The imposing voice disappeared.
Along with it went the terrifying will that had weighed on them like a rising tide.
Only deathly silence and swirling dust remained in the ruins of the Underground Bounty Station.
Four people, each in a completely different state.
Yahiko knelt on the ground, his eyes empty, like a puppet whose soul had been ripped away.
Konan crouched beside him, gently wrapping her paper wings around his trembling body. Her eyes were filled with sorrow and wariness that would not fade.
Kakuzu rose unhurriedly. The black threads of Earth Grudge Fear writhed across his chest, stitching his wounds shut. His gleaming green eyes studied Nagato with interest.
Nagato.
The man who had been appointed their "leader" stood quietly, the Rinnegan in his eyes as still as an ancient well. It was as if the life-and-death test they had just endured had been nothing more than an insignificant interlude.
Time passed, second by second.
In the end, Kakuzu was the one to break the silence.
"Hey, leader." He grinned, his voice as hoarse as two sheets of sandpaper rubbing together. "What now? We can't just stand around here forever, can we? My time is valuable."
There was a hint of amusement in his tone, as if he were testing the mettle of his new boss.
Nagato didn't look at him. His gaze remained fixed on the wreckage before them.
Yahiko's body jerked. He raised his bloodshot eyes and stared at Nagato's back. His voice came out hoarse. "What now? Nagato, you're asking what now?"
"We've become tools for a murderer! Puppets on his strings! Do you really feel nothing?"
Konan hurriedly grabbed his arm. "Yahiko! Don't!"
"Why shouldn't I?" Yahiko yanked his arm free and staggered to his feet, pointing at Nagato. "He killed Hanzo! He killed so many of our Amegakure comrades! Now he's using our lives as part of a test! He's a madman! A demon!"
"And you, Nagato! You actually..."
Yahiko's words came to an abrupt halt.
Because Nagato had finally turned around.
Those purple Rinnegan eyes gazed at him indifferently.
"Are you finished?" Nagato's voice was soft, but carried a chilling coldness that made one's heart tremble.
"Nagato, you..." Pain flashed through Yahiko as he looked into his dear friend's unfamiliar eyes.
"Yahiko," Nagato cut him off. "Everything you said is true. He's a madman. A demon."
"But..."
Nagato paused. His tone held not the slightest hint of emotion.
"His power is real."
"We can't fight him."
"If we can't fight him, then we can only carry out his orders."
Those words poured over Yahiko like a basin of ice water, leaving him cold all over.
That was right.
They couldn't fight him.
How could they fight a power that could even warp space and treated Sealing Jutsu like fireworks?
What could they possibly use to fight back?
His laughable ideals, already shattered by reality?
Yahiko swayed, then sank to his knees, his hands digging painfully into his hair.
"Then, dear leader," Kakuzu spoke up again, his tone even more mocking, "what's the order? You're not going to have us go back to the village and play house, are you?"
Nagato finally turned his gaze to Kakuzu.
He raised his hand, palm facing a relatively intact building beyond the ruins.
"Go back."
"Make everyone in Amegakure remember the red clouds on our chests."
"Make sure there's only one person in Amegakure who gives the orders."
His words fell.
"Shinra Tensei."
Vmmm—
There was no earth-shaking boom, only a sudden burst of invisible repulsive force.
Under the horrified gaze of everyone present, the dozens-of-meters-tall building in the distance seemed to be slammed down the middle by an invisible giant hand!
Walls, rebar, glass... Everything twisted and compressed in an instant, then crashed down into a flattened pile of scrap metal and rubble!
Silence.
Deathly silence settled over the ruins.
The smile froze on Kakuzu's face. For the first time, an emotion called "shock" appeared in his green eyes.
He had just experienced the power of that technique firsthand.
But now it was clear that this kid called Nagato hadn't even been using his full strength before!
If that attack had hit him...
Kakuzu had no doubt that his remaining two hearts would have been crushed into a mess of flesh in an instant!
"Now," Nagato said, slowly lowering his hand and glancing indifferently at Kakuzu, "do you still think we're playing house?"
Kakuzu's Adam's apple bobbed. He forced a stiff smile that looked worse than crying. "...Of course not."
For the first time, he felt a genuine trace of awe for the red-haired young man before him.
Not because of the mysterious leader working behind the scenes.
But because of Nagato himself, and the absolute power represented by his Rinnegan.
"Let's go."
Nagato said no more. He turned and walked toward Amegakure.
The Black Red-Cloud Robe on his body snapped in the wind like a flag proclaiming the end of an old era.
Konan glanced at Yahiko, his spirit crushed, and a trace of pity passed through her eyes. But in the end, she stood and silently followed Nagato.
Kakuzu shrugged and followed them as well.
Yahiko alone remained, kneeling in the cold ruins, abandoned by the entire world.
After an unknown length of time, he slowly raised his head and watched the three figures recede into the distance. In the end, he dragged his heavy steps after them.
He didn't want to die.
Even more, he couldn't bear to watch the last two people he had as family walk alone into the abyss. He had to grow stronger—much stronger.
Amegakure.
The village was now in unprecedented turmoil.
The demigod Hanzo the Salamander was dead!
His own subordinates had surrounded him and torn him to pieces!
The news struck the entire village like a magnitude-ten earthquake.
With its supreme ruler gone, Amegakure was plunged at once into a power vacuum.
Ninjas from various factions began a frenzied struggle for territory and leadership.
Assassinations, ambushes, all-out clashes...
In just one day, the once orderly city of steel had become a bloody battlefield.
