"It... should be our honor," Nagato gently shook his head, not feeling he deserved any gratitude. In fact, he was somewhat touched by Shirou's humility.
And just like that, in a silent, unspoken moment, the power of the Akatsuki organization had been transferred. Nagato and Konan had already accepted Shirou as one of their own.
They had been walking the path he'd laid out for them all along, so the thought of competing with him for control of the Akatsuki never even crossed their minds. It was as if they hadn't even noticed the power had been taken away.
It felt... natural. As if the Akatsuki was supposed to belong to him in the first place.
Of course, the true controlling power of the second-generation Akatsuki had never been in their hands anyway. It had always belonged to the mysterious masked man pulling the strings from behind the scenes.
To be honest, compared to that arrogant, self-proclaimed "Madara Uchiha," who was always shamelessly ordering them around, the Emiya Shirou standing before them was a breath of fresh air.
He was like a character straight out of a childhood fairy tale, a man who pitied everyone in this miserable world.
"Is this your companion?" Shirou's gaze turned to the Deva Path Pain.
He saw Nagato and Konan lower their heads in unison, a wave of pain washing over them. "It seems your relationship was very strong," he said, as if making a casual observation. "Even now, you still hope he can be here, alive, to accompany you."
"Yes..." Nagato whispered, his head still bowed.
"But he must also know that you will remember him," Shirou continued, his voice gentle. "I have been in the space between life and death, rescuing souls trapped by their lingering attachments, but I have never seen his. That can only mean that when he died, he believed his death had great meaning. That is why he was able to return to the Pure Land without any regrets."
"Yahiko..." Tears welled up in Nagato's eyes. Even Konan had to wipe away the moisture from her own. In that moment, the heavy burden Nagato had carried for so long, the belief that he was responsible for Yahiko's death, seemed to lift.
Konan's fingers clenched. With sadness still in her eyes, she asked, "Lord Emiya, what is it like for a soul to return to the Pure Land?"
"Every deceased person is different," Shirou said, the authority in his voice that of someone who had truly been there.
He looked at the Deva Path with a hint of compassion, as if seeing the soul of the man it once was. "If it's him... he should be watching you from the Pure Land. There is no time and no space there. You, in the living world, are his only anchor."
His words, meant to soothe, also deepened their emotions. They could almost see him, their cheerful friend, watching over them.
After a long while, Konan was the first to snap back to reality. Her fingers gripped Nagato's wheelchair, her eyes drawn to the blood-stained black rods still embedded in his back. She was about to bring up her other reason for coming here, but Shirou spoke first.
"So, don't disappoint your friend," he said, reaching out and grabbing Nagato's wrist. "At the very least, you must live well. Your body... it seems to be no longer able to bear the burden of the Rinnegan."
"It's nothing serious—cough, cough, cough," Nagato tried to protest, but was immediately seized by a violent coughing fit.
"Hehehehe," Black Zetsu's sinister laugh cut through the somber atmosphere. "Lord Wei Yuan would not just stand by and watch a patient suffer in front of him."
"Nagato!" Konan's heart clenched.
"Have you been overdrawing your life force to use the Rinnegan's power?" Shirou asked, a green chakra glowing in his palm as he examined Nagato's body. "Though your chakra is abundant, it is still far from enough."
"Lord Emiya, is there a way?" Konan asked nervously.
"First, pull out the chakra-transmitting rods in your back," Shirou said, his finger touching the rods.
"Lord Emiya!" Nagato refused. He still wanted to use them to have Yahiko, as Pain, continue to act by his side. "To carry out your will, to bring peace to this world... that has always been Yahiko's dream, too. If he is always watching us, I hope he can also always participate in our plan."
"How does that conflict with healing your body?" Shirou frowned, genuinely confused.
"It doesn't?" Nagato was equally confused.
"It shouldn't," Shirou replied, explaining softly, "I am also a user of the Rinnegan. I have some understanding of Yin-Yang Release and chakra transmission. I just think this method is too harmful to you."
"Listen to Lord Wei Yuan's will!" Black Zetsu chimed in again, a sinister smile on its face. "You have somewhat underestimated his other identity. Lord Wei Yuan's true identity has always been the greatest medical ninja in the ninja world."
A bit of an exaggeration, perhaps, but not entirely untrue.
Coincidentally, Shirou had a solution on hand, thanks to the Hashirama cells conveniently provided by Orochimaru. There could be no more suitable material.
He transplanted the cells into Nagato's body, letting his control over the Rinnegan suppress their proliferative nature, and then placed his own Cursed Seal on the Deva Path.
"This is my Cursed Seal," he explained. "It converts natural energy into chakra. Theoretically, it's enough to support the Deva Path's daily actions, except for jutsu that require particularly high chakra consumption, like a more powerful Almighty Push or Planetary Devastation. Most of the time, you will only need to use your will to control its actions."
Shirou continued, seamlessly performing the surgery as he spoke. "At that time, your chakra will be needed. I will transplant the black rod into your body along with my Cursed Seal. This can also provide some chakra for his actions."
"Also, I will teach you a chakra control jutsu. This will allow your main body to reduce consumption during normal times. After all, sooner or later, a battle will be needed. No one wants someone above their heads controlling their actions."
"Yes," Nagato said, completely understanding.
"As for your legs," Shirou's fingers danced, chakra needles piercing Nagato's legs. "This is a sequela from an explosion, correct? The nerves were destroyed." Compared to the Rinnegan, this was a trivial problem.
Outside the operating room, Konan paced nervously. "Hehehehe," White Zetsu giggled. "Don't worry, Konan. Lord Emiya's medical skills are definitely the best!"
Konan felt they couldn't possibly understand her feelings. Flustered, she brought up another matter. "Lord Emiya has returned. Why hasn't that mysterious masked man who always says he's Madara Uchiha come here to greet him?"
Black and White Zetsu froze.
They... had completely forgotten about him.
With Shirou back, any other pawn was irrelevant. The masked man was arrogant, incompetent, and frankly, a pain. They hadn't even thought to inform him.
What to do? Should we just abandon him?
That didn't seem right. The guy knew too much and had that weird Mangekyo. He'd be a nuisance to get rid of later.
"I'll have a clone go and inform him," White Zetsu quickly proposed.
"I just hope he won't oppose Lord Wei Yuan's will," Black Zetsu's voice turned hoarse. It had never liked the masked man.
"Zetsu, you've been calling him Lord Wei Yuan?" Konan asked, a hint of suspicion in her eyes. "You think that man will oppose Lord Emiya?"
"It's a... unique form of address," Black Zetsu said, its voice turning sinister. "Reserved for those closest to him. As for that guy... well, his temperament is arrogant. He's never shown much respect to anyone. He isn't the real Madara Uchiha, you see. He's just some person who inherited Madara's will."
Then, through a private mental link to Shirou, it cleanly sold out the masked man: "I'm just worried he might offend you, Lord Wei Yuan. The real Madara always respected you, but this one... he got a little power and became completely insufferable. It's hard to say what he'll do."
"One of my clones is quite fond of him," White Zetsu sighed, not entirely agreeing with the slander. "Ah, whatever. At least he also represents Madara's will. Let's just focus on dealing with that Konoha spy, Orochimaru, first."