Faced with an immeasurable amount of magical power, Nagato was forced to take a step back. It was like an abyssal mass of energy akin to the Ten-Tails—yet unlike the Ten-Tails, it possessed its own will, retained a human form, and was an intelligent being that took the right measures at the right time.
“I-I won’t forgive anyone who keeps bullying Onii-chan.”
“!!”
As if it had been watching everything that had happened until now, the air around Ophis began to tremble as she turned her hostility toward Nagato. The atmosphere grew cold, and he was met with a suffocating pressure and killing intent. A being so overwhelming that merely standing before it made goosebumps rise across the entire body—Issei had been able to remain composed in front of such a creature only because of the Ten-Tails inside him. But Nagato, who did not possess the Ten-Tails, now stood before a colossal existence he could do nothing about.
“An unexpected monster has appeared... but”
He seemed to retreat, only to shift his stance and press forward all the same.
“This too is nothing more than prey for the Outer Path Demonic Statue.”
Then, as he activated the Preta Path and charged straight at Ophis—
“!!!”
Even though the Preta Path was aimed directly at Ophis, something blocked it and prevented him from advancing.
“Weak.”
Snared by the tendrils of magical power that surged out from Ophis, Nagato was flung away. Ophis murmured the word in a flat, emotionless voice, almost as if speaking to herself.
“Ophis?”
“Onii-chan, I came to help.”
Issei, with tears streaming down his face, looked up at Ophis as she sent Pain flying and stood there with her tiny back turned to him. He had never imagined that such a small, cute back—like a little sister’s—could feel so immense. As he kept staring at her,
“How troublesome.”
Pain, who had been blasted away and then used [Shinra Tensei] to scatter the rubble in the ruins, rose to his feet. One of his arms had already been blown off from taking Ophis’s magical power head-on, and Konan hurried over to Nagato, supporting him as she helped him stand. But—
“Nagato, this is enough. Let’s retreat.”
“...No. I can still do this.”
Nagato steeled himself again and, for some reason, refused to give up. Konan, who knew the circumstances behind his resolve, could not bring herself to stop him.
“You’re going this far...?”
She could not restrain Nagato, who had his own reasons for standing firm.
“The Ten-Tails must disappear from this world. If it doesn’t... !!!”
Before Nagato could finish, Ophis was already right in front of him. Startled, he reacted at last and raised his guard, but—
“Ghk!!”
He was kicked away by Ophis’s leg. Konan counterattacked with tentacles formed from paper techniques, but—
“Guh!”
For some reason, a single punch from Ophis blew away the entire paper technique. Konan was driven into a wall, coughed up blood, and was rendered unable to continue fighting. And at that very moment—
“Summoning Technique!”
Nagato, who had been sent flying, summoned a multitude of monstrous beings from the Rinnegan and sent them charging at Ophis. But—
“Useless.”
With Ophis’s low murmur, black magical power burst forth and the summons were turned to ash, scattering into the air and vanishing the instant they touched it. But—
“Your back is exposed.”
The summons had been a feint. Nagato appeared behind Ophis before anyone realized it and unleashed—
[Shinra Tensei]
—sending Ophis flying back to where he had been standing. There,
“Die.”
The Deva Path Pain, in the form of Yahiko that he had summoned, stood holding a black spear, thrusting it straight toward Ophis’s body. But—
“!!!”
The moment it struck Ophis, her body was split clean in two. The black spear, which had even pierced the body of a Sage in Six Paths Mode, snapped instantly, and the startled Deva Path Pain was then—
“Ghk!”
—separated from his body and head by Ophis’s kick.
“As expected... winning normally won’t be easy. In that case! Outer Path Demonic Statue!”
In the end, if he wanted to defeat a monster, he would have to use a monster’s power. Trying to draw on the power of the tailed beasts he had absorbed from Issei, he reached for the power of the Outer Path Demonic Statue—
“Summoning Technique!! ‘Outer Path Demonic Statue!’”
“!!!”
Somehow, Issei, who had revived in the meantime, reversed the situation and summoned the Outer Path Demonic Statue himself.
Nagato was once again thrown into confusion by the unexpected turn of events.
“Sorry, but I’m a Rinnegan user too!!”
The Outer Path Demonic Statue’s control was determined by mastery, but Issei still had chakra on the level of the Nine-Tails left. By overwhelming it with sheer quantity, he successfully summoned it back in reverse. And then—
“Like hell I’m handing it over to the likes of you!!”
He began pulling his chakra back out of the Outer Path Demonic Statue.
“Damn it!”
Nagato tried to reclaim the statue by forming hand seals, but Issei’s recovery was faster than expected.
“Like I’d let you!!”
Remembering the training Madara had put him through, Issei formed his own seals.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
“Kuh!”
Whether it was the result of Madara’s training or not, despite Nagato’s interference, Issei roared and reclaimed all of his chakra from the Outer Path Demonic Statue.
