When the Rain Cleared, Cleaning House
"Boom!"
A colossal phantom of King of Hell pierced through the thick, dark clouds of Amegakure and descended upon the tower.
Nagato's withered hands clasped tightly together in front of Nagato chest, and his shattered body erupted with a terrifying Chakra, like a final burst of energy before death. His gray hair danced wildly in the wind like withered grass, and the purple light in his eye sockets shone to its extreme, distorting even the surrounding space.
Heretical Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique!
A massive amount of life energy erupted from King of Hell's mouth, transforming into countless emerald-green orbs of light. Like a reversed meteor shower, they streaked across the sky and hurtled towards the distant Land of Fire.
Hidden Leaf Ruins
Shikamaru sat slumped on the rubble, his eyes dimming as he looked at the rows of civilian and ninja bodies covered with white sheets not far away. The attack had come too suddenly; even with Naruto's Flying Thunder God to rescue and divert the flow of people, many still died from the collapse of buildings and the trampling of the Animal Path's summoned beasts.
Suddenly, a drop of green light landed on the white cloth.
Immediately afterwards, a torrential downpour of green rain poured down.
"What's that?" Choji wiped the mud off his face and looked up blankly.
A miracle occurred at that moment. The body, which had been absorbed by the rain of light, began to regenerate tissue and blood at a visible speed from its fatal wounds. The next second, the Chunin, who had been dead for several hours, Chunin sat up straight, gasping for breath.
"A zombie? Or a medical miracle?" Shikamaru dropped the half-smoked cigarette between his fingers, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.
In the distance, Sakura, who had just Sasuke's wounds, stared blankly as more than a dozen civilians who had been declared dead got up one after another, and the medical bandage in her hand slipped out.
"The source of the Chakra is in the northwest... An immense amount of life force is flowing back in!" Hinata her Byakugan, her gaze piercing through hundreds of kilometers, her voice filled with undisguised shock, "It's in Naruto-kun's direction!"
The oppressive silence in Hidden Leaf was instantly shattered, and incredulous gasps gradually coalesced into a joyous celebration of survival.
Inside the Hidden Rain Tower, Nagato, his life force completely drained, lay with his hands hanging limply at his sides.
He had already been pierced through the heart by the spear that Black Zetsu had transformed into, and that earth-shattering blow had completely drained the last bit of life from his bones. At this moment, even breathing had become a luxurious form of torture for him.
Konan knelt in the puddles, tears mingling with the rain as they streamed down her face. She tried to reach out and cover the drafty, bloody hole, but it was no use; she could only watch helplessly as the Kakkō of life was extinguished in his eyes.
"Alright, stop wasting your energy. If your heart were shattered into a pulp, even gods would have to line up to be reincarnated."
Naruto strode closer, his tone devoid of warmth. He raised his right hand, and a blinding burst of pure golden light erupted from his palm, which he ruthlessly pressed against Nagato's fatal chest wound.
The Chakra, pure and powerful, surged into Nagato's dying meridians, forcefully locking away his last heartbeat.
It wasn't to save him, it was just to get him to finish what he had to say.
Nagato's cloudy eyes suddenly widened, his chest heaving violently, and he miraculously regained the strength to speak.
"Naruto Uzumaki ..." Nagato stared intently at the domineering blond boy in front of him.
"Shut up and listen to me." Naruto pulled another scroll from his ninja tool pouch and slammed it into a puddle next to Nagato.
"Didn't you always think that without absolute pain, powerful nations wouldn't give up bullying smaller nations?" Naruto tapped the scroll with his toe. "Open your eyes wide and see clearly what this is."
As the scroll unfurled, the seal of the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning and the bloody handprint of the Fourth Raikage stood out starkly against the dark tower.
Nagato lowered his gaze and carefully read the terms and conditions.
The Kumogakure will permanently cease all Kekkei Genkai plundering... the clandestine trading of Jinchūriki is strictly prohibited... economic exchanges will be implemented along the border between the two countries... all under the full supervision of the Uzumaki Clan Hidden Leaf...
"Did you force them to sign this?" Nagato's voice was hoarse, his face filled with disbelief. How could a great power willingly sign such a self-destructive compromise treaty?
"Might makes right, and I set the rules." Naruto looked down at him, his voice echoing through the hall. "The peace you want isn't about stuffing a few Tailed Beast into broken pots to scare people. That's terrorism, not peace!"
Naruto pointed to the ruins in the rain outside the window. "True peace is a treaty in black and white that ensures people can eat! It's about using absolute force to break the backbone of those ambitious people and force them to sit obediently at the table and reason with you!"
"I disdain being some kind of savior," Naruto sneered. "But who dares to touch the people I protect? Today I can beat the Raikage to a pulp and force him to sign, and tomorrow I can make the entire Shinobi World run according to my rules."
Nagato shuddered violently.
The divine awe he had spent his entire life pursuing seemed so naive and laughable before this eighteen-year-old boy. This seemingly arrogant banditry was closer to the truth than any idealistic slogan. Wasn't this the kind of rule that allowed everyone to live openly and honestly in the sunlight exactly what Yahiko had wanted?
