Above an inland lake, where the environment was far from ideal for human habitation, stood an entire village of shinobi.
This village was filled with tower-like structures, and from the outside, it was clear that an advanced drainage system was integrated into its design. Its architecture was distinctly different from other villages, making it stand out.
At this moment, a gentle rain was falling over the village, rain that seemed eternal, as if the sun would never shine here.
Perhaps this endless rainfall was the very reason the inland lake had formed in the first place.
This place was none other than Amegakure, the village most skilled in assassination missions.
Most of the shinobi in the village wore gas masks as they moved through the rain-soaked streets.
At the highest point of the village, a man with short orange hair sat quietly, gazing down at the village below.
This man was none other than Deva Path, one of the Six Paths of Pain.
Standing beside him was a graceful figure, dressed in the signature black cloak with red clouds of the Akatsuki.
She had short, light-blue-violet hair, styled into a bun, with a light blue paper flower adorning the right side of her head.
Beneath it, her amber-colored eyes were accentuated by light purple eyeshadow.
At this moment, she was staring at Deva Pain with subtle concern.
Her lips, pierced with a lip stud, parted slightly as if she wanted to say something.
But in the end, she remained silent, her expression returning to an icy coldness.
Because suddenly, afigure appeared near them.
It was the masked man with a swirling pattern on his face, the same one who had previously encountered Natsuro and Sasuke.
"You're here."
Pain did not turn around, his gaze still fixed on Amegakure. His voice was calm and indifferent.
"Yes. I came to inform you, the powers of the One-Tail through the Seven-Tails are now in our possession.
Now, the only ones left are the Eight-Tails and the Nine-Tails.
The remaining members of the Akatsuki have already headed to Kumogakure to capture the Eight-Tails.
It shouldn't pose much difficulty." The masked man paused here and said nothing more.
"So the only one left is the Nine-Tails?" Pain asked.
"That's right.
Thanks to your leniency, Konoha's power is now at an unprecedented level.
Not only do they have the Nine-Tails and the Sixth Hokage, but there's even the possibility of an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan existing within the village."
At this point, displeasure crept into the masked man's tone.
He was deeply dissatisfied with Nagato's decision to let Itachi go to his death.
"Hmph. I will personally capture the Nine-Tails," Pain stated without hesitation.
"As for that so-called Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan… in the face of a god's power, it is meaningless."
Even after hearing this, the masked man merely responded,
"We'll see." Without saying another word, he vanished, leaving only Tendō Pain and Konan.
"Nagato… what should we do next?" Konan's worried gaze was fixed on Nagato.
She had never doubted his strength before.
But ever since the four Akatsuki members failed their ambush against Natsuro, resulting in two of them being seriously wounded, Konan had come to realize that Nagato might not be invincible.
At the very least, there existed forces in this world capable of standing against his Rinnegan.
And now, Nagato planned to invade Konoha to capture the Nine-Tails.
That meant he would inevitably face Natsuro.
Even if he won, it would likely be a costly victory.
And with Nagato's current physical condition…
For the first time in a long while, Konan felt genuine worry.
Nagato seemed to pick up on her concern and responded, "Konan, a god's power is absolute. This time, the battlefield will be in Konoha. Since Natsuro is the Sixth Hokage, he will not abandon the village and run. And I will no longer need to waste energy maintaining a barrier to trap him. This time… he will witness the true power of a god."
Konan's lips parted slightly, but in the end, she didn't argue further.
Since Nagato had already made his decision, there was nothing more to say.
Her role was simply to carry out his plans.
At this point, Konan shifted the topic and glanced toward the spot where the masked man had stood earlier.
"Nagato, do you really believe that he is the legendary Madara Uchiha?" Nagato fell into a long silence.
After a long pause, he finally answered, "I'm not sure."
From the very beginning, when the masked man first claimed to be Madara, Nagato had harbored doubts.
After all, just because someone claims to be Madara, does that make it true?
However, the power the masked man had displayed was indeed extremely formidable.
That fact alone lent some credibility to his claim.
Even so, there were still many unanswered questions.
But to Nagato, the masked man's true identity wasn't important.
What mattered was that his plan could help achieve Yahiko's dream.
Even though his methods differed greatly from Yahiko's ideals, Nagato had long since realized, Yahiko's vision was too idealistic.
It was a dream that could never be realized in this cursed world.
Ever since Yahiko's death, Nagato had understood one thing.
This world is cursed.
There will never be true peace.
People will never truly understand one another.
So, if peace was to be achieved, the world had to experience true pain first.
Only through suffering and fear of war could peace be forged.
For that reason, the idea of using the Nine-Tails and the other Tailed Beasts to create a weapon of absolute power was necessary.
But did all nine Tailed Beasts really possess that kind of power?
Yes.
Nagato was certain of it.
Even though he had only gathered a few of the Tailed Beasts so far, he could already feel the immense power within them.
And these were just the weaker ones.
Not to mention the legendary power of the Nine-Tails and the next strongest, the Eight-Tails.
"But… it doesn't matter." Nagato thought to himself before speaking again.
Konan nodded.
From the very beginning, she had never truly believed the masked man's words.
And now, it was more obvious than ever, she could sense the fear and caution in his voice when he spoke about Konoha.
This only further reinforced her doubts.
If the masked man was really the legendary Madara Uchiha, would he truly fear the current Konoha?
According to historical records, even if Konoha had grown powerful enough to be a serious threat, the real Madara shouldn't have shown such hesitation, let alone outright fear.
This behavior was completely inconsistent with the records.
Rather than believing the historical accounts were wrong, Konan was more inclined to believe that the masked man was never Madara in the first place.
After all, even if Madara somehow survived until now, he should have grown old and lost his former strength.
Konan wasn't saying this without reason, deep down, she still hoped to dissuade Nagato from his chosen path.
It wasn't just because Konoha's power had become terrifyingly strong, on top of that, Konoha was still home to Jiraiya-sensei.
And no matter what… She didn't want to become his enemy.
But clearly, Nagato's resolve was absolute.
There was nothing she could do to change his mind.
Konan could only sigh silently in her heart.
If Yahiko's dream was to bring peace to the world, And if Nagato was the one who inherited that dream, then Konan, in truth, never had such lofty ideals.
Her only wish had been to stay by the side of Yahiko and Nagato, to protect their dream as if it were her own.
So… If a battle between Nagato and Jiraiya became inevitable, even if she hated the idea of them becoming enemies…
When the time came, she would make her choice.
But still…
Was there really no way for this to end perfectly?
If you want to read more...
Check out the patreon and get 55 chapters in advance -> SaintXI
Currently on Chapter 346 - The Eighth Gate: Gate of Death — Open!