Watching Uchiha Obito’s near-maniacal deanor, Nagato frowned and said, "Have you gone insane? Forcing everyone into eternal slumber in a genjutsu world—isn’t that the sa as annihilating humankind?"
"The difference is that in one scenario, people pass away in happiness within a dream—where all their desires co true, no fatigue, no betrayals, no pain or illness—whereas in the other, they are brutally killed, or enslaved by the strong, betrayed by those close, or devoured by the Gedo Statue..." Obito retorted. "Humans and shinobi have such short lifespans as it is. Rather than letting them perish amid the flas of war, experiencing the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death—and witnessing the darkness of humanity—why not let them enjoy the wonderful dream of an illusory world, painlessly and happily dying in the end?"
Nagato silently regarded Obito, then suddenly let out a soft chuckle: "Ah... so you’re just a runaway."
"Aren’t you longing to see Yahiko again?" Obito asked, sounding as though soone had struck a nerve.
"Of course I do."
Gazing into the dimness of Kamui’s dinsion, it was as if Nagato could see the three of them—himself, Yahiko, and Konan—both in childhood and after they’d grown, murmuring softly, "For so many years, on countless nights, I’ve dreamt of Yahiko: dreamt that he never died, dreamt of how he would have changed this world, even dreamt he fulfilled his ideals, brought an end to all war, and delivered lasting peace to the shinobi world—hailed as a savior."
"Yet every ti I woke up, it all vanished."
Those purple eyes then turned downward to Obito, and Nagato spoke calmly: "Even an eternal dream can’t change one fact: that the Yahiko in the dream is fake!"
"But..." Nagato continued, "the will and ideals Yahiko left behind are real."
Raising one hand and clenching it, Nagato’s expression grew resolute: "If mutual understanding alone can’t achieve peace, then I, inheriting Yahiko’s original ideals, will put an end to the endless wars with overwhelming strength—so everyone lives under a peace of high-pressure control."
"And when you die, then what?" Obito asked quietly. "Not even the God of Shinobi could be immortal—how will you escape that fate? Once you’re gone, won’t the shinobi world plunge back into conflict, like during the First Great Ninja War?"
"When I die, I’ll leave the Gedo Statue to all the nations, so that every nation can wield that power, keeping each other in check." Nagato said. "As long as every country can use the might of the Gedo Statue, no one will dare act recklessly."
"Hmph, suit yourself." Obito gave a cold snort. "The Uchiha clan’s mission is to properly guide the owner of the Rinnegan. If your thod is wrong, then the Sage’s will that dwells in you will naturally pick a new successor—and that would prove the Stone Tablet’s thod correct."
Nagato said nothing for a long mont.
Finally, he spoke: "Let’s go back outside."
Hearing this, Obito quietly exhaled once more.
Whether or not Nagato believed him, it ant their crisis had passed; he and Black White Zetsu could stay in the Akatsuki for now.
Still, Obito kept himself on guard for any trick from Nagato, ready to activate Izanagi should Nagato co close.
Luckily, Nagato didn’t attempt a sneak attack using the Human Path; instead, both returned to the outside forest from the Kamui dinsion.
Back outside, Nagato didn’t break off their relationship either. Gathering the four Paths of Pain who had accompanied him, he simply said:
"Leader."
Black White Zetsu’s form erged from the ground, still showing deference toward Nagato.
Not even glancing at Obito, it said nothing else.
"Let’s head back. You two remain as you were."
Leaving those words behind, Nagato and the four Pains answered in unison, turning into puffs of white smoke and disappearing.
Clearly, they’d all been recalled by Reverse Summoning.
Only after releasing a powerful sensory sweep and confirming that Nagato had truly departed did Black Zetsu speak in a grim tone: "Obito, what did you tell Nagato?"
"It doesn’t affect his existence or our plan. That’s enough," Obito said, then warped away with Kamui.
