"Tomorrow, Nagato and I will go meet with Lord Hanzo."
"Is that all right, big brother? Shouldn't we go with you..."
Jusuke and the other Akatsuki members were worried. The safety of just Yahiko and Nagato meeting with Hanzo was certainly hard to guarantee, but Yahiko flatly rejected everyone's "request to come along."
He believed the Akatsuki had to show their sincerity. They couldn't frighten their dear Lord Hanzo.
"By the way, where's Konan?"
Yahiko glanced around at the familiar faces of his comrades, but Konan was nowhere to be seen. He asked in confusion.
"She went to patrol the Seventh District. Apparently, someone recently spotted a black-clad ninja from another village in that area. She won't be back until tomorrow morning."
"I see... It's rare for something this good to happen..."
"Anyway, the Akatsuki has taken an important step today. Everyone, forget your worries and relax for once!"
Seventh District--
Among the ruins shrouded in smoke, Konan patrolled the area as usual. She had been cautious and alert, until... she saw bodies lying in puddles.
Konan hurried over and felt for a pulse. Once she confirmed that the fallen had no signs of life, she murmured, "Who did this..."
As she wondered, several corpses behind her suddenly began to swell and bloat. Then the one in front of her did the same. With a series of bursting sounds, thick purple smoke billowed out.
"Damn it!"
Konan immediately leaped back to avoid it, but she still inhaled some of the gas. Her limbs weakened, her vision spun, and her eyelids grew heavy before she collapsed.
"We've got a hostage..."
Before her consciousness faded away completely, Konan struggled to lift her head and make out the faces of the people who had come. They were... two Rain Ninja wearing gas masks...
--Squish!
A ninja sandal stepped into a puddle, splashing muddy water. In a valley on the outskirts of Amegakure, Yahiko and Nagato arrived full of hope, only to be met with betrayal...
"Lord Hanzo! Didn't you say you would lead us to peace?! Why?! Why are you doing this?!"
The one standing above them, holding Konan hostage, was the leader of Amegakure, "Salamander Hanzo," who had only just reached an agreement with the Akatsuki the day before.
Yahiko shouted the question at the top of his lungs. He couldn't understand why Hanzo would do such a thing.
Hanzo lowered his head to look at the few people who were as weak as insects in his eyes, yet had begun to threaten his rule. He said coldly, "You're in my way."
"Yahiko, you're the leader. You'll die here."
"Resist, and this woman dies!"
Hanzo gripped Konan so tightly that his hands left marks on her skin. He tossed a Kunai down, and it stuck deep into the ground. His eyes held no trace of mercy. "You, the red-haired one. Use that to kill Yahiko, and I'll let you and this woman go."
Faced with the sudden betrayal, Nagato slowly raised his head. Rainwater soaked his red hair and plastered it to his face. His Rinnegan trembled slightly as he stared at Hanzo and Konan. Overwhelmed by confusion and immense pressure, he felt as if he were suffocating. Clutching the Kunai, he gasped for breath, unsure what to do.
"Stop, Nagato! Don't worry about me! You two, run!"
Konan's gentle voice now rang in Nagato's ears like a harsh buzzing. Only Yahiko's shout managed to bring him back to his senses.
"Nagato, kill me..."
Yahiko said it calmly, but his words made Nagato's heart tremble. Remembering his promise to protect Yahiko and "Konan," Nagato's hand began to shake uncontrollably.
"Konan..."
"Yahiko..."
Rain streamed down Nagato's hair, and his vision grew blurry. Just as he struggled to decide what to do, he felt a warm touch on the hand holding the Kunai.
It wasn't rain... It was Yahiko's blood. Even as he finally fell, he wore a smile. His whispered words—"You and Konan... no matter what, you have to live"—rang in Nagato's ears, and then Yahiko's body hit the ground.
"Yahiko!!!"
Watching her closest friend die, Konan's heart shattered completely. She was overwhelmed not only by the pain of losing him, but also by the despair of seeing their dream of peace destroyed. Her gentle voice was gone. Her heart-wrenching cry shattered Nagato's resolve to "protect the dreams of the two of them."
Konan's legs gave way beneath her, and she fell to her knees. Hanzo's cold voice rang out again. "Attack!"
Thousands upon thousands of Kunai, Senbon, and shuriken rained down on Nagato.
From the beginning, Hanzo had planned to wipe out the Akatsuki. He would kill not only Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan, who were there, but also brand the Akatsuki as traitors and rebels with baseless accusations after their deaths. He would completely destroy the organization and make them objects of scorn throughout the Land of Rain!
"AAAAAAAH!!!"
Nagato felt as if he were in hell. The whole world spun around him. Yahiko lay in a pool of blood at his feet, while Konan covered her eyes and wept, unable to face reality.
At his roar, his Rinnegan blazed with an unprecedented purple light. His red hair, which had long concealed his eyes and forehead, was swept back, followed by a powerful gust of force.
The invisible force surged forward, knocking down every incoming weapon. As the Rain Ninja cried out in astonishment, "How did he do that?!", Nagato had already leaped up high to face Hanzo. The oppressive power of his Rinnegan fixed on him.
"Water Body Flicker Technique!" Without hesitation, Hanzo formed a hand seal with one hand and dissolved into a cloud of vapor, vanishing into the rain. Then he slapped the ground, triggering all the Explosive Tags he had planted beforehand.
Nagato picked up Konan, who had cried herself limp. He made no attempt to dodge, merely staring impassively at the Explosive Tags stuck to his legs as their fuses sparked.
"Fire Style: Explosive Flame Formation!"
The Explosive Tags were about to burn out and detonate, but they didn't explode as Hanzo intended. Instead, with a sharp whoosh, they shot off in every direction, setting off a series of useless blasts.
"That's the Rinnegan's power?!"
As the smoke from the Explosive Flame Formation cleared, the powerful repulsion had flattened the surrounding mountains. With the thought that, since he had already made an enemy of Nagato, he might as well take it to the bitter end, Hanzo raised his Kusarigama and gave the order:
"Everyone, attack!"
At Hanzo's command, the Rain Ninja hidden around the valley and the Root operatives brought by Danzo surged forward together, swinging their swords at Nagato.
"Summoning Technique: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!"
The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, its nine eyes covered with white cloth, its body enormous and its skin textured like deadwood, with ten pillar-like protrusions rising from its back, burst through the ground and roared at the sky.
Simply by swinging its arm, its enormous hand slapped the ninjas in midair away like mosquitoes.
But it wasn't over. Several long, thick black rods extended from the Demonic Statue's abdomen, then branched out like the limbs of a tree. Finally, they all pierced Nagato's body.
"Nagato! You can't use that!"
Nagato had already been consumed by rage. He ignored Konan's protests and let the black rods extending from the Demonic Statue's abdomen, branching like a tree, drain his chakra and life force.
"AAAAAAAH!!!"
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