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"Take care of Konan and Hanataki. Live… just live."
Yahiko leaned close to Nagato's ear, his final words a slow, soft whisper.
Then he slumped. Slid down.
He hit the ground.
"Yahiko!"
Tears streaked Konan's face, her eyes bloodshot.
Nagato didn't move. His gaze shifted down, a mechanical motion. Blood. His hands were stained with blood.
Yahiko's blood.
Nagato's pupils dilated. A tremor started in his body.
"Yahiko-nii!"
"Yahiko-nii!"
Hanataki stumbled to Yahiko's side, disbelief written on his face. He grabbed Yahiko's limp hand. Tears fell, fat and heavy.
[Ding! Favorability for target 'Nagato' has reached 95!]
This sudden spike probably wasn't about him. Hanataki looked at Yahiko's still face through his tears. He understood.
Yahiko's final plea had planted a seed of duty in Nagato's heart. Favorability born from responsibility.
Good friends, huh? Just one sentence, and Nagato's favorability shot up by a dozen points. Impressive.
"That girl!"
With Yahiko's fall, Hanataki was finally in Hanzo's direct line of sight.
Hanzo frowned.
How could two people look so identical?
"Grab that girl!"
Questions could wait. First, capture her.
"You said you would release Konan."
Nagato's voice was eerily calm.
Hanzo smiled. "I did. Use the girl as a trade."
Konan followed Hanzo's pointing finger. To Hanataki.
"No! You can't!"
She'd lost Yahiko. She wouldn't lose Hanataki too.
"You're lying."
Nagato's gaze pierced Hanzo.
The eyes hidden behind his red hair were finally revealed.
"These eyes…"
Hanzo's frown deepened.
Hanataki stood up. "Fine."
"If I can save Konan-nee, I'll do it."
He took two steps forward.
"NO!"
Konan tried to shout, but a foot slammed into her side, sending her sprawling. Before she could rise, she saw Rain ninja lunging for Hanataki.
"Hanataki!"
A silver-white light enveloped Hanataki. An invisible force rippled out.
His white hair lifted without wind, dancing. His body became a streak of silver light.
A Rain ninja staggered. A bloom of crimson erupted from his chest. His outstretched hand, meant to grab Hanataki, froze in mid-air.
"You killed Yahiko-nii!"
"I'll make you pay for his life!"
The kunai in Hanataki's hand was the same one that had slipped from Nagato's grip. The one that took Yahiko's life. Now it found a home in another chest.
"Hanataki!"
Konan stared, wide-eyed, at the blood-eyed Hanataki.
"A brat, spouting nonsense!"
Hanzo sneered.
A rain of shuriken descended, aimed to pin them down.
Nagato slowly raised a hand. An invisible pulse washed from his palm.
The storm of steel stopped dead in the air before them, then clattered harmlessly to the ground.
Hanataki charged forward like a madman. Wrapped in silver light, his speed was a blur of afterimages. A beam of silver-white energy lanced from his hand, piercing through a line of Rain ninja.
This was Moonlight Crush, a skill of the Lunar Corona mode.
Seeing the wave of Rain ninja still coming, Nagato lowered his eyes. He looked at his own hands.
"Summoning Jutsu: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!"
ROAR!
The ground exploded.
A monstrous, gargantuan figure tore free from the earth. It twisted, clawing its way forward with a grotesque hunger. A massive palm slammed down. Rain ninja vanished into red paste.
Hanzo's eyes narrowed at the sight of the behemoth.
"So… you were the true leader of the Akatsuki all along."
Screams of Rain ninja filled the air. The Demonic Statue was a merciless reaper.
Hanzo's gaze flickered between Nagato and Hanataki. A decision was made. If the Akatsuki had to be wiped out today, he'd at least take this strange girl. Two identical people? There was a connection here. There had to be.
Hanzo's form shot past his own men, a blur aimed straight for Hanataki.
Hanataki was busy using the fight to familiarize himself with the skills of his [Corona Mode Clone].
A cold, rain-laced wind whipped his cheeks. At the same moment, Hanzo's form filled his vision.
Huh?
Hanataki frowned.
What was Hanzo doing on his channel? Shouldn't he be fighting Nagato? Why come for him?
"Hmph."
Seeing his prey within reach, a cold smirk touched Hanzo's lips. No matter what, the Akatsuki would never amount to anything under his watch.
The silver-white energy surrounding Hanataki flared like living flame, leaping and spreading through the air.
