"It seems it was successful, hahaha!"
Nagato was drenched in sweat and panting, but he couldn't stop himself from laughing.
He looked even happier than Makoto!
"It was indeed successful," Makoto let out a bitter laugh, collapsing onto the ground.
His body was completely drained. Every cell screamed for sustenance, dily absorbing the surrounding natural energy like a sponge in water.
That was close.
All abilities can be divided into active and passive.
Passive abilities are like permanent buffs. You don't need to turn them on; they just exist.
For example, Kaguya Otsutsuki was passively immune to all Ninjutsu. It didn't matter if you hit her with a fireball or a lightning bolt; it just didn't work.
But active abilities? They required conscious thought.
Madara could absorb jutsu with the Rinnegan, but he had to choose to do it.
That's why he got hit by Onoki's Dust Release—he arrogantly chose not to absorb it just to show off Hashirama's face on his chest.
Even Isshiki Otsutsuki, a god among gods, got pummeled by Baryon Mode Naruto because he couldn't react fast enough.
Active abilities require combat awareness.
If you get caught off guard, you die.
Just ask Shisui Uchiha, who got his eye gouged out by Danzo because he didn't activate Kotoamatsukami in time.
Makoto knew this well. His Time Erasure and future sight were active skills.
He had activated them earlier to confirm that Nagato's Almighty Push wouldn't kill him. Once he confirmed it was safe, he turned them off to save energy.
He hadn't expected Nagato to suddenly get hyped and drop a Chibaku tensei on his head.
Chibaku tensei was a qualitative leap in danger.
Fortunately, Makoto had just enough juice left.
He opened his entire body to the natural energy flood, focused all his effort on a single point, and forced the awakening of his power.
Because his energy reserves were low, the initial power of the new ability was weaker than it could have been.
But it worked.
After catching his breath, Makoto stood up. Under Nagato's watchful gaze, his feet slowly left the ground.
He began to float.
"This is it—the ability to control gravity," Makoto said, hovering a few feet in the air. "The range is still small for now. I'm calling this ability—C-Moon."
"C-Moon? Quite fitting," Nagato smiled with relief. "Legend has it that the Sage of Six Paths created the moon using Chibaku tensei."
For Nagato, the Rinnegan was a burden.
Seeing the power of gravity—the power of the gods—manifest in a friend made him feel less alone.
"So, how did the core disappear?" Konan asked, still looking shaken.
"The core was right in front of me," Makoto explained. "I touched it and inverted its gravity. It collapsed in on itself and vanished."
Makoto picked up a stone from the ground.
Hum.
The stone instantly turned inside out.
The rough exterior was now the interior, and the smooth quartz inside was now the surface. It looked eerie and unnatural.
"Impressive," Konan murmured. "If used on a person..."
"They'd turn inside out. Messy," Makoto tossed the stone away. "But it wouldn't work on you, Konan."
"Me?" Konan blinked, tapping her chin. "Even if I activate my Paper Dance technique, wouldn't reversed gravity tear my paper body apart?"
Konan's paper form was formidable.
As long as she had chakra, she was immune to physical damage.
But gravity affects everything.
"Not if you turn the attacked area into a Möbius strip," Makoto said simply.
"A what strip?"
"...Come closer."
Konan stepped forward. Sheets of paper peeled from her cheek as she entered her semi-transformed state.
'It's a pity she isn't an Otsutsuki,' Makoto thought. 'Otherwise, I'd try to awaken 'Heaven's Door' on her.'
"Like this."
Makoto reached out, grabbing a strip of paper floating around her. He twisted it once and connected the ends.
"A Möbius strip has only one surface," Makoto explained, holding the paper loop. "There is no 'inside' or 'outside.' Therefore, gravity cannot be inverted, because the inversion leads back to the same side."
Konan stared at the paper ring, dazed.
Was he really revealing the weakness of his new ability to her so easily? And teaching her how to counter it?
While Konan was lost in thought, Makoto floated over to Nagato.
"Nagato," Makoto asked, his tone shifting. "Do you still hold hatred for the Hidden Leaf Village?"
"Huh?"
Nagato hadn't expected the question.
After a few seconds of silence, Nagato's expression hardened.
"Are you trying to speak on behalf of Konoha? My personal hatred has long faded. But my hatred disappearing means nothing. People cannot understand each other. Only by knowing pain..."
"Stop," Makoto cut him off. "You've misunderstood. I wasn't planning to speak up for the Hidden Leaf at all."
Makoto's eyes narrowed.
"I asked because I intend to destroy it."
"Not being bound by hatred is a good thing," Makoto said, his voice echoing slightly in the empty training ground.
"Hatred motivates, yes. But it blinds you. It makes you lose rationality."
"However," he added, "that doesn't mean you should completely let go of it."
Konan frowned. "If we don't let go, but don't act on it... then what do we do?"
"Nagato personally can let go of his hatred," Makoto explained, looking at the frail man in the walker.
"But as the Leader of Akatsuki, the Head of Amegakure, and the representative of the Land of Rain, he cannot forget it."
"If we act like saints who have forgiven the world, the Great Nations will just think we're weak. They'll spin the narrative, claim we started the conflict, and walk all over us again."
Makoto turned to Konan.
"When we demonstrate enough power that the Hidden Leaf has to take us seriously, that's when this 'hatred' becomes a bargaining chip."
"The Leaf loves to portray themselves as righteous heroes. If we just scream for revenge and blow things up, we play into their hands. We become the 'villains' that unite them."
