"Lord... Chiya."
That trembling declaration of submission echoed over the ruins as the first ray of sunlight pierced the dark clouds.
But this was not the end.
Once the fleeting shock of witnessing a miracle faded, cruel reality washed back over Konan's heart like a tide.
Kneeling in the mud, she shifted her vacant gaze away from Chiya to the man slumped in a wheelchair, his chest pierced through and his eye sockets empty.
Nagato.
The man who had carried Yahiko's dream, along with all her hopes, was now nothing more than a slowly cooling corpse.
Without his Rinnegan, Nagato looked so frail, so pitiful.
"Nagato..."
Konan's lips trembled, and tears blurred her vision once again.
With Nagato's death, the pillar that had kept her alive had finally broken.
"Flame Emperor City," the "first angel," "sunlight"... none of it meant anything to her now.
Yahiko was dead. Nagato was dead too.
To her, this world had become an empty gravestone.
Hum...
The chakra within Konan, already exhausted, suddenly began burning beyond her limits. Sheets of white paper appeared around her again, but this time they did not attack Chiya. Instead, like a white flower about to wither, they slowly wrapped around her own body.
This was her final ninjutsu.
She would mix Explosive Tags into the paper and blow herself apart from within.
She no longer wanted to live. She would go to the Pure Land and follow those two idiots.
"You want to die?"
Just as the first Explosive Tag was about to ignite.
An overwhelmingly powerful suction erupted from in front of her without warning!
"Banshō Ten'in."
Whoosh!
There was no earth-shattering spectacle, but the force was precise and irresistible. Konan felt her body become weightless as she flew forward uncontrollably, until a scorching hand clamped tightly around her slender neck.
Every sheet of paper, every trace of chakra, was forcibly dispersed in an instant by ocular power of a higher order!
"Cough, cough..."
With her feet dangling above the ground, Konan clawed painfully at that iron grip, staring in despair at the man with the purple Rinnegan before her.
"Let... let me go..."
"Let me die..."
"Die?"
Chiya looked into Konan's eyes, filled with the desire to die, and his lips curled into a cold, mocking smile.
"Who gave you permission to die?"
"I just told you. From this moment on, your life belongs to me."
Chiya tightened his fingers slightly, forcing Konan to lift her head and look him directly in the eyes.
"What? You think your life has no meaning now that Nagato's dead? Want to follow him into death?"
"Utterly stupid."
Chiya released her, flinging her to the ground like trash.
He turned and planted a foot on Nagato's ruined mechanical wheelchair, producing a teeth-grating screech of twisting metal.
"Konan, haven't you forgotten something?"
Chiya pointed at the ruins beneath his feet, then at the distant civilians of Amegakure, still trembling after the Chibaku Tensei and the battle's aftermath.
"Nagato's dead, but the mess he left behind is still here."
"This Amegakure was the land of dreams Yahiko built with his own hands, and the place Nagato spent his entire life protecting."
"And now you want to end it all just for a moment of relief?"
Chiya's voice grew stern and cold. Every word struck Konan's defenses like a hammer.
"If you die, who will take care of this village?"
"If you die, the Five Great Nations out there, watching the Akatsuki like predators, will descend on this place like sharks scenting blood."
"They'll tear this country apart, topple Yahiko's and Nagato's statues, and plunder every scrap of wealth you worked so hard to save. They'll even dig up Nagato's corpse and turn it into a specimen!"
"Is that the ending you want?!"
Konan shuddered. At last, a flicker stirred in her lifeless eyes.
It was fear.
Fear that everything Yahiko and Nagato had devoted their lives to would be destroyed.
"No... don't..." Konan clutched her head and shook it in anguish. "But... I don't have any strength left..."
"Yes, you do."
Chiya crouched down, reached out, and picked up a sheet of paper with scorched edges.
"You still have your brains, your control over this village, and..."
A gleam flashed in Chiya's eyes, like a greedy merchant taking stock of his goods.
"The Akatsuki's money."
"As far as I know, the key to the Akatsuki's treasury is still in your hands, isn't it?"
"Six hundred billion Explosive Tags... tsk, tsk. That's an astronomical sum."
Chiya pressed the paper into Konan's hand, his tone turning playful.
"I'm a practical man."
"I conquered this territory, but I'm not interested in handling all the petty details. Repairing bridges and roads, handing out relief grain to those civilians, or haggling with those hypocritical daimyō."
"I need a steward."
"Someone who knows this place, is obedient enough, and has nowhere else to go... a housekeeper."
Chiya rose with his back to the sunlight, his towering shadow completely enveloping Konan.
"Submit to me."
"Become my chief treasurer and the acting administrator of Flame Emperor City."
"As long as you manage this country properly and keep the Akatsuki's purse in order."
"I'll allow this village to continue existing. I'll allow Yahiko's and Nagato's gravestones to stand here, where people can pay their respects."
"And even..."
Chiya glanced back, a dim purple light glowing in his Rinnegan.
"If any fool dares to come here and cause trouble, I'll... slaughter them for you."
Konan listened in a daze.
She looked at Chiya, then at Nagato's corpse beside them, and finally at the Rain Ninja and civilians in the distance, still struggling to survive among the rain-soaked ruins.
This was Yahiko's dream.
This was Nagato's pain.
If she died, everything truly would vanish, just as Chiya had said.
To protect this last place of refuge...
To let Nagato rest in peace...
Dignity? Freedom?
None of it mattered anymore.
Two trails of tears slipped down Konan's cheeks and dripped onto the cold steel floor.
Slowly, she adjusted her kneeling posture again.
This time, it was neither coercion nor a surrender to despair.
It was allegiance-humiliating, yet utterly resolute.
Konan lowered her head, pressing her forehead hard against the ground. Her voice was hoarse but clear:
"I understand..."