"Can we trust him?" White Zetsu asked.
"It no longer matters; that fellow was never reliable to begin with."
...
"This ti I really owe you, Izayoi-kun."
Elsewhere, Orochimaru was thanking Izayoi.
"A trivial matter," Izayoi said with a smile. "But Lord Orochimaru, you’ll likely need to change bases again."
"No problem. The key materials were all sealed in scrolls anyway. It’s just too bad about the lab equipnt. It’ll cost a lot of money and ti to reacquire." Orochimaru said nonchalantly.
"That black-and-white fellow has an ability to rge himself with earth and plant matter. If not for my Wood Release’s natural suppression against him, I fear your chances would be grim." Izayoi explained. "Sasuke plans to learn Sage Mode, so you may stay with him in Ryūchi Cave for a while. Once Sasuke has mastered the Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode, I’ll hand you the Shinigami Mask, so you’ll have ample ability to protect yourself."
Orochimaru’s eyes lit up, and with an excited look he chuckled: "So quickly that he can qualify for Sage Mode practice? It seems his compatibility with Hashirama’s cells is better than I thought..."
"Orochimaru-sama, Sasuke is soone I’ve spent years training up to be my second-in-command—Konoha’s future ’Uchiha Madara.’" Izayoi gave a cool warning. "Don’t cause any trouble, or else, despite how highly I value your talents, I’ll seal both you and that curse mark on Mitarashi Anko in the village."
Hearing that, Orochimaru’s pupils shrank, cold sweat beading on his forehead. He forced a smile, voice trembling a bit: "Izayoi-kun, h-how do you know...?"
"No ninjutsu in this world is perfect. They all have weaknesses, just like elental jutsu having mutual affinities." Izayoi spoke plainly, making no attempt to hide his scorn. "When you were a child, you thought no adult could be beaten. Upon becoming a genin, you’d see the jonin or Five Kage as unreachable. But when your power reaches a level unattainable for ordinary n and geniuses alike, you realize—their abilities and power are but childish and frail."
Izayoi tapped his own chest, fixing his gaze on the cold-sweating Orochimaru, unapologetically saying: "The First Hokage’s wife, being the Nine-Tails’ jinchūriki, had her Mind’s Eye of the Kagura sense good and evil. As for , I only needed training in the Spirit Transformation Technique to sense the aura of souls."
"The state of your own soul right now—and that fragnt hidden inside the Curse Mark—both lie completely exposed before my mind’s eye."
"So don’t disappoint ."
With that, Izayoi’s body inflated, transforming on the spot into a towering tree.
This, too, had only been a Wood Clone.
"Orochimaru-sama, are you alright?" Yakushi Kabuto asked, supporting Orochimaru while sweating just as profusely.
Though it was only a clone, the oppressive feeling Izayoi had left surpassed even that of Nagato and Uchiha Obito.
"Long ago—Madara, Ōtsutsuki Toneri, Izayoi, Obito... Uzumaki, Ōtsutsuki, Senju, Uchiha... Rinnegan, Tenseigan, Wood Release, Mangekyō Sharingan... The God of Shinobi Hashirama, Uchiha Madara, Nagato, Ōtsutsuki Toneri, Izayoi... these super-level combat powers..." Orochimaru whispered while gazing at the giant tree looming over him, grasping at the inspiration in his mind. He muttered:
"How are these four clans, these four bloodlines, interconnected? Why is it that only they can awaken power so great even the Five Kage are left in the dust? Why can the Sharingan and Hashirama cells counterbalance each other? How do the Senju, Uchiha, Uzumaki, and the Sage of Six Paths interlink? Are the Ōtsutsuki enemies or allies of the Sage?"
Suddenly, a white flash of insight flickered through Orochimaru’s mind, his eyes going wide.
"The Gedo Statue, the Tailed Beast Plan!"
Orochimaru’s body began trembling with excitent.