Then, from Hanataki's chest, a golden light began to devour the silver-white, inch by inch. A blinding, brilliant gold wrapped his entire form.
In the gloom of the rainy night, he shone like a fallen star.
In the Land of Rain, where the sun was a myth, Konan had never truly seen its light. But the golden radiance on Hanataki's body now… that was what she imagined the sun felt like.
Warm. Blinding.
Hanataki watched the light swirling around him. He felt wrapped in sunlight. Warm. Full of a boundless, surging power.
This was the advanced form of the Lunar Corona mode — the Corona Mode.
"The forms of Ultraman Cosmos will combine into the one most suitable for the ninja world," the system explained.
"Excellent."
Hanataki felt his own coolness factor skyrocket.
The moment Hanzo's fingers brushed his collar, he was gone. Under Corona Mode, his speed shattered the limits of his previous form. Faster. More agile. And this was only the beginning.
As for the skills of the Six Eyes and Infinity? He wouldn't use them here. Prolonged use would raise too many questions. In this Corona Clone, he'd only use the power of Ultraman Cosmos that came with the clone's skill set. It was more than enough.
"Neo Maxima Ray!"
Hanataki crossed his arms.
A pillar of golden light erupted from his hands.
To the human eye, it wasn't a beam. It was an instant. A flash of impossible speed.
The blinding glare made Hanzo squint. The sheer, explosive power triggered every survival instinct he had.
He threw himself back, twisting into a desperate roll.
The golden beam missed him by inches and slammed into the cliffside rock behind him.
A perfect, smooth hole bored through the stone, tunneling deep into the mountain. A spiderweb of cracks erupted around it.
CRACK!
The entire cliff face shattered, crumbling into rubble.
"Not bad at all!"
Hanataki flexed his hand, a thrill running through him. He couldn't wait to see the attack skills of the higher forms. Too bad the 70% skill progress meant some abilities were still locked.
Hanzo's expression darkened. He leaped high into the air once more.
As he did, a colossal dragon of swirling purple chakra roared down from above, maw open wide.
"What is—?!"
Hanzo stared up at the savage dragon head, the monstrous body. For a heartbeat, shock froze him in place.
BOOM!
The sound of impact was deafening.
Rocks flew. Dust filled the air.
The dragon, spewed from the Demonic Statue's mouth, dissipated. Nagato, black rods now protruding from his back like a grotesque pincushion, collapsed to his knees, utterly spent.
No one noticed. In the split second Hanzo was frozen, a figure in a cloak materialized from thin air, grabbed Hanzo, and vanished without a trace.
The golden light around Hanataki faded. He walked over to Nagato.
"Nagato-nii!"
"You can't collapse!"
"We've already lost Yahiko-nii!"
Hanataki grabbed Nagato's shoulders, forcing his voice to stay steady. Tears—real ones this time—fell from his eyes, hitting the wet ground with soft taps.
[Ding! Favorability for target 'Nagato' has reached 98!]
Nagato panted, staring at the mud, silent.
Konan sat on the ground, numb. She didn't understand. How had the world changed so completely in a single hour?
Yahiko was dead.
Nagato was broken.
She… she needed a child, Hanataki, to protect her.
She buried her face in her hands. Tears seeped through her fingers.
"I told you. Peace can never be achieved through something as weak as a treaty."
From the void, a black-clad figure emerged from twisting space.
Nagato looked up. At Obito.
"Gather the Tailed Beasts. Obtain the ultimate weapon. Force peace upon the world through strength!"
"Now…"
"Do you still believe I was wrong?"
Obito looked down on him.
Nagato's hand clenched in the mud. Tendons stood out on his emaciated arm.
"Those who have not known pain…"
"…can never understand the value of peace…"
"Only through knowing pain can one cherish peace."
"Only from pain… can peace be born!"
Nagato's gaze shifted to Yahiko's body. "I will make the world know pain. Only then… can it grow."
Hanataki analyzed Nagato's words. The theory itself wasn't wrong. Pain did breed change. But Nagato had chosen the wrong method. Trusted the wrong person. Lacked the will to see it through to a true end.
After the pain of war, you needed strength to change the world. And after that strength, you needed an absolute, unshakeable order to maintain that change.
Sadly, Nagato, stuck on the first step of using violence to conquer violence, could never reach that second stage.
Obito stared into Nagato's eyes. "Create the Tailed Beast Weapon. Seize control of the entire ninja world."
"Isn't that… also your wish?"
Obito added, his tone smooth, "I have no grand ambitions of my own. I merely wish to join you. To act together for this reformation. For this control."
