When would the war end?
That really was a difficult question to answer.
Especially when the person asking that question was Nagato, a Child of Prophecy with the potential to fall into darkness.
Rei narrowed his eyes and thought for a while before asking in a low voice, "By asking this question, are you trying to condemn us, Kirigakure, for taking the initiative to start a war with Konoha?"
"Perhaps that is part of it, but not entirely."
Nagato sighed and looked at the ruins of Uzushiogakure as he spoke unhurriedly.
"Over the past few years, I have witnessed Kumogakure starting a war against Sunagakure, Kumogakure starting a war against Konoha, Iwagakure starting a war against Konoha, and now your Kirigakure starting a war against Konoha."
"Whenever the previous war looked as if it was about to end, the nations that had been watching from the sidelines would immediately enter the field and start a new war, causing the chain of war and hatred to continue spreading, dragging more and more people into disaster, leaving them displaced and destroying their families."
"I originally thought that once Kirigakure, the last of the Five Great Nations that had not joined the war, entered the field and decided victory or defeat with Konoha, this long Shinobi World War would finally draw to a close."
"But Iwagakure and Kumogakure, which had already been defeated, and even Sunagakure, which had previously only been able to protect itself after losing the Third Kazekage, have started becoming restless again because of Kirigakure's actions."
At this point, Nagato paused.
Then, with a complicated tone between a bitter smile and self-mockery, he shook his head and sighed.
"Although the war has brought Akatsuki many like-minded companions who yearn for peace, if the war continues forever, then forget those new companions who joined us carrying hatred and pain. Even Yahiko and I might be unable to stop ourselves from wavering in our beliefs…"
"Um, Nagato-kun?"
Rei interrupted Nagato, who had begun delivering pessimistic remarks on his own. With a strange expression, he said, "I think instead of telling me about Akatsuki's ideals and goals here, and discussing the complicated question of when the war will end with a small Anbu who can't decide anything, you should first think clearly about why I am standing here so quietly listening to you."
"Huh?"
Nagato, who was feeling lost about his own future, froze when Rei suddenly said that.
Then he asked in confusion, "Is there any value in thinking about that?"
"There is. Of course there is."
Rei rolled his eyes and said somewhat irritably, "If you can figure that question out, then to a certain extent, you will have already found the key to solving those problems."
"Really?"
"Really. If you feel like you can't find an entry point for the moment, I can give you a very simple hint."
As Rei spoke, he raised his hand and pointed at his own eyes, then gestured for Nagato to imitate his movement.
Nagato first raised his hand half-skeptically. Then, as if he had suddenly understood something, he looked at the finger stopping before his eyes and murmured, "Is it because… I have these Rinnegan?"
"What else? You don't mean to tell me you don't know what kind of reputation we Kirigakure shinobi have in the shinobi world, do you?"
Rei speechlessly lowered the right hand pointing at his eyes and spoke slowly.
"Cold. Ruthless. Completing every mission without emotion. Leaving no prisoners on the battlefield… Do I, someone who grew up in that kind of environment, look like a good person who would have a friendly conversation with an unfamiliar shinobi?"
"No."
A faint smile appeared on Nagato's face.
"When we first faced each other just now, Rei-kun, you even wanted to use the power of the Dead Bone Pulse to ambush me."
"But not only did I give up that idea, I also seriously listened to every word you said and exchanged names with you."
At this point, Rei's previously taut nerves relaxed slightly. He avoided meeting Nagato's Rinnegan directly and spoke softly in a tone filled with envy and wariness.
"And all of that is because you possess a pair of Rinnegan that I don't know how to counter."
Nagato did not insist on staring into Rei's eyes.
Instead, after revealing an expression of sudden realization, he asked with great interest, "Does Rei-kun mean that if I possess strength surpassing the Five Kage, I can make them take back the orders to start wars?"
"Not quite. As Kage, they carry many things on their backs. It is impossible for them to casually take back war orders like a child's game."
Rei shook his head.
"But if you truly become strong enough to that extent, then even the Five Kage will not be able to ignore Akatsuki's thoughts and demands."
"But that would still be simple deterrence built on my personal strength alone, wouldn't it?"
Nagato pondered for a moment, then raised his question.
"Even if the Five Kage truly see Akatsuki's demand for peace and have no choice but to consider Akatsuki's influence before launching wars… as long as I die, or a shinobi stronger than me appears among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, war will still return again, won't it?"
