Storming the tower! Nagato's true body

The steel fortress that symbolized "God's" power and ambition seemed on the verge of collapse amid the thunder of the rainy night.

As Chibaku Tensei was blasted apart from within, the fiery meteors raining across the sky finally began to subside. Deva Path Pain's corpse lay in the muddy ruins, cracks covering his once-arrogant face. Deprived of their chakra supply, the Black Rods snapped and scattered, leaving him without a trace of "God's" majesty.

With that, the Six Paths of Pain had been wiped out.

"It's over..."

In the distance, Sasuke Uchiha stared at the battlefield as it returned to deathly silence. His legs gave way, and he sank straight to his knees. He gasped for breath as though he had been the one fighting that battle.

Too strong.

So strong it was hopeless. So strong he couldn't even think of catching up.

"Can we... really ever reach that man's level?" Uchiha Izumi braced herself against a ruined wall, her gaze complicated as she watched Chiya hover in midair.

Golden reiatsu that had yet to fully dissipate still swirled around Chiya. Although he had sheathed Ryūjin Jakka, the lingering power that could burn the heavens and boil the seas still evaporated the falling rain into white mist.

Chiya paid no attention to the two "spectators" behind him.

He slowly closed his eyes. His immense perception spread like an invisible net, instantly covering all of Amegakure.

The Six Paths of Pain were merely corpse puppets, terminals that received signals. Now that those terminals had been destroyed, the source transmitting those signals-the true controller-had to be suffering extreme weakness and chakra disruption.

In that state, his enormous life energy shone like a lighthouse in the dark. There was nowhere for him to hide.

"Found you."

Chiya's eyes snapped open, his gaze sharp as lightning as it locked precisely onto the top floor of Amegakure's tallest steel tower.

There was a chakra signature there, weak but immensely powerful at its core.

It was the life force of the Uzumaki Clan, along with... the fluctuations of those eyes' ocular power.

"Sasuke, Izumi."

"Stay here. Don't follow me," Chiya instructed without looking back.

"What comes next might not be suitable for children."

With that, Chiya's figure blurred in an instant.

Sizzle!

All that remained was an afterimage distorted by searing heat.

Flash Step!

[Amegakure · Central Tower · Top-floor secret chamber]

This was Amegakure's most strictly forbidden place, as well as the command center of the Akatsuki.

Dark, damp, and filled with the smell of machine oil and mildew.

Huge pipes crawled across the walls like blood vessels. At the center of the room stood a massive mechanical walker, its bizarre shape resembling a spider.

"Cough... cough, cough!!"

Violent coughing echoed through the empty chamber, each cough sounding as though it would tear his lungs out.

The man seated in the mechanical walker curled up in agony.

He had vivid red hair, but his body was skeletal, every rib clearly visible. He looked like a skeleton draped in human skin. Black chakra receivers covered his back, connecting him to the massive conduits of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path behind him.

Nagato Uzumaki.

This was the true face of the leader whom Amegakure's people revered as "God" and the Akatsuki's members regarded with awe.

"Nagato! Your body..."

Konan rushed anxiously to his side to check his condition, only for Nagato to gently push her away with his withered hand.

"Gah!"

Nagato coughed up another mouthful of blood, fragments of his internal organs mixed within it.

"I lost..."

Nagato raised his head. His Rinnegan still glowed purple, but they were now filled with desolation and disbelief.

"The Six Paths of Pain... I've lost contact with all of them."

"Chibaku Tensei was broken... my chakra is almost gone."

Nagato's voice rasped like sandpaper. "That Chiya Uchiha... is he human or some kind of monster? Why didn't even sealing jutsu work on him?"

"Stop talking, Nagato!"

Konan's eyes reddened. She could feel the flame of Nagato's life flickering on the brink of extinction. "We have to go! While he's still outside, we can escape through the emergency passage!"

"Escape?"

Nagato gave a bitter laugh and glanced at his legs, so badly atrophied that he could no longer walk.

"Where could we go?"

"Besides... it's already too late."

Nagato abruptly looked up, staring fixedly at the chamber's thick steel wall. A trace of despair flashed through his Rinnegan.

"He's here."

"So fast..."

Before his words had faded-

BOOOOM!!!

An earth-shaking explosion rang out, like a meteor striking the earth.

The wall, built from specialized steel over a meter thick and capable of withstanding bombardment by jōnin-level ninjutsu, shattered like a fragile biscuit under a single kick from outside!

Crash!

Massive steel fragments shot into the room like cannon shells, slamming into the walls and floor and throwing up clouds of dust.

Fierce wind and icy rain surged through the enormous breach, instantly sweeping away the room's musty smell and bringing a suffocating stench of blood and an oppressive presence.

Tap, tap, tap.

Amid the swirling dust and curtain of rain, a black-clad figure stepped across the scattered steel fragments and walked inside.

Lightning split the night sky, illuminating his handsome but icy face.

Chiya Uchiha.

He was perfectly dry, not even the hem of his clothes disturbed, as though he had merely stopped by a neighbor's house.

But to the two people in that chamber, the figure entering was no human. He was a death god come to claim their lives.

"So this is where 'God' lives?"

Chiya surveyed the dark, oppressive room filled with pipes and machinery, then settled his gaze on the skeletal man at its center.

Undisguised disappointment and mockery entered his eyes.

"What a surprise."

Chiya kicked aside a broken steel pipe at his feet, producing a sharp metallic clang.

"The almighty God Pain, who ruled over everything outside..."

"Is actually a cripple who can't even walk and needs tubes to stay alive?"

"Shut up!!"

Konan screamed and instantly spread her arms, shielding Nagato.

Countless sheets of paper whirled around her. They represented the last of her chakra, and her final resolve to protect Nagato.

"Don't you dare insult Nagato!!"

