The Evil God's wild laughter, brimming with greed and malice, still echoed through the ruins. His indistinct "arm," formed of shadows and filthy purplish-red light, had already risen, as though in the next instant he would reach out and seize the Rinnegan containing boundless power from Nagato's eye sockets, devouring them along with his soul.
Yahiko's eyes nearly split with fury. He wanted to rush forward, but that terrifying divine might pinned him firmly to the ground. Unable to move even a finger, he could only let out a despairing roar. Konan desperately drove her paper forward, trying to form a barrier, but beneath the Evil God's aura, the sheets drifted limply down as though drained of all their strength. Nagato clutched his eyes tightly, his body curled up and trembling violently. Beneath his purple hair, purple light pulsed like a heart, as though something were instinctively resisting the approaching destruction.
At that critical instant.
"Interesting."
A young man's calm voice, carrying even a hint of amusement and admiration, abruptly rang out through the deathly silent ruins.
The voice was not loud, yet it strangely pierced the Evil God's soul-shaking laughter and oppressive presence, reaching everyone's ears clearly.
"How very interesting."
The speaker seemed to chuckle.
"To think I'd encounter a... 'figure' like you in this remote corner of the Shinobi World."
The Evil God's raised "arm" paused slightly. His swirling eyes snapped toward the voice-at the entrance to the shrine ruins, someone had appeared without anyone knowing when.
He was an exceedingly young man, seemingly only around twenty. He wore a simple moon-white kariginu beneath an ink-black haori. His black hair was loosely pinned up with an ordinary wooden hairpin, a few stray locks falling over his forehead.
His features were handsome, his bearing gentle, and the faintest smile