body is in terrible shape."

By the bedside, Konan, who had been watching over him, saw Nagato wake up and her face lit up with surprise. Given his condition, she had prepared herself for the possibility that he might never wake again. There was no helping it—Nagato's injuries were far too severe. His lower body was completely gone, and his upper body was half-cooked.

"Konan? I'm still alive?"

Nagato leaned against the headboard, the terrifying light flashing through his mind. Damn it—if not for having so much of his chakra drained, he wouldn't have ended up this pathetic.

So close, so close to death!

The next moment, Nagato felt something was off. He instinctively lifted the blanket and realized this wasn't his lower body.

"Nagato, you're awake. There's no time for you to rest—we're in big trouble now."

Just then, Uchiha Obito and Black Zetsu walked over and spoke to Nagato.

"Madara!!!"

Nagato heard Uchiha Obito's voice and jerked his head up.

"You idiot! You had to go and start that clan massacre! If not for your stupidity, how could that monster have been born?! How could I have ended up like this?! And you still have the nerve to show your face in front of me?!!!"

Nagato glared at Uchiha Obito, shouting harshly. He was truly furious now. So close—he had been so close to death! That guy's power wasn't something a human could possess—he was a complete monster.

"..."

Hearing Nagato's words, Obito felt a bit awkward. Because Uchiha Yue really had emerged from their so-called clan extermination plan. He knew it himself—for the Uchiha Clan to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan, they needed immense stimulation. And what in this world was more stimulating than a clan massacre?

In fact, Uchiha Yue's appearance was entirely orchestrated by him and Uchiha Itachi. Without their help, such an extreme, overwhelmingly powerful monster beyond human strength would never have come into being.

"Enough, Nagato. Arguing about right and wrong is meaningless now!"

At this point, Black Zetsu stepped forward and spoke.