What did Yahiko truly want?
Dark red steam exploded violently inside the tower.
The ultimate power brought by the Seventh Gate of the Eight Gates compressed the air around Naruto into a visible white shockwave. He didn't make any Hand Seals or even use Ninjutsu; he relied purely on the explosive power of his muscles to deliver a straight punch that slammed into the leather glove that had emerged from the spatial Uzumaki.
A hint of mockery flashed in the single eye beneath Obito's mask.
Kamui's intangibility was activated, rendering him completely unaffected by physical attacks. He slightly bent his finger, aiming directly for Nagato's right eye.
"Playing tricks on me!"
Naruto sneered. Just as his fist was about to pierce Obito's wrist, the extremely domineering Yang Release Chakra within him suddenly changed direction. The Great Evolution Divine Soul Art instantly locked onto the Sharingan frequency of Chakra's Obito.
Golden Chakra, flowing along with dark red steam, clung tightly to the distorting space.
The spatial passage was forcibly blocked for a moment!
Obito's originally ethereal half of his body was forced into a solid outline by the Yang Release Chakra.
"Bang!"
The fist slammed solidly into Obito's arm. A sickening cracking sound rang out, and Obito groaned as his entire right arm twisted and snapped at an unnatural angle. The leather glove instantly shattered into pieces, and blood spurted out.
"Damn brat!" Obito that stealing the Rinnegan was hopeless, Obito decisively severed the spatial Uzumaki. A chilling, extremely venomous light flashed from his single eye. "Let's see how long you can protect him!"
The Uzumaki closed, Obito's figure disappeared completely.
Naruto completely ignored Obito's escape, grabbed a dazzling Yang Release Rasengan in his hand, and slammed it hard into the cluster of black pipes connecting to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path behind Nagato.
"Sizzle--"
The purest and most yang Chakra collided with the Ten-Tails' dark origin, exploding with a pungent, burnt smell. The thick pipes were all melted and severed. The illusory Demonic Statue of the Outer Path in mid-air let out a muffled wail before collapsing with a deafening roar.
Nagato slammed heavily onto the wheelchair like a tattered rag bag drained of its strength.
He vomited large mouthfuls of black blood, and his already withered body now struggled to even breathe. His once majestic Rinnegan were now so dim that the purple light was almost completely gone.
"You... why..." Nagato gripped the armrests of his wheelchair tightly, raising his head to stare at Naruto. "Without the deterrent power of the Divine Nation... without the power of the Golem... the great powers of this world will continue to treat small nations as battlefields! As long as there are interests at stake, the killing will not stop!"
Nagato's voice was shrill and hoarse, revealing a madness born of desperation.
"You ninjas from great nations living under the sun will never understand the pain of Amegakure! Only when the whole world feels this desperate suffering will they learn to be afraid and stop!"
Naruto withdrew his Gate of Wonder, and the dark red steam on his body slowly dissipated.
He coldly stared at the crazed Nagato, not even bothering to argue with him. He reached into his ninja tool pouch, pulled out two scrolls stained with mud and blood, and slammed them onto Nagato's Nagato face.
The scroll rolled down and spread out on the floor.
"Open your fake eyes and see clearly! This is the kind of worm you'll never understand!" Naruto pointed down at the scroll.
Nagato lowered his gaze.
The scroll on the left is a preliminary battle report of the Battle of the Hidden Leaf Defense. It clearly records that the Hyuga Clan Main Family and branch family broke up their formation and stood back to back to defend the East Third Street. Not a single member of the branch family triggered the Caged Bird Seal, and the head of the Main Family, Hyuga Hiashi, even took a fatal blow for the branch family.
The scroll on the right bears the bloody handprints of the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning and the Fourth Raikage. The terms are clearly stated: Kumogakure will permanently cease all Kekkei Genkai plundering and strictly prohibit the secret trading of Jinchūriki. The execution of these rules will be fully supervised by the Uzumaki Clan of Hidden Leaf.
Nagato's eyelids twitched violently.
"Your so-called peace is making everyone kneel in fear, having to watch their breath as you dictate their every move?" Naruto said, each word distinct, his voice echoing through the hall. "What's the difference between that and treating people like domesticated animals? Do you really think you can control the entire world with a few broken iron bars?"
"This is impossible..." Nagato stared intently at the Hyuga Clan's battle report. "How could a powerful clan abandon the enslavement of the weak... How could a great nation voluntarily compromise..."
"Nothing is impossible. Rules are made by people, and might makes right." Naruto scoffed. "I am the rule of Hidden Leaf now! If I don't want to trample on you, who dares to? But the people I protect aren't cowards who establish their authority by killing civilians!"
Nagato trembled all over. He wanted to argue, to tell Naruto loudly that these were just temporary compromises, that human nature was inherently evil, and that things would revert to the way they were in a few years.
But he didn't even have the strength to open his mouth.
