Nagato resurrected hundreds of thousands of people.
Of course, there were still some people who were not on the revival list.
For example, Zetsu, who was blown into ashes by Killer Queen.
And for example, Kisame, whose past was erased by Sasuke.
But whether these kinds of people lived or died, Ryosuke didn't care, and Nagato wouldn't care either.
Countless souls returned to their bodies, and the giant King of Hell once again sank into the ground bit by bit.
Ryosuke and the deceased Nagato looked at each other.
Before he died, he had not closed his eyes, and the Rinnegan remained fixed on Ryosuke, as if even after death, he still wanted to continue watching, to see where Ryosuke would lead the world.
Perhaps even at the moment before death, Nagato still could not believe that Ryosuke's ideals could be achieved.
Just like he said, "Ryosuke won against him, but has not yet won against the world."
Ryosuke placed the empty can he had finished drinking on the ground as well, patted the dust off, and stood up.
"If you want to watch, then watch closely. I will keep winning."
"Even on your behalf."
A sound of wind fell from the sky.
Konan, who had performed the Dance of the Shikigami and grown wings on her back, slowly descended from the air.
Her expression was filled with sorrow, like a piece of duckweed that had lost its home, falling beside Nagato.
Konan lowered her eyes. One hand gently rested on Nagato's shoulder, her body slightly turned toward Ryosuke,
"I'm sorry."
Ryosuke didn't know whether she was saying it to Nagato, about not taking action in the battle, or saying it to Ryosuke, about not being able to stop Nagato and prevent this war from happening.
Or perhaps…
Both.
Konan had been entrusted by Nagato to record the entire process of the battle from an observer's perspective.
Nagato knew he might die in Kyoto, so he demanded that Konan must survive.
Because if they won but Nagato died, Konan's existence could prevent Obito and Uchiha Itachi from seizing the fruits of victory.
And if they lost…
Since they lost anyway, Nagato hoped that Konan should live.
In the end, there must be someone who remembers his and Yahiko's past.
"Can I take Nagato's body?" Konan asked. "I want to bury him together with Yahiko."
If this was before Nagato used the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to resurrect hundreds of thousands of the deceased, Ryosuke would not have agreed. He would have thrown Nagato's corpse to the research institute and let them dissect and study it.
But now, listening to the cheers throughout the city, Ryosuke slowly nodded.
Having not seen each other for a long time, Ryosuke and Konan had many things they wanted to say to one another, but in front of Nagato's body, the two looked at each other for a moment, yet in the end neither of them spoke. They each rose into the air and flew away into the distance.
———
[Coastal Battlefield]
Everywhere were corpses of Allied Shinobi, mercenaries, and samurai. Blood flowed into the sea, dyeing a vast area of water red, and even so, the Allied warships continued to approach one after another.
This was the advantage of having twenty times the numbers.
Takeshi's armor had long shattered. His upper body was bare, covered with long, narrow wounds. His Ripple was nearly exhausted, and especially since his left arm was gone, he could only grip his sword with one hand.
But he still stood at the very front.
Because behind him were Takeshi's comrades, and behind them were towns and villages.
Takeshi cleaved a samurai in half. The samurai let out a scream, but immediately, he could no longer make a sound.
Takeshi stomped and crushed the samurai's head.
That bloody and brutal scene made the mercenaries who had just landed tremble. Takeshi raised his longsword and pointed forward, roaring like a lion, "Stop wasting time! Come and claim your death!"
That figure raising the sword was clearly full of scars, yet like an undying demon. The mercenaries instinctively wanted to swallow their saliva, but in the overwhelming stench of blood, the saliva in their throats felt like a mouthful of congealed blood.
They couldn't swallow or spit it out, only feeling their throats tighten.
At that moment, a blade stabbed out from among the corpses. The longsword pierced Takeshi's back and came out his abdomen.
This Daimyo Ninja had been lying in ambush in the corpses for a long time, waiting for this moment.
Everyone had seen that Takeshi was the leader defending this border line. Killing him would definitely earn a great merit.
The Daimyo Ninja had just revealed a grin when Takeshi grabbed him like a chick, gripped his neck, and smashed him down onto the giant sword's blade.
The corpse fell to the ground with a thud. Takeshi grabbed the ninja's head, weighed it, and casually threw it in front of the mercenary army, saying coldly, "Continue."
Not only Takeshi, but Mayuri, Haku, the other Anhilation Army, Kirigakure ninjas, and Oda clan samurai… everyone was fighting the enemy in the way they were best at.
But…
People will die in the end.
Casualties were unavoidable.
"Don't be scared! He's just one man, how could he possibly kill all of us!"
A commander behind the mercenaries roared, "Push forward! Push forward for me!"
"Whoever kills him will be rewarded with a hundred taels of gold! Granted rank! Granted land!"
Hearing this, the mercenaries' eyes lit up.
People live their whole life for fame, wealth, and status.
The fear from earlier vanished instantly. Holding their blades, spears, and clubs, they howled as they charged at Takeshi.
Takeshi turned his head and glanced at his comrades fighting the enemy.
"To be able to fight side by side with you all is my honor."
He lifted his greatsword with one hand and fearlessly charged at the enemy.
Protected by her senior, Akatsuchi, Kurotsuchi had retreated to the rear, standing on a warship. With lingering fear, she stared at Takeshi.
She had never seen such a terrifying man.
Not only strong in power, but truly fighting toward death, always charging at the front with courage.
"H-He's… finally going to die…"
Kurotsuchi muttered in a low voice.
Takeshi had already been surrounded by hundreds of people. The mercenaries stretched out their arms just to stab him once, to earn more reward money.
At this moment, Kurotsuchi felt that something wasn't right.
'What is wrong?'
She realized.
The warships, staying on the sea, slightly rising and falling, seemed frozen.
"This kind of power…"
Kurotsuchi's whole body turned cold. She jerked her head up and saw Ryosuke floating in the sky.
Crash!
Sea water flowed upward into the sky, forming ferocious water dragons. Scales of the water dragons burned with crimson-golden flames. Thousands of water dragons circled around Ryosuke, looking down coldly at everything below.
Seeing this scene, the supervising samurai, just like their counterparts in Kyoto, immediately slid to their knees.
"I... we surren..."
But he couldn't finish the second half of the sentence.
Because the countless water dragons had already fallen, tearing apart every enemy who had set foot on the Land of Water. At the same time, thousands of warships were overturned by the sea water. Hundreds of thousands of ninjas and mercenaries fell into the sea, crying out to surrender and begging for mercy.
Ryosuke landed in front of Takeshi, looking at his body covered in blood and his severed left arm.
"You've worked hard."
Takeshi showed a simple and honest smile, "Lord Ryosuke, did we… win?"
"Yeah."
Ryosuke said seriously, "We won."
This was the last battlefield Ryosuke rushed to. The battles in all other regions had already ended.
[Ding!]
A system notification sounded.
[World line deviation, gained 1 Ascension Star Core.]