Only Pain Can Birth True Gods

The majestic voice vanished.

Retreating like a receding tide was that terrifying will that had made it impossible for anyone to breathe.

Within the ruins of the Underground Bounty Station, only deathly silence and swirling dust remained.

Four people, four vastly different states of being.

Yahiko knelt on the ground, his eyes vacant, like a puppet whose soul had been extracted.

Konan crouched beside him, gently wrapping her paper wings around his trembling body, her eyes filled with an impenetrable sorrow and vigilance.

Kakuzu stood up unhurriedly, the black threads of his Earth Grudge Fear writhing across his chest to stitch his wounds shut; his eerie, emerald-green eyes scrutinized Nagato with keen interest.

Nagato.

This designated "leader" stood quietly, his Rinnegan as still as an ancient well, as if the life-and-death test that had just transpired were merely an inconsequential interlude.

Time ticked away, second by second.

In the end, it was Kakuzu who broke the silence.

"Hey, Leader." He grinned, his voice as raspy as two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together. "What do we do now? We can't just stand here staring into space forever, can we? My time is very precious."

His tone carried a hint of playfulness, as if he were testing the mettle of his new superior.

Nagato did not look at him; his gaze remained fixed on the wreckage ahead.

Yahiko's body shuddered violently. He raised his head, his bloodshot eyes locked onto Nagato's back, and spoke in a hoarse voice: "What do we do? Nagato, you're still asking what we do?"

"We've become tools for a murderer! We've become puppets on his strings! Do you not feel anything at all!"

Konan hurriedly grabbed his arm. "Yahiko! Stop it!"

"Why should I stop!" Yahiko violently shook off her hand, staggered to his feet, and pointed at Nagato. "He killed Hanzo, he killed so many of our comrades in Amegakure! And now he uses our lives for his tests! He is a madman! A devil!"

"And you, Nagato! You actually..."

Yahiko's words came to an abrupt halt.

Because Nagato had finally turned around, slowly.

Those purple Rinnegan eyes watched him with indifference.

"Are you finished?" Nagato's voice was soft, yet it carried a heart-stopping chill.

"Nagato, you..." Yahiko felt a pang of pain as he looked into his best friend's unfamiliar eyes.

"Yahiko." Nagato interrupted him. "Everything you said is true. He is a madman, a devil."

"But..."

Nagato paused, his tone devoid of the slightest ripple.

"His power is real."

"We cannot resist it."

"Since we cannot resist, we can only carry out his orders."

These words were like a basin of ice water poured over Yahiko's head, leaving him chilled to the bone.

That's right.

We cannot resist.

How could one resist a power that could distort space itself and treated sealing jutsu like mere fireworks?

With what could he resist?

With his laughable ideals, which had long since been shattered by reality?

Yahiko's body swayed, and finally, he collapsed to his knees in defeat, burying his hands in his hair in agony.

"So, Lord Leader." Kakuzu spoke once more, the mockery in his tone deepening. "What is the order? Surely it isn't for us to go back to the village and play house?"

Nagato finally shifted his gaze to Kakuzu.

He raised his hand, his palm facing a building outside the ruins that was still relatively intact.

"Go back."

"Make everyone in Amegakure remember the red clouds on our chests."

"Make it so that there is only one person in Amegakure who can issue commands."

As his words fell.

"Shinra Tensei."

Hum—

There was no earth-shattering roar, only an invisible force of repulsion that erupted suddenly.

Under the horrified gaze of the others, the building in the distance, dozens of meters high, was crushed from the center as if by an invisible giant hand!

Walls, steel beams, glass... everything was twisted and compressed in an instant, before collapsing with a thunderous boom into a pile of flattened scrap metal and rubble!

Silence.

A deathly silence hung over the ruins.

The smile on Kakuzu's face froze, and for the first time, an emotion called "shock" surfaced in his green eyes.

He had personally experienced the power of that move just moments ago.

