Deva Path Pain frowned slightly, a fleeting, almost imperceptible pain flashing in his eyes, but it was quickly masked by indifference.
"Master, Nagato is gone. Now I am Pain, the leader of Amegakure, the god who brings pain and change."
"Gone? How is that possible! What exactly happened between you?"
Jiraiya, his face filled with shock, took a step forward and eagerly pressed for an answer.
He once met Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan during the war, and carefully taught them for three years, watching them grow and placing high hopes on them.
In his heart, those three children always held a special place, and he found it hard to accept this news.
And the Rinnegan... It was because of these eyes that he initially regarded Nagato as the chosen one.
But now Yahiko says Nagato is dead, how is that possible?
Kakuzu and Kisame Hoshigaki stood to the side, watching Jiraiya, ready to deal with any possible situation.
"Hmph, old man, this has nothing to do with you. If you don't want to die, you'd better get out of here."
Kisame Hoshigaki grinned, revealing sharp teeth, and toyed with the Samehada sword in his hand.
"Don't meddle in our business. We won't show any mercy to the former Sannin Ninjas."
Konan remained seated on the ground, head bowed, without saying a word.
Hoshino stood aside, quietly observing the situation.
Kikaichū buzzed around him, always on standby, ready to react at any moment depending on the situation.
"Teacher, you don't need to ask anymore. The past cannot be changed," Deva Path Pain said slowly. "Now, I will achieve peace in my own way."
"In this world, some people are high above others, while others are reduced to dust. The world is full of war and suffering. Only when people experience true pain will they cherish peace."
"Absurd!" Jiraiya retorted angrily. "True peace is not achieved by inflicting suffering. Yahiko, have you forgotten your former ideals?"
"Your former ideals?" Deva Path Pain sneered.
Yahiko's ideal is to create a peaceful world, hoping to end the war and allow everyone to live freely, no longer threatened by hunger, fear, and war.
At first, Yahiko wanted to become a strongman and bring peace to the world through absolute power, but he was later influenced Jiraiya and accepted that nonsense theory of love and mutual understanding.
In this way, the outcome was already predetermined.
"Teacher, we are very grateful to you for teaching us how to use power, but you shouldn't have kept instilling your own set of ideas in us."
"You know perfectly well that this is impossible, and you yourself are running away from it, yet you want us to comply."
"Where is this? It's the Land of Rain, a region nestled between three great powers, a buffer zone between their war zones. Isn't using this kind of thinking just self-deception and courting disaster?"
The more Deva Path, the more excited he became, but in the end his tone became calm.
" Jiraiya- sensei, if I could do it all over again, I would never go looking for you again, and I would never be deceived by you. You are no different from the foreign ninjas who invaded the Land of Rain."
Upon hearing Deva Path Pain's words, Jiraiya trembled slightly, his eyes filled with heartache and disappointment.
That wasn't deception; it was his lifelong belief. He taught them so that they could uphold justice and kindness in a cruel world and pursue peace in the right way.
He himself was even willing to pay the price with his life for this ideal.
Hoshino listened to the clash of ideas between the two without any emotional fluctuation, trying his best to make his presence felt.
At this time, Nagato had not yet been beaten or talked to, and his personality was somewhat insane; he simply couldn't listen to what others were saying.
Hoshino wanted to keep a low profile, but the others weren't so willing.
Jiraiya and Deva Path argued, the topic shifted to Hoshino and the Reform Society, and they turned their attention to them.
" Hoshino!"
The sudden mention of this name by Deva Path startled Hoshino, who was watching the scene unfold.
Jiraiya turned his head, his eyes narrowing slightly. "You're Hoshino? Where's Asuma?"
"That's not important!" Deva Path answered for Hoshino, continuing, "Why did you found the Reform Society? What are your peace principles?"
"Ah?"
Hoshino opened his mouth, then scratched his cheek with a blank expression.
Weren't they fighting to the death just a moment ago? And now they're discussing such advanced topics?
Jiraiya clearly wanted to hear Hoshino's thoughts, so he temporarily put Asuma's matter aside.
Anyway Sunagakure wouldn't dare to actually kill Asuma.
The rain grew heavier, with large raindrops pounding on the ground and splashing up sprays of water.
Rain streamed down everyone's faces, mingling with sweat and blood, making the scene appear even more gruesome and chaotic.
Aside from Jiraiya and Deva Path, everyone else turned their attention to them.
However, apart from Konan and Kisame Hoshigaki, Kakuzu watching with a mocking look, clearly enjoying the spectacle.
For Kakuzu, only money is unwavering; peace and such are completely irrelevant, as long as his heart is strong enough, he can survive.
Hoshino glanced at the stares coming from around him and quickly gathered his thoughts.
