So-Called Master and Disciple

"Hahaha, you found me!"

Jiraiya stepped out of the shadows and scratched his head helplessly.

He was no fool. He had long noticed the deep respect in the way everyone looked at Konan.

An ordinary Jonin would never command that kind of reverence, so he had doubled back to take a look. He hadn't expected to see this.

"Yahiko, why do you have Nagato's Rinnegan? What is Akatsuki really after?"

"No, wait! You're not Yahiko at all. You're Nagato, aren't you? Where is Yahiko?"

"As sharp as ever, Master Jiraiya. You figured it out so quickly," Deva Path Pain said coldly.

"Someone like him died long ago!"

Jiraiya froze. He couldn't imagine the boy who had once wanted to protect Konan and Yahiko saying something so cold.

"How did you end up like this?"

"War, of course. After suffering through war, I'm no longer a mere mortal like you, Master. I've become God!"

"As a mortal, you could never understand God's thoughts. The eyes of the Sage of Six Paths marked me for an extraordinary destiny. I know now that my fate is to end this so-called war!"

"What are you trying to do? Why are you collecting Tailed Beasts?"

"It is God's duty to bring an end to this world's endless wars. With the Nine Tailed Beasts, I'll create a new Forbidden Technique capable of destroying even the Five Great Nations in an instant!"

"How could something like that end war?"

"Every nation is at war. How do you end it quickly? Lend that weapon to one country, and hundreds of millions will die or be driven from their homes. Then everyone will remember that pain!"

"They won't dare start another war. That pain will drive this world forward and force its people to think!"

"Nagato, you've gotten awfully