The Rinnegan wasn't mine?
Then what had I been all these years?
Just a vessel?
What about my parents' deaths?
What about Yahiko's death?
Had all that misfortune and pain happened because of these Rinnegan that didn't belong to me?
Nagato felt as if his head were about to split open.
"I don't believe it!"
He shouted, launching several Black Rods at Jing Uchiha's vital points the instant he drew close.
A Kunai slid from Jing Uchiha's sleeve. He had been ready for Nagato's final counterattack.
Clang, clang, clang!
He knocked every Black Iron Rod away, then closed in without giving Nagato another chance. His Kunai pierced Nagato's heart.
"If they aren't yours, they aren't yours." Jing Uchiha reached out and tore the Rinnegan from Nagato's eyes.
Blood sprayed.
Stabbing pain shot through Nagato's eyes and chest, but it was nothing compared to the pain in his heart.
He gave a bitter smile as his life rapidly drained away.
He thought of his parents and Yahiko. Perhaps their deaths had never been accidents. Perhaps they had died because he had been chosen as the vessel for the Rinnegan.
Everyone who had truly loved him, and everyone he had loved, had died because of him.
"What a miserable life. I even tried to guide the world... So my fate was decided from the start." Nagato murmured, his life flickering like a candle about to go out.
If he could choose, he would have followed Yahiko and Konan and kept living like a vagrant.
They had often gone hungry and cold, but their hearts had been warm.
Through the haze, he seemed to see Yahiko beckoning to him.
Yahiko looked just as he had when they were boys. He held out a hand. "Come on, Nagato."
"Yahiko..."
With that final word, the