Chiya stood atop the ruins, the sole victor of this "battle of gods."
Even Amegakure's relentless rain seemed cowed by the brutal scene. It dwindled to a drizzle, then stopped entirely. The dark clouds remained, but with the fall of that so-called god, the gloom weighing on everyone's hearts gave way to a deeper fear.
"Nagato..."
In a corner, Konan let out a shattered murmur. Between her depleted chakra and the devastating shock, she no longer had the strength to lift a finger. All she could do was stare at Ryūjin Jakka in Chiya's hand, still buried in Nagato's chest.
The golden flames had not gone out. Like ravenous demons, they burrowed along the blade into Nagato's body, devouring the immense life force of this Uzumaki Clan descendant.
Nagato's body convulsed violently.
His consciousness was fading, darkness swallowing the edges of his vision. In those final moments, he seemed to see the once high-spirited orange-haired boy standing on the far shore of the light, beckoning to him.
"Yahiko..."
Nagato's cracked lips moved faintly, producing a voice only he could hear.
"I'm sorry... I failed..."
"I couldn't... grasp that bridge to peace..."
He had spent his entire life living for Yahiko's dream, staining his hands with blood in pursuit of an elusive peace. He had proclaimed himself a god, trying to judge the world through pain. Yet in the end, he could not even soothe his own suffering, and he fell before true power.
"Is this... the limit of a mortal...?"
Nagato struggled to lift his eyelids and took one last look at the black-clad youth standing before him, as cold as a demon god.
In those scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan, Nagato saw not murderous intent, but indifference.
The untroubled indifference of a higher life-form toward a lesser one.
"Go in peace."
Chiya gave the hilt a slight twist.
"I'll let your eyes witness the true pinnacle in your place."
Schlik!
Ryūjin Jakka pierced his heart completely, severing Nagato's final tie to this world.
Nagato's pupils abruptly dilated, then rapidly lost focus. The Rinnegan that had once struck terror into countless powerful shinobi went utterly dark.
Nagato Uzumaki, leader of the Akatsuki, controller of the Six Paths of Pain, the man who called himself a god.
Had fallen!
"Aaaaaah!!!"
As Nagato's head drooped lifelessly, Konan let out a heart-rending wail. It was a cry of unbearable anguish, like a bird crying blood, and it echoed through the empty ruins.
She wanted to rush at Chiya and fight to the death, to detonate her final Explosive Tag. But her body had reached its limit. She could only collapse in the muddy water and claw desperately at the rubble, her nails splitting and her fingers streaming blood.
Chiya paid no attention to Konan's breakdown.
At that very moment, a wild celebration was unfolding in his mind, making even his soul tremble.
[Ding! Congratulations, host! Successfully killed the S-Rank Rogue Ninja, leader of the Akatsuki, the "god" Pain-Nagato Uzumaki!] [Given the target's exceptionally high plot significance and combat level, system rewards are now being calculated (jackpot)!] [Plunder progress: 100%!]
Boom!!!
An unprecedented torrent of energy surged along Ryūjin Jakka's blade and flooded into Chiya's body like water bursting through a dam.
This was more than chakra. It was an elevation of his very existence!
[Ding! Congratulations, host! Obtained: Uzumaki Clan Sage Body (perfect version)!] (Note: Your life force will increase exponentially! Your self-healing will rival Hashirama cells! Your chakra capacity limit has been broken, and your current reserves approach those of a Ten-Tails Jinchuriki! From now on, chakra will be nothing more than a number to you!)
"Ngh..."
Chiya could not help letting out a muffled groan.
It was enormous!
This life energy felt as though someone had stuffed a sun inside him!
His reiatsu and chakra, somewhat depleted from forcibly activating his Prototype Bankai, not only recovered instantly but began overflowing wildly!
Whoosh!
A tangible storm of red chakra erupted around Chiya, blasting away all the surrounding rubble and steel rebar.
In the distance, Sasuke and Izumi were forced to retreat again, their faces filled with shock.
"That much chakra... is he really human?" Sasuke activated his Sharingan, only to see a vast ocean. Its pressure nearly suffocated him.
But it was not over yet.
The system's sweet notifications continued.
[Ding! High-level ocular jutsu essence detected!] [Congratulations, host! Obtained: Rinnegan (ocular power fusion version)!] (Note: This is not a simple transplant. The Rinnegan's ocular power has been perfectly fused with your soul! You may switch freely between the Mangekyō Sharingan and the Rinnegan, without suffering rejection or its enormous energy consumption! You can use all the abilities of the Six Paths of Pain on your own!) [Ding! Fusion of the Rinnegan and sage body detected!] [Congratulations, host! Obtained special authority: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path Summoning Authority!] (Note: You can summon the Ten-Tails' husk-the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path! If you collect the chakra of the nine tailed beasts, you may attempt to revive the Ten-Tails and become its Jinchuriki!) [Kill points awarded: +500,000!]
As the system's voice faded, Chiya felt his eyes grow hot, then scorching, as though magma were flowing through his sockets.
It did not hurt. Instead, it carried the tingling sensation of evolution.
The scarlet Mangekyō pattern began to spin and reshape itself.
The red background gradually deepened into a profound purple.
The original tomoe did not vanish. Instead, they merged perfectly with expanding concentric ripples, forming a new pattern both eerie and sacred-
Prototype Six-Tomoe Rinnegan!
