The Last Black Rod, a False God's Final Trust

The floor at the top of the tower was shaking violently.

The evil Chakra belonging to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path deep underground was flowing continuously into Nagato's body through the spear that Black Zetsu had transformed into. This was not a gift of energy, but a most cruel form of exploitation.

"The Rinnegan will eventually return to its original owner." Obito's cold voice pierced through the rain. His left hand, gloved with leather, suddenly exerted force, his five fingers like steel claws, gripping Nagato's right eye socket.

"Who do you think you are, trying to steal my spoils in front of me!"

Boom!

A shockwave exploded. The azure ice beneath Naruto's feet shattered instantly. The dark red steam from the Seventh Gate of the Eight Gates surged back violently, perfectly intertwining with the boundless golden light of Yang Release within his body.

He didn't use any fancy Hand Seals; he simply pushed his speed to the limit. A golden-red afterimage stretched through the air as Naruto's fist slammed into Obito's face.

A mocking glint flashed in Obito's single eye beneath Obito mask. Kamui activated his Kamui instincts, instantly turning his body semi-transparent, ready to let the punch pass through him, while his right hand continued to grab at Nagato's eye.

"Hide? I'll cut off your internet connection!"

Naruto grinned coldly. The purple-gold light in his eyes surged instantly, and the Great Evolution Divine Soul Art was running at full power. His immense spiritual power, like invisible steel nails, slammed into the distorted spatial passage, following the Chakra fluctuations of Sharingan's Obito.

Obito's mocking expression froze abruptly.

The space around him made a screeching sound like a jammed gear, and his originally ethereal half of his body was forced back into a solid outline by an extremely domineering Yang Power!

"Bang!"

The punch landed squarely on Obito's left shoulder. The crisp sound of bones breaking echoed through the tower, Obito was sent flying backward by the terrifying Monster Strength, crashing into three load-bearing pillars and shattering half of his black robe.

"Damn it! What did you do?!" Obito scrambled to his feet from the rubble, a crack appearing in his mask, revealing a single eye that stared intently at Naruto, his expression one of undisguised shock. Kamui's Absolute Defense had been forcibly broken by a brat who didn't use Space-Time Ninjutsu!

"I've smashed your turtle shell." Naruto flicked the blood off his fist, took a step forward, and said, "Now, get out of my territory."

However, the crisis was not over.

"Hehehe... Even if you stop him, this body is already ruined." Black Zetsu's cold and grating voice came from Nagato's chest.

On the black spear that pierced Nagato's heart, dark purple runes suddenly lit up. Nagato's previously unfocused pupils suddenly contracted, and he let out an extremely shrill scream. His withered hands lost control, forcibly forming a hand seal in an extremely bizarre and twisted posture.

"A death throes!" Black Zetsu grinned maliciously.

Rumble!

The ruins beneath Nagato's feet exploded completely, and dozens of Black Rod, as thick as an adult's arm and gleaming with a dark, cold light, carrying the violent power of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, burst forth like a thorny forest from the ground, indiscriminately stabbing towards Naruto and Konan from all directions!

This was Black Zetsu's desperate counterattack, launched after forcibly squeezing the last drop of blood from Nagato's bones.

"Naruto, watch out! That's Yin–Yang Release Black Rod that can seal meridians!" Konan shouted a warning, her paper wings suddenly unfurling as she tried to block it.

"Don't try to disgust me with this piece of junk."

Naruto stood still, not retreating even half a step. His hands Hand Seals, and the energy and blood of the Uzumaki Sage Body surged within him like Dotō.

"Adamantine Sealing Chains - Town!"

Nine golden Chakra Chains, ten times thicker than the Black Rod, burst forth from Naruto's back with overwhelming divine power. The golden chains, like living dragons, precisely wrapped around each of the incoming Black Rod.

The two collided, producing dazzling sparks and a teeth-grinding scraping sound.

"Break it!" Naruto roared, pulling his arms outward with a sudden force.

Click! Click! Click!

The Black Rod of the Outer Path, which struck fear into the entire Shinobi World and could suppress Tailed Beast, was as fragile as a withered tree branch under the pure Yang Release chain strangulation, and was directly broken inch by inch, turning into a pile of scrap metal.

For the first time, Black Zetsu's voice carried a hint of panic. "How is this possible... He can even crush the power of an Outer Path..."

"Now, it's my turn."

Konan had appeared behind Nagato's wheelchair without anyone noticing. She completely ignored the broken Black Rod and instead grabbed the black spear that had pierced Nagato's heart with both hands without hesitation.

Sizzle!

The corrosive power emanating from Black Zetsu instantly scalded Konan's hands, causing them to bleed profusely. However, her eyes showed no sign of flinching.

"I told you, we've been tricked." Konan gritted her teeth, and a large number of Explosive Tag poured out of her sleeves, like white cocoons, instantly enveloping Black Zetsu's body and the chakra lines connecting Nagato 'Chakra nerves. "Nagato, wake up!"

Boom--!

A directional blast occurred at close range behind the wheelchair.

It didn't harm Nagato in the slightest, but the extremely concentrated destructive power directly blasted the spear that Black Zetsu had transformed into countless black pieces of flesh, completely severing its neural control over Nagato.