Yet, looking at it now, this brat named Nagato hadn't even used his full strength before!

If this strike had landed on him...

Kakuzu did not doubt for a second that his remaining two hearts would have been instantly crushed into pulp.

"Now," Nagato slowly lowered his hand, casting a detached glance at Kakuzu, "do you still think this is child's play?"

Kakuzu's Adam's apple bobbed as he stiffly forced a smile that looked worse than a grimace: "...Of course not."

For the first time, he felt a genuine sense of awe toward the red-haired youth before him.

It wasn't because of that mysterious leader behind the scenes.

It was because of the absolute power represented by Nagato's own Rinnegan.

"Let's go."

Nagato said no more, turning to walk in the direction of Amegakure.

His Black Red-Cloud Robe snapped in the wind, like a banner announcing the end of an old era.

Konan glanced at the despondent Yahiko, a flicker of pity crossing her eyes, but she ultimately stood up and followed silently behind Nagato.

Kakuzu shrugged and trailed after them.

Only Yahiko remained, kneeling alone in the cold ruins, abandoned by the entire world.

He did not know how much time had passed before he slowly raised his head, watching those three figures receding into the distance. Finally, he dragged his heavy feet and followed them.

He did not want to die.

Even more, he did not want to watch his last two family members walk into the abyss alone; he had to grow up and become stronger.

Amegakure.

The village was currently plunged into unprecedented chaos.

Hanzo the Salamander, the demigod, was dead!

He had been surrounded and dismembered by his own subordinates!

This news swept through the village like a magnitude-ten earthquake.

Having lost its supreme ruler, Amegakure immediately fell into a power vacuum.

Ninjas from various factions began a frantic internal struggle to seize territory and leadership.

Assassinations, ambushes, and gang wars...

The city of order, once forged in steel, turned into a bloody Asura field in the span of a single day.

Just as everyone was blinded by bloodlust, four figures clad in Black Red-Cloud Robes appeared like ghosts atop the Central Tower, the highest point in Amegakure.

"Who... who are they?"

"It's the Akatsuki! It's the Akatsuki organization!"

"How dare they come back!"

Down in the streets, the ninjas who had been fighting stopped in their tracks, staring up at the tower with suspicion and fear.

At the top of the tower, the wind howled.

Nagato stood at the very front, looking down at the chaotic village below, looking down at his fellow countrymen whose faces were twisted by slaughter.

In his eyes, there was no pity, no anger, only a dead silence.

"From today on."

His voice, amplified by chakra, reached the ears of everyone in the village with perfect clarity.

"The internal strife in this village is over."

The crowd below went silent for a moment, then erupted into raucous laughter.

"Hahaha! Did I hear that right? What is that kid saying?"

"Over? By the hands of a few stray dogs like them?"

A burly man who appeared to be a minor leader shouldered an Executioner's Blade and pointed at the tower, laughing wildly: "Hey! You brats up there! This isn't a place for you to run wild anymore! If you don't want to die, tuck your tails and get lost!"

Nagato remained expressionless, merely raising his right hand slightly.

"Noisy."

The next second.

"Bansho Ten'in!"

"Ah--!"

The burly man carrying the Executioner's Blade let out a terrified scream as his body was uncontrollably launched into the sky, pulled rapidly toward the high tower by an invisible force!

Under the horrified gazes of countless people, he hung suspended before Nagato like a chicken gripped by the neck.

"You... what did you do to me..." The burly man's face was etched with fear, his limbs struggling frantically.

Nagato did not answer him.

His pair of purple Rinnegan merely stared at the other man with indifference.

"Human Path: Soul Extraction."

An invisible energy surged from Nagato's hand, sinking into the burly man's skull.

The man's body convulsed violently, his eyes rolled back, and his mouth hung wide open, yet he could not make a single sound.

A translucent phantom of a soul, bearing his likeness, was forcibly dragged out from the top of his head!

The entire scene fell into deathly silence.