Just as everyone was lost in slaughter,
four figures wearing Black Red-Cloud Robes appeared like ghosts atop the tallest building in Amegakure, the Central Tower.
"Wh... Who are they?"
"It's Akatsuki! They're members of Akatsuki!"
"How dare they come back!"
On the streets below, the ninjas locked in battle stopped and stared uncertainly at the tower's peak.
Wind howled atop the tower.
Nagato stood at the front, looking down over the chaotic village and his fellow villagers, their faces twisted by the slaughter.
There was no pity or anger in his eyes, only a deep stillness.
"Starting today."
His voice, amplified by Chakra, carried clearly to every person in the village.
"The civil war in this village is over."
The crowd below fell silent for a moment, then burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Did I hear that right? What's that kid saying?"
"Over? By a handful of stray dogs like them?"
A burly man who looked like a small-time boss carried Kubikiribōchō on his shoulder and pointed at the tower, laughing loudly. "Hey, you brats up there! This isn't a place where you can throw your weight around anymore! If you don't want to die, tuck your tails between your legs and get lost!"
Nagato remained expressionless and simply raised his right hand.
"Silence."
The next second.
"Banshō Ten'in!"
"Ah—!"
The burly man carrying Kubikiribōchō let out a terrified scream. His body shot uncontrollably into the air, pulled rapidly toward the tower by an invisible force!
To the horror of countless onlookers, he hung before Nagato like a chicken gripped by the throat.
"Wh... What did you do to me..." Terror filled the burly man's face as he struggled wildly with all four limbs.
Nagato didn't answer.
Those purple Rinnegan eyes simply gazed at him indifferently.
"Human Path: Soul Extraction."
An invisible energy reached out from Nagato's hand and entered the burly man's head.
His body convulsed violently. His eyes rolled back, his mouth gaped open, yet he couldn't make a sound.
A translucent silhouette of his soul, bearing his outline, was forcibly dragged out through the crown of his head!
The entire crowd fell silent.
Everyone stared blankly at the bizarre and terrifying sight, their blood seeming to freeze in their veins.
What kind of ninjutsu was this?
No!
This wasn't ninjutsu at all!
It was divine punishment!
Nagato casually flicked his hand. The soulless body fell from the hundred-meter tower like a rag, hitting the street below with a splat and turning into a pile of mangled flesh.
After finishing, Nagato's gaze slowly swept over the twisted faces below, each contorted with fear.
"Does anyone else object?"
No one answered.
In all of Amegakure, not a sound could be heard.
"Good."
Nagato's voice once again rang through the heavens.
"Remember: inflict pain upon you, then let peace be born from that pain."
"I will become the god of this land."
"My name is Pain."
"From today on, let the world feel pain!"
"Let Amegakure be great again!"
In a distant cave.
Lin Feng watched everything unfold in the Water Mirror and nodded with satisfaction.
"Not bad. He's starting to look like a proper villainous boss."
[ Ding! Congratulations, Host, on portraying the key plot point "The Birth of a New God." Overall evaluation: S-rank! ]
[ Calculating rewards...]
[ Reward received: 1. Rinnegan proficiency +15%! 2. Increased depth of connection to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path! 3. Special item: "God's BGM: Deva Path"! ]
Lin Feng looked at the system panel, pleased.
Nagato's growth was even faster than he'd expected.
This act 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 it go?" Lin Feng asked without turning around.
"Everything went smoothly." Black Zetsu reported in his distinctive, hoarse voice. "Konoha has received the 'message' you left. I imagine the entire High Command is now racking their brains over who the 'younger generation from Amegakure' could be."
"Good."
"However..." Black Zetsu's tone turned playful, and the leaves around him swayed like those of a pitcher plant. "It seems a major transfer of power is brewing within Konoha."
"Oh?" Lin Feng finally took an interest. He turned around, his purple Rinnegan eyes narrowing slightly.
Black Zetsu let out a sinister chuckle.
"Just now, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire and Konoha High Command held an emergency meeting."
"Although the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi emerged victorious in the recent war, the losses were devastating. To appease the various factions, he has officially decided to..."
"Resign and take responsibility."
Lin Feng raised an eyebrow. "Then who's the successor?"
"Not your old friend Danzo, nor Orochimaru, who left long ago." Black Zetsu paused, then slowly uttered a name. "It's 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 and do something?"
At that, the corner of Lin Feng's mouth curled into a meaningful smile.
Namikaze Minato?
That civilian-born genius who made a name for himself on the battlefield with the Flying Raijin Technique?
Minato had taken office in Konoha's forty-eighth year. That meant the old schemer Danzo was probably so jealous right now he was grinding his back teeth to dust.
One was a young Kage Level shinobi, upright and honorable, poised to reach the top;
the other was the ambitious head of the Root, commanding a large force yet treated like a discarded pawn.
There was so much room to maneuver here.
"No rush."
Lin Feng sat back down on the stone chair and lightly tapped his fingers against the armrest. The sound echoed through the empty cave.
"When a new Hokage takes office, there's always the matter of a few congratulatory gifts."
"Since my old friend Danzo must be feeling rather unhappy right now, perhaps I should... give him a hand."
"After all, making Konoha a little livelier would be more in keeping with the reason we set out to 'dance,' wouldn't it?"
Lin Feng looked at Black Zetsu, his eyes gleaming like a hunter's upon spotting prey.
"Go. Deliver a letter to Danzo for me."
"Tell him... Uchiha Madara wants to discuss a deal with him concerning the Hokage Position."
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