"I've got a little Kakarot inside me."
Naruto murmured as he rubbed his stomach, a subtle smile tugging at his lips. Then, he turned and flew at full speed toward the direction of the Hidden Sand Village.
---
Half a day later—
The Hidden Sand Village's ancestral graves were dug up.
Led by the Fourth Kazekage, a swarm of Sand shinobi stormed out of the village, frantically searching for the culprit.
They found… nothing.
---
The next day—
Naruto arrived near the Hidden Rain Village, but didn't enter. Instead, he searched the surrounding area.
"Where are they? Normally they're crawling all over the place, but today I haven't seen a single one."
Expanding his sensory field, Naruto scanned farther—until about 50 kilometers away, perched on a tree trunk, he sensed a white creature.
"Gotcha."
In a flash, Naruto appeared behind the creature. Before it could react, he knocked it out cold with a sharp flick to the back of the head. Then he sealed it with a technique before carrying it back toward the Rain Village.
"Can't show up empty-handed," he muttered. "Gotta bring a souvenir."
---
"I've returned," Naruto said casually as he passed through the Rain Village's barrier with ease, heading directly to Nagato's room.
The first person he saw inside was Konan.
'So you're always hanging out at Nagato's place? Might as well just marry the guy.'
"Elder," Nagato greeted him respectfully.
Konan, however, still watched Naruto warily, silently positioning herself in front of Nagato protectively.
'She's so devoted. Nagato, just marry her already. You won't regret it.'
Then both of them saw what Naruto was holding.
"Zetsu?" they both said in unison.
The white creature was indeed a member of Akatsuki—a half of the entity known as Zetsu. Black Zetsu was unique, but there were tens of thousands of White Zetsu clones. The one in Naruto's hand was one of those.
Naruto waved the sealed White Zetsu in front of them.
"I saw a few of these things outside and figured I'd snag one. Thought it might come in handy."
"Figured"?
Nagato knew how hard it was to detect Zetsu's movements. Their concealment ability was among the best. Even he could miss them if he wasn't paying attention.
And yet… Naruto spotted one effortlessly.
'As expected of our great ancestor…' Nagato filled in the blanks himself.
But what for?
He couldn't figure out what Naruto intended to do with Zetsu.
---
Naruto walked past Konan and stopped before Nagato.
"Since you refuse to absorb the Tailed Beasts' chakra… and you won't stop using the power of the Rinnegan—"
"Then this old body of mine will just have to be the one to take the hit."
"Elder… What do you mean? No, you can't!"
Nagato shouted in alarm, but Naruto had already placed a hand on his shoulder.
Suddenly, a surge of pure, warm energy flooded from Naruto's palm into Nagato's body.
It felt like all 130 trillion cells in his body had been dropped into a hot spring. Every nerve tingled, and he almost cried out from how good it felt.
"Are you okay, Nagato?" Konan asked in concern. But she didn't intervene—because she could see something she hadn't seen in years:
Color returning to Nagato's face.
His deathly pale skin grew faintly rosy. His emaciated, skeletal frame slowly—very slowly—began to fill out.
It was barely noticeable to most, but Konan—who knew every inch of Nagato's body—noticed immediately.
"I… I'm fine," Nagato reassured her, then looked at Naruto with eyes full of concern.
"Elder… Why are you doing this for me?"
"It's nothing. Really," Naruto said, waving it off with a raspy voice, one that sounded far older than before.
"If this decrepit body of mine can still be useful, then I'm already content."
Nagato was moved to the verge of tears.
Other than Konan and the late Yahiko, this was the first time someone had shown him such kindness.
But he didn't stop Naruto.
'I'll make full use of this… legacy from our ancestor. I'll build the world that Yahiko and the Elder both dreamed of.'
"Now he's an ancestor, huh? How quickly the titles change…" Naruto thought behind his mask.
Konan, too, was touched by Naruto's selflessness.
She didn't stop him either.
'Elder… I'll bring white flowers to your grave this time next year.'
"I'm not dead yet!" Naruto rolled his eyes under the mask.
---
Nagato and Konan were far past the idealistic days of youth. After watching Akatsuki rise and fall, and witnessing the deaths of so many comrades, they had long abandoned unnecessary sentiment.
Nagato was willing to sacrifice anything to realize his ideals.
Konan, for Nagato's sake, was willing to do anything.
They weren't like a certain idealistic fool who tried to destroy the world out of grief—only to backpedal after one emotional speech. If he'd at least followed through, he could've been called a madman in love. But to flip-flop like that?
That's just brain-dead.
---
"My body…"
Nagato's previously shriveled form slowly gained some life. He could feel his chakra beginning to flow again, his hands regaining strength—and even his appearance growing younger.
He wasn't actually old—just a little over thirty—but the toll on his body made him look at least ten years older.
At that moment, Naruto staggered, leaning forward as if about to collapse.
"Elder, are you alright?"
Nagato rushed forward to catch him, accidentally brushing Naruto's arm.
It no longer felt strong and firm—it was wrinkled and withered, like the arm of a 70- or 80-year-old man. It was as if he had aged decades in seconds.
"I'm fine," Naruto said quickly, hiding his arm within his wide sleeves, clearly not wanting Nagato to see.
Even Nagato, with all his resolve, felt a deep pang of guilt.
---
'He actually used up nearly ten percent of my chakra… That's insane. Good thing I've already recovered.'
---
"Nagato, you're recovering! You're really recovering!"
Konan covered her mouth in astonishment. Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.
All these years—she had dreamed of this moment.
---
"No. To be precise, this is only halfway," Naruto said, pointing to the black rods still embedded in Nagato's back.
"As long as those things are inside you… and as long as you continue using that power… it won't be long before you're back to how you were."
"Your body has already been pushed too far."
---
"You must have a way to fix it, right?"
"You must have a way!"
Konan pleaded twice, her usual cold, composed self slipping away completely in the face of Nagato's well-being.
"Of course I do," Naruto replied. "That's what I've been working on these past few days."
If he were just transferring chakra, there'd have been no need to delay for three days.
Naruto pretended to struggle, taking a long breath before slowly rising to his feet—shaking, hunched.
Seeing this, both Nagato and Konan felt even more guilt and sorrow.
Konan, who once stood guard in wary silence, now stepped forward without hesitation and gently helped support him.
---
"This… is the solution."
Naruto's gaze turned to the sealed White Zetsu in the corner.
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