Animal Path, the Unexpected Candidate!

"I never thought that even White Zetsu's intelligence network wouldn't know where Orochimaru was now. He really was worthy of being the man I had my eye on~."

"But fortunately, I successfully obtained the clue that would lead me to Orochimaru..."

Whoosh! Thud!

White Zetsu fell.

Nagato stared at the white fibrous matter in his hand and murmured, "As expected, White Zetsu has a soul too..."

The right to use White Zetsu was in Obito's hands.

Perhaps this White Zetsu corpse and soul would prove greatly useful in the future.

"I'll seal them away for now."

—Naraka Path!

Clang!

Amid the purple earthfire, the King of Hell rose blazing. Nagato tossed White Zetsu's corpse and soul inside for safekeeping, and it sank into the ground, vanishing from sight.

"Nagato, what was that just now..." Konan asked in surprise.

"That guy was sent by Madara to monitor us."

"I know... I'm talking about the ability you just used."

"Oh! This is one of the Rinnegan's Six Paths abilities. I could use it after waking up from this injury, but I'm still not proficient. It needs to be honed in actual combat."

"I see..." Konan thought. After that burst of power during the battle with Hanzo, not only had Nagato's chakra increased, but his control over the Rinnegan had improved as well...

Nagato sighed inwardly. Thanks to that dream, both my body and mind became those of a shinobi. Otherwise, reaching this point would have required countless twists and turns...

But the free meal Heaven had given him probably ended here. From now on, he needed to move forward with his feet firmly on the ground.

"Konan, I'll tell you now why we won't make contact with Madara until a year from now."

Within the dim nest stood a gigantic Demonic Statue, with countless White Zetsu hanging in the air.

An aloe-like head slowly emerged from the Demonic Statue, bringing unwelcome news. "The clone monitoring Nagato was taken out."

Obito's pupil flickered. "That guy is warning us."

"What should we do? Keep sending clones to monitor him?"

"There's no need. Not only that, from now on, wherever Nagato appears, you should all take the initiative to stay far away."

"Hey, hey, won't that put us at a disadvantage?"

"It's fine. I've figured it out. It's only one year. Even if we let him grow freely, he won't reach a point beyond our control."

"Besides... Nagato isn't the only piece in my plan."

As his words fell, Obito vanished into the vortex of Kamui.

White Zetsu said, "He's gone to Konoha again to watch his rival in love visit his beloved's grave."

Black Zetsu said, "Heh. If you ask me, what he should do most is take back the left eye he left with Kakashi and complete the pair."

White Zetsu said, "That's right. Once those eyes are together, I can't imagine anyone in the Shinobi World still being his match."

Black Zetsu said, "That kid with his mental obsession is truly a headache."

White Zetsu said, "Don't say that. Don't forget we share the same head!"

Inside the cave, Konan was utterly shocked after hearing the truth.

"Madara knew Hanzo and Danzo had joined forces to attack us, yet he just stood by and watched it happen?"

"Yeah. I only figured out the reason after noticing him watching from the sidelines midway through."

"Yahiko repeatedly stopped him from getting close to me. He saw Yahiko as a thorn in his side."

"Infinite Tsukuyomi... He vividly painted that dreamlike world for us, and even I was once lost in it. Yahiko's death was what made me see through it."

"This must be Madara's deception. He only wants to use my Rinnegan to fulfill his own ambitions."

Nagato was not arrogant enough to tell Konan everything he had seen from a god's-eye view. Instead, he reasoned and reflected as a rational, ordinary person would from Nagato's current perspective.

He believed this was the safest approach.

It would allow Konan to understand his future policies and actions without carrying unnecessary mental burdens.

"Nagato, while you were unconscious, I tried contacting Daibutsu and Kyūsuke, but there was no response..."

"I thought they had fallen victim to Hanzo. Now it seems Madara was responsible."

"Damn it... Yahiko and everyone else were killed by someone like that..." Konan said through gritted teeth, clenching her fists.

"Yeah. For now, I can't completely fall out with him, but I also can't be controlled by him. So through negotiation, I secured a one-year buffer period."

Konan looked at him. "After one year, are you planning to go to war with him directly?"

Nagato said, "That depends on the situation. But at the very least, I need to use this year to gain the power to challenge him!"

