What kind of peace?
Nagato's hoarse voice sounded particularly faint atop the destroyed tower, as if it might be swallowed up at any moment by the raging wind and torrential rain pouring in from outside the window.
His once divine, Rinnegan, now held only endless confusion and desolation. His entire life, everything he had upheld, had proven to be a complete joke. He no longer knew what he could still believe in.
Gen'yō looked at his dying state without a trace of pity, but also without any mockery.
He didn't answer directly, but instead turned his gaze to the blue-haired woman next to him who was hugging Nagato and had tears streaming down her face.
" Konan."
"You've already 'seen' it, haven't you?"
Gen'yō's voice seemed to possess some kind of magic, causing Konan's crying body to stiffen abruptly.
The scene, so different from Amegakure, involuntarily resurfaced in her mind.
Bathed in the warm sunshine, the farmers' faces beamed with the joy of a bountiful harvest.
In that bright and clean school, the children's eyes sparkled with hope for the future and a thirst for knowledge.
In that efficiently operating factory, the workers, though sweating profusely, wore expressions of pride and satisfaction on their faces as they created value.
On those bustling yet orderly streets, every pedestrian wore a calm and confident expression, enjoying the tranquility brought by peace.
There was no endless rain, no omnipresent surveillance, and no oppressive, suffocating atmosphere.
There you'll find sunshine, hope, and genuine, heartfelt smiles.
"That kind of peace—" Konan's voice trembled with a sob, "Does that kind of peace really exist? Or is it just Genjutsu you created?"
" Genjutsu?" Gen'yō scoffed, his laughter filled with utter disdain for the idea. "Only the weak need false Genjutsu to seek solace."
"I, Uchiha Gen'yō, and the Divine Kingdom I have established, offer my people a tangible and real benefit!"
Gen'yō slowly opened his arms, as if embracing the whole world. His golden eyes shone with a light called "absolute confidence".
"I gave them the most fertile land, so that they would be free from hunger."
"I gave them the most advanced knowledge, freeing them from ignorance."
"I will give them the strongest military force to protect them from foreign invasion."
"I give them the fairest rules, so that everyone can realize their own value and gain the respect they deserve through their own efforts!"
"This is the peace I define!"
Gen'yō's voice was powerful and resonant, each word like a heavy hammer blow, striking Nagato and Konan's hearts.
"Instead of being like you, Nagato, forcing others to understand pain through your own, threatening them with death to cherish life. That kind of peace built on fear is fragile and easily broken; it's nothing more than an excuse you make for yourself to escape reality!"
"What Yahiko wants is a world where everyone can understand each other. And understanding is never achieved by inflicting pain, but by building shared interests, shared goals, and shared prosperity!"
When everyone is doing well, when everyone's future is full of hope, who the hell has time to start a war?
These crude yet undeniably truthful words caused a flicker of emotion to appear in Nagato's lifeless eyes for the first time.
Yes, what Yahiko wanted was a world where everyone could live happily.
When did I twist this simplest of desires into a fanatical belief that "pain" should dominate the world?
" Nagato— " Konan gently shook his body, looking at him with teary eyes, "Perhaps he's right. We've been on the wrong path from the very beginning."
Nagato fell silent.
He slowly closed his eyes, and two lines of bloody tears slid down from the Rinnegan, which were not his own.
After a long while, he opened his eyes again and looked at Gen'yō. Those Rinnegan no longer held any light, only a sense of relief remained.
"I see."
I lost. I lost miserably.
You can take these eyes.
"I have only one request," Nagato's voice was weak but unusually clear, "Please spare Konan. Everything she did was for me."
" Nagato! No!" Konan cried out in alarm.
"Don't worry," a satisfied smile finally appeared on Gen'yō's face, "I have no interest in killing a woman. Besides, my Divine Kingdom's Ministry of Medicine is in dire need of an expert like her who is proficient in Medical Ninjutsu and Paper Release techniques."
Having said that, Gen'yō stopped wasting words.
He walked step by step to Nagato, looking down at this "god" who had once made the entire Shinobi World tremble.
