"Jokichi!?"
Konan froze, then carefully examined the person inside the black sphere.
It indeed had some resemblance to Jokichi.
But, if it was him, why did he hold back against her?
That was a guy whom even Nagato and Madara combined could not defeat.
Konan did not think she could hold her own against such an existence.
Could it be.
Konan seemed to think of something, her cheeks flushing slightly.
Then she shook her head gently, tossing these messy thoughts out of her mind.
Such a thing was simply impossible.
She had merely thought of it as one of all the possible conjectures.
"Why forge an identity?"
Nagato stepped forward with large strides, asking with a grave expression.
"And why did you hold back all this time?"
Whether it was the Mangekyo Sharingan displayed on the ocean.
Or the Truth-Seeking Orbs he was using now.
This power could kill Konan in a single strike.
If someone with such power suddenly burst forth, he absolutely would not have time to rescue her.
Nagato did not understand.
It was clearly an opportunity to easily reduce the enemy's combat power, so why let it go so easily?
Or was it that his obviously teasing words earlier were actually genuine?
No, that is impossible.
Jokichi was only 13, while Konan was 32.
The two had never met before, so that situation could not occur.
The Truth-Seeking Orb completely dispersed.
Turning back into a fist-sized black sphere and floating behind his back along with the newly appeared eight.
Jokichi reached out his right hand and clenched it.
A pitch-black long rod extended from his palm to both ends, finally forming a shakujo staff.
He slowly landed on the ground, looking at the two calmly.
"Just because I was bored."
The two looked calmly at Jokichi without speaking.
But their fists quietly clenched.
This feeling of being underestimated, even ignored.
It was very uncomfortable.
But they could not refute it.
Setting Konan aside for the moment.
Although she did not know exactly how powerful Jokichi was now.
Just the level that Uchiha Madara and Nagato combined could not defeat was enough to make her look up to him.
And Nagato, possessing Six Paths power, knew even better what being able to use Truth-Seeking Orbs meant.
It was an existence that ninjutsu could not break at all.
It meant invincibility.
Originally, becoming the Three-Tails Jinchuriki and recovering his health.
He was confident he could defeat the Jokichi who had displayed his power on the ocean back then.
But now.
He could only smile bitterly.
Back then, they unanimously agreed that Jokichi's growth rate was too fast.
If they did not eradicate him early, he would definitely hinder their plans in the future.
But now.
How is this just an astonishing growth rate?
This is clearly like taking steroids!
"If everything can be accomplished easily, then doing anything will lose its sense of achievement, and thus become incredibly boring."
Jokichi looked at the two with a light smile.
"I am a young man after all. I can't be like old men, calming down and enjoying life."
"However, the arrival of you two has made me realize I can also do some very meaningful things."
After hesitating for a moment, Konan asked a question.
"What is it?"
Jokichi spread his arms and looked up at the sky, as if to embrace the world.
"World peace."
"World peace!"
The two were stunned.
Nagato remembered Jokichi saying earlier that he agreed with his ideals.
He was the first to react, his body trembling slightly as he asked.
"Are you."
"Don't misunderstand, Nagato."
Jokichi looked at him sideways, saying calmly.
"Although I quite agree with your ideals, your approach is completely useless and will only further exacerbate the brutality of war."
"How is this possible!?"
Nagato could not believe it, refuting somewhat hysterically.
"As long as every country possesses a weapon capable of destroying a country, under this deterrence, no one would dare provoke a war!"
"Theoretically, that is indeed true."
"Theoretically."
Nagato froze, immediately pressing.
"Then what is the actual situation?"
"In reality, the weapons you create will only become tools for some people's revelry."
Jokichi shook his head slightly.
"Although your idea is good, you do not understand the essence of war and humanity."
"Except for a few exceptions, I think no one hopes for a war to break out, right!"
"However, this is a ninja's world, and ninjas rely on fighting for a living. They simultaneously hope for world peace while worrying that if the world truly becomes peaceful, they will lose the meaning of their existence, thus constantly instigating conflicts in the shadows, leading to continuous wars throughout the ninja world."
"War brings pain to people, but it also makes the meaning of a ninja's existence more extraordinary."
"In war, they painfully lose on one hand, while happily gaining on the other."
"In this paradoxical spiral of war, wanting people to feel pain and relying on deterrence to maintain peace cannot solve any problems."
"Because the grander the scale of the war, the more painful the loss, the more one can reap greater benefits. Human greed will further expand the scale of war. The nuclear weapons you provide will only turn the already devastated world into a wasteland."
Nagato's expression constantly changed.
Sometimes deep in thought, sometimes grave, sometimes distressed.
Finally, his expression froze into a distortion.
"It can't be like this. This is all your conjecture."
Nagato's hysterical voice echoed in the open area in front of the courtyard gate.
"The world turning into a wasteland benefits no one. No one would dare provoke a war under such deterrence."
"That's why I said you don't understand the essence of humanity at all!"
Jokichi let out a long sigh and spoke.
"Benefits will blind people's eyes. As long as the benefits are sufficient, there are plenty of people who would dare destroy the world."
"Furthermore, the so-called nuclear deterrence is nothing but your delusion."
"No matter how powerful a weapon is, it is still a weapon. It needs to be in human hands to be used. And for powerful ninjas, infiltrating a small country to steal such a weapon is simply too easy."
Speaking of this, Jokichi remembered the plot involving the Tsuchigumo clan in the anime.
The Tsuchigumo clan possessed a forbidden jutsu equivalent to a nuclear weapon.
But a squad of wandering ninjas infiltrated and stole it.
If Utakata had not happened to be there.
I am afraid it would have been stolen before Team Naruto arrived.
Against the weak, a squad of wandering ninjas could succeed, not to mention the disparity between large and small countries.
The so-called giving nuclear weapons to all countries for free to achieve nuclear deterrence is simply a joke.
Haven't you seen that the Five Great Ninja Villages possessing Jinchuriki were also robbed by the Akatsuki organization?
What if another organization like Akatsuki emerges in the future, stealing nuclear weapons from various countries to conquer the world?
Then would those ninja villages use nuclear weapons?
If used, where would they be used?
"How could this be."
Nagato was like a deflated balloon.
He slumped powerlessly on the ground, his face full of bewilderment.
Inheriting Yahiko's will, going through so much just to come up with a way to make the world permanently peaceful.
It turned out it was nothing but an illusion.