Nagato admired a certain Ninja, one who was revered by many across the Ninja World… the God of Ninja, Senju Hashirama.
The God of Ninja, Senju Hashirama, had innovatively proposed the idea of uniting clans and establishing Ninja Villages, which he then put into practice. This led to the creation of the Konoha Village.
The establishment of the Konoha Village marked the end of the Warring States Period, which had lasted for centuries.
The various clans, large and small, no longer had to fight on multiple fronts or battle each other in isolation.
Instead, they became part of a collective, living together and forming bonds of interdependence.
Inspired by the success of Konoha, other nations followed suit, leading to the creation of numerous Ninja Villages across the Ninja World.
Among them, the Five Great Ninja Villages and a host of smaller villages emerged, and this order has persisted to this day.
The emergence of Ninja Villages made the Ninja World far less perilous than it had been during the Warring States Period.
While people still died from ninja assassinations and missions, and large-scale wars broke out every few years or decades, it was still a vast improvement over the chaos before Hashirama's era.
Undoubtedly, all of this could be credited to the God of Ninja, Senju Hashirama, who had dreamed of a better world and made it a reality!
But in Nagato's view, even without Hashirama, someone else with a similar vision and determination would have eventually accomplished what Hashirama did.
Because centuries of war had created the conditions necessary for the establishment of Ninja Villages.
In the early days of the clans, relationships might have been as simple as 'friendly' or 'hostile.'
But it was the end of the Warring States period when Hashirama lived.
But by the end of the Warring States Period, during Hashirama's era, interactions between the great clans had become far more complex.
It was no longer a matter of simply distinguishing friends from enemies based on a binary of 'good' or 'bad.'
Although there were still clear enemies, like the Senju and Uchiha, who were mortal foes, there were also friendships that transcended clan boundaries, such as the bond between Hashirama and Madara.
Moreover, by that time, the Senju and Uzumaki Clans had begun intermarrying, and the Ino-Shika-Cho alliance had already formed a close-knit partnership.
In other words, even without the Uchiha Clan's involvement, Konoha would have eventually been established in the Land of Fire.
This was the inevitability of history. So, even without Hashirama, the Konoha Village would have come into existence… perhaps under a different name, perhaps a few decades later, or perhaps... through Naruto?
Nagato wasn't sure, as such speculation was purely hypothetical and didn't exist in reality.
At the same time, Nagato also held a certain disdain for a particular Ninja, aside from Hanzo of the Salamander, and that Ninja was none other than Senju Hashirama.
As for the reason is Hashirama's limitations.
Hashirama had witnessed the brutality of the Warring States Period and thus pioneered the concept of Ninja Villages.
But after seeing other nations follow the Land of Fire's example and establish their own Ninja Villages, he stopped there.
After all, the Warring States Period had just ended, and the entire Ninja World was in shambles. The great villages needed time to recover and rebuild.
Because of this, Hashirama convened the first Five Kage Summit, bringing together the leaders of the other four great Ninja Villages.
And the content of the summit... was simply Hashirama pleading with the other Kage to stop fighting and bring peace to the Ninja World.
This childish request was something young Nagato had often heard about while begging in taverns, where storytellers would recount the tale.
Even as a child, Nagato found it absurd.
Because this 'request' was more like a desperate plea.
Hashirama, the invincible God of Ninja, had actually kowtowed to the other Kage in the face of their aggressive demands.
Yet even then, some of the Kage remained unyielding, making unreasonable demands.
In the end, even after realizing he had lost his standing, Hashirama remained sincere, even going so far as to capture two Tailed Beasts for each of the great Ninja Villages to balance their military power.
It was all so ridiculous...
So much so that every time Nagato heard this when he was a child, he would think that the legendary Senju Hashirama was nothing but a coward.
It wasn't until he grew older that Nagato began to understand the true weight of the title 'God of Ninja.'
In his youth, Nagato had thought Hanzo of the Salamander was a terrifying figure.
It is a very terrifying existence.
Little did he know that in front of Hashirama... even if Hashirama had tied both hands behind his back, his Thousand-Armed Kannon could still turn Hanzo into minced lizard.
So... while Nagato was in awe of Hashirama's achievements and power, he couldn't help but feel puzzled.
Why hadn't Hashirama chosen to unify the Ninja World back then?
Previously, Nagato had considered the possibility that it was due to limitations in strength.
After all, no matter how strong an individual was, they couldn't possibly take on the entire Ninja World alone, right?
Although this explanation was quite flimsy, as Hashirama had the entire Konoha behind him.
That's right, the Konoha at the time of its founding…
Even without considering the other clans, just the two founding clans, the Senju and the Uchiha, were enough to make the entire Ninja World tremble.
Moreover, just moments ago, Nagato had watched a video of Uchiha Madara single-handedly dominating an army of 10,000 Ninjas.
The two meteors Madara casually summoned were enough to push the Five Kage to their limits.
So Hashirama, who had defeated Madara at the Valley of the End... just how strong must he have been?
Nagato didn't even dare to imagine.
'Perhaps... the Six Paths of Pain could only last a few extra seconds against him?'
The more Nagato understood Hashirama's strength, the more puzzled he became about Hashirama's actions.
Even if Hashirama hadn't wanted to unify the ninja world, after all, there were significant tensions between nations at the time, and a hasty unification could have sparked widespread resentment, he didn't have to act like a sycophant and prop up the other Ninja Villages, did he?
Moreover, with the strength of Konoha at the time and the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Techniques, they could have easily captured all nine Tailed Beasts!
By then, Konoha could have had nine Tailed Beast Jinchuriki at its disposal!
Would the other four great Ninja Villages have dared to make a move?
If any village displeased them, they could simply send two or three Jinchuriki and easily flatten the opposing village.
Even the Third Raikage, who could physically withstand the Eight-Tails, wouldn't stand a chance against the combined Tailed Beast Balls of all nine Tailed Beasts, would he?
Yet, thanks to Hashirama's actions, in the subsequent Ninja World Wars, every village wanted to take a shot at Konoha.
Moreover, after Madara's defection, the Uchiha Clan gradually declined, and their presence on the battlefield became increasingly rare.
The Senju Clan, too, had no notable members aside from Tsunade.
If it weren't for the support of the other great clans and the sheer number of Ninjas, Konoha would have become a grand but fragile house of cards.
Just the Nine-Tails Attack had left Konoha severely weakened for a long time, and the Six Paths of Pain had nearly wiped out the entire village.
So...
At this thought, Nagato raised his eyes. His spirit had improved, and his Rinnegan shone with the same determination he had felt when running across the sea with Yahiko.
"Since the original path was wrong, and neither Naruto's vision of peace nor Madara's Moon Eye Plan may truly be effective, I must forge my own path."
Nagato suddenly realized that today's Amegakure seemed different from usual.
Behind the light drizzle, the long-absent sun and a faint rainbow appeared.
When was the last time he had seen the sun in Amegakure? Nagato couldn't quite remember.
Perhaps it was when Yahiko had decided to name their organization 'Akatsuki,' which meant 'Dawn.'
"Yahiko's dream, peace in the Ninja World, the unfinished work of Senju Hashirama... the unification of the Ninja World will be achieved by me!"
After regaining his resolve, Nagato seemed to see a figure nodding in approval from afar.
This figure transcended time and space, and it wasn't Yahiko or Hashirama.
Instead, he was the hero who wrote the poem, 'Let's All Drink And Sing Our Song - In Your Life Could You Live Years Long?'