Sigh

"Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!"

Looking at the enormous monster in the distance, towering like a mountain, Yusuke felt an unprecedented shock.

He had seen massive tailed beasts and summoning creatures on the battlefield before, but none of them could compare to the size of this monster before him.

Though there was still some distance between them, Yusuke could still feel the powerful pressure the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path exerted on him.

"So Danzo's recent moves have been to ally with Hanzo against the Akatsuki before it's fully formed?" Seeing the appearance of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Yusuke also understood the operation Danzo and Hanzo had been secretly preparing lately.

Without hesitation, Yusuke immediately sped up and rushed toward the location of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

Although according to the original plot, Yahiko should already be dead by now, Yusuke still clung to a sliver of hope that a miracle might occur.

He had always felt sympathy for the trio of Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan. Their dreams had originally been so simple, but because of the persecution by Hanzo and Danzo, they had strayed onto the wrong path. Of course, Yusuke also knew that Obito must have been secretly fanning the flames behind the scenes.

There was no time for Yusuke to dwell on it further. Before long, he had already arrived near the location of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

Standing on a high vantage point, Yusuke saw from afar nine pale blue, semi-transparent dragon-shaped energy bodies—or perhaps phantoms—weaving back and forth across the entire valley, hunting down the Rain ninja and Root Organization ninjas on the scene.

Yusuke's gaze quickly locked onto Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko, who lay dead beside them. At this moment, Yahiko's eyes were wide open, his chest completely still—clearly already dead.

Yusuke let out a sigh. There was no need for him to intervene in the battle at this point, so he concealed himself to one side, silently observing the fight between both sides in the valley.

On the battlefield, the Rain ninja and Root Organization ninjas attacked these dragon-shaped phantoms with all kinds of techniques, but none had any effect. Whether it was ninjutsu attacks or physical strikes, everything passed straight through these phantoms, unable to block them or cause even the slightest damage.

Yet when these dragon-shaped phantoms touched the Rain ninja or Root ninjas, they pulled out soul-like humanoid energy bodies from within them. Every ninja hit died on the spot, not a single one spared.

The Rain ninja and Root ninjas had no idea what these dragon-shaped phantoms were, but Yusuke knew this was the ultimate sealing technique controlled by the Rinnegan through the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path—the Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals!

The Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals could extract the soul of any living creature it touched from its body and seal it within the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. In the original story, Deva Path Pain had used this very technique to extract the tailed beasts from their jinchuriki.

In Yusuke's view, this was a sealing technique even more powerful than the Dead Demon Consuming Seal!

"Maybe my Zanpakuto could cut through these dragon-shaped phantoms," Yusuke mused to himself.

At this moment, Nagato's face was twisted with rage as he controlled the dragon-shaped phantoms to reap the lives of Rain ninja and Root ninjas, while also constantly trying to corner Hanzo and Danzo.

After discovering they were helpless against these dragon-shaped phantoms, Hanzo and Danzo attempted to interrupt the Phantom Dragons Nine Consuming Seals by attacking Nagato directly, but all their attacks were blocked by the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path guarding behind Nagato, unable to harm him at all.

Danzo's trusted subordinate, Yamanaka Rei, received orders from Danzo to try using the Mind Body Switch Technique to control Nagato. Unfortunately, the Rinnegan had a strong resistance to genjutsu. Not only did Yamanaka Rei fail to control Nagato, but the Rinnegan's ability to repel genjutsu backfired on him, causing blood to pour from his seven orifices as he died on the spot.

The battlefield was in chaos. The Rain ninja and Root Organization suffered heavy losses, with more than half of their forces wiped out in just about a quarter of an hour. Even Hanzo and Danzo, both Kage-level experts, had narrowly avoided being touched by the dragon-shaped phantoms several times.

Hanzo and Danzo exchanged a glance and decided to retreat immediately.

Given the current situation on the field, they were no match for the Rinnegan. Continuing to drag things out would not only be futile but would eventually cost them their own lives as well.

By now, Nagato's legs were nearly crippled from Hanzo's explosive tag trap. His back was pierced by over a dozen black metal rods extending from the chest of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, and his chakra had been excessively drained by the statue, leaving his cheeks deeply sunken, like a severe drug addict suffering from malnutrition.

Watching Hanzo and Danzo dodging and weaving as his dragon-shaped phantoms drove them, Nagato's face twisted with madness. He concentrated all his efforts on controlling the nine dragon-shaped energy bodies to intercept and block the two as they tried to escape.

Unfortunately, both Hanzo and Danzo were Kage-level experts and extremely cunning. Though they were no match for Nagato in a direct confrontation, escaping from someone who had already lost the ability to move was not difficult for them.

When the Root Organization and Rain ninja had all retreated, Nagato severed his connection with the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. The black metal rods connecting his back to the statue snapped apart, and the massive Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, deprived of chakra supply, turned into a puff of white smoke and vanished.

Thus, this despicable scheme of a battle finally came to an end. The fine rain continued to fall from the sky, and in the entire valley, aside from the corpses of the fallen, only two young people remained, their eyes hollow and filled with despair.

