After posing that rhetorical question, Nagato felt an overwhelming sense of frustration.
Like Obito, he too carried the burden of many lives—those of his fallen comrades, and the innocent civilians caught in the crossfire.
Life is precious.
No matter how ordinary a person may seem, someone somewhere loves them—parents, siblings, friends. Nagato knew this better than anyone. He had risen from nothing, fought his way through loss and chaos, and he understood the value of each life.
But clinging too tightly to that belief—hesitating because life is precious—only led to more death.
Nagato had once been naïve, hiding behind the ideals of Akatsuki and the memory of Yahiko. That cowardice had cost him dearly. He hadn't even been able to protect the person he cared about most.
After Yahiko's death, he abandoned hesitation. He embraced cruelty, convinced that true peace required blood. He would carry both the guilt and the responsibility.
He never liked killing—but if it was necessary to bring peace to the world, so be it. Let the guilty and innocent alike fall. The world needed peace, even if it had to be carved out in corpses.
For a long time, this belief had carried him forward. But now…
Now, he was starting to realize this path might be impossible.
He saw it clearly: if he and Orochimaru fought with everything they had, the damage to the world would be catastrophic.
How ironic, that the power he'd gained through so much pain—through death and sacrifice—had become the very thing that made peace unattainable.
And even more ironic… was Orochimaru's attitude.
This man actually wanted to talk? To negotiate?
Where was the pride of the great ninja villages now? Hadn't Orochimaru always treated smaller nations—and the people within them—as expendable? Why wasn't he fighting to the bitter end now?
Nagato's disgust deepened.
If this was how it was going to be… then why had he bothered holding back all this time? Why worry about the damage to the world? Why not just wage total war on Konoha and be done with it?
At least then he could have told himself he had no other choice…
"…"
Nagato stared at Orochimaru with a cold, bitter glare.
But deep down, he knew the real reason for his anger.
Because he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Because he still believed in peace.
Because he still remembered Yahiko's dream.
And that dream wouldn't let him justify meaningless slaughter anymore.
He wasn't a lunatic. He wasn't someone who believed peace would come once the entire world lay in ruins.
But still… he was so unwilling to let go of the path he had walked.
"…"
Orochimaru, meanwhile, remained seated, sipping his tea with a relaxed smile. He didn't bother answering Nagato's question.
To him, it was laughably naïve.
Nagato wanted peace—but peace without compromise was a fantasy. Even if he succeeded in unifying the world through power, conflict would only resurface from within.
Large-scale wars could be prevented through fear, but smaller conflicts? Legal oppression?
Those would continue—just under new rules.
Human nature adapts. Some will push limits, test boundaries, exploit power. In the end, the strong will still dominate the weak. The cunning will still manipulate the simple. Nothing will really change.
And Orochimaru had accepted that.
He had already begun spreading methods to strengthen both shinobi and civilians—"woodification," breathing techniques, and other enhancements. He offered everyone a chance… but never an equal one.
Whoever could seize power would thrive. The rest would fall.
That was the cost.
And he would defend this system, even from the Otsutsuki.
As for the hundred civilians Nagato mourned?
To Orochimaru, their deaths meant nothing. No different from casualties in any war or disaster. Everyone fights for their life—some win, some lose. That's the way it's always been.
Orochimaru didn't underestimate Nagato's ideals. He simply believed that people like Nagato refused to accept reality because it was too heavy to bear.
Under the shelter, the only sound was the quiet patter of rain.
Jiraiya, watching silently, finally felt something click in his heart.
Nagato was his student. The choice he made now would decide the fate of the entire world.
Could this be the moment the Great Toad Sage foresaw…?
A sense of mission surged through Jiraiya. He cleared his throat, ready to speak.
But Nagato acted first.
BOOM—
A wave of force erupted, clearing the mist, rain, canopy, and stone table. In an instant, the battlefield was a hundred meters of open destruction.
