Return, Naruto Uzumaki.

[That girl...]

Within the gloomy Tree Fort, Nagato murmured.

Through the Deva Path's eyes, he easily identified the girl and dredged up the fragments of his memories concerning her.

She was the mysterious girl who accompanied Arata Uchiha. She had appeared in the Land of Snow and neutralized [Shinra Tensei] with an unknown ability.

"What is it, Nagato?"

"Has something else happened in Konoha?"

Konan, standing beside him, immediately asked.

Itachi's unauthorized appearance and hostile stance that day had marked the complete collapse of the reorganized Akatsuki Organization.

In the end, the only people who could truly trust one another were the two of them, and...

"Lord Nagato, Lady Konan, do you need us to fight?"

"Even if we must face all of Konoha, we will carry out Leader Yahiko's will!!"

And their former comrades, who still refused to let their souls ascend after being summoned through Impure World Reincarnation!

Those people stood in an unlit corner, as though darkness was where they belonged after their resurrection.

"Arata Uchiha intervened and allowed Konoha's residents to survive."

Nagato spoke calmly.

At his words, complicated emotions immediately crossed Konan's face, worry mingling with relief.

But before she could ask anything more, he seemed to sense something else, and his expression turned cold and resigned.

"But it no longer matters. The one we were waiting for has returned. Let us settle everything here."

"If you choose to protect him, Master Jiraiya."

He had used Konoha's destruction as the fuse.

To force Naruto Uzumaki to return!

That was the plan he had devised after his search through Konoha yielded nothing.

High above, Pain's departure brought Tsunade no relief whatsoever. Her strength nearly exhausted, she struggled to hold together her shattered emotions and shouted her challenge at the sky.

"What else do you want to