"O-Orochimaru-sama?" Yakushi Kabuto asked anxiously.
"I’m fine... in fact, I’m doing exceptionally well." Orochimaru gave his all-too-familiar wicked smile, then cast his gaze at that enormous tree in front of him. "Kabuto, a new storm of the era is about to break. This is an era both fortunate and unfortunate. We’ll discover the truth of this world—only to confront absolute helplessness."
"Because after all, we...are rely mortals."
...
After settling matters with Orochimaru, Izayoi practically shooed Uchiha Sasuke away from his ho, sending him off to et Orochimaru in Ryūchi Cave.
He and Hinata, anwhile, ended their vacation and began helping Abura Shino rack up mission achievents.
By leveraging his status as a Puppet Master, Izayoi had already learned that the Hidden Village’s internal Chūnin Exams would happen this March.
It was quite a special month.
Students from the Shinobi Academy’s Grades 1–5 would have their annual evaluations, deciding each grade’s top student.
Grade 6 students faced their graduation exam.
Unexpectedly, there would also be a closed-doors Chūnin Exam that month.
Because he also wanted to farm mission results for himself and Hinata, preparing for this year’s Chūnin Exam, Team 8 no longer took C-rank missions, starting from B-rank and above instead.
Moreover, Izayoi didn’t take any more escort missions—those were just too ti-consuming. Escorting foreign clients might eat up weeks for travel, or even half a month or more if the client lived sowhere remote.
Hence, Izayoi exclusively picked assassinations or espionage tasks.
Initially, he’d planned to see if any war or conflict missions might appear.
But thanks to Nagato and Ōtsutsuki Toneri’s battle shaking the world, plus the Five Great Nations’ unanimous restraint, no small country dared stir up trouble or get used as a proxy.
All large nations likewise feared drawing Toneri’s attention and becoming pawns in his fight with Akatsuki.
So the ninja world had fallen into an odd state of peace, sending a wave of assassination requests to the mission offices.
With open warfare off the table, everything was done in the shadows.
In just one month, Team 8 completed thirteen B-rank missions—a truly astonishing pace.
Abura Shino’s record was now approaching final-boss levels among genin.
Even Izayoi and Hinata themselves only needed a few more A-rank missions to qualify for the Jōnin Exam.
Tsunade was imnsely gratified, feeling that her own retirent was at last on the horizon.
During this month, the buzz caused by Nagato and Ōtsutsuki Toneri’s climactic clash was finally dying down.
No matter whether a civilian or shinobi, elderly or children with enough awareness, life simply had to go on.
Under the Five Nations’ deliberate orchestrations, Akatsuki—tied to Agakure—was painted as a positive entity.
Because Nagato commanded overwhelming power, no one dared demand Agakure’s daimyō put pressure on him or force him to surrender the S-rank rogues in Akatsuki. They worried it might upset the balance.
Seeing the Five Great Nations not band together against Akatsuki, many shrewd clients in turn went to Agakure to make commission requests—finding the fees cheaper, with plenty of elites on hand, and a leader reputed as the new "God of Shinobi."
Agakure’s civilians and shinobi, or even the mbers of Akatsuki themselves, discovered their lives improving. They all knew it was thanks to Nagato.
Nagato, for his part, understood that the Great Nations were simply making superficial concessions to lure him in.
If he lacked lofty ideals, rely wanting to hold onto his territory, such perks would indeed be satisfying.
But Nagato’s goal was bringing peace to the entire world.
Right now, more commissions only ant more funds in preparation.
Once the Three-Tails revived, Akatsuki would begin its moves.
So whether or not this was the nations duping Nagato or Nagato duping them remained to be seen.
In this state, ti moved along, soon bringing them to March of the 61st year of Konoha’s calendar.
Just when Konoha’s first-sester Chūnin Exam was about to start, the ninja world—calm for two months—suddenly saw new turmoil, triggered by a major event that drew everyone’s attention.
~~~
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