Jiraiya slammed a rain-soaked scroll onto the desk.
Water stains quickly spread across the surface, carrying the Land of Rain's distinctive chill and dampness.
"The leader of Amegakure is a man their people call a 'god.'" Jiraiya had none of his usual irreverence. His weathered face was clouded with gloom. "He is also called Pain."
Naruto sat behind the broad desk, his fingers interlaced beneath his chin, showing not the slightest surprise.
He pulled open a drawer, took out a black file folder he had prepared long ago, and pushed it toward Jiraiya.
"Root's investigation confirmed it half a year ago," Naruto said calmly. "Amegakure's increasingly extreme isolation policies, along with the internal rumors about a 'god' and an 'angel'—every clue points to the Akatsuki."
Jiraiya opened the folder.
The photographs inside were blurry, most of them distant shots of Amegakure's towers, along with several sketched figures in black cloaks patterned with red clouds.
But what truly made his breath catch was an old personnel file attached at the end of the dossier.
Konan.
She was the "angel" spoken of by the people of the Land of Rain.
The child who had once trembled amid the flames of war, begging him for food and ninjutsu.
"So it really... is them."
Jiraiya's fingers lingered over Konan's name for a long time.
Pain, guilt, disbelief—countless emotions tangled across his wrinkled face.
Then, clearly, that "god" pointed to the power of the Rinnegan.
Thinking of the Rinnegan, he finally understood why the Akatsuki were so mysterious and terrifying.
But Nagato, Yahiko, Konan... they had once been such kind children.
He had once believed he had raised the "Child of Prophecy" who would bring change to the Shinobi World. Yet what he had nurtured with his own hands might instead have become a monster