In the eternal gloom of the Land of Rain, beneath the endless cries of the heavens, lay the Akatsuki headquarters.
There, in the very heart of the citadel, Black Zetsu and Obito appeared before Nagato. The organization's leader, confined to a bulky wheelchair, listened to their account of the massacre in Konoha.
At first, the news left Nagato unimpressed. He considered it yet another failure for the self-proclaimed Madara. "Aged, weakened... Almost dying, destroying only his own clan? What a worthless thing," he thought with disdain.
But when they spoke of the youth who had awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan in the depths of despair, and how its power threatened to destroy the world, Nagato's face turned to stone. These words, spoken in the echoing silence, shook him to the core.
"What are you talking about? Madara, are you out of your mind?" Nagato glared at them as if they were two madmen babbling delirious nonsense.
The world will be destroyed because of some Uchiha? Since when had a mere pair of Mangekyo Sharingans acquired the power to wipe out all existence? Even he, Nagato, wielder of the divine Rinnegan, wasn't sure he could exterminate all life. Suppressing the world with sheer military might—yes. But razing it to the ground? That was something else entirely.
"Madara, this isn't a joke, is it?" He shook his head in disbelief, a wry smile playing across his lips. "If so, it's a very bad one."
"We have no reason to joke, Nagato," Black Zetsu hissed with icy seriousness, stepping forward. "Whether it's true or not, you'll soon see for yourself. Perhaps only you, the owner of the legendary eyes, can deal with this monster. But if we don't kill it now, this world truly will end!"
That vague, ever-growing silhouette surfaced in his memory. The monster grew stronger with every second. This was their only chance. If they missed it... They could only hope that the power of this youth's pupils was not eternal, that one day he would simply go blind from its burden.
Nagato remained silent. His mind refused to accept what he had heard—it shattered his entire worldview. But he also understood: neither Obito, nor especially Zetsu, would stage such a spectacle and sow panic without good reason.
"It's time, Nagato," Obito stepped forward. "We must destroy this monster immediately." The scarlet Sharingan in the slit of his mask pierced the spiral pattern of his Rinnegan. "Okay. If so, I'll see for myself."
Nagato nodded. The idea that a pair of Mangekyo Sharingan could destroy the world, while his Rinnegan couldn't even completely subjugate the shinobi world, seemed absurd. But what if they were telling the truth?
His goal had never been to destroy the world, only to conquer it. He was to become the god of a new order, not of ashes. The destruction of the world was unacceptable to him.
The journey to Konoha didn't take long. At dawn, they reached its outskirts and saw… a realm of dead silence. A zone of cold and desolation had already spread far beyond the village's borders. In this dim, distorted space, sparse white flakes swirled—snow was falling, out of place and alien.
And in the sky above the ruins hung the dark, almost intangible silhouette of Uchiha Yue. The pale light of dawn, like a river of flames, flowed into him and vanished without a trace, making his figure seem larger, more boundless, as if it were absorbing the very essence of the universe.
"This..."
Nagato, motionless in his chair, stared in stunned amazement at the dead Konoha and the spreading darkness. What he saw surpassed his wildest imagination. He'd heard the story, but the reality proved absurd, impossible. To destroy Konoha single-handedly... Truly powerful. He mentally acknowledged that he himself was probably capable of such a thing.
But who was he? He, the wielder of the Rinnegan, the future god of this world! And that one in the sky—just another Uchiha with the Mangekyō. How could their powers be comparable?
"You see, Nagato?" Zetsu hissed again. "This monster's power is leaking outward, absorbing all energy, absorbing life. It's growing. If left unchecked, its power will engulf the entire shinobi world. And then—the end. Nothing living will survive in this dead zone."
To maintain a complete Susanoo for so long, and then to deploy his own technique over such a wide area... If his pupils hadn't been restored, he would have gone blind long ago. The truth was simple and terrifying: his dojutsu was being restored. And if this ominous zone's expansion has no limit, sooner or later the entire planet will be engulfed.
"A true monster," Obito said dully, his gaze fixed on the colossal figure in the sky. "Susanoo is growing, which means it's getting stronger. We can't allow it to gain any more power."
"I see," Nagato's voice was even and cold. He glanced at Konan, who was standing nearby. "Konan, send a clone to scout out the situation. Find out what's really going on."
He wasn't going to blindly trust Obito and Zetsu's words. First, he had to check for himself.
"Okay."
Konan nodded, and at that moment, a paper figure detached itself from her, silently sliding toward the edge of the dead zone. Reaching the edge, the clone saw ants on the ground—frozen forever, desiccated, deprived of the very spark of life.Not only insects—the grass, bushes, and trees within this area turned black, withered, and turned to dust. Life retreated before this darkness.