"What exactly happened?! Tell me! Nagato!" Jiraiya almost roared the question. He couldn't understand what kind of tragic experience could change a person to such an extent.
The Animal Path's Rinnegan looked at him indifferently, as if looking down upon a tiny and ignorant mortal: "It's nothing much. In this place, death happens every day, it's the most ordinary thing."
"A once ignorant child, after experiencing enough pain, grew into an adult capable of seeing the truth of the world, that's all."
"Discarding Yahiko, such an important friend, is that what you call growth?!" Jiraiya questioned furiously.
The Animal Path's voice carried a slight fluctuation for the first time, a kind of detachment beyond mortal emotions, almost divine indifference. "Jiraiya-sensei, you are merely a mortal, bound by worldly emotions. But I, after feeling the endless pain of this world, have grown from a mortal... into a god!"
"God?!" Jiraiya repeated the word in shock, almost thinking he had misheard.
"Precisely." The Animal Path spread his arms as if embracing the cold rain curtain and the pain-filled world, "It is precisely because I have become a god that I understand how insignificant mortal power is, how fragile and laughable peace brought through understanding and communication is. Only by making people personally experience equivalent pain, trembling in pain, can they truly understand the preciousness of peace and learn to understand each other! This is the 'peace' the Akatsuki will bring to this world!"
He looked down upon Jiraiya like a god pronouncing judgment: "Of course, to allow people to fully understand this pain, necessary punishment is essential. We will gather the scattered power and let the world feel true pain. Just like that newly risen Land of Stars is doing, sweeping away the old order with absolute power!"
"Land of Stars? Shura?" Jiraiya seized the keyword, thinking of the mysterious boy who had appeared in Amegakure earlier, and hurriedly pressed: "What is the relationship between that Shura and you?"
Nagato's mind instantly flashed back to the terrifying attack containing destructive energy that fell from the sky when he attacked the Land of Stars. That power made even him, who possessed the Rinnegan's power, feel apprehensive.
He was silent for a moment before saying coldly through the Animal Path: "That guy... has similarities to my ultimate goal, but has chosen a different path."
He didn't elaborate further, but that attitude of wariness and implicitly viewing Pain as some kind of 'peer' or 'competitor' set off alarm bells in Jiraiya's mind.
'Even Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan, evaluated Pain like that...'
"Then, as your teacher..." Jiraiya took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing all the shock, grief, anger, and doubts. His eyes became firm and sharp again. "I have no choice but to stop you here!"
Before his words faded, he leaped backward, his hands rapidly forming seals in mid-air, then slammed them onto the ground!
"Summoning Technique!"
A huge explosion of smoke occurred. A massive toad, holding a giant iron fork and shield, with the character for [Filial Piety] on its belly wrap, appeared under Jiraiya's feet. It was Gamaken.
Jiraiya stood on Gamaken's broad head, striking what he thought was a cool pose, ready to announce his title: "Speaking of which, I am no longer an ordinary human either! The Toad Sage Jiraiya, here to..."
Before the word 'participate' could leave his mouth, Gamaken beneath his feet, perhaps due to nervousness or some other reason, swayed unnaturally. Jiraiya, standing on its head, stumbled and almost fell, barely managing to steady himself. His heroic posture instantly vanished without a trace.
The Animal Path high above watched this scene indifferently, commenting flatly: "You're still the same as ever, Jiraiya-sensei."
"Hey! Gamaken!" Jiraiya stomped his feet in anger, complaining to the toad beneath him. "Don't mess with me when I'm trying to look cool!"
Gamaken replied in its characteristic slow, apologetic voice: "Sorry, Jiraiya-sama. It's because I'm just a clumsy, useless toad."
Jiraiya sighed helplessly, knowing now wasn't the time to argue about this.
His expression quickly turned grave. He smeared special toad oil on his face, forming strange patterns, and formed hand seals again.
Jiraiya knew well that facing Nagato, who possessed the legendary Rinnegan, holding back would be fatal.
He needed to summon the two Toad Sages, Fukasaku and Shima, and combine forces to enter his strongest Sage Mode!
"Gamaken, I'm counting on you. Buy me some time!" Jiraiya said solemnly, then closed his eyes and began concentrating, absorbing the surrounding Natural Energy.
This process required time and couldn't be severely interrupted. He had to rely on Gamaken to block any possible attacks.
"I understand. Although I'm useless, I will try my best," Gamaken said in its simple voice.
…
Meanwhile, in the Akatsuki's secret base underground in Amegakure.
Nagato, through the Animal Path Pain's perspective, clearly 'saw' Jiraiya preparing to enter Sage Mode.
His true body, hidden in the shadows, showed no change in expression on his emaciated face.
"Trying to use Senjutsu... Jiraiya-sensei..." He murmured to himself, not paying it too much mind.
To him, who considered himself a 'god', Jiraiya's Sage Mode, while powerful, were nothing special before the Rinnegan.
He knew much about Jiraiya's abilities, but Jiraiya knew little about the current Nagato, about these Rinnegan.
Near the Deva Path on the other side, Zetsu's figure emerged from the ground again, reporting with exaggerated gestures: "Leader, Hanzo the Salamander is making another move. He's sent out many, many more Ninjas, probably over twenty elite Anbu, heading straight for Jiraiya's location!"
It seemed the intel about the young man with the Rinnegan had reached Hanzo.
The Deva Path slowly rose into the air, a cold light flashing in his Rinnegan.