Realizing they were still not out of danger, Konan forced herself to pull herself together. Using Paper Release, she wrapped Yahiko's corpse like a mummy, then supported Nagato, whose chakra was severely overdrawn, as they made their way to a hidden cave stronghold.

Inside the cave, Konan gently set down Yahiko's body and slumped weakly against the cave wall, tears streaming uncontrollably from her eyes.

Just a day ago, everything had been so beautiful. Yahiko had been standing right in front of her, full of vitality and looking forward to the future. But reality was so cruel—now Yahiko was nothing but a cold corpse, and the so-called dreams and future had all ceased to exist.

"I was wrong. Yahiko was wrong. The whole world is wrong!" Nagato slammed his fist hard into the ground. Blood immediately gushed from his knuckles, but at that moment, he couldn't care less.

"There is no such thing as peace. There is none. There is none." Nagato first screamed hysterically, then his voice grew softer and softer, as if he were muttering to himself.

Just then, the sound of light footsteps suddenly echoed through the cave.

The footsteps grew closer and closer to them, clearly indicating someone was slowly approaching. In their eyes, anyone coming to find them at a time like this was surely up to no good.

Nagato tried to stand, but with his legs severely injured and his stamina and chakra completely drained, he fell back down with a thud, panting and coughing incessantly—clearly having lost all combat capability.

Konan, who hadn't expended much energy in the recent battle, immediately stood up, positioning herself in front of Nagato, and stared warily toward the cave entrance.

A blurry figure grew closer and clearer, eventually stepping slowly out of the shadows at the cave's mouth. Nagato and Konan could now see who the owner of those footsteps was.

The newcomer appeared to be a young boy, around fourteen or fifteen years old, with black hair and handsome features, wearing a standard Konoha ninja uniform. However, his right shoulder was clearly injured, a patch of blood staining his clothes.

Having secretly followed the two to the cave, Yusuke looked calmly at the disheveled pair before him.

Nagato was hunched over, coughing incessantly, his eyes filled with madness. It was clear that Yahiko's death had completely corrupted him.

Konan, on the other hand, stared at him with full vigilance, her sorrowful gaze revealing a certain resolve.

Yusuke knew it was her determination to sacrifice herself to protect Nagato.

"So this is the legendary Rinnegan? If it were a fair fight, I'd probably still be far from a match, wouldn't I?" Looking at Nagato's pale blue eyes with their rippling rings, Yusuke thought to himself.

Seeing Yusuke's gaze lock onto Nagato, Konan immediately tensed up. Half of her life had already been lost; she would not allow the other half to die here.

"Paper Release: Paper Shuriken!" Konan quickly formed hand seals, and over a dozen shuriken made of paper Release flew toward Yusuke.

Yusuke released the Shikai of his Zanpakuto, Ryujin Jakka, and a longsword wreathed in flames instantly appeared in his hand.

With a light swing, a blade of fire flashed through the air, trailing a long tail of flame, and incinerated all the paper shuriken in midair.

Konan had loved folding paper since childhood and had always invented and practiced Paper Release techniques on her own. From this, it was clear that Konan was actually quite talented in ninjutsu.

Konan, who had never been fond of battle by nature, only developed Paper Release out of interest, and thus paid no heed to the many weaknesses inherent in the technique.

If Konan had mastered another type of ninjutsu, her abilities might have allowed her to spar with Yusuke for a while. Unfortunately, Paper Release was utterly powerless before Yusuke, who excelled in fire-based power.

Seeing Yusuke easily counter her jutsu, Konan's face showed despair. She knew she was no match for the young man before her.

Yusuke withdrew the flames from his Zanpakuto and aimed the blade at Nagato, who looked utterly dejected.

Konan immediately stepped in front of the sword, while Nagato struggled to stand, trying to pull her behind him, but he could no longer muster any strength.

"Your target must be me, the one with the Rinnegan. Let her go, and I'll let you do whatever you want with me," Nagato said, gasping for breath.

Konan said nothing, only closed her eyes, stubbornly blocking Nagato's path, pressing her chest against the tip of Yusuke's long blade.

Yusuke remained silent, but inside, he was wavering—kill or spare, he could not decide.

If Yahiko were still alive, if Nagato had not yet fallen to darkness, he would never have troubled them.

But clearly, Nagato's mindset had already twisted; he would likely become a highly threatening enemy in the future. If spared, he would leave a festering hidden danger for himself and the village.

The three stood motionless, no one speaking. In the dim cave, silence reigned, broken only by the occasional drip of water from the rock walls. Time itself seemed frozen.

After a long while, Yusuke's sigh broke the silence. By now, he had made his decision.

With his resolve set, Yusuke hesitated no longer. A flash of killing intent flickered in his eyes, and his Zanpakuto traced a cold, gleaming arc through the air. A fine head flew into the sky.

Seeing this, Nagato's eyes nearly split apart: "NO!!!"

Some readers are decisive in killing, others are chivalrous and tender-hearted. In the next chapter, half the readers are bound to be disappointed... (╥╯^╰╥)