Nagato's original thinking had been almost identical to Sasuke's now.
Back then, Nagato had poured his heart and soul into founding the Akatsuki, traveling far and wide to collect the Nine Tailed Beasts. He had intended to turn them all into ultimate weapons and keep them in his own hands.
He would cow the Five Great Hidden Villages with absolute, destructive power, making everyone so afraid of war that they would never dare start one, forcing peace upon the world through fear.
But Sasuke was more thorough, more resolute than he had been.
Sasuke did not want to keep the villages in check or deter the various factions. Instead, he would seize all power for himself, ascend to the pinnacle of the shinobi world, and become its sole dictator. He would shoulder all darkness and hatred alone and forcibly end a thousand years of conflict.
Nagato stared blankly at the Sky Screen, his heart a tangle of emotions.
So, from beginning to end, what truly grasped the nature of the shinobi world had never been naive, benevolent idealism, but absolute authority born of seeing through its darkness.
His ideals had not been wrong. He had simply lacked the strength to realize them.
Within the Sky Screen, the events in the Pure Land continued to unfold.
After hearing Sasuke's vision of peace, which overturned every accepted belief, the Sage of Six Paths finally showed genuine surprise.
The Sage of Six Paths spoke slowly, a measure of acceptance and admiration in his voice. "I never expected you to be so different from the Indra of the past."
At that, Sasuke retorted out of habit, "I was never Indra. I am myself, Sasuke Uchiha. I have never been some puppet of reincarnation. Of course I'm different."
The Sage of Six Paths smiled in