Killing Hanzo as a Pledge? Lord Madara, Are You Out of Your Mind!

"Kill him?"

Yahiko doubted his own ears. He glared at the man hovering in mid-air, unable to believe what he had just heard.

"You want us to kill Hanzo the Salamander?"

This was the most preposterous order under the heavens.

Who was Hanzo the Salamander?

He was the man who had ended the Second Shinobi World War single-handedly, hailed as a "demigod"! He was the pinnacle of the entire Land of Rain! He was the very hope they had just made contact with, the man they intended to join forces with to achieve peace!

And now, this stranger from nowhere was demanding they kill Hanzo the moment he opened his mouth?

"What kind of joke are you playing!" Yahiko's rage flared up instantly. He pointed at Lin Feng and cursed, "Who do you think you are? A god? What right do you have to boss us around! Why should we listen to you!"

Konan's expression was equally grave. The paper fluttering around her body accelerated, shielding her, Yahiko, and Nagato firmly behind her.

This demand had gone beyond the scope of a test; it was forcing them to their deaths.

Only Nagato remained silent, though his body trembled more violently than before.

He stared at the man, and in those purple eyes identical to his own, there was no madness, no mockery—only a sense of matter-of-fact inevitability.

It was as if, in his eyes, killing the "demigod" Hanzo the Salamander was as simple as crushing an ant.

"A god?" Lin Feng repeated the word, then let out a soft chuckle. The sound spread through the cold, rainy curtain, sounding exceptionally grating. "I am not a god. I have simply come to retrieve what is mine and, incidentally, to correct a mistake."

He raised a finger and pointed it toward Yahiko from afar.

"And you are the greatest mistake of all."

"Your so-called philosophy of peace is childish, naive, and utterly foolish. You place your hope in a butcher with blood-stained hands and dream of using 'dialogue' to reform him? How laughable."

"You're lying! When has Lord Hanzo ever colluded with Konoha's Root?" Yahiko retorted heatedly. "What proof do you have!"

"Proof?" Lin Feng acted as if he had heard something amusing. "I am the proof."

"My word is the greatest proof in this world. Believe, or die—you have no third option."

He drifted a few paces closer, the invisible pressure making it nearly impossible for Yahiko to breathe.

"You!" Yahiko's face flushed red with anger, and he opened his mouth to say more.

But in the next second, his entire body froze.

He realized that the ground beneath his feet—the mud and stones soaked by the rain—had begun to float upward, as if countless invisible hands were lifting them.

Immediately after, an irresistible suction force erupted from the palm of the man in the sky!

"Bansho Ten'in."

Lin Feng uttered the four words softly.

Yahiko lost control of his body instantly; his feet left the ground, and he was dragged uncontrollably toward Lin Feng!

"Yahiko!" Konan cried out. Her paper wings snapped open, and countless sheets of paper transformed into ropes, lashing toward Yahiko's body in an attempt to pull him back.

But the moment those paper ropes touched Yahiko, they were shattered by a far greater force!

"Let him go!"

Nagato, who had been silent in the corner, finally erupted.

He jerked his head up, and a shocking repulsive force exploded from his Rinnegan!

"Shinra Tensei!"

BOOM!

A violent repulsive force detonated from his center, attempting to push Yahiko out of that bizarre suction.

Two forces, both originating from the Rinnegan yet diametrically opposed, collided fiercely in mid-air!

Zzzzz--

A grating friction sound tore through the air, and the very space seemed to distort under the pressure of the two powers.

Caught in the middle, Yahiko felt as if his body were about to be torn apart!

Nagato's face turned deathly pale in an instant, and beads of sweat the size of beans rolled down his forehead.

He realized with horror that his "Shinra Tensei" was retreating step by step before the other's suction!

The opponent's power was not only stronger than his, but... purer and more refined! It was like tempered steel clashing against crude pig iron!

"Hmph, does a grain of rice dare to compete with the brilliance of the moon?"

Lin Feng let out a cold snort and tightened his palm slightly.

The suction force intensified abruptly!

Pfft!

Nagato spat out a mouthful of blood and was sent flying backward, slamming into the rock wall as his repulsive field collapsed instantly.

Having lost all resistance, Yahiko was pulled directly to Lin Feng, who grabbed him by the throat and hoisted him into the air.

"Yahiko!"

Konan rushed forward regardless of the consequences, but as soon as she came within three meters of Lin Feng, an invisible force repelled her, sending her crashing heavily to the ground.

The entire sequence of events unfolded in the blink of an eye.

The trio from the Akatsuki, who had been so aggressive just moments ago, were now in shambles: one captured, two severely wounded.

Yahiko's throat was gripped tight, making it difficult for him to breathe. He struggled desperately with his hands and feet, yet he could not shake that hand in the slightest.

