"How is this possible…?"
The Deva Path clutched his chest and sank to one knee, staring at Fujimoto Tōma as he approached. Confusion flooded the Rinnegan. The power he had believed to be divine had been shattered with brutal efficiency. It made no sense.
For the first time since gaining these eyes, Nagato felt lost.
"…I've lost," the Deva Path finally said. There was no bitterness left, only resignation. Using his abilities any further was pointless.
Tōma paused in front of him, feeling oddly unsettled himself.
So this was it? The Six Paths of Pain were already finished?
It had been… easier than expected. Almost anticlimactic. He hadn't even felt fully warmed up. But reality didn't lie. The outcome was clear.
Instead of destroying the body outright, Tōma placed a hand on the Deva Path's chest and flooded it with sage chakra. One by one, the black receivers were forced out of the body. With the connection severed, the body collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
Tōma looked down at the corpse.
Yahiko's body.
Jiraiya's former student. Technically, his senior.
There was no personal attachment. Still, he decided to leave proper burial to Jiraiya later. The old man's heart was already burdened enough.
With a sealing scroll, Tōma stored the body away. Then he turned his gaze in another direction.
Next was Nagato himself.
And this time, Jiraiya would come along.
If there was even a chance to talk things through, Tōma intended to take it. No unforgivable blood had been spilled yet. There was no reason to drag sins from another timeline onto this one.
With that thought, he vanished.
Deep within a massive hollow tree, Nagato coughed violently, blood splattering across his hand. His body was gaunt, skin clinging to bone, his once-vivid red hair bleached pale from extreme chakra depletion. Black receivers protruded from his back, embedded into a strange life-support apparatus.
As he convulsed, the receivers dropped free one after another.
They were no longer needed.
The Six Paths were gone.
Konan rushed forward and caught him before he collapsed. "Nagato! Are you all right?"
"I'm still alive," Nagato said weakly. "But the Sixth Hokage is coming."
Konan's eyes widened. "…Already?"
Even with her unease, she hadn't imagined the Six Paths falling so quickly.
"Yes," Nagato replied quietly. "His power is far beyond what we anticipated."
"…Then we should retreat," Konan said, panic slipping through her calm.
"There's nowhere to run," Nagato answered. "He already knows where I am. Even at full strength, I couldn't escape him. In this condition, it's impossible."
He looked at her, hesitation flickering in his eyes. "Konan… if you can, leave on your own."
"I won't," she replied immediately. "If you stay, I stay."
Nagato smiled faintly. He had expected that answer.
Before he could speak again, a hoarse voice echoed through the chamber.
"So… you finally lost."
Nagato's eyes snapped open.
Black matter surged up Konan's body, wrapping around her like living tar.
"Zetsu!" Nagato shouted.
He coughed violently again, blood spilling freely now.
The black half of Black Zetsu emerged, grinning. "You're in no position to threaten anyone anymore, Nagato."
Konan struggled, trying to move, but her body refused to obey.
"Don't hurt her," Nagato said coldly. "What do you want?"
"The Rinnegan," Black Zetsu replied without hesitation. "Hand it over. Unless you want our 'angel' trapped forever in another space."
"Don't give it to them!" Konan shouted, fighting for control.
Black Zetsu's grip faltered slightly. He couldn't fully dominate her.
But that didn't matter.
"…Fine," Nagato said at last.
"Nagato!" Konan cried.
"But tell me," Nagato continued, staring at Zetsu, "why should I believe you'll keep your word?"
"If you don't," Black Zetsu said lightly, "I'll kill her. Simple."
Nagato closed his eyes.
He had already lost Yahiko once.
He would not lose Konan too.
With a sharp motion, he drove his fingers into his own eye sockets and tore out the Rinnegan. Blood streamed down his face as the overwhelming presence that had defined his life vanished in an instant.
The pain was nothing compared to the relief.
So this was divine power?
Power that couldn't protect anyone.
If surrendering it meant Konan lived, then it was worthless.
Black Zetsu smiled in triumph.
But in the same moment, Nagato hurled the eyes into the air and rapidly formed hand seals.
"Wind Style: Gale Palm!"
A violent blast of wind struck the Rinnegan midair.
"Damn it!" Black Zetsu cursed, abandoning Konan and surging upward.
Konan regained control instantly.
"Paper Style: Dance of the Shikigami!"
She dissolved into countless sheets of paper and reformed beside Nagato, supporting him.
Black Zetsu flattened into a pool of darkness, enveloping the Rinnegan just in time to shield them.
"Konan, take them back!" Nagato shouted.
She moved at once.
"Too late," Black Zetsu sneered.
A single Sharingan opened within the darkness, its pattern shifting into a familiar Mangekyō design.
"Sealing Technique: Transcription Seal."
The space twisted.
Black Zetsu vanished.
Silence fell.
"…Is he gone?" Nagato asked, blind now.
"Yes," Konan replied softly. "He used Obito's space-time technique."
She wiped the blood from his face with trembling hands.
"I'm sorry… I was careless."
Nagato smiled faintly. "Even I couldn't sense him. You did nothing wrong."
At least, this time, they were still alive.
"Now," Nagato murmured, exhaustion overtaking him, "we wait for the Sixth Hokage."
Elsewhere, Uchiha Obito halted mid-step.
The transcription seal had activated.
Something had gone wrong.
After a brief hesitation, he slipped into his dimension to meet Black Zetsu first. If the plan had failed, approaching Nagato now would be suicide.
Meanwhile, Fujimoto Tōma, with Jiraiya beside him, was already heading toward the hollow tree.
Unaware of the betrayal that had just unfolded.