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

The moment the Planetary Devastation shattered, the heavens seemed to split apart like a curtain of darkness. Between heaven and earth, only a blazing white chasm remained.

Thousands of fragments were wrapped in streams of blue-white chakra, carving dense trails through the torrential rain. Each trail was like a spear of divine judgment, igniting the air as it streaked down in flames and crashed into the ground. The thunderous booms rolled on without end, as if a thousand bolts of lightning had struck at once.

Amid the thunder, Nagato's thin fingers clutched the armrests of his wheelchair. His knuckles turned white with the strain.

His Rinnegan trembled violently, the purple concentric rings twisting and twitching in their sockets as if they were about to split apart.

"This is impossible..."

His hoarse voice seemed to be swallowed by the torn and raging storm, then forced out from deep in his throat.

He suddenly coughed, his chest heaving violently as blood gushed from the corners of his mouth and the chakra tubes of his puppet body. The scarlet mist quickly thinned in the rain, like a red spider lily withering in the wind.

His spine made a sickening crack. The black Six Paths rods embedded in his body writhed beneath his skin, their bizarre angles emerging like venomous snakes struggling to break free.

"Planetary Devastation... was actually... forcibly broken?!"

At the center of the sky, the gravitational core that should have become an eternal prison was now collapsing and falling like a shattered star core. Stones rained down, and flames poured like a waterfall.

Konan's paper wings shattered into countless white butterflies in the shock wave. The remaining paper charms, carrying embers and chakra, scattered through the storm like torn souls drifting helplessly between heaven and earth.

She endured the piercing ring in her ears and the violent tremors in her chest, then forced herself to stagger over beside Nagato's wheelchair.

Her eyes widened in shock. Rain and tears mingled on her face. "The chakra flow... it's completely disrupted!"

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

But Nagato only raised a withered hand and tremblingly touched her forehead.

His gaze was gentle and calm, but his voice was low and firm:

"Konan."

"I'm all right..."

Tears streamed down Konan's face. Her throat tightened, but she couldn't bring herself to argue.

Just then—

A heavy footstep sounded from the rain. It felt as though nothing remained between heaven and earth but that oppressive presence.

The towering Susanoo stood atop the ruins, its purple chakra gathering like armor.

Uchiha Yoru stood with his hands behind his back atop its forehead.

The Susanoo Giant Blade hung high above, its edge pointed straight at the ruined grounds in the rain.

The air seemed to freeze. Even the raindrops appeared to steer clear.

Standing atop Susanoo's forehead, Uchiha Yoru's Rinnegan turned slowly, its purple light piercing through the rain. His voice was low but clear, echoing between heaven and earth:

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

"Surrender, or die."

His tone was calm, without a trace of emotion, which only made it more chilling.

"Any other move you make from here on—I'll consider it a provocation."

His tone shifted, and his gaze suddenly sharpened, like a blade piercing the heart:

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

Rumble—

A thunderclap seemed to answer him. The Susanoo Giant Blade lowered slightly, and the wind and rain roared in response, like the final judgment handed down by a god.

Nagato clenched his teeth. His face was pale as paper, and his joints trembled faintly with the strain.

He had relied on the Six Paths to overpower countless enemies, even challenging the entire Ninja World.

But in that moment, for the first time, uncertainty and fear rose in his heart.

The strange disappearance of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path earlier echoed in his mind like an alarm bell.

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

If he acted rashly, he wouldn't be the only one to die.

Konan would die, too.

He lowered his head and looked at the woman beside him. The rain soaked her face, and he could no longer tell it apart from her tears.

She fought back her trembling and still stood in front of him, as if ready to take a blade for him at any moment.

Yahiko's death had torn his heart to pieces. He had sworn never to let anyone close to him die for his sake again.

—He absolutely could not lose Konan, too!

Nagato gritted his teeth and struggled to raise a hand. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and suppressed the humiliation and fury in his heart before shouting hoarsely but firmly:

"We... surrender!"

The suffocating pressure in the air abruptly stilled.

Uchiha Yoru raised an eyebrow slightly, and his Rinnegan slowly dimmed. He gave a light nod, the faintest hint of a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"A wise choice."

As his voice fell, the purple chakra receded like a tide. The colossal Susanoo crumbled in an instant, dissolving into points of light that drifted away on the wind.

At last, the overwhelming pressure came to an end beneath the curtain of rain.

The rain stopped.

But the oppressive air still hung over the ruins, like a nightmare that had yet to end.

Nagato leaned back in his wheelchair, his face pale as paper, the chakra pulsing through his body barely perceptible.

Konan stood beside him, her hands still lightly shielding him from the front as she watched Uchiha Yoru approach them, her expression complicated.

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

He slowly raised a hand and pointed toward his eyes, filled with pain and obsession—the Rinnegan.

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

Konan jolted and turned to look at him.

"Do you remember, Konan? Ever since we set out on this path, I've always believed these eyes were a gift from a god, the power I needed to change the world."

He gave a bitter smile and shook his head. The purple Rinnegan reflected the gloomy sky.

"But now, I'm beginning to feel more and more that they're shackles, a prison, something..."

Before he could finish, his pupils suddenly shook!

In that instant, his body stiffened, and his words cut off.

"Ko—"

Konan had barely called out when a mass of blackness slammed into her and sent her flying several meters. She crashed hard into a broken wall and spat out a mouthful of blood!

She stared wide-eyed at Nagato—

No, that was no longer the Nagato she knew!

An ink-black substance extended from the back of his neck, coiling around him like a venomous snake. It covered his spine and head before finally burrowing into his eye sockets!

His body trembled faintly, his gaze empty and cold.

The Rinnegan that belonged to a "god" now seemed to have been seized by some evil will, turning lifeless and icy.

A deep, eerie voice came from his mouth, but it wasn't his:

"...It's finally my turn to make an appearance."

Black Zetsu slowly rose from behind Nagato, wrapping around his body like the night. His voice held no emotion, yet its strangeness sent a chill to the bone:

"These eyes were never yours."

"You were only a host, a vessel—the smoothest part of my plan."

Nagato's body twitched slightly, as if still trying to resist. But the body in the wheelchair could no longer move at all.

Konan forced herself to her feet, her face filled with shock. "You... Who are you?!"

Black Zetsu slowly turned his head, a strange and cruel smile spreading across his face.

"You're nothing but a puppet that nurtured the Rinnegan. The true owner of these eyes is Uchiha Madara!!"

"I am the embodiment of Uchiha Madara's will—Black Zetsu!!"