Yahiko Protects His Own, Confronting Lord Madara: "Who Gave You Those Eyes?"

Bright red hair scattered in the cold rain, looking like shattered blood-colored lotus flowers.

Nagato knelt on the ground, his hands subconsciously reaching for his now uneven, short hair, his entire being dazed.

He hadn't even seen how the other party had made his move.

It was a form of pure, crushing will that transcended the boundaries of ninjutsu and taijutsu.

"Bastard! What did you do to Nagato!"

A roar shattered the eerie stalemate.

Yahiko instantly blocked Nagato, spreading his arms like an angry lion protecting its cub, staring fixedly at the man in the sky.

Konan also reacted, countless paper sheets flying from her sleeves to swirl around her, forming a pair of paper wings ready to strike, her eyes sharp.

They didn't know who the intruder was, but anyone who harmed their companion was an enemy!

However, facing their hostility, Lin Feng—or rather, "Uchiha Madara"—didn't even twitch an eyebrow.

His gaze didn't linger on Yahiko or Konan for even half a second, remaining locked from his high vantage point onto the devastated red-haired youth behind them.

"I have no interest in speaking with brats like you."

Lin Feng's voice was flat, yet it carried a natural sense of hierarchical suppression, making Yahiko feel as though his overflowing rage had struck a wall of cotton, leaving him feeling incredibly stifled.

"I am merely disciplining my junior, letting him understand that power is not meant for playing house."

Junior?

Yahiko and Konan were both stunned.

This guy who had appeared out of nowhere was actually calling Nagato his junior?

"Who the hell are you?!" Yahiko demanded sharply, "Stop playing these mysterious games!"

Lin Feng finally bestowed his gaze upon Yahiko, his eyes looking as if he were watching a petulant child.

"Who I am is not something you are qualified to know."

He chuckled, his laughter filled with undisguised mockery.

"As for you, Yahiko. I hear you've been going around preaching that you will bring peace to this country through 'dialogue' and 'understanding'?"

Yahiko's expression stiffened.

This was the core philosophy of their Akatsuki; how could this man know about it?!

"That's right!" Despite the doubt and unease in his heart, Yahiko puffed out his chest and responded loudly, "War and hatred cannot solve anything! Only through mutual understanding can we usher in true peace! Our philosophy has already been recognized by Lord Hanzo!"

He specifically mentioned "Hanzo," attempting to use the name of the "Demigod" to intimidate the other party.

"Hanzo?"

Lin Feng repeated the name, the curve of his lips widening into an expression that suggested he had just heard a massive joke.

"A dying old lizard who can barely breathe without the stench of poison."

"What you call recognition is nothing more than a trap he set to lure you in and wipe you all out. And you, you actually believed it like a fool."

BOOM!

These words struck like a thunderbolt, exploding in the minds of Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato.

"You're lying!" Yahiko's face turned deathly pale as he retorted agitatedly, "Lord Hanzo truly wants to cooperate with us!"

"Is that so?" Lin Feng's voice was full of amusement, "Then did he tell you that he has already joined forces with Shimura Danzo of Konoha, preparing to lay a net from which there is no escape at the location of your next meeting?"

Shimura Danzo!

The name sent a jolt through all three of them.

They certainly knew that name; the leader of Konoha's "Root," known throughout the ninja world for his ruthless methods and lack of scruples.

Hanzo... would join forces with a man like that?

Yahiko's conviction wavered violently for the first time.

He looked at the man in the sky; every word the stranger spoke precisely struck the deepest fears hidden within his heart.

"How... how do you know these things?" Konan's voice trembled slightly; she was calmer than Yahiko and could better perceive the strangeness of the situation.

This man seemed to possess eyes that could see through everything.

Lin Feng did not answer Konan's question.

This was the effect he wanted.

Using an absolute information gap to manufacture mystery and pressure, he intended to completely shatter their psychological defenses.

His gaze returned to Nagato.

"Nagato, stand up."

This time, his voice carried an irresistible command.

Nagato's body shuddered, and he found himself standing up from the ground slowly, unable to control his own actions.

Seeing this, Yahiko hurriedly turned back to steady him: "Nagato, don't listen to him!"