"But," Makoto smiled coldly. "If we hold onto the hatred but offer peace in exchange for 'compensation'... and they refuse? Then they become the warmongers. They become the ones perpetuating the cycle."
"Don't look at me like that. Look at Amegakure. Our infrastructure is decades behind the Five Great Nations. We don't even have a Ninja Academy. Our jutsu library is empty."
"Hanzo was a fraud," Makoto scoffed. "The Fire Release that crippled Nagato's legs? It wasn't even a real jutsu. It was just an Exploding Tag trap. His entire reputation relied on a poison sac and a salamander summon."
Nagato and Konan exchanged glances, feeling a pang of shame.
They had thought about this before, but they had never articulated it so clearly.
"...No wonder you become the future leader of Amegakure," Konan sighed softly.
After so many years in the darkness, she and Nagato had almost forgotten why they started this.
Wasn't Akatsuki founded to bring light to this rain-soaked hell?
Wasn't it to ensure that orphans like them didn't have to steal bread to survive?
Nagato killed Hanzo and brought "peace." But it was a rigid, silent peace. The village became a factory for Akatsuki, its people just resources to be spent.
They had stopped seeing the rain orphans as companions.
"If you hadn't appeared," Nagato asked quietly, looking up. "Would we have lost our way completely?"
He was asking about the original timeline.
It was rare for him to ask something.
"More or less," Makoto nodded. "In the end, you entrusted your dreams to the future Seventh Hokage. Konan left the Akatsuki and returned to lead Amegakure alone. Regardless of the tragedy... at least you both rediscovered your hearts before the end."
"...Tell me one thing," Konan whispered.
"Hmm?"
"Tell me one mistake I made. A specific one. Otherwise, I'm afraid I might forget this feeling again."
She stared at him intently, biting her lower lip.
"Well," Makoto said bluntly. "When Nagato lost his Animal Path body, you needed a replacement. So you took a young Chunin from the village—a girl who worshipped you as 'God's Angel'—and sent her on a suicide mission. Then you brought her corpse back and stuck black receivers in her to make the new Animal Path."
"..."
Konan's face went pale.
She took an involuntary step back.
The "Angel of God" killing a devoted follower just for spare parts?
Perhaps the old Konan would have called it a "necessary sacrifice." But the current Konan, reminded of her original purpose, felt a wave of nausea.
"Nagato, can you make it back on your own?" Makoto asked, breaking the tension.
"Yes. I've mostly recovered," Nagato nodded.
"Then, Konan-nee, it's time to move. Let's go rescue our wayward bomber."
Makoto's feet left the ground.
He hovered in mid-air and extended his hand.
Konan snapped out of her guilt. She took his hand, and the two of them ascended into the sky.
The Land of Rain is a geopolitical nightmare, sandwiched between three Great Nations: Wind, Earth, and Fire. But that also meant travel was short.
Their destination, Iwagakure, was just across the border.
As they flew, Konan maintained her Paper Angel form.
Flying usually cost chakra, but Makoto was using his new C-Moon gravity ability to carry them both, saving her energy.
Konan resumed the earlier topic, curious about Makoto's interest in the Hidden Leaf.
"I need the Flying Thunder God," Makoto explained. "Or at least the Flying Thunder Formation. Traveling by foot is inefficient. If we set up markers, we can teleport instantly between Amegakure, the Land of Waves, and Iwagakure."
"I don't know about the Formation," Konan mused. "But the Flying Thunder God marker is permanent. It never fades unless you erase the surface it's on. It's just like the... SlaveMark."
"..."
"I'm surprised you know what that is, Konan-nee," Makoto sighed, shaking his head. "Jiraiya and his 'adult novels' really corrupted everyone."
"What? I don't know what you're talking about!" Konan hurriedly denied, her face flushing slightly.
"Then why did you bring it up?"
"Because you mentioned the Flying Thunder God! It reminded me of our junior, Namikaze Minato," Konan defended herself.
"Jiraiya-sensei told us about the 'Child of Prophecy.' At first, he thought it was Nagato. After we... drifted apart, he probably thought it was Minato, who was a genius during the war."
"But now Minato is dead too..." Konan's tone carried a hint of melancholy.
"Konan-nee," Makoto squeezed her hand. "Forget about the 'Child of Prophecy' nonsense."
"Huh? Why? Isn't it the prophecy of the Great Toad Sage?"
"That old toad, Gamamaru?" Makoto scoffed. "He's been senile since Kaguya's era. His brain is fried from sleeping too much."
"And Hagoromo Otsutsuki is no better."
"A blue-eyed youth calling the names of the nine Tailed Beasts as the savior of the world?" Makoto laughed mockingly.
"The prophecies of one man and one toad have been passed down for a thousand years. And what was the result?"
"The prophecy came true and peace didn't even last twenty years."
"It's a joke."
Makoto looked Konan in the eyes, his expression fierce.
"Remember this, Konan. Our fate lies in our own hands. There has never been a savior, and there is no Child of Prophecy."
"We save ourselves."
---------
C-MOON (C-MOONシー・ムーン Shī Mūn) is a Stand developed by Enrico Pucci, featured in Stone Ocean.
C-MOON is the evolved form of Whitesnake and the predecessor to Made in Heaven. This Stand is the result of the fusion between Pucci and the Green Baby, resulting an ability that gives C-MOON and Pucci the power to manipulate gravity and turn things and people inside out.