"Whew..."
Chiya slowly opened his eyes.
In that instant, the entire world looked different.
The once-clear rainy night now became an interweaving of countless lines of energy. He could see natural energy flowing through the air, the paths of chakra circulating inside Sasuke and Izumi in the distance, and even... the boundary between life and death.
Was this the Rinnegan's vision?
"So this is... what it feels like to control life and death."
Chiya raised his hand and looked at his palm, brimming with explosive power.
He gave it a casual wave.
Hum!
An invisible gravitational wave activated instantly.
In the distance, a section of steel wall weighing several tons rose into the air without warning and floated above his palm.
"Banshō Ten'in."
Chiya's lips curved slightly. Then he abruptly clenched his fingers.
Crack!
As though crushed by an enormous invisible hand, the thick steel plate was instantly compressed into a solid iron ball no larger than a fist!
"This is power."
Chiya released his grip, letting the iron ball fall with a heavy crash.
He turned, his purple Rinnegan settling coldly on Konan, who lay limp on the ground.
It took only a glance.
Konan felt as though her soul had frozen.
That ocular power was countless times more terrifying than Nagato's at his peak! These were truly... the eyes of a god!
"Nagato's... eyes..."
Konan stared blankly at Chiya. Her tears had long since run dry, leaving only endless despair.
She knew it was all over.
Nagato was dead, and his eyes had been taken.
The Akatsuki's dream and Amegakure's future had both crumbled beneath this man's feet.
"Want to die?"
Chiya walked up to Konan, looking down at her from above.
Though he had reined in his reiatsu somewhat, the pressure created by the fusion of his sage body and Rinnegan still made it difficult for her to breathe.
Konan gave a desolate smile and closed her eyes, lifting her chin slightly to expose her pale, dust-covered neck.
"Kill me."
"Let me join Nagato and Yahiko."
"There's... nothing left in this world for me."
"Die?"
Chiya scoffed, crouched, and lifted Konan's chin with one finger.
"You wish."
"You think dying settles everything? That you can escape your responsibilities as the loser?"
"That useless Nagato left Amegakure in this state and spent all the Akatsuki's money building those worthless Pain bodies. Now he's gone and died. Who's going to clean up the mess?"
Konan opened her eyes and stared at Chiya in astonishment. "You..."
"I told you. You're my spoils of war."
Purple light flickered in Chiya's eyes, his domineering tone leaving no room for argument.
"From today onward, your life no longer belongs to you. Nor does it belong to Nagato or Yahiko."
"It belongs to me."
"I want you alive."
Chiya stood and spread his arms, as though embracing these ruins-or the entire shinobi world.
"I want you to watch as I use these eyes to accomplish what that useless Nagato never could."
"I want you to watch me crush this rotten world beneath my feet and establish true-absolute peace."
Konan froze.
As she looked at the impossibly arrogant man before her, a crack appeared in her resolve to die.
Not because she feared death.
But because of Chiya's overwhelming confidence, and the Rinnegan that had belonged to Nagato.
"You..." Konan bit her lip, her voice hoarse. "What do you want me to do?"
"It's simple."
Chiya turned toward the High Tower in the distance. It still stood, though a massive hole had been torn through it.
"Amegakure needs a new master."
"And the Akatsuki needs a new chief treasurer."
"Nagato is dead, but life goes on. I'm very interested in that stockpile of six hundred billion Explosive Tags, and everything the Akatsuki has accumulated over the years."
Chiya tilted his head, his Rinnegan fixing Konan with a cold stare.
"Submit to me."
"Manage this country for me. Keep my finances in order."
"In return..."
Chiya pointed at the dark clouds gradually dispersing overhead.
"I will grant this country... sunlight unlike anything it has ever known."
Sunlight?
Konan instinctively looked up.
At that moment, the reiatsu inside Chiya erupted again.
"Zanka no Tachi: Shikai: Torch!"
Boom!
A pillar of golden fire shot into the sky, piercing straight through the thick rain clouds above the Land of Rain.
Terrifying heat spread instantly across the sky. Those dark clouds, accumulated over decades-even centuries-were, in a single instant-
Evaporated!
Whoosh-
The wind stopped.
The rain stopped.
A shaft of golden, warm, long-absent sunlight broke through the gap in the clouds and fell upon the perpetually gloomy ruins.
It illuminated Chiya's black robe, Nagato's corpse, and Konan's stunned face.
"This..."
Konan reached out with a trembling hand, catching a ray of sunlight.
It was warm.
For the first time, the Land of Rain... welcomed true sunlight.
Something Nagato had failed to accomplish in a lifetime of effort, this man had done with a single swing...
"Do you see?"
In the sunlight, Chiya's voice sounded especially sacred, yet carried a devil's temptation.
"This is my power."
"Now, tell me your choice."
"Will you die here and become a pile of meaningless bones?"
"Or kneel before me and become the first angel of this 'Flame Emperor City'?"
Thud.
In the distance, Sasuke and Izumi had already fallen to their knees before this miraculous sight. It was the most primal worship of power.
Konan looked at the sunlight in her hand, then at Chiya's Rinnegan.
The desire to die finally vanished from her eyes, replaced by a complicated, resigned submission.
She slowly bowed her head and sank to her knees, lowering her proud head before the man who stood with his back to the sunlight, like a deity.
"I... am willing to submit."
"Lord... Chiya."
Before you continue