"How can that be? Nagato didn't die? Yahiko did? And Danzo was responsible? What about Konan?"
Jiraiya was beside himself, firing off question after question.
"Konan survived. Yahiko really did die."
"Danzo joined forces with Hanzo of the Salamander to kidnap Konan, then forced Nagato to kill Yahiko. Yahiko died by Nagato's hand while trying to save Konan. After that, Nagato completely succumbed to darkness..."
"All these years, you couldn't bring yourself to return to Amegakure and see for yourself?"
"I..."
Jiraiya was at a loss for words.
Deep down, he'd been afraid of being reminded of the past, afraid to face those beautiful memories.
"How could this happen? It shouldn't have! It shouldn't have!"
Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan had always advocated reforming Amegakure through the ideal of peace. They'd also held Hanzo, who had led Amegakure through the Second Shinobi World War and withstood attacks by three nations, in great respect.
How could Hanzo have joined forces with Danzo to plot against them?
Natsu Yuu glanced at Jiraiya and said without mercy:
"They had the power of the Rinnegan, but not the character to match it. They lived in an age of war, yet still hoped to change everything through peaceful means. That was why Nagato and the others were doomed to fail."
"Whether it was Danzo or Hanzo, did you really think they'd ignore the power of the Rinnegan once they saw it?"
"Besides, that Hanzo of the Salamander is no longer the Half-God of the Shinobi World you once faced."
Though the title "Half-God" had been a bit of an exaggeration.
Back then, Hanzo had led a small hidden village against three great nations all on his own. He'd even wiped out a Konoha force and driven off the Konoha Sannin.
At the time, he'd been truly