Everyone stared blankly at this bizarre and terrifying spectacle, their blood seemingly frozen in their veins.

What kind of ninjutsu was this?

No!

This wasn't ninjutsu at all!

This was divine punishment!

With a casual wave of his hand, Nagato sent the soulless husk plummeting from the hundred-meter tower like a ragdoll, where it struck the street below with a "splat," turning into a puddle of gore.

Having finished this, Nagato's gaze slowly swept over the faces below, twisted in terror.

"Does anyone else have an objection?"

No one answered.

In all of Amegakure, you could hear a pin drop.

"Very good."

Nagato's voice rang out through the heavens once more.

"Remember, I bestow upon you pain, so that peace may be born from it."

"I shall become the god of this land."

"My name is Pain."

"From this day forth, let the world know pain!"

"Let Amegakure be great again!"

In a distant cave.

Lin Feng watched everything unfolding in the water mirror and nodded with satisfaction.

"Not bad, he's starting to look a bit like a villainous boss."

Ding! Congratulations to the host for performing the key plot node "Birth of a New God," achieving an S-rank overall evaluation!

Reward calculation in progress...

Rewards obtained: 1. Rinnegan proficiency +15%! 2. Connection depth with the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path increased! 3. Special item "God's BGM: Deva Path"!

Lin Feng looked at the system panel, his mood pleasant.

Nagato's growth was even faster than he had anticipated.

This play had gotten off to a good start.

Just then, a black-and-white figure slowly emerged from the ground behind him.

"Lord Madara."

It was Black Zetsu.

"How did things go?" Lin Feng asked without turning his head.

"Everything went smoothly," Black Zetsu reported in his uniquely raspy voice. "Konoha has already received the 'message' you left behind. I imagine their entire upper echelon is currently racking their brains over who this 'junior from Amegakure' could possibly be."

"Very good."

"However..." Black Zetsu changed the subject, his pitcher-plant-like leaves swaying slightly as his tone turned playful. "Within Konoha Village, a massive power shift seems to be brewing."

"Oh?" Lin Feng finally grew interested; he turned around, his purple Rinnegan narrowing slightly.

Black Zetsu let out a sinister, low chuckle:

"Just moments ago, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire and the Konoha high command held an emergency meeting."

"The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, has officially decided to... resign in disgrace, due to the heavy losses suffered despite winning the war, and to appease the dissatisfaction from all sides."

Lin Feng raised an eyebrow. "And the successor?"

"It is neither your old friend Danzo, nor Orochimaru, who left long ago." Black Zetsu paused, then slowly spat out a name: "It is the one hailed as the 'Yellow Flash'... Namikaze Minato."

"Should we take advantage of the chaos during the transition between the old and new Hokage to do something?"

At these words, a meaningful curve tugged at the corner of Lin Feng's mouth.

Namikaze Minato?

That commoner genius who carved out a fearsome reputation on the battlefield with his Flying Thunder God Technique?

Konoha year 48, Minato ascends to the position. This means that old schemer Danzo is likely so jealous right now that he's grinding his back teeth to dust, isn't he?

One is an upright, incorruptible young Kage-level ninja about to reach the pinnacle;

The other is an ambitious man holding heavy military power, yet treated as a discarded pawn within the dark Root.

The room for manipulation here is simply too vast.

"No rush."

Lin Feng sat back down on the stone chair, his fingers tapping lightly against the armrest, the sound echoing through the cavernous cave.

"A Hokage's inauguration always requires some congratulatory gifts."

"Since my old friend Danzo must be very unhappy right now, I might as well... go give him a hand."

"After all, making Konoha a bit more lively is exactly in line with our original intention to 'dance,' isn't it?"

Lin Feng looked at Black Zetsu, his eyes glinting with the light of a hunter spotting his prey.

"Go, help me deliver a letter to Danzo."

"Just say... Uchiha Madara wants to discuss a deal with him, regarding the 'seat of the Hokage'."