Nagato revived hundreds of thousands of people.
Of course, some people had not been included among those brought back.
For example, Zetsu, who had been blown to ash by Killer Queen.
Or Kisame, whose past had been erased by Sasuke.
But Lin Qing did not care whether people like them lived or died, and neither would Nagato.
Souls filled the sky as they returned to their bodies, while the enormous King of Hell slowly sank back into the ground.
Lin Qing met the gaze of the deceased Nagato.
Even before dying, he had not closed his eyes. His Rinnegan remained fixed on Lin Qing, as though even in death, he wanted to see where Lin Qing would lead this world.
Perhaps even at the moment of death, Nagato had been unable to believe that Lin Qing's ideals could be realized.
Just as he had said—
"Lin Qing defeated me, but he has yet to defeat the world."
Lin Qing set his empty can on the ground, patted his backside, and stood up.
"If you want to watch, then watch closely. I'll keep winning."
"For your sake too."
The sound of wind descended from the sky.
Konan, using the Dance of the Shikigami and bearing wings on her back, slowly descended from above.
Her face was filled with sorrow. Like duckweed that had lost its home, she landed beside Nagato.
With her eyes lowered, Konan gently placed one hand on Nagato's shoulder and turned sideways toward Lin Qing.
"I'm sorry."
Lin Qing did not know whether she was apologizing to Nagato for not intervening in the battle, or to Lin Qing for failing to stop Nagato and allowing this war to happen.
Or perhaps...
It was both.
At Nagato's request, Konan had observed and recorded the entire battle from the perspective