After thirty seconds of scanning, Rorin heard the system's reply.
[Alright, host, generating the map for you now!]
The corner of Rorin's mouth lifted slightly. As expected, the system made things easier—otherwise he'd have to stab himself and use natural energy to sense everything, which would be way too troublesome.
After about a minute of waiting, a map interface appeared before his eyes. The green dot on the map represented Rorin's current location.
The Rinnegan's location was marked in bright blue. Rorin noticed a blue dot right beside his own green one and lowered his head to glance at Deva Path.
Aside from the blue dot near him, there were five blue dots inside the Hidden Leaf Village. The remaining blue dot could only belong to Nagato.
After confirming the direction, Rorin hoisted Deva Path onto his shoulder and rushed toward Nagato's location.
Inside the massive paper tree formed by Paper Release, Nagato's gaze darkened.
"I didn't expect Deva Path to be defeated by him."
Hearing this, Konan frowned slightly. Deva Path had been created using Yahiko's corpse.
At the thought of this, wind gathered beneath Konan's feet as she immediately prepared to head out and reclaim Yahiko's body.
"Wait, Konan!" Nagato called out, stopping her.
Konan turned slightly, looking at Nagato in confusion, hoping for an explanation.
Nagato shook his head faintly before explaining,
"That guy said earlier he wanted to meet me. I think he'll come. As for Yahiko's body… I believe he'll bring it with him."
"Will he?" Konan slowly turned her head, peering through a small gap in the paper tree trunk, gazing into the distance.
Nagato lowered his head as well. It was just a feeling—something vague and hard to put into words.
...
Five minutes later, a ninja eagle flapped its wings and hovered in the air. Jiraiya leaned forward, looking down at the ground. When he saw the massive crater below, an uneasy feeling rose in his heart.
The eagle descended, and as it neared the ground, Jiraiya, Uzumaki Naruto, and Kakashi jumped down together.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
After stabilizing themselves, the three began searching the surroundings. After a while, they regrouped.
"Find anything?" Jiraiya asked.
Naruto and Kakashi both shook their heads slowly. Jiraiya's eyes narrowed slightly, and then he casually noticed the black rod that Rorin had pulled from Deva Path earlier.
Jiraiya walked over and picked it up.
Seeing this, Naruto and Kakashi immediately moved closer, the three of them staring at the black rod.
Jiraiya smiled faintly. "Bone kid, I knew you wouldn't go down so easily! Heh."
Naruto and Kakashi exchanged smiles as well, the heavy weight in their hearts finally lifting. Then Kakashi took out the bone again and injected chakra into it.
...
Meanwhile, Rorin, who was dashing through the forest, sensed information from the Flying Thunder God mark. He stopped on a tree branch and looked back.
"The Flying Thunder God mark shows the location is where the battle just happened..." Rorin muttered. After a brief moment of thought, he continued heading toward Nagato.
Looks like the spectacle of Planetary Devastation drew Kakashi-sensei here. He was probably worried about my safety. But I left those black rods behind—he should be able to tell I'm fine. So I'll go meet Nagato first!
Kakashi looked at the bone in his hand, frowning slightly.
"Did Rorin run into some kind of trouble?"
Jiraiya chuckled. "Don't worry. That guy's life is as tough as his bones. He's probably off handling something else. No need to disturb him—we should head back to the Hidden Leaf Village."
Naruto and Kakashi smiled helplessly. Indeed, there was no need to worry about Rorin's safety anymore.
The three of them then set off toward the Hidden Leaf Village. Shortly after they left, a pitcher-plant-like figure slowly rose from the ground—Zetsu emerged, watching their departing backs.
"Who would've thought… Pain would lose to such an unremarkable young man," Zetsu said in a sinister tone.
Though he said that, recalling the power of that energy sphere made him shiver. Thankfully, he had hidden himself deep enough.
Zetsu then slowly sank back underground, disappearing without a trace.
...
After traveling for some time, Rorin finally arrived before the giant paper tree. He stepped forward slowly.
Using his free left hand, he gently parted the sheets of paper. Once he opened a large enough gap, he slipped inside.
"You really came," Nagato said calmly. Seeing the corpse of Deva Path on Rorin's back, he quietly let out a breath of relief.
"Oh? You guessed I could find your real body?" Rorin said casually. Anyone who didn't know better would think he was here to catch up with an old friend.
As he spoke, Rorin gently lowered Yahiko's body from his shoulder and turned to face them.
Nagato neither confirmed nor denied it. He stared at Rorin and said slowly,
"You said earlier you wanted to meet me. Since you defeated Pain, I stayed here to see you. So—what's your purpose?"
Hearing this, Rorin dropped his playful expression. His face turned serious as he looked at Nagato and knowingly asked,
"I want to know the true goal of your Akatsuki organization—or rather, the goal of you two."
"Is that important?" Nagato asked in return.
Rorin nodded slowly. "Because it concerns my friend's safety. The jinchūriki you're trying to capture… happens to be my friend."
"Friend…" Nagato lifted his head slightly, recalling the happy days he once spent with Yahiko and Konan.
Then he lowered his head again.
"Our goal is simple—to bring peace to this world."
Rorin curled his lips. "Peace? Or 'nuclear peace'?"
"Do you even understand what peace is? Do you really think your method can bring peace to the world? From my perspective, all you're doing is creating one tragedy after another."
Rorin met Nagato's gaze and spoke softly.
"You don't understand. Those of you born in great nations can never comprehend the suffering of small countries. For great nations to grow stronger, they wage constant wars—and in those wars, it's small, weak countries like ours that become the battlefield. War brings us endless pain. After the war ends, the great nations continue to prosper, never caring what we small countries have gone through. Too many people died there. Their suffering made me grow, taught me one truth—that ignorant children can only grow into adults after experiencing pain."
Nagato's emotions grew more intense.
"Only by truly understanding pain can one understand peace—that's your idea, right?" Rorin asked, his expression serious as he stared at Nagato.
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