"So... you're saying your ideal is also peace in the shinobi world?"
Deva Path Pain stood before Sōmi, his voice deep and solemn.
The arrogance and condescension that once dominated his tone were now absent.
"Hmm?"
"Can't win, so you're ready to start reasoning with me now?"
Sōmi replied mockingly.
"You have your justice, and I have mine. We're just ordinary people caught in the vortex of wars waged in the name of justice..."
"My goal, too, is to bring an end to the flames of war in this chaotic world."
The jade-gold Chakra surrounding Sōmi's body grew denser and more viscous. With Shukaku now infused with the Chakra of the Seven-Tails, its endurance had nearly doubled!
"Is that so?"
"Ordinary people, you say?"
"I believe that ending war is the mission of a god."
"And whoever can accomplish that must possess a destructive power akin to that of a god."
"Only with the emergence of such a 'god' will people, nations, and the entire world know fear."
"Only this fear can serve as a deterrent, ensuring that no one dares to ignite another war. For this world to grow, to reflect, to move forward... a god must appear!"
"This world is still but a child. To make it grow, it must first understand the meaning of pain..."
Pain's voice grew solemn and majestic, as if he were extolling the greatest endeavor in human history.
"Alright, alright..."
"I get your philosophy, and I even agree with it. But I believe I can do it better than you. So why don't you just hand over that pair of Rinnegan from your real body?"
Sōmi shook his head, then, with perfect coordination, he and Sasori attacked Pain from two different directions.
While Pain's ideals were lofty, they were ultimately incompatible with Sōmi's position. The moment Pain refused to cooperate with Sōmi at the start, his fate had already been sealed.
However—
Something unexpected happened.
Pain allowed Sōmi to approach him directly without making any move to defend himself.
"Is that so? Then that's good..."
"I would rather entrust the future of the shinobi world to you than to Uchiha Madara. That man is far too dangerous..."
Pain's calm words sent a sudden chill down Sōmi's spine.
He knew that Obito had approached the Akatsuki under the guise of Uchiha Madara.
But Pain had clearly witnessed Obito's headless corpse with his own eyes. So why was he now mentioning Madara's name?!
The only possibility...
"What?!"
Sōmi's expression changed drastically. He urgently thrust his hand into Pain's chest, pulling out a black rod and stabbing it into himself.
Using the enhanced sensory abilities of Sage Mode and the Chakra-conductive properties of the black rod, Sōmi quickly located Pain's real body.
"Too... late..."
"Uchiha Madara... has already... been resurrected..."
"But..."
Pain's voice faltered and then abruptly ceased. His body collapsed to the ground, like a machine suddenly cut off from its power source.
"Sasori!"
"Quick!"
Fortunately, before the Chakra link was severed, Sōmi had successfully pinpointed the location of Pain's true body.
He grabbed Sasori and leapt onto a golden cloud, shooting toward the crimson sky.
"Uchiha Madara?"
"Is he a formidable opponent?"
Sasori couldn't help but ask. Over the years, this was the first time he had seen Sōmi's face show such fear and panic.
"Extremely formidable!"
"If it's the Uchiha Madara in his prime... we might as well pack up and hide in Kamui's Dimension..."
Sōmi gritted his teeth as he spoke.
This unexpected development had completely disrupted Sōmi's plans.
Originally, Sōmi had intended to take the Rinnegan today, then make dealing with Black Zetsu his next priority.
Afterward, with Sasori mastering the Mangekyō Sharingan and himself becoming familiar with the Rinnegan, dominating the shinobi world and crushing the Child of the Prophecy would have been a breeze...
But who could have predicted that this "dancer in his prime" would suddenly appear?!
If it had been the pre-Jinchūriki Sōmi encountering the prime Madara...
Well—
He would have had no choice but to stand tall, spread his arms wide to appear as imposing as possible, glare fiercely, and shout loudly to intimidate Madara...
Only to be praised for his "dance" and then meet his end peacefully.
Even now, in his "Sage Crane Mode," Sōmi's ability to "dance" against a dual-Rinnegan Madara was still quite limited.