“Yes!”
Issei returned to Six Paths Mode once more and clenched his fist triumphantly. Then—
“This is as far as it goes.”
Nagato realized he had been completely defeated and collapsed, drained of all stamina and chakra.
With both chakra and stamina exhausted, he had ended up in the worst possible position: the Ten-Tails jinchūriki in front of him, and the infinite Dragon God behind him. Even Madara would not have escaped unscathed in such a situation. So—
“My role ends here.”
Nagato let out a relieved sigh, strangely serene for someone who had lost.
“Nagato...”
Half-conscious, Konan reached out to stop him, but Nagato answered her with a smile. Issei, still wary, slowly approached Nagato, sensing that there was some deeper reason behind all this. Then—
“Well done. For a beginner, that was a considerable achievement.”
Nagato smiled faintly as Issei drew near. Issei stared at him for a long moment.
“What are you plotting?”
He had been trying to attack, steal the Ten-Tails, and kill him just moments ago, and now he wore a gentle smile like someone saying farewell to Naruto. Unable to make sense of it, Issei pointed the spear of the Six Paths at Nagato, ready to sever his head at the slightest trick. Only then did Nagato finally speak.
“I heard from Madara that you know what happened to us. If that’s the case, I don’t need to explain the current situation, do I?”
“What are you trying to say?”
Still unable to follow, Issei pressed the spear closer.
“You resemble Uzumaki Naruto. That is why I only left you a trial. To see whether you are a man who can overcome Madara’s schemes.”
“You weren’t following Madara?”
“We were only pretending to.”
Issei’s confusion deepened as Nagato’s words grew more and more ambiguous.
“Madara’s true goal is the end of this world.”
“The end of this worl—d?”
Issei was stunned. Madara’s objective had shifted from Infinite Tsukuyomi to annihilation, and he could not understand why the one who had claimed to cooperate had suddenly changed course and walked the path of evil. His thoughts could no longer keep up, and Nagato continued.
“I doubted whether anyone could stop Madara, but if it’s you, I think you can do it.”
Seeing Ophis quietly walk over and stand beside Issei, Nagato seemed to relax. His gentle smile looked sincere.
That only made Issei more suspicious.
“Why would you go that far...? You and I are meeting for the first time.”
“If you know our story, then you’ve probably heard of the Will of Fire.”
“...That’s...”
It was the phrase the ninjas of the Hidden Leaf used to mean passing their spirit on to the next generation. He still had no idea what that had to do with the current situation.
“Because I think you can inherit my master Jiraiya-sensei’s will. The Will of Fire means not only passing on strength, but also noble spirit, and carrying the future forward. To you, I may be nothing more than some old man you’ve never met before, but I can see the same potential in you that Uzumaki Naruto had. That is why I’m entrusting it to you.”
“No, even if you suddenly say something like that...”
He knew the history of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, but he still could not understand what any of it had to do with him, or why Nagato was acting like this.
“You’re the type who keeps his word, just like Naruto, aren’t you?”
“...”
The Rinnegan could see through everything, but Nagato had also seen through Issei’s humanity through their exchange of fists. He could tell that Issei was the kind of man who would never break a promise once spoken. Though, he was also even more of a pervert than Jiraiya.
“Your fondness for women is just like Jiraiya-sensei’s too.”
“......No, that guy was just a pervert...”
From a third party’s perspective, they were six of one and half a dozen of the other, but perhaps this was simply mutual disgust among the same kind.
“Hahaha, and that tendency to deny it is exactly the same too.”
Nagato, who was a pervert but disliked perverts, seemed to truly be relieved, as if he were speaking with Jiraiya himself.
“If it’s you, I can entrust everything to you. After I die, I want you to take my Rinnegan. And please take care of Konan as well.”
“Nagato...”
Speaking as if he had laid everything down, Nagato watched as Konan reached out to stop him. Then he formed hand seals.
“You... don’t tell me...”
The hand seal he had once formed in the Five Great Shinobi Countries was none other than—
“Rinne Rebirth Technique.”
The final seal that wagered his own life. As Nagato formed it, the souls of the angels who had departed for Valhalla began gathering toward Heaven. Despite Konan’s protests, Nagato chose the same path and gave a bright, parting smile.
“Please take care of the boy, Konan.”
“Nagato!!”
“......”
He brought his end by trading his own life for the angels he had killed, asking Konan to guide the boy, and slowly closed his eyes.
‘No, what the hell are these people doing?’
From Issei’s point of view, they had suddenly invaded, pointed blades at his beloved, then started talking about entrusting wills and leaving without properly explaining anything. It was absurd beyond belief.
So—
“Rinne Rebirth Technique.”
He formed the exact same hand seal.
“.....???”
“???”
“......”
Only a few seconds after closing his eyes, Nagato opened them again. He looked at Issei once, blinked, then looked at Konan—and, blushing, covered his face with his hand.
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