["That's great!" Boruto perked up at the possibility, his earlier gloom vanishing. It was as though he could already see the mission's success. "What are we waiting for? The Land of Wind is our next stop! Let's go!"]
[He turned and, as naturally as ever, took Nameless's still-cold hand. Then he gave his companions a smile full of hope and determination.]
[Shikadai and Shinki exchanged a glance, both privately relieved.]
[Yeto still showed no expression, but she withdrew her icy gaze from Nameless. She moved silently to one side of the group and took up watch.]
[After a brief rest, the small group bearing its heavy mission checked their bearings and set out on a new journey toward the vast desert of the Land of Wind.]
The Canopy Screen's broadcast ended there.
Atop the Tower in Amegakure, the ceaseless cold rain beat against steel and concrete, filling the air with an endless, suffocating patter.
Dim daylight filtered grudgingly through thick clouds, making the damp, gray city look like a model submerged at the bottom of a vast aquarium.
Deva Path Pain stood motionless before the enormous floor-to-ceiling window. The emotionless purple rings of his Rinnegan gazed toward the distant Canopy Screen as glimpses of the prosperity it had shown flashed through his mind:
Konoha's brightly lit Shopping Street; Kirigakure's harbor, where a thousand ships had set sail; Iwagakure's skyscrapers piercing the clouds; Sunagakure's orderly automated factories; even Kumogakure's strange military weapons.
It was a vision of a vibrant, prosperous future, utterly unlike the lifeless, ruined Amegakure that the wars of great nations had ravaged time and again.
"Konan." Pain's voice was steady and hollow, echoing through the empty room at the top of the Tower. "Tell me, if we set aside some of our plans and focused on developing the