Therefore—
The immediate priority was to confirm Madara's condition and, if possible, destroy Nagato's pair of Rinnegan!
If it was merely a "blind Madara," then Sōmi was confident he could compete with him in a "dance-off."
Whoosh!
The golden cloud streaked across the sky, leaving a brilliant trail in its wake, a testament to its incredible speed.
Before long—
The paper-disguised rocky slope had crumbled, revealing its interior bathed in the crimson glow of the setting sun.
The blood-red light illuminated a grotesque scene: Nagato, his emaciated body fixed to a cross-like mechanical apparatus by black rods, his left side covered in a viscous black substance.
The black liquid extended to his mouth, forming a ghastly grin, like a demon possessing his body.
A young man, exuding an overwhelming aura of dominance, was inserting his fingers into Nagato's left eye.
In an instant—
The young man removed the Rinnegan from Nagato's eye socket and placed it into his own right eye.
He turned sharply, his gaze locking onto Sōmi and Sasori in the sky.
Whoosh!
A powerful whirlwind surged toward them.
The young man had deep blue hair, almost black, styled like a spiky mane. His striking Rinnegan glowed with a violet hue, and wisps of white vapor rose from his body, embodying the essence of "hot-swappable" power.
"One-Tail, Sage Mode..."
"And that's Obito's Sharingan..."
"It seems that during my absence, the shinobi world has produced quite a few capable individuals..."
The young man, clad in a blue robe, murmured softly.
Though he possessed only one Rinnegan, the terrifying ocular power emanating from it seeped into the reinforced seal within Sōmi's body.
Even Shukaku, within the seal, instinctively clenched in fear.
"Who... is this guy?!"
"He's terrifying!"
Sōmi's face turned slightly pale. In an unprecedentedly serious tone, he said, "Shukaku, you must use all your power to refine Senjutsu Chakra!"
"Otherwise, whether we can escape today is still uncertain..."
"Hmm?"
"This Jinchūriki's seal... it's even more stable than the Eight Trigrams Sealing Style, and it carries traces of the Nine Consuming Dragons Seal..."
The young man's eyes narrowed, his Rinnegan glinting with a cold, ruthless light—an aura of absolute dominance that looked down upon all creation.
The Rinne Rebirth...
It truly could restore a body to its full, living state.
A flood of thoughts surged through Sōmi's mind.
He had initially assumed he was facing a "blind, aged Madara," but reality had dealt him a harsh slap in the face.
Still, upon reflection, it made sense.
After all, when Madara was resurrected in his prime state via Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation, he had even kicked open his coffin in confusion, wondering why it wasn't Rinne Rebirth.
Perhaps the effects of both Impure World Reincarnation and Rinne Rebirth were synchronized with the soul's perception.
The soul's self-image dictated the form presented after resurrection.
For instance, Nagato's white-haired, crippled state during his Impure World Reincarnation; Sasori's thirty-something body but youthful soul; and Obito reverting to his teenage self when gifting Kakashi his powers...
So, it was entirely possible that Madara, refusing to accept his age, had died with the belief that Obito would resurrect him in his prime, causing his soul to remain in its youthful state.
Or perhaps Madara had "died" twice, exploiting some sort of bug...
Regardless, Sōmi's deeper understanding of resurrection techniques offered no immediate solution to their predicament.
Whoosh...
At that moment, Konan, with her wide paper wings, flew to Sōmi's side.
She extended her delicate hand, revealing a blood-stained Rinnegan, and handed it to him.
"This is from Nagato. He wanted me to give it to you," she said.
"Nagato said this is his gesture of goodwill for cooperation. He hopes you can lead the shinobi world toward true peace."
"And I," Konan added, "will stay by your side to ensure your actions align with that goal."
Her enchanting figure stood exposed, unguarded, as she delivered her words.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📚 BOOK COMPLETED ON PATREON!
📚This story has reached its conclusion on my Patreon!
🔥 Full story available now💎 Exclusive bonus content & early access to new books
👉 Join my Patreon community today![✨patreon.com/GoldenLong]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━