Naruto pulled out his blade, casually shaking off the blood before sliding it back into its sheath. He exhaled deeply. This had been far worse than he expected, but he had to confirm Nagato was truly dead. *At least the Rinnegan problem is settled.*
He wasn't about to let anyone take those eyes and reignite another war.
Naruto checked his wristwatch. This wasn't the moment to drop his guard. He took a cautious step back but didn't leave the room. Unless someone forced him out, he would stay—he still had time.
"I think I'm getting altitude sickness. Damn it," Naruto muttered, spreading his arms wide while scanning the surroundings. "If you're going to strike, now's your only shot."
A few seconds later, the wall suddenly collapsed, and Konan burst into the room. She must have arrived during Naruto's assassination attempt on Nagato.
Her grief was impossible to conceal—tears streamed silently down her face.
"It won't matter. None of it can change what's done," she said as she walked toward Nagato, gently closing his eyelids, as if granting him peace in death.
Naruto didn't stop her. He simply watched quietly, but he couldn't help asking, "You could've stopped me. Why didn't you?"
The moment he activated Sage Mode, he'd sensed Konan entering the room. She had the chance to save Nagato… but she just watched.
"Because I knew nothing could undo what had already happened," Konan's voice trembled slightly, though she tried hard to remain calm. "Because he abandoned our original goal. Everything he did, all the suffering he caused… it was all for himself. He stopped fighting for peace a long time ago. Now he just wanted the world to suffer. To him, the lives in this village meant nothing—like blades of grass."
"Then why didn't you—"
"Because he was still Nagato to me!" Konan suddenly shouted, then fell to her knees, crushed by sorrow and exhaustion. "Now I'm all alone. Go ahead, kill me."
"No."
Konan abruptly lifted her head, staring at Naruto in disbelief. Yet his expression showed no hesitation. "I mean it—I'm not killing you."
"I'm sparing you because if you die, who's left to stop them?" Naruto stated bluntly. There was no time for roundabout talk. His time was limited. "Who will prevent them from destroying this village?"
Konan turned her gaze to the balcony outside, taking in the skyline of Amegakure. That was her village.
Even if both she and Nagato perished, the war wouldn't end. It would be a catastrophe. Worse than Nagato failing to issue clear commands was that the Rain ninja would be left without leadership, descending into chaos. Without a command system or hierarchy, all responsibility rested solely on her and Nagato. No one could step up to replace them.
Every ninja qualified enough to lead the village had been wiped out under Hanzo's reign.
No one else could complete this mission.
If she died, Amegakure would truly be doomed.
"I don't want this to keep going on like this," Naruto said. "I don't want to see Amegakure destroyed, so I'll ask you again... Can we finally put an end to this between us?"
"There's nothing left to fight for," Konan replied, her voice heavy with grief. "Without the Rinnegan, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path cannot be activated, nor can the power of the tailed beasts be sealed. I can't stop this war, and even if I could, I don't want to see any more killing. Now, only Nagato and Yahiko's corpses remain."
Naruto nodded. He had already taken Danzo's corpse with him when he left, and without the Rinnegan, Nagato's body was now of no use to him. "You're wrong. You still have Amegakure."
Konan offered a hollow smile, her face etched with sorrow. "For my village, and for every person who calls it home… I hereby declare that starting from this moment, Amegakure unconditionally surrenders to Konoha and the Allied Ninja Forces."
To show her determination, Konan removed her forehead protector from Amegakure and placed it on the floor. Then she cut her palm and let her blood drip onto the protector, staining the village's emblem with her blood.
This was an ancient ritual of surrender.
"...I'll make sure to pass your words to Lady Hokage and the Allied Forces," Naruto said calmly. "Now, gather your people and go home."
Still puzzled about how Naruto intended to stop the war, before Konan could react, he vanished in a puff of white smoke.
Walking to the balcony door, she looked outside, her vision once again clouded by tears.
At last, the rain had stopped.
******
Boom!
With a burst of white smoke, Naruto returned to Mount Myoboku. Many frogs were waiting there anxiously for news from him.
Before the mission began, Naruto, Sai, and the frogs had coordinated their timing precisely to ensure each phase of the operation—sneaking in, carrying out the task, and retreating—was completed on schedule.
He had only ten minutes to complete everything, whether he wrapped up the fight in three minutes or barely escaped at the last possible second. Luckily, he successfully completed his mission within the time limit.
"Naruto, how did it go?" Fukasaku the Sage asked, noticing the bloodstains on Naruto's clothes, clearly not his own. "Is everything over?"
Naruto didn't answer. He walked straight past Fukasaku the Sage and the small frogs, while other frogs stepped aside respectfully, clearing a path for him.
He created a Shadow Clone, then immediately dispersed it, sending the knowledge to his other clones. "Let's hope so. Honestly, I've got no idea what comes next."
"You killed Jiraiya's first disciple, didn't you?" Shima the Sage said gravely.
"Yeah..." Naruto murmured softly. "Can you send me back? I'm feeling a bit unwell. Maybe it's altitude sickness."
"What's altitude sickness?" a young frog shouted, eager for the elders to hear its question.
"It's like quickly going from a high elevation down to a low one, then straight back up. You might feel dizzy or sick," Naruto explained. Starting at 5,000 meters above sea level, dropping below it, and then shooting straight up to the peak of Mount Myoboku—all in under ten minutes. So yeah, getting altitude sickness is totally normal.
"Oh," said the young frog, nodding faintly like he got it.
"Can I lie down for a second before heading back to Konoha? Like, right away. I've got something super important to announce—Amegakure has surrendered." As he spoke, Naruto suddenly felt dizzy, collapsed onto the grass and blacked out.
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