He stared in terror at the face inches from his own.

Indifferent, powerful, invincible.

Was this... the gap between them?

"Do you see, Nagato?" Lin Feng ignored the struggling Yahiko in his grasp and cast his gaze toward Nagato, who was struggling to climb to his feet in the distance.

"This is the companion you take such pride in; this is the person you want to protect. Before me, he is as fragile as glass."

"Using the power that should be used to dominate the world to protect such weaklings—that in itself is the greatest blasphemy against those eyes."

Every word he spoke was like a blade, stabbing deep into Nagato's heart.

"Let... let him go..." Nagato clutched his chest, speaking with great difficulty. His Rinnegan was filled with pain and inner turmoil.

"Beg me," Lin Feng said indifferently.

Nagato froze.

"I said, beg me," Lin Feng's voice remained flat. "Look at me with those eyes, lower your arrogant head, and beg me to release him. Let me see just how much your so-called 'bonds' truly weigh in your heart."

Humiliation!

An unprecedented sense of humiliation surged into Nagato's heart.

He, a descendant of the Uzumaki Clan, a man possessing the eyes of a god—was he to bow and beg before another who possessed the same eyes?

He looked at Yahiko, who was being held in mid-air, his face already turning purple.

The life of his dearest friend, versus his own dignity...

Nagato's body trembled violently, his knees bending bit by bit.

"No! Nagato!" Yahiko used his last ounce of strength to roar, "Don't kneel to him! We... we have done nothing wrong!"

Yahiko's words struck Nagato like a bolt of lightning.

His bending knees suddenly straightened.

That's right!

They were not wrong!

What was wrong with pursuing peace?!

Nagato raised his head. The pain and struggle in his Rinnegan faded, replaced by an unprecedented sense of resolve.

"We... will not yield!"

"Oh?" Lin Feng raised an eyebrow in surprise, seemingly not expecting this usually timid brat to be capable of saying such things.

He tightened his grip on Yahiko's throat a little more.

"Is that so? Then I shall crush him first, and then ask you again."

It looked as though Yahiko was about to suffocate.

Suddenly.

"Enough!"

A cold, sharp cry rang out.

It was Konan.

She stood up from the ground, wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, and retracted all her paper shards, along with all her hostility.

She walked up to Lin Feng, tilted her head back, and looked at him calmly.

"We accept your terms."

"We will go and kill Hanzo the Salamander."

Konan's words left both Yahiko and Nagato stunned.

"Konan! You..." Yahiko managed to choke out.

"Be quiet, Yahiko," Konan interrupted him. "We have no choice."

She looked at Lin Feng and said, word for word: "However, you must release him first. Furthermore, you must tell us who you are. And what is your objective?"

This was the best deal she could possibly secure.

Trading an almost impossible mission for the lives of her companions and some precious intelligence.

Lin Feng looked at the blue-haired kunoichi before him, unable to help but admire her inwardly.

Rational, decisive, and capable of making sacrifices.

She was far superior to those two hot-headed fools.

"Very well."

Lin Feng released his grip without hesitation.

Yahiko hit the ground with a thud, clutching his throat as he began to cough violently.

"As for my name, you aren't qualified to know it yet." Lin Feng drifted slowly to the ground, crossing his arms over his chest once more. "As for my purpose..."

He paused, his Rinnegan sweeping over the three of them.

"It is quite simple."

"This world is sick. And I am the doctor who has come to cure it."

"As for Hanzo the Salamander... he is the greatest tumor in this land. You cutting him out is merely the first step of the treatment."

"I will give you three days."

"Three days from now, bring his head to me. If you fail, or if you try to run..."

Lin Feng's figure began to blur, and the space around him twisted once again.

"I will take action myself, and show you what true despair really is."

Before the vortex swallowed him completely, he left behind one final sentence, directed solely at Nagato.

"Nagato, remember how you feel today."

"This sense of powerlessness, of humiliation, of watching your companion suffer while being unable to do a single thing."

"Savor it well, and then... hunger for power."

The voice vanished, and so did the man.

Only the three members of the Akatsuki remained, standing frozen in the cold rain, staring at one another.

"Konan, why did you agree to him! That's Hanzo we're talking about!" Yahiko caught his breath and demanded, his voice filled with agitation.

Konan did not answer; she simply walked over in silence to help the injured Nagato to his feet.

Nagato kept his head bowed, saying nothing, but his fists were clenched so tightly that his nails had dug deep into his flesh.

Powerlessness... humiliation...

That man's words echoed in his mind like a curse.

Suddenly, as if she had discovered something, Konan picked an object up from the ground.

It was a small, black shard of metal, engraved with a pattern they knew all too well.

A fan-shaped clan crest.

"This is..." Konan's pupils constricted sharply.

"The Uchiha clan crest!"