Chapter 99: Orochimaru
Nagato stared intently at the forehead protector that resembled a leaf. Hatred surged into his heart, his long red hair slightly fluttering, and the ripples in his purple pupils, hidden beneath his hair, rapidly spread.
His parents had been killed by Hidden Leaf ninjas wearing that kind of forehead protector.
After the war broke out, Nagato's father Ise and mother Fuso, as physicians of the Hidden Rain Village, even followed the main force of the Hidden Rain to the front lines. There were no problems in the early stages of the war. The Hidden Rain had advanced like a hot knife through butter, invading the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind separately. But subsequently, with the counterattack of the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Sand, when the battle lines gradually pushed back into the Land of Rain, things began to change.
Hidden Leaf ninjas and Hidden Sand ninjas rampaged everywhere within the Land of Rain. Countless towns were plundered. Nagato's family, although his parents were physicians of the Hidden Rain Village (not ninjas), didn't live within the Hidden Rain Village. So, one day when Nagato's parents returned home for a vacation, they were brutally murdered by two Hidden Leaf ninjas who had barged into their home and lost their minds, in order to protect the young Nagato. Nagato's Rinnegan also awakened due to the shock of his parents' death, killing those two Hidden Leaf small fries in retaliation.
(99% chance this was done by Black Zetsu or Uchiha Madara.)
Suddenly, a thick bolt of lightning flashed across the sky again, and this time, it clearly illuminated the faces of those Hidden Leaf ninjas.
The leader had pale skin, long black hair, snake-like golden pupils, and purple eye shadow. It was Orochimaru, one of the disciples of Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village.
Having learned the news of the Hidden Rain and Hidden Sand ceasefire, Orochimaru, as one of the Hidden Leaf commanders in this battlefield, sensed that a major battle was approaching. He prepared to lead a team deep into the Land of Rain to capture some Hidden Rain ninjas for interrogation, wanting to learn the specific next moves of the Hidden Rain Village in order to make deployments early.
This small town was just a place they were passing through while carrying out their mission.
"Orochimaru-sama!" A ninja from the Aburame clan behind him said, "I sense unusual Chakra fluctuations in the town!" What this person sensed was the Chakra and dōjutsu power that Nagato had slightly leaked due to the hatred rising in his heart.
Orochimaru's narrow, snake-like eyes suddenly turned cold. The news of their deep penetration into the Land of Rain's territory absolutely could not be leaked.
Orochimaru formed hand seals with both hands, and his senses began to spread frantically into the town.
"Ninja Art: Chakra Sensing Technique!"
A curve appeared on the corner of his lips. Orochimaru felt a sense of relief. "Found you!" He then used the Body Flicker Technique to enter the town, and the six ninjas behind him quickly followed.
"Damn it! We've been discovered!" Nagato exclaimed. The Rinnegan's senses clearly told Nagato that he had been discovered. He knew there was something wrong with his eyes, he also knew he had some strange abilities, and he also knew that he had implicated his two good friends because he had leaked a trace of his aura.
"Run!!!" Yahiko made a decisive move, pulling Nagato and Konan up and turning to run. But how could three ordinary children outrun ninjas? Especially Orochimaru, who was already at the Kage level.
Looking at the seven Hidden Leaf ninjas already blocking their path ahead, and under the occasional flashes of lightning, Orochimaru's eerie pupils and pale face, the three children trembled with fear under the killing intent emanating from Orochimaru.
"Lord! They are three children..." A ninja behind him hesitated.
Orochimaru was silent for a moment, then hardened his heart and ordered, his hoarse voice echoing in the rain, "Any possibility of leaking our whereabouts cannot be spared! Leave... no one... alive!!!"
"Yes!" The six ninjas behind him hesitated for a moment but still decided to obey Orochimaru's order.
One of the Moonlight clan ninjas drew the ninja sword he carried on his back and with a flash of a quick slash aimed for the necks of Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan. Since they inevitably had to kill the three children, they could only try to make them not feel the pain of death.
Yahiko and Konan widened their eyes. The two had already felt the aura of death. Intimidated by the killing intent, trembling in place and without any ability to resist, they could only wait for death to arrive.
At this moment, Nagato felt incomparable regret, both resenting his own carelessness for implicating his two good friends, and hating his own weakness. If he had powerful strength, his parents might not have died, and he wouldn't be in a situation where he was about to die now.
An ominous aura began to rise from Nagato's body. The feelings of regret, hatred, and entanglement resonated with the Rinnegan, and destructive dōjutsu power began to unconsciously spread around continuously.
Orochimaru suddenly shivered violently. He seemed to have sensed something, his gaze sweeping back and forth over the three children.
Just as the Moonlight clan ninja's sword was about to slash through the three children's necks, and also just as Nagato's Rinnegan was about to erupt, a figure quietly appeared between the three children and the Moonlight clan ninja, facing away from the approaching sword. A slender, fair hand gently rested on Nagato's shoulder, and Nagato's surging, about-to-erupt dōjutsu power instantly dissipated into nothingness.
"Clang!!!"
A crisp sound rang out, echoing in the silent rainy night. The Moonlight clan ninja's sword struck the back of the newcomer, and then there was no more.
Orochimaru, who was observing from behind, couldn't help but have his pupils constrict violently. He hadn't sensed how the newcomer had appeared at all and was also shocked that the newcomer could withstand the Moonlight clan ninja's slash with their body unharmed.
It had to be known that this was a slash from a Jōnin of the Moonlight clan, who were extremely skilled in swordsmanship. Even a casual strike was not something ordinary ninjas could block with their bodies.
The newcomer was Kiyoshi. He had used the power of his Bone Pulse to form a layer of solid bone armor on his back, easily blocking this swift slash.
----
According to the information given in the "Book of Formation," Nagato died in Hidden Leaf Year 64, which is Hidden Mist Year 64 according to this book's setting, due to the exhaustion of his life force from the Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique. He was 35 years old at the time, so it can be deduced that Nagato was born in Hidden Mist Year 29.
Based on another piece of information given, Nagato was 10 years old, which would be Hidden Mist Year 39, when he mastered the changes in six Chakra natures—Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Lightning, and Yang—under Jiraiya's three years of tutelage. From this, it can be inferred that the battle between Salamander Hanzo and Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru occurred in Hidden Mist Year 36, which is the current time point being written.
Therefore, the awakening time of the Rinnegan should be even earlier. The Rinnegan awakened during the war between the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Rain, so it is speculated that it was most likely Hidden Mist Year 35.
(Nagato himself didn't have Yin Release. The official data for Nagato gives six elements, but he did later use Yin-Yang Release, so the Yin Release should have come from Uchiha Madara's Rinnegan.)
Also: Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko are the same age. Konan's age is explicitly given as the same as Nagato's. Yahiko's official data only gives his age at death as 15, so it is inferred that Yahiko was either the same age as Nagato and Konan or slightly older by one or two years.
●●●
● 24 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
● https://www.patreon.com/c/Devmaya
(Just remove the hyphen to access patreon normally)