When I used to read fanfiction, I always saw the main characters debating the ideals of peace with Nagato, Jiraiya, Obito, and others. Now, is it finally his turn?
"Cough cough!"
" The Reform Society was initially founded to change the status quo of Sunagakure."
"Those corrupt ninja factions in the village control vast resources but disregard the lives of the villagers. The lower classes live in misery. I want to break this situation, make Sunagakure a better place, and allow the villagers to live a peaceful life."
As he spoke, Hoshino paused slightly, looked firmly at Deva Path Pain and Jiraiya, and continued.
"As for the concept of peace, I don't think it's that complicated. I believe peace is not achieved through unilateral suppression, nor is it obtained by plunging people into endless suffering."
"Our Reform Society develops prosthetic technology to improve the villagers' lives and work capabilities. Although there have been some problems along the way, this is all to ensure that the village has enough strength to stand firm in the Shinobi World."
Only when we become strong can we be qualified to talk about peace.
Upon hearing Deva Path Pain's words, Pain 'Hoshino eyes flashed with disdain, and he sneered.
"Hmph, that's easy for you to say. It's just an excuse you're making for yourself to expand your power."
"Your so-called enhancement of the villagers' abilities is nothing more than using them as tools to serve your ambitions."
"Look at what you've done in Falling Rain Town. Is this how you seek peace? Creating chaos, starting wars, and plunging countless people into suffering."
Hearing this, Hoshino frowned.
Is this just arguing for the sake of arguing? Is this making a mountain out of a molehill?
Don't you understand the principle of doing what you're supposed to do, and doing as much work as your abilities allow?
Sunagakure faces internal and external troubles, including obstruction from traditional forces within the village and pressure from other ninja villages outside. It simply doesn't have much time or resources to slowly resolve these issues.
The black market transactions involve various forces coveting the core technologies of Sunagakure, and their actions have seriously threatened the village's safety and interests.
If left unchecked, Sunagakure will only find itself in an even more precarious situation, at which point the villagers' lives will truly be filled with misery.
Damn it, you want to argue all the time? Well then, today I'll show you what it means for a land-based keyboard warrior to return to his rightful place!
" Pain! Stop pretending with me. Your ideas are utter nonsense to me, only slightly more reliable than Jiraiya's," Hoshino retorted.
"Hey, hey, hey, if you're going to argue with Yahiko, just argue with Yahiko, why are you dragging me into this?" Jiraiya.
"Because your concept of love and understanding has serious problems," Hoshino said with a look of disdain.
"Then tell me..." Jiraiya was about to continue when Deva Path interrupted him, saying, " Jiraiya- sensei, this is a conversation between me and Hoshino."
After Jiraiya calmed down, Deva Path continued to ask Hoshino, "What's wrong with becoming the strongest Shinobi World, using absolute power to intimidate the Shinobi World, and making everyone feel pain equally?"
"This is a huge problem!"
Hoshino sneered and retorted sharply, "You're building peace on fear. 'Peace' achieved through military suppression is like a castle built on sand; it will collapse at the slightest storm."
Deva Path Pain's eyes narrowed, and his aura rose slightly, causing the surrounding rain to freeze in mid-air.
"What do you know! In this dog-eat-dog world, without absolute power, you're just a lamb to the slaughter. Only when everyone knows the cost of resistance will they give up the fight, and only then can true peace be achieved."
"I don't understand? Then do you? Have you ever been to school? Do you know what productivity is? Do you know what the laws of social development are?"
Hoshino's words were sharp, his eyes filled with skepticism towards Deva Path Pain's ideology.
"Can all problems be solved and so-called peace achieved simply through force?"
"Look at the Shinobi World today. The constant conflicts between nations are not due to an imbalance of power, but rather to the uneven distribution of resources and the clash of interests."
He could understand those naive ideas. In the Shinobi World, everyone had only an elementary school education and learned how to kill. They were easily swayed by sophistry.
From Madara Uchiha to Obito, then to Nagato and Uchiha Itachi, they were all completely fooled.
Jiraiya, listening to the argument between the two, frowned and felt that although Hoshino's words were sharp, they also made some sense.
He began, " Hoshino is right in some ways! Yahiko, peace shouldn't be maintained by fear, although I don't think his Reform Society and the five-person co-governance are anything special either."
Tsk!
Is this a case of belittling one while praising another? Is it that he forgot to mention you?
Hoshino frowned deeply, abruptly turning his attention to Jiraiya, his tone undisguisedly sharp.
"Don't be like the pot calling the kettle black."
" Pain's philosophy may sound like nonsense, but in the Shinobi World world, where individual power far surpasses collective power."
"The idea of using violence to suppress violence, and relying on absolute force to achieve peace, still has at least a sliver of a possibility that might be feasible."
"Yours is different; it's pure fantasy!"