Meanwhile, far above the ruins of Konoha in the Land of Fire.

Deva Path Pain, who was hovering in mid-air and trying to reassemble his Chakra, suddenly convulsed violently. The purple light of his Rinnegan flickered twice like a candle in the wind before going out completely.

Deva Path Pain, having lost all his Chakra supply, plummeted straight down from the sky like a puppet with its strings cut, crashing with a loud bang into the shattered pile of rocks below the Hokage Rock, sending up clouds of dust.

Not far away, Shikamaru, covered in mud, leaned on his knees and gasped for breath. Seeing that scene, his tense nerves finally relaxed.

Kakashi pushed away the stone slab pressing down on him, looked up at the clearing sky, and murmured, "It's over..."

The crisis in Hidden Leaf was completely resolved at this moment.

Inside the tower in Amegakure.

"Useless!" Obito cursed under his breath, seeing that the situation was hopeless. He knew that with Naruto present, he would definitely not be able to take the Rinnegan today. The spatial Uzumaki twisted behind him again, and he sucked the heavily injured Black Zetsu's remains into the Kamui Space. He glanced coldly at Naruto, "Naruto Uzumaki, you can temporarily leave your eyes in your Hidden Leaf. Next time, I will take them back along with the Nine-Tails."

As soon as he finished speaking, the space closed, Obito vanished without a trace.

A fierce wind howled and swept into the tower. The roar of battle ceased, leaving only the sound of cold rain.

Like a piece of dead, withered wood, Nagato slid off his broken wheelchair and crashed heavily into the cold, stagnant water. Black blood continued to gush from the gaping hole in his chest; his life force had been drained to its last breath.

Konan knelt beside Nagato, ignoring the deep, bone-revealing wounds on her hands, desperately trying to stop the bleeding with healing talismans, but the blood just wouldn't stop.

"Don't waste your energy." Naruto stepped forward, looking down at Nagato on the ground. The golden light around Nagato had subsided, but the oppressive aura that made people afraid to look directly at him remained.

Nagato laboriously turned his eyes, his gaze passing over Konan's shoulder to the old photograph on the ground, soaked by rain and covered in mud. In the photograph, Yahiko's smile was still so glaring.

Nagato, trembling, reached out his bony hand and clenched the photograph tightly in his palm. In those eyes that once proclaimed themselves gods, all the indifference and madness had finally faded, leaving only the fragility and regret of a mortal.

"So... it was wrong from the very beginning..." Nagato's lips moved, each word escaping accompanied by blood and froth, "Yahiko... I turned your dream... into a joke..."

He spent his entire life trying to force world peace through suffering, only to end up as someone else's hired hand, used to collect Tailed Beast and revive Golem.

Konan's tears finally broke free and dripped onto Nagato's pale face.

With his last ounce of strength, Nagato turned his head slightly, his lifeless gaze meeting Naruto's clear yet wild blue eyes. He knew that this boy from Hidden Leaf possessed a power that even Madara Uchiha could not ignore, and a domineering arrogance that could trample rules underfoot.

Nagato suddenly reached out his bloodied hand and grabbed the edge of Naruto's trouser leg tightly.

"Uzumaki... Naruto..." Nagato's Nagato chest heaved violently as he asked the last question of his life in an extremely hoarse voice, a question that had been weighing on his heart for decades.

"If... I stop... and stop using pain to intimidate..."

Nagato's eyes were fixed on Naruto, filled with the last plea of a dying man. "Those great nations... will they really let us go... Amegakure... what will become of those who are crying in the rain...?"

Naruto didn't mind the blood on his hands.

He slowly squatted down, looked directly into Nagato's eyes, and instead of spouting any grand and righteous nonsense, he replied with the most down-to-earth yet arrogant statement.

"No one dares to step on the territory protected by Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto's tone was calm, yet carried an unwavering weight. "From today onwards, the rules of Hidden Leaf are the shield of Hidden Rain. Anyone who dares to touch an inch of Hidden Rain's land, I'll make their entire village mourn."

Nagato was stunned.

A few seconds later, the man who had brought endless fear to the Shinobi World managed to force a relieved smile onto his lips.

"Is that so...? So this is what was needed..."

Nagato released Naruto's hand and slowly lay down in the water. His hands, in an extremely weak yet incredibly firm gesture, slowly clasped together in front of his chest.

Deep within his pupils, the purple light of the Rinnegan, which had previously been extinguished, suddenly erupted with a radiance more brilliant and sacred than ever before. An extremely vast Chakra fluctuation, even touching upon the laws of life and death, rippled outwards from Nagato's center.

"What do you want to do?!" Konan sensed the nature of the Chakra and stared wide-eyed in horror.

"Since... we were so terribly wrong..." Nagato's hair had turned completely gray, and the skin on his face was cracking inch by inch. "Then I'll use this worthless life of mine... to pay back the debts I owe you."

Heretical Path: The Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, watching the enormous phantom of King of Hell suddenly break through the rain clouds above the tower and descend, a slight smile playing on his lips.

The old gods are dying. But the real storm has only just begun.