Once only Naruto and Nagato, who sat opposite him, remained in the room, the air seemed to grow stiller and quieter. Only the faint chirping of insects outside the window provided a little background sound to the silence.
Nagato was silent for a moment, his chest rising and falling slightly, as though he were struggling to settle some surging emotion-or gathering the courage to speak.
His already pale face looked even more bloodless beneath the dining room's soft lights, almost translucent, as though the tiny blood vessels beneath his skin were visible.
Yet his eyes were unusually bright, like the last embers of a fire. They remained fixed on Naruto, filled with pleading, hope, and a trace of unease that was difficult to detect.
At last, he spoke. His voice was even hoarser and drier than when they had discussed affairs of state, brimming with an almost overflowing plea and hope:
"Sixth Hokage... I want to ask you to help me bring Yahiko back."
He paused, as though it took every ounce of strength he had to say the rest. His voice was low but clear. "I want him, too... to see with his own eyes what this world looks like when peace truly comes."
Having lost the Rinnegan, those eyes that symbolized divine power, Nagato had also completely lost the ability to revive others with the Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique.
He knew Naruto would not give him the Rinnegan. Those were the Sage of Six Paths' eyes, after all.
The forbidden dōjutsu he had once regarded as the ultimate means of achieving peace, which he had sought to control even at the cost of his own life, was now gone.
But hope had not been entirely extinguished.
He had heard about the recent incident in Konoha,