Jiraiya, caught in the blast, was flung out with everything else.
Though his Sage Mode protected him from injury, he was stunned—and a little hurt emotionally.
He turned to glare at Orochimaru.
They were standing right next to each other—he couldn't even help me out? Am I just baggage to him now…?
Orochimaru feigned ignorance of the glare.
Jiraiya wasn't a burden. But if a serious battle began, he would likely be caught in the crossfire. If Nagato wanted him gone, Orochimaru had no reason to object.
Tossing his teacup aside, Orochimaru stood.
"No more rest? If I beat you into the ground now, you might complain later."
"There's no need," Nagato replied coldly, Rinnegan glowing. "You won't push me that far."
"You never know," Orochimaru smirked. "If you don't perform well, I might be tempted…"
He flicked his wrist.
A thousand water needles shot up from the lake beneath Nagato.
They came so fast, even Obito's Kamui might not have reacted in time.
But in a flash of purple light, Nagato vanished—reappearing a hundred meters away.
"Teleportation?"
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed.
No… something else.
Suddenly, a shadow lunged from where Nagato had stood.
It struck without hesitation—fists and feet flying in a blur of violence.
Orochimaru blocked a few strikes, then used a golden burst of energy to disengage.
That's when he saw the attacker's face.
It looked just like Nagato's—but expressionless. Like stone.
"So this is… the Limbo Clone."
A shadow born of the Rinnegan's Yin-Yang abilities. A monster that existed in a separate dimension, invisible to most eyes.
Nagato's Rinnegan mastery has grown…
Orochimaru clashed with the clone briefly, then created distance again.
"Heavenly Stand."
Golden light radiated from his eyes. The clone froze mid-air, just inches from his chest—then backed away cautiously.
But something strange happened.
As it retreated, it suddenly turned its back to Orochimaru. From Nagato's perspective, it was moving straight—yet its path curved unnaturally.
Nagato tried to recall it, but an invisible barrier blocked his command.
"Don't worry," Orochimaru said, smiling. "The space won't last long. Once your eye power runs out, it'll revert."
Obito scowled from the sidelines.
Orochimaru's ability to manipulate space was dangerous. If he could interfere with Kamui—even a little—it meant Obito's greatest defense might not be reliable anymore.
What is this guy…? Some kind of new dōjutsu?
Obito retreated further, realizing the warm-up was over. The real fight was about to begin.
---
CRACK—!
With a flash of lightning overhead, Nagato launched his next attack.
"Chibaku Tensei!" (Planetary Devastation!)
He clapped his hands, sending his full strength into the technique.
A massive gravitational pull surged outward, centered on Orochimaru. The lake, earth, and sky bent toward him.
Even Orochimaru felt the weight—his chakra slowed, his movements restricted.
"Scary..." he murmured, eyes narrowing.
If he let this continue, not even his space manipulation might save him.
But Orochimaru didn't panic.
Instead, he smiled—and made the stupidest choice.
He created a golden space barrier around himself, then flooded it with his own chakra, challenging Nagato for control over the forming sphere.
The battle for dominance warped the Chibaku Tensei sphere—shifting it from a smooth orb to a distorted, pulsing mass.
Nagato scowled.
He knew what Orochimaru was doing.
"Arrogant…" he muttered, pouring even more power into the seal.
This was it—no more testing. One of them would emerge victorious here.
But as Nagato pushed harder… something broke.
He lost control of the sphere.
"What?!"
Even with so much chakra invested, he couldn't command it anymore. Orochimaru had wrested control.
The sphere continued to grow—swelling to nearly 300 meters in height. Nagato had to rise to avoid being crushed.
Then—
CRACK—
A massive fissure tore through the sphere's surface.
A monstrous serpent's head burst free, forged of earth and lakewater, its golden eyes gleaming.
It let out a thunderous roar.
"So… do you still want to keep fighting?"
Orochimaru asked, smiling calmly.
_____________________
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