"For Amegakure, for Nagato..."
"I, Konan, am willing to become your... tool."
"I will manage this country for you, and... safeguard your purse."
Watching this, Chiya nodded in satisfaction.
[Ding! Congratulations, host!] [Successfully subdued S-Rank Rogue Ninja · Angel Konan!] [Special bond acquired: Guardian of Amegakure!] [Successfully assumed control of the Akatsuki's remaining assets (primarily money and intelligence networks)!] [Kill Points +50,000! (Mental submission)]
"Very good."
Chiya swept his sleeve, and a gentle gust lifted Konan to her feet.
"Wipe away your tears."
"From today onward, you're the governor of Flame Emperor City. What kind of example are you setting, crying like that?"
"Take care of Nagato's remains first."
"Then take me to the Akatsuki's treasury."
"Yes... Lord Chiya."
Konan silently stood, gathered Nagato's heartbreakingly light corpse into her arms, and walked deeper into the High Tower. Her retreating figure remained desolate, but now it also bore a heavy sense of responsibility.
Meanwhile, behind the ruins not far away.
Sasuke Uchiha stared fixedly at everything, not daring even to blink.
His entire worldview was reshaped in that moment.
Before coming to Amegakure, Sasuke had always believed that a true powerhouse was someone like Itachi, a master of ninjutsu with unparalleled genjutsu.
Or someone like Kakashi, full of clever strategies and countless tricks.
Even after witnessing what Chiya had done in Konoha, he had only thought Chiya was "very strong."
But today.
He had witnessed this "battle of gods" with his own eyes.
He had watched Pain, who possessed the legendary Rinnegan and called himself a god, get crushed by Chiya as easily as slaughtering a chicken-in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and even his ideals.
He had watched the once-arrogant, lofty "angel" Konan kneel at Chiya's feet like a maid and offer him everything.
Even the Rinnegan, representing the highest ocular power in the Shinobi World, had been forcibly seized by Chiya and made his own.
For a seven-year-old child desperately thirsting for revenge, the impact was both devastating and transformative.
Was this... true power?
Sasuke gazed at Chiya's back, not particularly broad yet seemingly holding up the entire sky. The fear in his eyes vanished completely.
In its place came an almost pathological fervor of worship.
The Will of Fire?
Bonds?
Protection?
All bullshit!
In this cruel world, only someone like Big Brother Chiya, with absolute power and the overwhelming might to cut through everything, could control his own fate! Only then could he make every "god" and "demon" kneel at his feet and tremble!
I want to become him...
Sasuke clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging deep into his palms. Blood trickled out, but he did not notice.
Indra's Chakra within him seemed to sense this overwhelming desire. In his scarlet Sharingan, the previously unstable tomoe began spinning wildly, growing deeper and colder.
I want to learn his swordsmanship...
I want to learn his Flash Step...
Someday, I'll be just like him and make Itachi... kneel at my feet!!
"Sasuke, Izumi, what are you standing around for?"
Just then, Chiya's voice carried over from afar.
"It's time to enter the city."
"Let's take a look at our new home."
Sasuke jolted and sprang to his feet.
"Yes! Lord Chiya!!"
His answer rang louder and more reverent than ever before.
He no longer called him "Big Brother."
Because in his heart, Chiya was no longer an older brother he needed to catch up to, but someone worthy of a lifetime of devotion and worship-
A living god!
Uchiha Izumi looked at Sasuke's fanatical gaze, a faint chill creeping into her heart. She could feel that Sasuke had changed. He had become more dangerous, and more... like Chiya.
But she said nothing.
Because beneath this "Flame Emperor's" shadow, they were all moths with no control over their own fate.
[Amegakure · Underground Treasury]
An hour later.
As the massive treasury doors slowly opened under Konan's guidance, Chiya finally revealed his first heartfelt smile since arriving in the Land of Rain.
Golden light.
Dazzling golden light.
Mountains of gold bars and silver, along with hundreds of millions of Explosive Tags stacked neatly on shelves.
Everything the Akatsuki had amassed over years of mercenary work, taking dirty, grueling jobs on the black market, was here.
"Not bad. Not bad at all."
Chiya casually picked up a hefty gold bar and weighed it in his hand.
"Kakuzu might have been ugly, but you couldn't fault his ability to save money."
"With this money..."
Chiya turned to look at Konan, Sasuke, and Izumi, who stood respectfully behind him.
"I can turn Amegakure into a true fortress of war."
"Konan."
"At your command." Konan lowered her head.
"Issue an announcement."
Chiya walked to the center of the vault, his purple Rinnegan gleaming with ambition.
"First, effective immediately, Amegakure will be renamed 'Flame Emperor City.'"
"Second, the Akatsuki will be dissolved and reorganized on the spot. The new organization doesn't need so much dead weight. Only the elite will remain."
"Third..."
The corners of Chiya's mouth lifted as he uttered words that would send the Five Great Nations into an uproar:
"Issue the 'Flame Emperor Decree' to the entire shinobi world."
"One month from now, I will hold the 'Shinobi World Peace Summit' in Flame Emperor City."
"Invite the Kage of the Five Great Shinobi Villages to attend in person."
"Tell them..."
"If they don't come, or if they dare try any tricks..."
"I'll take my blade, along with these newly acquired eyes..."
"And visit their villages one by one to set them ablaze!"
"Understood?"
"Yes!!"
Their three voices echoed through the vault.
Chiya gazed at the room full of wealth and power, feeling the surging Sage Body chakra within him.
He knew.
From this moment on, the nature of the Fourth Shinobi World War had changed.
It was no longer the Five Great Nations against Obito and Madara.
It was the entire shinobi world... against Chiya Uchiha!
Before you continue