The True Owner of These Eyes Is Uchiha Madara!!!

The moment the Chibaku Tensei shattered, the firmament seemed like a black curtain torn in two, leaving only a searing white chasm between heaven and earth.

Thousands of fragments, encased in cyan-white streams of chakra, carved dense trajectories through the torrential rain. Each path was like a spear of divine punishment, igniting the air and dragging trails of fire as they slammed into the ground, the continuous roar sounding like ten thousand thunders pealing at once.

Amidst the thunderous din, Nagato's gaunt fingers gripped the armrests of his wheelchair so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

His Rinnegan trembled violently, the purple concentric circles within his eye sockets twisting and pulsing as if they were about to tear apart.

"This is impossible..."

His hoarse voice was swallowed by the howling wind and rain, squeezed out from the depths of his throat.

He coughed violently, his chest heaving, and a large amount of blood gushed from the corners of his mouth and the chakra conduits of his puppet prosthetic. The scarlet blood mist was rapidly diluted in the rain, resembling a spider lily withering in the wind.

His spine emitted a teeth-grinding crack, and the black receivers of the Six Paths embedded in his body squirmed beneath his skin, revealing eerie, sharp angles like vipers struggling to break free.

"Chibaku Tensei... actually... forcibly broken?!"

At the center of the sky, the gravitational core that should have been an eternal cage collapsed and fell like a shattered star, stone raining down like a deluge and fire cascading like a waterfall.

Konan's paper wings shattered into a sky full of white butterflies under the shockwave, the remaining paper charms carrying embers and chakra to drift scattered in the storm, like torn souls wandering helplessly between heaven and earth.

She endured the stinging buzzing in her eardrums and the violent tremors in her chest, struggling to fall beside Nagato's wheelchair.

Her eyes widened in horror, rain and tears mingling together: "The chakra flow... it's completely chaotic!"

She knew that Nagato's life could end at any moment!

But Nagato merely lifted a withered hand, trembling as he brushed it against her forehead.

His gaze was gentle and calm, yet his voice was low and powerful:

"Konan."

"I am fine..."

Konan was covered in tears, her throat choked with sobs, yet she could not argue.

Just then—

Heavy footsteps approached from the rain, and between heaven and earth, only that soul-crushing pressure seemed to remain.

The giant shadow of the Susanoo stood atop the ruins, purple chakra coalescing like armor.

Standing upon its forehead, Uchiha Yoru stood with his hands behind his back.

The giant blade of the Susanoo hung high, its edge pointed directly at the broken ruins in the rain.

The air seemed to solidify, and even the raindrops gave way.

Uchiha Yoru stood atop the Susanoo's forehead, his Rinnegan rotating slowly, the purple radiance piercing through the curtain of rain. His voice was low yet clear, echoing between heaven and earth:

"I, Uchiha Yoru, am a reasonable man."

"Surrender, or die."

His tone was calm, devoid of any emotion, yet it made one feel all the more chilled.

"Beyond that, any action you take next—I will view as a provocation."

The tone shifted, his eyes suddenly sharpening like blades piercing into the heart:

"In that case... Amegakure will have no need to exist."

Boom—

A peal of thunder exploded in response, the giant blade of the Susanoo pressing down slightly, the gale and rain roaring in its wake like a final verdict issued by a god.

Nagato gritted his teeth, his face as pale as paper, his joints trembling slightly from the exertion.

He had suppressed enemies countless times with the Six Paths, even challenging the entire Ninja World.

But at that moment—for the first time, uncertainty and fear sprouted in his heart.

The anomaly of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path suddenly vanishing echoed in his mind like a warning bell.

He suddenly realized that Uchiha Yoru, who also possessed the Rinnegan before him, might... even be able to control the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

If he acted rashly, it wouldn't just be his own death.

There was also Konan.

He looked down at the woman beside him; rain had soaked her face, and tears were no longer distinguishable.

She endured her trembling, still standing before him as if ready to block the blade for him at any moment.

Yahiko's death had already torn his heart to shreds. He had sworn never to let those around him sacrifice themselves again.

—He must not, under any circumstances, lose Konan!

Nagato clenched his teeth, lifted a hand with great difficulty, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. Suppressing the humiliation and anger in his heart, he shouted hoarsely and firmly:

"We... surrender!"

The suffocating pressure in the air instantly solidified.

Uchiha Yoru raised an eyebrow, his Rinnegan slowly receding. He nodded slightly, a faint, almost imperceptible smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"A wise choice."

As the words fell, the purple chakra dissipated like a receding tide, and the colossal Susanoo disintegrated in an instant, turning into starlight that drifted away with the wind.

And this overwhelming pressure finally, quietly, came to an end amidst the curtain of rain.

The rain stopped.

Yet, a stifling atmosphere still hung over the ruins, like a nightmare that had yet to reach its conclusion.

Nagato leaned back in his wheelchair, his face as pale as paper, the chakra fluctuations on his body reduced to a mere flicker.

Konan stood by his side, her hands still gently shielding him, her gaze complex as she watched Uchiha Yoru walk toward them.

After a long silence, Nagato spoke slowly, his voice low and hoarse: "Uchiha Yoru... he can interfere with the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, and he could even see through my techniques in an instant."

He slowly raised a hand, pointing to the eyes that had long been filled with pain and obsession—the Rinnegan.

"These eyes... whose are they, really?"

Konan was startled, turning to look at him.

"Do you remember, Konan? Since we embarked on this path, I have always believed—these eyes are a gift from a god, the power I possess to change the world."

He shook his head with a bitter smile, the gray color of the sky reflected in his purple Rinnegan.

"But now, I increasingly feel... that they are shackles, a cage, a..."

Before he could finish his sentence, his pupils suddenly dilated!

In that instant, his body stiffened abruptly, and his voice cut off sharply.

"Ko—"

Konan had barely uttered a sound when she was suddenly struck by a black shadow, sent flying several meters to slam heavily against a broken wall, coughing up a mouthful of blood!

She widened her eyes, staring at Nagato in front of her—

No, that was no longer the Nagato she knew!

A substance as black as ink extended from the back of his neck, coiling like a venomous snake, covering his spine and skull before burrowing into his eye sockets!

His body trembled slightly, his gaze becoming hollow and indifferent.

That pair of Rinnegan, which had once belonged to a "god," now seemed to have been seized by some evil will, becoming deathly and cold.

A deep, low voice resonated from his throat, yet it was not his own:

"...It is finally my turn to take the stage."

Black Zetsu's figure slowly rose from behind Nagato, enveloping his body like the night. His voice carried not a shred of emotion, yet it exuded a bone-chilling eeriness:

"These eyes were never yours to begin with."

"You are nothing more than a host, a vessel—the most successful link in my plan."

Nagato's body twitched slightly, as if he were still trying to struggle. But the frame in the wheelchair could no longer move a single inch.

Konan forced herself to stand, her face filled with horror: "You... who exactly are you?!"

Black Zetsu slowly turned his head, a sinister and cruel smile appearing on his face.

"You were merely a puppet used to nurture the Rinnegan; the true master of these eyes is Uchiha Madara!!"

"I am the manifestation of Uchiha Madara's will, Black Zetsu!!"