Chapter 12 – Nagato: What?
The rain never stopped in the Land of Rain. Heavy gray clouds hung over the horizon like a curtain, swallowing the faint glow of dawn. Raindrops tapped endlessly against the broken rooftops and the slick stone streets of Amegakure, each drop echoing like a heartbeat in the silence.
Within the headquarters of the Akatsuki, the damp air carried the scent of rust and paper. Shadows clung to the walls as Black Zetsu and Uchiha Obito moved silently through the corridors. Their steps were deliberate, heavy with urgency.
At the end of the chamber, Nagato sat slouched in his black iron chair, his skeletal frame illuminated by the pale light that seeped through cracks in the wall. His crimson hair clung to his gaunt face, his Rinnegan glowing faintly as he turned toward his visitors. Beside him, Konan stood silently, her paper-like cloak rustling faintly with each subtle shift of her body.
Obito was the first to speak, his voice carrying a weight that even the ceaseless rain could not wash away.
"Nagato. Something has happened in Konoha… something beyond reason."
Black Zetsu's yellow eyes glimmered, his tone sharper, darker.
"The Uchiha clan—destroyed. And at the center of it, a single survivor: Uchiha Raizen. His power has awakened… a Mangekyō Sharingan unlike any other. If left unchecked, he may bring the world itself to ruin."
At first, Nagato barely reacted. His thin lips curved into a faint, mocking smile. He leaned back in his chair, the wood creaking under his frail weight.
"Madara?" he scoffed. "You're telling me some boy awakened his eyes, and suddenly the world is ending? Do you take me for a fool?"
His Rinnegan swirled with faint ripples as he gazed at them. "I carry the eyes of the Sage of Six Paths himself. Even with this power, I could crush nations, but to destroy the world? Absurd. Don't waste my time with such nonsense."
But Obito didn't flinch. His crimson Sharingan locked onto Nagato with unshakable resolve.
"Do you think I would joke about this? The darkness spreading over Konoha is not a mere technique. It's a realm—a prison of death. It consumes everything. If this continues, the entire shinobi world could fall into nothingness."
Black Zetsu stepped forward, voice grim, recalling what he had seen with his own eyes.
"The boy has become a monster. His Susanoo grows endlessly, feeding on the very life of the land. Trees wither, animals fall lifeless, even the air feels like it is being devoured. If he is not stopped now, the balance of the world will collapse."
For a moment, silence filled the room. Only the rain outside dared to speak.
Nagato's gaze flickered between them. He wanted to dismiss it, to laugh at the absurdity—but the steel in their voices, the gravity in their eyes, told him otherwise. These two were not prone to delusions.
"...You expect me to believe a single Uchiha could wield such power?" His voice was low now, cautious. "Even I—armed with the Rinnegan—never believed in destroying the world. Subjugating it, bending it under my rule, yes. But annihilation? That is not the path."
"Believe it or not," Obito replied coldly, "you'll see it soon enough. If we fail to strike him down now, there may be no tomorrow."
Konan's brows furrowed. The unease in her chest grew as she glanced at Nagato. She could see it in his eyes—the faint flicker of doubt, of fear.
Finally, Nagato exhaled, his voice almost a whisper.
"...Very well. If what you say is true, then I will see it with my own eyes. Konan, prepare yourself. We move at dawn."
By the time they reached the borders of Konoha, the horizon was already painted in shades of red and gray. But the familiar village was gone.
What stood before them was a graveyard.
The once-lively Hidden Leaf was swallowed by a realm of death and ice. The trees of the forest had withered into brittle husks, the soil blackened and cracked, and a thick snow drifted slowly from the heavens, as though the skies themselves had begun to mourn.
Nagato's breath caught in his throat. His gaunt fingers gripped the edge of his chair, knuckles white.
"This… this is Konoha?"
The mighty village, reduced to rubble and silence. Not even corpses remained; only emptiness. And above it all—
A colossal silhouette loomed against the darkened sky. Uchiha Raizen's Susanoo towered above the ruins, its form wreathed in shadows, endlessly expanding as though drawing strength from the very earth. Every flicker of dawn's light was devoured into its abyss.
The chakra radiating from the figure was suffocating. It pressed against Nagato's chest like a weight of iron. His Rinnegan pulsed as he instinctively tried to measure it, to understand it—but the more he looked, the more alien it felt.
"This… power…" Nagato muttered, almost to himself. "How can a mere Mangekyō hold such strength?"
Obito's voice cut through the frozen air.
"Do you see now? That is no boy. That is a calamity. If it continues to grow, not even your Rinnegan will be enough to stand against it."
Black Zetsu's voice was like a whisper from the abyss.
"His eyes… they recover their strength endlessly. His Susanoo should have collapsed long ago, yet it expands still. The longer we wait, the stronger he becomes. The world cannot survive this."
Nagato's lips tightened. His mind raced. He had never doubted his own role as the god of the new world, the one destined to enforce peace through power. But now, looking at the towering shadow that was Raizen, even he felt the stirrings of unease.
A god should not tremble. And yet, his hands quivered.
"Konan," Nagato finally said, his voice steadying as he forced authority into it, "send a paper clone. Test the edge of that… realm."
Konan nodded, her expression unreadable. With a flutter of countless paper sheets, a clone formed and flew swiftly into the air. It soared over the desolate ruins, moving toward the border of Raizen's growing darkness.
As it neared the edge, the paper clone faltered. The air itself seemed to collapse inward. Ants on the ground lay frozen mid-step, their bodies drained of life, brittle as dust. Plants crumbled into ash without even a spark of flame. The clone's wings grew heavy as the chakra sustaining them was consumed.
Then, with a faint hiss, the paper crumbled away into nothingness.
Konan's real body shivered. "...It's true. The very energy of life itself is being devoured."
Nagato's frown deepened, the gravity of the moment finally pressing down upon him. He turned his Rinnegan toward Obito and Black Zetsu.
"So it is real. This… Uchiha Raizen. If he is not stopped, he will not only end nations—he will end existence itself."
The storm outside raged harder, lightning cracking the sky. For the first time in years, Nagato—the man who had declared himself the god of a new world—felt the faintest chill of fear.
And deep within the darkness, Uchiha Raizen's Susanoo continued to grow.