Bang!
Konan, who had been shedding silent tears, and Nagato, who was filled with regret, looked up to see Deva Path Pain's only remaining hand break off from the burns and fall to the ground.
The sight was simply too cruel!
Since Nagato could not move, Konan had to act herself, hurriedly sealing the still-deteriorating Deva Path Pain in a scroll and putting him away.
The two remained there in silence for a long time, neither wanting to speak.
In the end, Konan spoke first. "Let's go back."
"Mm."
The two fell silent again.
But before turning to leave, Nagato and Konan both looked back at the flames that still towered in place. The raging fire burned as before, as though nothing had happened.
Only the ravines, deep craters, and drifting dust left on the wasteland proved that everything that had just happened was real.
On the way back, Nagato kept pondering just how powerful Shihōin Naraku had become.
Having experienced Flame Mountain's power firsthand, doubt arose in Nagato's mind. Was that truly a miracle a ninja could create?!
As the possessor of the Rinnegan, Nagato was fairly familiar with the legends of the Sage of Six Paths. The myths did describe miracles left behind by the sage, and the bright moon hanging high in the night sky was one of them.
Nagato had been half-convinced. He believed it because, with the Rinnegan's Dōjutsu—Planetary Devastation—he too could create an enormous, moonlike sphere of rock in the sky.
As for why he doubted it, that was naturally because the sphere he created with Planetary Devastation was far too different from the moon.
Comparing the two naturally gave Nagato doubts.
But after seeing Flame Mountain this time, Nagato began to wonder whether his inability to create a sphere like the moon was