"Konan..." Nagato turned his head with difficulty.
Konan clutched the yellowed old photograph, forcefully wiping away her tears, her back ramrod straight. "I will stay and organize Hidden Rain. But from today onwards, I will no longer kill for anyone."
"I'm no longer going to be God's mouthpiece, Nagato." Konan looked directly into his lifeless eyes. "Amegakure, you must stand up for yourselves."
Upon hearing this, Nagato managed a forced, relieved smile from his withered lips.
"Is that so... You've finally stopped listening to me..." Nagato's voice grew softer and softer, as if a gust of wind could carry it away. "Yahiko... We two idiots... We've gone astray..."
He used the last of his strength to loosen his clenched fingers.
"Naruto Uzumaki... the Rinnegan... is entrusted to you... don't let Obito..."
The sound abruptly stopped. Nagato's head tilted limply to one side, his pupils completely dilated. The true form of Pain, who struck fear into the hearts of the Shinobi World, breathed his last at this moment.
Just as Nagato closed her eyes...
Outside the tower, the torrential rain that had been falling for decades suddenly stopped.
A thick layer of gray-black clouds split open in the middle, and a faint but dazzling ray of sunlight, like a sharp sword, cleaved through the gloom and shone directly into the messy hall of the tower, landing precisely on Nagato's pale face.
Konan looked up at the long-lost sunlight, tears streaming down her face.
Naruto showed no feigned compassion or mourning. He swiftly crouched down, his right hand forming a blade, the tip of his finger glowing with the blue light of Chakra Scalpel, and with precise, ruthless strokes, he slit open Nagato's eye socket.
"Pfft."
Two Rinnegan, shimmering with an eerie purple light, were cleanly and efficiently dug out. Naruto casually took out a specially made glass sealing jar, soaked the eyes in nutrient solution, and then his hands formed hand Hand Seals like afterimages.
"Great Evolution Divine Soul Art - Ninefold Meridian Lock!"
Several golden Chakra runes crawled all over the glass jar like living things, completely blocking the fluctuations of the Rinnegan.
Konan, watching Naruto's swift and decisive methods of destroying the body and disposing of evidence, felt not anger, but rather a strong sense of security welling up inside her.
"That bastard Obito an expert in Space-Time Ninjutsu. These eyes on a dead person are like a piece of meat hanging at a thief's door." Naruto stuffed the jar into the sealing scroll, clapped his hands, and stood up. "I'll take this back to Hidden Leaf. You'll have to clean up the mess in Amegakure yourself."
"Won't Hidden Leaf take this opportunity to annex Hidden Rain?" Konan asked the most practical question.
"They don't have the guts." Naruto turned around, his back to the sunlight, his silhouette edged with a dazzling gold. "Because I said, this is my territory. If Hidden Rain runs into trouble in the future, bring this Explosive Tag to the Uzumaki base and come find me."
He tossed a talisman with a special incantation drawn on it to Konan, then turned his head, a chilling killing intent flashing in his blue eyes. "And now, I need to go back and clean up my own mess."
Meanwhile, in the Land of Fire, deep beneath Konoha lies the "Root" base.
In the damp, dark corridor, the torches flickered.
Shimura Danzō sat upright on a large stone chair, his single eye gleaming with greed and calculation. Kneeling before him were two maskless elite members of the Root.
" With Deva Path Pain's fall, Tsunade and the main force are busy treating the wounded. Their Chakra is greatly depleted, and they are at their weakest." Danzo leaned on his cane and slowly stood up. Under the thick bandages wrapped around the right side of his body, something seemed to be wriggling restlessly.
"A golden opportunity." Danzo's voice was hoarse and cold. "Naruto Uzumaki is being held back in Amegakure by Pain's main body and will definitely not be able to return anytime soon."
He slammed his fist on the ground. "Pass down the order! Immediately seal off the Hokage Building! Use Tsunade's inadequate defense, which led to the devastating blow to Hidden Leaf, as a pretext to seize supreme command!"
"From this day forward, I am the Sixth Hokage!"
"Yes!" The two Root ninjas instantly vanished in the blink of an eye.
Danzo stroked the bandage on his right arm, a smug, triumphant smile playing on his lips. Once he controlled the moral high ground of Hidden Leaf, even if Naruto Uzumaki returned, he would have no choice but to submit to the Hokage's orders.
However, just as he turned to step out of the base...
"Snap!"
The seemingly indestructible basement dome suddenly cracked open, revealing a bottomless fissure.
The blinding golden beam of light, like a sword of Damocles, ruthlessly shattered the tens of meters thick rock layers and sealing barrier, slamming straight down on the stone slab half a meter in front of Danzo's feet.
Amidst the exploding smoke and dust, a specially made trident Kunai engraved with the Flying Thunder God Formula was deeply embedded in the ground, the talisman at its end still trembling wildly.
A voice, chilling to the bone and imbued with the terrifying power of the Nine-Tails, resounded throughout the entire underground base.
"Old dog, who do you want to be Hokage for?"