Nagato, Dead!

"... If only you could be a little more obedient! Nagato, you were truly a wonderful vessel... you used to be."

Black Zetsu's fingers were slowly stirring inside Nagato's other eye socket.

"Enough with the nonsense, take your eyes off me and get out of here."

Nagato's voice was cold and hard as steel, without fear or hesitation. The shy boy who stood behind Yahiko and Konan was gone. Standing here was a ninja who had given up his life for his friends.

"The term 'ninja' refers to someone who can endure!"

Thoughts surged through his mind like a tidal wave, and the pain welling up in his eyes reminded him of the past.

When he first started learning Ninjutsu, he was very curious about what a ninja really was. He asked his teacher, Jiraiya, about this, and that time, his teacher thought about it for a very long time before giving him an answer that he considered meaningless.

"Teacher, I finally understand what you mean... I guess I can be considered a qualified ninja now?"

Nagato's whisper made Black Zetsu frown in confusion. He had originally wanted to toy with this kid who had forced him to rack his brains to change his plans, but for some reason, he had lost interest.

Let's resolve this issue quickly!

The second eye was removed.

As if her body had lost its support, Nagato knelt down, her empty eye sockets staring at the blazing sun high in the sky. This time... it was finally no longer blinding.

Black Zetsu carefully placed the pair of eyes into the bottle, admiring the pupils floating in the potion, a mesmerizing smile on his face. What he saw was not the Rinnegan, but a glimmer of hope, his long-cherished wish.

The smile lasted only a moment before shattering and disappearing.

In the distance, a magnificent thunderous roar shook the clouds and the earth.

An unfathomable power, driving a chariot of thunder, surged across the sea of clouds on the horizon, carrying a terrifying force capable of shattering the earth.

"Lightning Fork."

The deep sound echoed in the sky, stirred by the wind, revealing the raging flames of fury hidden within.

I desperately need to vent!

A straight figure stood atop the Thunder Chariot. Katsuki's eyes were like abysses, devoid of light. His right hand, raised high, tightly gripped lightning, which he then brought down upon the giant wooden figure.

Thunder roared, and the atmosphere vibrated amidst the clap of thunder!

The wooden figure reacted with incredible speed, its arms, capable of shattering mountains, attempting to meet the falling lightning head-on.

However, it was still too slow!

Artificial lightning, while not as Kamui and swift as the wrath of heaven and Katsuki, is incredibly close to that level. His lightning is fast enough that, to many, it is indistinguishable from real lightning.

They can't tell the difference anyway!

The wooden figure's head was struck by lightning, and in the next instant, a deafening roar shook the heavens and the earth. A force no less than the might of the heavens knocked down the towering, mountain-like wooden figure.

Katsuki gripped the lightning bolt, and like a butcher in a slaughterhouse gripping his knife, she seemingly slowly, yet swiftly, split the wooden figure in two.

White Zetsu, standing atop the wooden figure, didn't utter a sound before being instantly reduced to ashes by the onslaught of lightning and thunder.

The wooden figure lost control, its Chakra source gone, and turned into a lifeless object. It was torn to pieces by Katsuki's lightning and thunder. The charred wood was as heavy as steel, crashing to the ground and creating huge craters.

"Uzumaki Katsuki... You came so fast! It's a pity you're still too late..."

Black Zetsu's half-body was exposed above the ground, looking regretfully at the collapsing wooden figure. Although there were many White Zetsu, very few possessed such power. It was a pity that Katsuki had crippled it.

The only saving grace was that he obtained the target item in time.

"Boom----!!!"

Thunder descended from the sky, carving through deep layers of rock and leaving a gaping wound in the earth, a dark, bottomless abyss from which black smoke and dust slowly drifted out, pungent and acrid.

Did they escape?

Katsuki's face was ashen, the flames of anger in her eyes gradually died down, and she closed her eyes.

Mind's Eye of the Kagura Opens Again!

Using himself as the starting point, he searched every direction, from east to west and north to south, and every corner of the sky and the ground, but he still couldn't find any trace of Black Zetsu. As expected, an old ghost who can lurk in the human world for thousands of years is not so easy to catch.

In the realm of the Mind's Eye's eye, Yahiko's precarious life force remained unbroken, while Nagato's boundless vitality poured out like a flood bursting its Nagato.

"You bastards, a bunch of bastards..."

He kept cursing, but it was unclear who he was cursing. His Shadow Clone had already landed on the ground and began to help Yahiko heal his wounds and collect Nagato's body.

To be honest, he didn't have much of a relationship with Yahiko or Nagato.

Although they had interacted quite a bit in private, it didn't mean they had a deep personal friendship. The closest connection between them and Nagato was probably their shared bloodline!

"Her eyes were gouged out, and she was stabbed in the heart... It's fucking miserable! And she's still laughing? I really don't understand how she can laugh like that."

Nagato's body lay flat on the grass, his empty eye sockets seemingly filled with sunlight, and a relieved smile on his face.

Standing atop the chariot of thunder, looking down at the smiling dead man, Katsuki curled her lip. These mentally ill people are indeed a nuisance even in death. If you're going to die, just die peacefully. Why do you have to act like you've achieved enlightenment and ascended to paradise?

His mood plummeted. They weren't that close, and he was just a member of the Uzumaki Clan who refused to return to the family. That was how he defined Nagato. Yet, this quiet, unassuming guy, who, despite his good eyesight, had a barely noticeable presence around Yahiko and Konan, suddenly became a hot topic after he died.

"Nagato... run away..."

During the emergency, Yahiko tirelessly repeated the same two phrases to Nagato: urge him to run, run...

"A whole mess of trouble..."

Katsuki rubbed her temples, clearing her mind of distractions, and began to ponder how to deal with this mess.

He rushed as fast as he could, but he was still too late. The Rinnegan was taken from him, and Nagato lost his life as a result, which made him furious.

He didn't care about the Rinnegan; he was too lazy to care. Those eyes were indeed valuable, but they were meaningless to Katsuki. If they fell into Zetsu's hands, they would probably just be given a new host. When he truly had the strength to properly start the grand drama of resurrecting Kaguya, he would still have a long way to go.

Before this, his current mess was Nagato's death; this time, Yahiko is alive, but Nagato is dead.

The story is no longer the same; those who should have died survived, and those who should have lived died. Of course, neither story is a happy one.

"Damn it... this is a complete accident. I hope Yahiko doesn't wake up with a rash decision and say something about destroying the world..."