Just four simple words—
Yet they filled Tsunade, and everyone who heard them across the shinobi world, with absurdity and bone-deep dread.
"World… peace?" Tsunade almost thought she had misheard.
She stared at the man who had just slaughtered countless Konoha shinobi and reduced the village to ruins. There was no way to reconcile that devastation with the word peace.
"You attack Konoha and massacre innocent people—for the sake of 'world peace'?! What kind of logic is that?!"
The Deva Path of Pain remained unmoved, as though her outrage had long been anticipated.
Then he began to explain.
Pain's Doctrine
"The 'peace' of this world has always been false," he said calmly.
"It is built upon the military deterrence of great nations—and the sacrifice of the weak."
"Hatred coils like a venomous vine around every country, every individual."
"Great nations exploit smaller ones, seize their resources, and manufacture suffering."
"Suffering breeds hatred. Hatred breeds resistance. Resistance sparks war. War creates new hatred."
"The cycle continues—endlessly."
His Rinnegan rippled faintly.
"I have experienced the deepest pain. I have witnessed utter helplessness."
"I realized that ideals, appeals, and partial compromise can never sever this chain of hatred."
"Because greed, fear, and selfishness are embedded in human nature."
"Only when 'pain' itself reaches an unprecedented scale—so vast that all nations remember it, so terrifying that all countries tremble—can true 'peace' emerge."
He paused.
"My method is simple."
"We will gather the Nine Tailed Beasts and use their power to create an ultimate weapon—one capable of annihilating an entire nation in a single strike."
"And then we will announce its existence to the world."
Pain floated above the battlefield, looking down at Tsunade—and, it seemed, down upon the entire shinobi world.
"Any nation that dares initiate war will face equal—or greater—pain and destruction."
"When the cost of war becomes unmistakable… unbearable… absolute… people will be forced to learn understanding. Forced to learn restraint. Forced to fear war itself."
"Under the deterrence of terror… under the shared memory of suffering…"
"True peace will be achieved."
Tsunade's Response
"Maintaining peace through terror… preventing war through destruction…" Tsunade repeated softly, her face pale.
She could not accept it.
This was not peace. It was a world held hostage by a single fanatic—violence elevated to doctrine.
"And so you hunt the Tailed Beasts. You attack Konoha. You kill Jiraiya…" Her voice trembled with exhaustion and grief. "All for this 'ultimate weapon'? All to make the world 'feel pain' first… before your version of peace?"
Pain did not answer.
His silence was affirmation enough.
Reaction Across the Shinobi World
"He's insane!"
"Threaten the entire world with a Tailed Beast superweapon? That's not peace—that's tyranny!"
"For that twisted ideal, he destroys Konoha and murders thousands? Unforgivable!"
"…But what he said about great nations exploiting small ones… that's not entirely wrong…"
Debate erupted everywhere.
Nagato's ideology was extreme—dangerous. Yet the problems he described were real. In war-torn regions and smaller nations, some fell silent, forced to confront uncomfortable truths.
Reactions in the Present
Outside a hidden base, Karin clapped her hands excitedly.
"Wow! That's interesting! Use overwhelming power so nobody dares fight!"
She tilted her head. "Though… I don't really get why he thinks warmongers would actually be scared of threats. Still sounds cool!"
Orochimaru gave a soft, dismissive laugh.
"Naïve."
"To entrust peace to a single absolute deterrent? Setting aside whether such a figure could remain 'impartial,' do you truly believe fear alone can suppress human desire and hatred forever?"
Tsunade shot Jiraiya an exasperated glare.
"Is this what you taught them?"
Jiraiya flushed.
"Hey—no, Tsunade, listen. Yahiko was a bright, idealistic kid. He believed in changing the world through understanding and dialogue."
"I taught them resilience. Courage. The will to protect comrades."
He lowered his voice.
"If they've become this… then something terrible must have happened in the Land of Rain after I left."
His gaze flickered, almost involuntarily, toward Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He could not help but wonder—
Had Konoha played a role in that tragedy?
Hiruzen stiffened under the look, his face darkening. He had no certainty that Danzo hadn't interfered in the Land of Rain behind his back.
Tsunade said nothing further—but her distrust of Hiruzen deepened visibly.
Hidden Observers
Elsewhere, hidden in a high vantage point, Kabuto Yakushi and Karin watched the confrontation unfold.
Kabuto had deployed a camouflaged snake linked to his senses, transmitting everything Pain and Tsunade said.
Karin relied on her extraordinary sensory perception.
"Well?" Kabuto asked quietly, more interested in the coordination of the Six Paths and the Rinnegan's mechanics than in ideology.
Karin slowly opened her eyes, red irises gleaming.
"That Pain guy is seriously strong. His chakra is massive—and incredibly refined. If Sasuke rushes in head-on right now, he'll definitely get beaten. Badly."
She grinned.
"But that's perfect!"
"If Sasuke gets pushed into a corner—desperate enough—maybe that thing inside him will finally come out!"
"Then we'll really get to see what's hidden there."
Her smile was bright.
And disturbingly eager.
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