"But at least you will have spread your ideals and won a certain period of peace for the shinobi world. Isn't that enough?"
Rei had long anticipated that Nagato might raise this question.
He pointed at a building not far away where the Uzumaki clan emblem could still be distinguished and spoke unhurriedly.
"The last person who deterred the entire shinobi world by himself and brought the history of shinobi into a new era was Konoha's First Hokage, Hashirama Senju."
"When he was alive, the four nations of Wind, Earth, Lightning, and Water all feared his power and did not dare lightly start a war. The shinobi village system became widely adopted across the shinobi world. And the excellent systems created by his younger brother, the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, such as the Ninja Academy and Anbu, were also absorbed and accepted by each nation."
"I did not experience that era, so I don't know how powerful Hashirama Senju truly was…"
"But Nagato-kun, the Rinnegan you possess are the strongest ultimate dojutsu passed down from the Sage of Six Paths. If you use them properly, perhaps you can also become like Hashirama Senju and buy several decades of peaceful time for the institutional reform of the shinobi world."
"Several decades of peace…?"
Nagato closed his eyes.
He recalled everything he had experienced from birth until now and used that as the foundation to imagine the length of several decades.
"If I could truly give the shinobi world several decades of peace, even if it were only overall and surface-level peace, then perhaps I would not have betrayed these eyes I awakened, nor Jiraiya-sensei's teachings and trust, right, Yahiko?"
With an expression of resolution, Nagato opened his eyes and prepared to thank Rei, who had pointed out a road that seemed feasible.
But to Nagato's surprise, Rei had not remained where he had been standing to wait for his response.
Instead, during the less than ten seconds Nagato spent closing his eyes and thinking, Rei had slipped away on the spot.
Without a sound, he had vanished into the slightly desolate autumn wind.
"He ran away? What a pity. I wanted to express my thanks to you in person, Rei-kun."
Nagato shook his head, then used the Body Flicker Technique. With several leaps, he returned to the area where Rei had first discovered him.
After gently whistling a few short and clear notes, a woman who looked slightly older than Nagato, with short red hair, ran out from a very hidden building and came to Nagato's side with a worried expression.
"Lord Nagato, did you drive away that hateful Kirigakure shinobi? That's great… Ah, right. Were you injured during the battle? If you were injured, just bite me. The wound will heal right away."
"All right, all right, Karin, I'm not injured, and I don't need treatment. Don't—don't get so close…"
Nagato looked somewhat embarrassed as he dodged his fellow Uzumaki clan member, Karin Uzumaki, who wanted to come up and check whether he was wounded.
Seeing that there was not even a bit of damage or dust on Nagato's body, Karin finally relaxed.
She pushed up her glasses and said emotionally, "If I hadn't met you, Lord Nagato, I might have been discovered and taken away by that Kirigakure guy. Ugh. I just wanted to come back and take one last look at Uzushiogakure before leaving the Land of Whirlpools. Why did I have to run into someone from Kirigakure? Didn't they already take away everything valuable from the village ages ago?"
"Perhaps this is fate."
Nagato thought about the several coincidences he had encountered during this impulsive journey. A relaxed smile unconsciously appeared on his young, heroic face.
Yes.
This was probably his own special fate.
While lost, he had suddenly wanted to go out and clear his mind because of a casual piece of information mentioned by a companion.
On the way to this homeland he had never set foot in, he had rescued a fellow clan member who was also from the Uzumaki clan.
Then, from Rei Kaguya, whose conduct was completely unlike a descendant of the Kaguya clan, he had obtained an interesting idea that allowed him to stop feeling lost.
If he returned with these gains, Yahiko and Konan would definitely be shocked.
"Right, Karin. I'm going back to the Land of Rain to find my companions. What about you? Are you still planning to follow your original plan and leave the Land of Whirlpools to settle in another country, or will you consider coming back to the Land of Rain with me and becoming a member of Akatsuki?"
"I choose the second one!"
"So fast!?"
"Because if I choose the second one, then Lord Nagato, who recruited me into the organization, definitely won't mind looking after me a little along the way since we're both from the Uzumaki clan, right?"
"…That is true."
Nagato shook his head and turned to look in the direction of the Land of Water.
If I truly become someone stronger than the Five Kage and make Yahiko's thoughts and ideals known to the world, winning time for peace and development in the shinobi world…
Then when we meet again, what kind of identity will you have, the one who revealed this path to me?
Rei-kun.
The head of the Kaguya clan?
Or…
The Fourth Mizukage?