Konan glared at Chiya like a mother wolf protecting her cubs, even as her body trembled uncontrollably beneath his terrifying reiatsu.

"Insult?"

Chiya stopped, barely ten meters from them.

He looked at Konan, then at Nagato behind her.

"I'm simply stating a fact."

"Look at yourselves."

Chiya extended a finger, pointing first at Nagato's withered limbs, then at the grotesque Black Rods protruding from his back.

"This is your so-called 'God'?"

"You pursued power until you became something neither human nor monster."

"Nagato, your Rinnegan are weeping."

Chiya's words were a knife, piercing precisely the most painful place in Nagato's heart.

"What... do you know...?"

Nagato pushed against the wheelchair's armrests and forced himself to raise his head, staring straight into Chiya's scarlet Mangekyo.

"If it means bringing peace into being... what does this little pain matter?"

"I am God... I will bring change to this cursed shinobi world!"

"Even if my body is destroyed... my will is eternal!"

"Peace?"

Chiya scoffed as though he had heard the most ridiculous joke imaginable.

"If your idea of peace is building a bigger nuclear weapon-the Ten-Tails-and making everyone live in fear..."

"Then your vision is far too narrow."

Chiya shook his head, the red light in his eyes gradually turning cold.

"Besides, the victor rules, and the defeated fall."

"Losers don't get to talk about ideals."

Shing!

Ryūjin Jakka slid half an inch out of its sheath once more.

That mere half-inch of exposed blade instantly sent the temperature in the chamber soaring. The paper around Konan began to yellow and curl, as though it might ignite at any moment.

"Chiya!!"

Konan knew she couldn't wait any longer. If she did, they wouldn't even have a chance to strike!

"Dance of the Shikigami: Paper Person of God!"

Rustle!

Konan recklessly burned through her life force. Countless sheets of paper formed two enormous spears that thrust viciously toward Chiya!

"Too slow."

Chiya didn't even spare her a proper glance.

"Bakudō #61: Rikujōkōrō."

Hum!

Chiya raised his left hand and lightly pointed his index finger.

Six golden bars of light appeared from nowhere, instantly crossing the space between them and slamming into Konan's waist, abdomen, and limbs before she could react!

"Ngh!"

Konan let out a muffled groan as she was instantly locked in place, unable to move. Three meters short of Chiya, the two paper spears lost their sustaining chakra and collapsed into a heap of wastepaper.

"Konan!" Nagato cried out.

"Don't worry. It's not her turn to die yet."

Chiya slowly walked over to Konan and studied the immobilized angel as though admiring a work of art. Then he casually waved his hand, sweeping her into a corner with a gust of force.

"Now the obstruction is gone."

Chiya stood before Nagato.

Less than a meter separated them.

Chiya could even smell the heavy odor of medicine and decay clinging to Nagato.

He looked down upon the man who possessed the Rinnegan.

Once, Nagato had been a boy full of dreams.

Now, however, he was nothing more than an immense "treasure trove" in Chiya's eyes.

"Found you."

Chiya's voice was soft, but in Nagato's ears, it sounded like a funeral bell.

"The 'God' hiding behind the curtain."

"Or perhaps..."

Chiya's gaze fell upon Nagato's pale purple Rinnegan, a flash of greed passing through his eyes.

"A surviving orphan of the Uzumaki Clan, and... Madara Uchiha's pawn."

At the name "Madara Uchiha," Nagato's pupils abruptly contracted.

"What... what did you say?!"

"It seems you don't know anything."

Chiya shook his head pityingly.

"But it doesn't matter."

"Whoever's pawn you are, after today, these eyes..."

Chiya slowly raised the sword in his hand.

Its tip pressed against Nagato's throat, the searing heat making his skin sizzle.

"Will become my stepping stone to the pinnacle of the shinobi world."

"Nagato, any last words?"

"Perhaps... something about Yahiko?"

Nagato's body shuddered violently.

He stared at the young man before him, more terrifying than any demon, and at the flaming sword about to take his life.

In that instant, countless scenes flashed through his mind.

Crying in the rain, Yahiko's death, the founding of the Akatsuki, the plan to capture the tailed beasts...

At last, every image froze upon this moment.

Despair.

Absolute despair.

The power he had taken such pride in had been crushed, the convictions he had held fast to had been mocked, and the person who mattered most to him had been brought under another's control.

"Uchiha... Chiya..."

Nagato gritted his teeth and used the last of his strength, trying to summon the final trace of chakra left in his body to unleash one last technique-Outer Path: Rinne Rebirth.

"Trying to kill yourself? Or bring someone back?"

Chiya's gaze sharpened. He gave Nagato no chance at all.

Shhk!

Ryūjin Jakka plunged into Nagato's chest without resistance, missing his heart but instantly severing every chakra pathway in his body!

"AAAAAH!!"

Nagato let out an agonized scream.

Golden flames burrowed into his body through the wound, ravenously consuming his life force while keeping him clinging to his last breath.

"Don't be so quick to die."

Chiya leaned close to Nagato's ear and spoke softly, like a demon whispering.

"Your eyes, your bloodline, and control over that big fellow-the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path..."

"I want them all."

"System, activate plunder mode."

[Ding! Target detected: Nagato Uzumaki (near death)!]

[Target possesses high-value items: Rinnegan (transplanted), Uzumaki Sage Body, Demonic Statue of the Outer Path Contract!]

[Begin plundering?]

"Begin."

At Chiya's command, a strange red energy flowed along his arm, pouring relentlessly into Nagato's body.

And in the corner.

Konan, immobilized by Rikujōkōrō, could only watch as tears spilled from her eyes and she let out a heart-wrenching yet silent wail.

The rain fell harder.

It was as though heaven itself were playing a final dirge for the fall of this "false god."