Because subconsciously, he was afraid. If what was written on the scroll was true, if people could understand each other and establish a new order without extreme suffering... then what about the master Jiraiya he had killed over the years, the countless villages he had destroyed, and even the remains of his companions he had personally broken to create the Six Paths?
Once he admits that Naruto is right, his entire life will be that of a clown who has been completely manipulated and yet still considers himself a god!
"Nagato."
Konan stepped forward, her boots making a soft sound as they stepped into the rain.
She didn't look at the scroll on the ground, but instead took out an old photograph with yellowed edges from her bosom. In the photograph, Yahiko, with orange hair, smiled brightly, his arms around the Nagato of Konan, with blue hair.
Konan shoved the photo into Nagato's still trembling hand.
"Do you still remember the original intention of Yahiko Akatsuki?" Konan's voice was soft, but it pierced Nagato's heart like a knife.
Nagato stared intently at the photograph, her lips devoid of color.
"Yahiko said he wanted everyone in this perpetually rainy country to be able to walk with their heads held high." Konan turned around and pointed to the French window that Naruto had kicked open.
Outside the window, the steel buildings of Amegakure stood tall in the torrential rain. Without Chakra's Nagato to sustain them, the Rain Tiger at Will Technique barrier in the sky had failed. The cold, natural downpour pounded on the streets.
On the street corner, several civilians wearing raincoats huddled in the shadows. When they saw the shattered iron pipes of Pain falling from the tower, their first reaction was not to cheer, but to cover the mouths of the children beside them with terrified expressions, and even kneel down, fearing that they would be implicated.
"Look at them." Konan's eyes reddened. "They fear Hidden Leaf, they fear the other great powers. But right now, what they fear most is you, this god."
"Yahiko wanted everyone to hold their heads high." Konan turned her gaze to Nagato. "But you only made everyone so afraid that they lowered their heads even further."
Boom!
A blinding flash of lightning struck outside the window, illuminating Nagato's horribly disfigured face.
The last shred of resistance was utterly crushed.
Two streams of tears slid down Nagato's cheeks. He clutched the old photograph tightly, a dying, animalistic whimper escaping his throat. He finally understood that he had personally turned Yahiko's dream into a nightmare from which this village would never awaken.
"What... what have I... done..." Nagato slumped down, letting the scroll fall to the ground.
Naruto looked at Nagato, whose defenses had completely crumbled, without a shred of sympathy. He twirled the Flying Thunder God Kunai in his hand. "It's not too late to admit your mistakes now. Spill out all the information about Obito and Zetsu, then obediently come back to Hidden Leaf with me to face judgment. For Konan's sake, I'll spare your life to atone for your sins."
Nagato slowly closed his eyes. He knew he was going to die; the Rinnegan, which had overdrawn his life force, had already drained him of everything.
But he decided to do one last right thing.
"Obito's true identity... is..." Nagato mustered his last bit of strength, preparing to mobilize his remaining Chakra to use the Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to revive the civilians who died in the battle of Hidden Leaf, as a final act of atonement.
Just then, something unexpected happened!
From the depths of the azure ice layer that trapped Black Zetsu in the corner of the tower, a strange tearing sound suddenly came.
"Snap."
The Black Zetsu liquid, which had been suppressed by Yang Release, unexpectedly lost its black color and turned into a disgusting grayish-white mass of flesh.
That's White Zetsu's clone!
The real Black Zetsu wasn't frozen at all!
"Nagato, the Divine Nation hasn't been established yet, how can you leave prematurely?"
The chilling voice emanated directly from the base of Nagato's wheelchair.
A pool of pitch-black, viscous liquid instantly spurted up the metal rim of the wheelchair onto Nagato's back. Black Zetsu had no intention of seizing control of the body; instead, it transformed into an extremely sharp black spear, piercing straight through Nagato's chest from behind!
"Pfft!"
Fresh blood mixed with fragments of internal organs gushed out.
"Nagato!" Konan's eyes widened in fury, and the paper blade in her hand instantly materialized as she slashed at Black Zetsu like a madman.
"Too late." Obito's mocking voice echoed once more from the spatial Uzumaki above Nagato's head.
This time, Obito's unharmed left hand gripped Nagato's neck. And on the black spear that Black Zetsu had pierced Nagato's heart, rings of chilling dark purple runes lit up.
That was a forbidden Cursed Seal unique to Madara Uchiha.
"You think cutting the pipes will stop the Golem?" Obito looked down at the furious Naruto. "Naruto Uzumaki, you don't understand the Rinnegan at all. As long as his heart is still beating, he's the best sacrifice."
The Nagato, pierced through the chest, let out a bloodcurdling scream, its eyes bulging out suddenly.
Beneath the tower, the entire earth of Amegakure began to tremble violently. A malevolent Chakra, ten times stronger than before, was bursting through the underground rock layers, roaring as it awakened.