"One year... That's far too rushed." Konan secretly resolved, I can't let Nagato bear all this alone. I need to help him in my own way too!

"Nagato, go ahead and do what you need to do. I'll support you with everything I have!"

"Konan, take me to see Yahiko. I still haven't seen him since waking up."

Konan's expression dimmed, and her gaze turned toward the depths of the cave.

Deep within the cave, several eternal lamps glowed beneath a stalactite-covered rock wall.

Inside a coffin filled with paper flowers, Yahiko lay with his hands folded over his chest, sleeping peacefully and forever.

Konan gently caressed Yahiko's cold cheek. Unable to suppress her grief any longer, tears streamed down her face.

Lin Feng felt a complicated swirl of emotions as he gazed at Yahiko's remains and mourned him in silence.

It was not merely the appreciation of a diehard Naruto fan for a character.

It was also because, in reality, he too had been an orphan...

And his experience had been even more tragic.

He had been abandoned by his parents at birth and raised in an orphanage.

Because of his withdrawn personality, he had never had companions like Yahiko and Konan. He had suffered bullying, become isolated for a time, and even wanted to end his life.

At the darkest point in his life, he encountered the Naruto anime, and from then on, there was no turning back.

What moved him most was not Naruto's cheerfulness, Sasuke's coldness, Obito's madness, or Madara's arrogance... It was the friendship of the three Amegakure orphans, supporting one another through chaotic times.

Oh, right. Konan was his one and only unattainable love across dimensions.

He had also longed for a friend like Yahiko, but unfortunately... he had never gotten his wish.

"Yahiko, if I had a friend like you in real life, I probably wouldn't yearn for the world of anime so much."

"But in the end, I have to live for myself, so I don't plan on reviving you."

"Though the living you can't join my journey, I will let the dead you remain by our side forever as Deva Path Pain!"

When Konan's sobs ceased, Lin Feng... no, Nagato gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Konan, although Yahiko is gone, he will still remain with us."

"Nagato, what do you mean by that..."

"I have a technique that can ensure the dead remain in this world and move just like living people."

Under Konan's shocked gaze, a Black Rod slowly slid out from beneath the sleeve of his robe...

Half an hour later, Deva Path Yahiko stood up from the coffin.

Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar person before her, Konan's heart found a small measure of comfort.

"Does this technique have a name?"

Nagato stroked the back of his neck, hidden beneath his collar. A short Black Rod protruded there. It was a chakra transmitter, corresponding to the receivers on Pain's body.

Back when Nagato's body had been crippled, Black Rods had covered his back.

Now, his body was healthy, and he had awakened Uzumaki Power early, so there was no need to make things so complicated.

"This technique is called the Six Paths Technique. Born from pain, it moves forward through death. Its creation is called Pain."

"Yahiko is the highest-ranking Deva Path among the Six Paths of Pain."

"Pain... Six Paths. So that means there are five remaining Paths? Do we need five more corpses?"

"Yes."

In the original story, Nagato had fully developed the Six Paths of Pain because he lacked mobility.

But the advantages of the Pain technique brought far more than just mobility.

Nagato decided to inherit this technique and optimize its weaknesses through actual combat, striving to develop it to its fullest.

By common understanding, the most crucial among the Six Paths, aside from the Deva Path, was the Naraka Path.

But in Nagato's view, it was the Animal Path.

Nagato himself could replace the Naraka Path's function of reviving Pain.

And the Animal Path... could summon "people."

"The Animal Path can, to a certain extent, replace the function of space-time ninjutsu."

"Therefore, besides the Deva Path, it is the second most indispensable."

Furthermore, because of those functions, the Animal Path would inevitably be the one most often accompanying him and Konan, so it was best to choose a woman.

Unfortunately, the "Loli Path" so often discussed by Naruto fans—the Amegakure shinobi named Ajisai—had not yet been born.

But... Nagato already had a replacement candidate for the Loli Path, and a ready-made one at that!

"The Human Path I used on White Zetsu not only found a clue to Orochimaru, but also successfully read the place where he buried her."

Nagato's lips curved upward. "Obito, aren't you going to create a world with Rin once again?"

—"Then I'll make Rin my Pain Animal Path!"