"Very good, you made the wisest choice."
Gen'yō slowly extended his right hand, his index and middle fingers joined together, and a soft yet sacred golden light shone from the tips of his fingers.
"What follows might be a little strange, but it won't hurt."
He gently touched Nagato's eyes with his finger.
Konan held her breath nervously, while Shisui and Itachi watched the scene with curiosity. They were eager to know how Lord Gen'yō would "remove" those legendary Rinnegan.
However, the bloody scene they had imagined did not occur.
The moment Gen'yō's fingers touched Nagato's eyelids, a layer of light composed of countless golden runes instantly covered Nagato's entire head.
" Kamui - Creation - Matter Recombination."
Gen'yō whispered.
To everyone's astonishment, the two Rinnegan, covered in purple ripples, seemed to float out of Nagato's eye sockets like marbles taken from jelly, ignoring all the obstruction of flesh, nerves, and tissues, and hovered at Gen'yō's fingertips!
Throughout the entire process, Nagato didn't shed a single drop of blood, nor did he even show the slightest expression of pain!
Then, something even more unbelievable happened!
As he removed the Rinnegan, two brand-new, perfectly Sharingan, each shimmering with Mitsudomoe, appeared in Gen'yō's other hand. He gently pressed these two eyes back into Nagato's empty eye sockets.
The golden light flashed once more.
When the light faded, a pair of Sharingan eyes, though ordinary, were now visible in Nagato's empty eye sockets, brimming with vitality!
At the same time, Gen'yō raised his hand and a silver-white life support device full of futuristic technology appeared out of thin air. Countless soft nano-tentacles automatically extended and gently replaced the hideous and terrifying giant black rods inserted behind Nagato.
A pure and gentle life energy flowed continuously into Nagato's body from the new life support device.
Nagato's body, which had been withered and emaciated from years of having its life force drained by the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, began to visibly plump up. His paper-white face gradually regained some color.
"This is--"
Nagato was stunned as he felt the warm and comfortable power within his body, and as he felt the wound on his back that had been torn open for more than a decade, now sending waves of tingling and healing sensations through him.
He discovered that he could actually sit up on his own!
Although he still needs life support, he is no longer the living dead who can only afford to move a finger!
"In exchange, I'll accept these Rinnegan. In compensation, I'll give you a new pair of eyes and a body that allows you to live like a normal person."
Gen'yō stored the two Rinnegans that were Rinnegan on his fingertips into a specially made sealing crystal and said in a calm tone.
"From now on, you and Konan are citizens of my Divine Kingdom. Whether you choose to shine in the Ministry of Medicine or choose to live an ordinary life is up to you."
After doing all this, Gen'yō's gaze returned to the Black Zetsu, which he was holding in his other hand and was too scared to move.
" Amaterasu." Gen'yō shouted into the air.
"[Yes, my lord.]" A cold, electronic female voice echoed in his mind.
"Inform Orochimaru that new experimental subjects have arrived."
A cold smile curled at the corner of Gen'yō's mouth.
"Tell him this might be related to the origin of Chakra and the ultimate secret of all Kekkei Genkai. Have him study it to the death; I need the most complete analysis report."
[Command received. Lord Orochimaru is so excited he's already started shedding his skin.]
Gen'yō ignored the AI's complaints. He flipped his hand, and a pitch-black Uzumaki of Kamui appeared, directly swallowing the Black Zetsu had let out a final desperate scream, along with the half-dead corpse of Deva Path Pain, and teleporting them to the secret laboratory deep within the Divine Kingdom.
After cleaning up all the mess, Gen'yō clapped his hands and turned to leave the ruins.
But at that very moment!
A frantic red alert suddenly rang in the minds of him and all the core Uchiha members present!
This is a top-level war alert from the Divine Kingdom's mastermind, " Amaterasu "!
[Emergency Alert! Emergency Alert!]
[My lord! The Kumogakure has assembled an army of 30,000 ninjas, led by the Fourth Raikage, and they have reached the outskirts of our eastern border, the " Wall of the Divine Kingdom "!]
Their vanguard has begun attacking the barrier!