"As expected... couldn't hold back anymore, could you, Hanzo..." He said in a low voice, his figure floating towards the base exit. "Just right... it's time to settle old scores."
...
Elsewhere, in Amado's office on the top floor of [Regenerative Medicine].
Amado adjusted the orange glasses on the bridge of his nose, frowning deeply as he looked at the surveillance screen showing the chaos in Amegakure's northern district caused by the fighting and explosions, and the news of the large-scale mobilization of Amegakure's Anbu.
He had chosen to set up his lab in chaotic Amegakure precisely because it was easy to hide, with complex and intricate forces, convenient for conducting research unknown to the outside world.
But now, a huge storm seemed to be brewing within Amegakure, which would undoubtedly affect his experimental progress, and might even expose his existence.
"Really... troublesome," Amado muttered to himself, his face still maintaining its usual calm.
Habitually, he took out a cigarette case from his pocket, put a cigarette in his mouth, and reached to feel for his lighter.
Chest pocket, none.
Pants pocket, none either.
He frowned slightly and checked the pockets of his lab coat.
Just then, a hand holding a lighter with an orange-yellow flame suddenly appeared in front of him.
Amado instinctively leaned forward with the cigarette in his mouth, ready to light it. But just as the flame was about to touch the cigarette tip, he suddenly realized something was wrong.
'There shouldn't be a second person in the office!'
Amado jumped back like a startled rabbit, moving agilely unlike a researcher. His back was instantly soaked with cold sweat.
He looked in horror at the figure that had appeared beside his desk at some unknown time.
A black-haired, blue-eyed young man with a youthful face was looking at him with a faint, seemingly amused expression.
"Who are you?! How did you get in?!" Amado sternly demanded, suppressing the storm of shock in his heart, while his brain raced, thinking about the other's identity and purpose.
'Was it an assassin sent by an enemy?'
'Or a Ninja hired by a competitor?'
Menma didn't answer his question. He calmly extinguished the lighter's flame, then stepped up to Amado and, under the other's wary gaze, gently stuffed the lighter back into the chest pocket of Amado's lab coat.
"Don't panic, Dr. Amado." Menma's voice was calm, carrying a peculiar soothing power, yet also containing an authority. "I am just a passing Ninja. I came here to help you resolve some... troubles you haven't yet noticed."
"Troubles? What troubles?" Amado forced himself to calm down, adjusted his glasses, and tried to analyze the situation.
'The other party could infiltrate this heavily guarded place silently and knew my name. Clearly, their intelligence work was excellent.'
'But the other party didn't seem intent on immediately taking action.'
Menma didn't answer directly. Instead, he turned and walked to Amado's computer terminal, his gaze sweeping over the complex data streams on the screen about clone life support and gene sequences.
His eyes seemed to penetrate those cold data, seeing the obsession behind them that Amado had poured his heart and soul into.
"It seems your cloning experiments..." Menma spoke slowly, his voice carrying a hint of understanding. "...have already been led astray by Jigen."
"What?!" Amado was thunderstruck. The calm on his face instantly shattered, replaced by extreme shock and disbelief!
'The other party also knew Jigen?'
That was his biggest sponsor and technical supporter. Although mysterious, the theories and partial technologies he provided were indeed far beyond the current Ninja World's level.
"Led astray... what do you mean?!" Amado, noting the other's choice of words, couldn't help but start recalling his own experimental steps.
Menma crossed his arms, tilted his head, and looked at Amado with his deep blue eyes, his tone flat but each word striking home:
"Whether it's cloning technology or android technology, its essence is attempting to 'create life from nothing'."
Menma leaned against the control console. "And Jigen, he told you some knowledge about the essence of life and Yin-Yang Release. But he didn't tell you, or rather, deliberately misled you about the most crucial point."
"Life is far more than just the perfect replication of the physical body."
"The direction he gave you is doomed to fail."
Menma pointed at the data of the failed experimental subjects on the screen and continued, amidst Amado's shock: "A clone will spontaneously give birth to its own, brand new soul and personality. The original soul of your daughter, Akebi, has long since followed this world's laws and entered the Pure Land of the dead."
"If you cannot find a way to bring her soul back from the Pure Land, then no matter how many clones you create, what you will ultimately get is merely 'another person' with your daughter's appearance but a completely unfamiliar, entirely new soul inside, unrelated to you."
"Is this really what you want?"
These words were like an icy blade, brutally stabbing into the deepest part of Amado's heart.
Amado stood frozen in place, his usual composure shattered, sweat beading on his forehead. He instinctively retorted: "No... that's impossible... the soul... the Pure Land... those are just folk superstitions..."
"Superstition?" Menma chuckled lightly, his eyes profound. "When the Chakra you use itself is the energy connecting body and spirit, even life and death, doesn't the word 'superstition' seem rather arrogant, Dr. Amado?"
The always calm and collected Amado stood rigid, countless images flashing through his mind of the clones' strange expressions and unexplained life reaction collapses during numerous experimental failures.
Doubts that had been deliberately guided by Jigen and masked by his own absolute confidence in science surged into his heart like a tide.
'Could it be... that Jigen had been using my love and obsession for my daughter from the very beginning?'
He had conducted so many experiments under Jigen's guidance, but Jigen had never mentioned anything about the realm of the soul to him!
Menma looked at Amado, who was plunged into immense shock and confusion, knowing his goal had been achieved.
'That guy Jiraiya is conveniently drawing some attention.' Outside the office window, the commotion in Amegakure seemed to be intensifying.
Menma walked towards the door, ready to go have a chat with Jigen.