There Was Never a Child of Prophecy

"Not being bound by hatred is a good thing. Hatred may seem to give people motivation when it gets into their heads, but it can also easily make them lose their reason.

"I'm not planning to make you, Nagato, take up hatred again. But that doesn't mean you should completely let go of it."

As Shirozumi spoke, Nagato and Konan listened intently.

"If we can neither let go of hatred nor take it up again, then what should we do?"

Konan voiced the question both of them shared.

"Nagato can let go of hatred as an individual. But as the leader of the Akatsuki Organization, the head of Amegakure, and the representative of the Land of Rain, he cannot forget that hatred.

"Forgetting it would only make others think we are weak and easy to bully. They might even turn around and claim that we were the ones who started the conflict."

Shirozumi turned his gaze to Konan and explained, "When we display enough strength that Konoha has no choice but to take us seriously, that is when this 'hatred' will bear fruit.

"Konoha is used to portraying itself as the side of absolute justice. If we simply seek revenge, they will instead be galvanized into unity.

"On the other hand, if we take the initiative to let go of our hatred and ask only for some 'compensation'...

"If they refuse, then they will be the ones taking up the chains of hatred again."

"Don't look at me like that. Haven't you noticed just how far Amegakure's foundations lag behind those of the Five Great Shinobi Villages?

"There's no ninja academy. Even if one were built, there would barely be any ninjutsu to teach.

"That bastard Hanzō even relied on Explosive Tags for the Fire Release that blew up Nagato's legs. Everything else depended on the poison sacs on his body and his Summoning Beasts."

At this point, Nagato and Konan exchanged a glance, both feeling somewhat ashamed.

It was not that they had never considered such things.

It was precisely because they had once thought the same way.

"...No wonder you, Shirozumi, could become the future leader of Amegakure—their hope."

Konan let out a soft sigh.

After experiencing so much darkness, she and Nagato had nearly forgotten their original aspirations.

Hadn't they founded Akatsuki to lead this country toward the light, to bring peace and stability?

Wasn't it so that children like themselves in their youth would no longer have to endure hunger and survive through theft?

After Nagato killed Hanzō, he had indeed brought peace to Amegakure, but it was only a stagnant, rigid peace.

In essence, he had merely treated Amegakure and the Land of Rain as expendable resources to sustain the Akatsuki Organization.

He had not treated the people of Amegakure as their companions.

"If you, Strategist, hadn't appeared, would we have put the cart before the horse and walked down a road of no return?"

After listening to Shirozumi, Nagato fell silent for a moment before finally looking up to ask.

—Nagato was asking about events that happened in the future.

It was one of the rare times he had proactively asked about the future.

Before this, Nagato had not even asked Shirozumi who that Konoha Ninja was—the one who defeated him and then talked him into this.

"More or less. But in the end, you entrusted Amegakure to the future Seventh Hokage, while Konan gave up staying in Konoha and returned to Amegakure to become its leader.

"Regardless of the outcome, at least you found your original aspirations again."

Shirozumi nodded slightly.

"...Tell me something."

"Hm?"

"I mean, tell me one mistake I made. Otherwise, I'm afraid I might forget again."

Biting her lower lip, Konan stared fixedly at Shirozumi.

"Uh... for example, when Nagato's Animal Path was gone, you sent a Chunin from the village—someone who admired and worshipped you—on an S-rank mission to die, then recovered the body and turned it into the Animal Path."

"..."

Konan's face went pale as she staggered back a step.

Perhaps the original Konan would not have felt much psychological burden in doing such a thing. She would have only considered it a "necessary sacrifice."

But the current Konan had been influenced by Shirozumi and had just rediscovered her original aspirations. Upon hearing that she had done something like this, she instantly thought of her experiences as a child, a teenager, and a young adult.

She had not merely killed a companion, a subordinate, and a follower—she had also killed her former self.

"Nagato, you can get back by yourself, right?"

While Konan was immersed in memories, Shirozumi turned and asked Nagato.

"Yeah, I've recovered for the most part."

Nagato nodded.

His legs were inconvenient, but Nagato could float using the Deva Path's abilities.

So Kabuto Yakushi controlling Reanimated Nagato during the Fourth Shinobi World War, yet complaining that Nagato's crippled legs left him with insufficient mobility—he really had no idea how to operate him.

"Then, Sister Konan, it's time to set out and rescue our companions."

Shirozumi's feet left the ground as he hovered lightly in midair, extending a hand toward Konan.

Konan snapped out of her thoughts and took Shirozumi's hand. The two flew into the sky.

As the battleground of the Fourth Shinobi World War, the Land of Rain lay between six countries, including the three great nations of Wind, Earth, and Fire.

Their destination was Iwagakure in the neighboring Land of Earth, which was not too far from the Land of Rain.

As Konan and Shirozumi flew toward Iwagakure, they continued talking in the sky.

Konan maintained the Dance of the Shikigami. As long as she was not attacked, simple flight did not consume much Chakra.

But Shirozumi said that no matter how little it consumed, it was still a drain. So he held Konan's hand, covered her with New Moon's ability, and used Gravity Conversion to fly with her.

Konan returned to their previous topic, curious about what Shirozumi wanted from Konoha.

"Flying Thunder God, or the Flying Thunder Array.

Whether it's going from Amegakure to the Land of Waves or heading to Iwagakure like we are now, they could save us a great deal of time and energy.

All we need to do is set up a formula at each location."

"I don't know about the Flying Thunder Array, but the Flying Thunder God's formula will remain permanently unless one reaches the Six Paths level. It's like Silver Pattern."

"..."

"I didn't expect you to know what that is, Sister Konan. Jiraiya really never tired of corrupting people with that erotic literature he wrote."

Shirozumi sighed.

"What? I don't know!"

Konan, who had fallen silent, hurriedly denied it.

"Then why didn't you ask?"

"When you mentioned the Flying Thunder God, I thought of Nagato and my junior disciple, Minato Namikaze.

Teacher Jiraiya once told us about the Child of Prophecy.

At first, he believed Nagato was the Child of Prophecy. After we disappeared, he must have considered Minato Namikaze—who displayed his talents during the Third Shinobi World War—to be the Child of Prophecy instead.

But now Minato Namikaze is dead too..."

There was some wistfulness in Konan's voice.

"You should forget about this Child of Prophecy stuff, Sister Konan."

Shirozumi shook his head with a smile.

"Hm? Why? Wasn't it a prophecy from the Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku?"

Konan was puzzled.

"That Gamamaru probably never fully woke up after being caught in the Infinite Tsukuyomi in ancient times. He was still half-asleep.

Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki too.

What Blue-Eyed Boy calling out the names of the Nine Tailed Beasts, what Child of Prophecy.

The prophecy of one man and one toad—the first one has been passed down for over a thousand years.

And what happened?

The prophecy came true, yet peace didn't even last twenty years. It's a complete joke."

At this point, Shirozumi tightened his grip on Konan's hand. "Remember this: our fate lies in our own hands. There has never been any savior, nor any Child of Prophecy!"