Yet Nagato seemed not to hear him. He stared blankly at the man in the sky, his lips trembling as he finally asked the question that had been festering in his heart.

"Who... exactly are you?"

"Why... does my gaze feel this way toward you..."

He could not even fully describe the sensation; it was a searing pain and resonance originating from the depths of his soul, as if a wanderer had found their home, or a servant had encountered their master.

It's time!

Lin Feng's heart tightened, knowing the most critical step had arrived.

He could not simply say, "I am Uchiha Madara, and these eyes are what I gave you." That would be too deliberate and beneath his dignity.

He needed to answer in a way that better suited the stature of Lord Madara.

"These eyes were already mine long before you were born."

Lin Feng's voice drifted down, ethereal and calm, as if stating an immutable fact.

"I merely left them with you for safekeeping, waiting for the day they would return to their rightful owner."

"And you, as their custodian, have used them to play along with this childish game of peace. Do you not feel that you have failed this power?"

Safekeeping?

Custodian?

These words left Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan in total disarray.

Was Nagato's Rinnegan not something he was born with? How could it be something left behind by someone else?!

"Nonsense!" Yahiko roared again. He would never allow anyone to shake Nagato's resolve. "Nagato's power belongs to him! It has nothing to do with anyone else!"

"Oh? Is that so?"

Lin Feng curled his lip.

At that moment, Konan could no longer restrain herself; the paper wings behind her flared violently!

"Paper Style: Paper Shuriken!"

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!

Thousands of paper sheets, hardened by chakra, surged toward Lin Feng in the sky like a torrential downpour, blotting out the light!

Every single sheet was as sharp as a blade!

This was a test, and a warning!

Yet, facing this airtight assault, Lin Feng did not even move.

He simply extended one hand, his palm facing the rain of paper.

"Preta Path."

The two words were spoken softly.

The next second, an inconceivable scene unfolded.

The moment those thousands of paper shuriken came within a meter of his body, they seemed to be sucked into an invisible black hole. The chakra within them was instantly drained, reverting them into soft, ordinary scraps of paper that drifted down like a pale snowfall.

On Lin Feng's palm, a tiny, counter-clockwise rotating rune appeared and vanished in a flash.

Konan's face turned deathly pale.

She could feel the chakra connection between herself and those paper sheets being forcibly severed and devoured by an incomprehensible power!

Nagato's entire body shuddered, his pupils contracting sharply!

Because that ability to absorb ninjutsu was exactly one of the "Six Paths" powers of his Rinnegan!

He had explored it himself, but he could never use it as effortlessly or as casually as the man before him!

He... truly understood these eyes! Perhaps even better than he did himself!

Lin Feng slowly withdrew his hand, as if he had just performed a trivial task.

He looked down at the three, who had fallen completely silent, and fixed his gaze once more upon Nagato.

"Now, do you still believe these eyes belong to you?"

His voice was not loud, yet it struck like a heavy hammer against the hearts of Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan.

Nagato's body began to tremble slightly; his worldview was collapsing.

If these eyes were not his own... then what was everything he possessed?

He looked at Yahiko beside him, seeing the worry and resolve in his best friend's eyes.

He looked at Konan, seeing the vigilance and protectiveness in hers.

No!

Nagato abruptly raised his head, and for the first time, his Rinnegan erupted with his own will!

"Even if these eyes were given by you, so what?!"

"Right now, I only want to bring peace to this country with Yahiko and Konan! If you intend to stop us, then I..."

"Oh?" Lin Feng interrupted him, his voice carrying a hint of approval mixed with a touch of mockery. "Finally developed some thoughts of your own? Not bad."

"Since you mentioned peace..."

Lin Feng's body drifted slowly down from the massive rock sphere, hovering at eye level with the three of them.

"Then I shall give you a chance to prove that you have the ability to bring about 'peace'."

His gaze swept over the three, finally settling on Yahiko's face.

"Hanzo the Salamander."

"Didn't you say you had earned his recognition?"

"Then go, kill him. Bring that head of his, still wearing its respirator mask, to me."

"If you succeed, I might consider acknowledging that ridiculous philosophy of peace you hold."