Pretty words. Very pretty.
"Nagato…"
Konan emerged from her grief. She walked to Nagato's side, taking his other arm. Yahiko was gone. She would respect Nagato's will. Follow it.
"Nagato-nii! We're with you! We'll always support you!"
Hanataki gripped Nagato's hand tightly.
[Ding! Favorability for target 'Nagato' has reached 100!]
"Then…"
Supported by Hanataki and Konan, Nagato slowly, painfully, rose to his feet. "Let us change this world. From today… I am the leader of the Akatsuki."
A faint, satisfied smile flickered in Obito's visible eye. Everything was proceeding… smoothly.
Hanzo was presumed dead. No body was found, but Nagato believed he'd been utterly obliterated by the Demonic Statue's attack.
Taking control of the Rain Village was Nagato's first step.
Under the watchful eyes of Hanataki and Konan, Nagato began to process Yahiko's body, making a public spectacle of it.
"I… will create a God for this world!"
Nagato declared, as black rods were driven into Yahiko's flesh. Hanataki rubbed the goosebumps on his arm. He'd just been assaulted by peak edginess.
"The Akatsuki, reborn from the flames, will change this world!" Nagato said.
"Nagato-nii, I want to be a member of the Akatsuki too! I'm not a child anymore! I have the power to fight!"
Hanataki hurriedly stepped up. Founding member status? Yes, please.
Konan stroked Hanataki's hair, her eyes filled with a deep, old pain. "Hanataki… you've been one of us for a long time."
They had witnessed every hardship of this road together.
They bore this new, crushing grief together.
The Akatsuki, reborn from the flames of agony, would bring the dawn of a new world.
Konan stood on a Rain Village rooftop, rain soaking her robes. Her eyes held a resolve never seen before.
Obito stood in the shadows, his gaze fixed on Hanataki's retreating back.
The Rain ninja, learning of Hanzo's "death" at Nagato's hands, descended into chaos.
Nagato's suppression through sheer force took less than two hours. He was now the master of the Rain Village.
Hanataki sat in the room assigned to him, face the picture of sorrow.
Of course he was sad. Yahiko was dead!
Neither Nagato nor Konan had cracked a smile since. The whole place was a morgue. Working in an organization this depressing was a fast track to clinical depression.
"Hanataki."
Konan knocked, then entered. She carried a set of uniforms.
"For you."
She placed them beside him. She seemed to want to offer comfort, but words failed her. She simply left quietly.
Hanataki picked up the ring resting on the clothes.
The character "朱" was engraved on it.
Shu. The Vermilion Bird.
Hanataki raised an eyebrow. Wasn't this supposed to be Itachi Uchiha's ring after he defected? Now it had landed in his hands.
"Our first priority is to recruit powerful shinobi into the Akatsuki. To prepare for the capture of the Tailed Beasts."
Nagato, burdened by the rods in his back, sat on a stone throne in the darkness. He looked down at Konan and Hanataki seated below.
"Any targets in mind?" Konan asked.
The Rain Village's Mission Assignment Hall hadn't changed much with Hanzo's demise. It operated as its own independent entity within the village.
"Sunagakure — Sasori of the Red Sand."
His name was on the highest-tier bounty list in that very hall.
Sasori of the Red Sand. A puppeteer whose name shook the ninja world. The man who assassinated the Third Kazekage, indirectly igniting the Third Great Ninja War.
Countless ninja had taken contracts to kill him for the bounty. None returned.
Over time, Sasori became a permanent fixture on the most-wanted lists.
"What's his rank on the bounty list?" Hanataki asked. He'd have to check out this Mission Hall sometime. It sounded interesting.
"Tenth," Nagato replied.
"Who's first?"
Hanataki was genuinely curious.
Nagato looked at him. "A ninja from Konoha."
"Konoha?"
That piqued his interest even more.
Meanwhile.
Konohagakure.
Hanataki's Residence.
Hanzo the Salamander stood in the living room, waiting for the dizziness from the teleportation to fade.
Hanataki (the real one) sat on the sofa.
"See? The Akatsuki isn't as simple as you thought."
The one who'd rescued Hanzo in that split second was, of course, Hanataki himself, having instantly switched back to his main account.
[Ding! Favorability for target 'Hanzo the Salamander' has reached 90!]
Pure gratitude for saving his life.
"I never imagined the Akatsuki had someone else pulling the strings!"
Hanzo had taken Nagato as the true leader. It fit his strength-worshipping worldview.
"No need to dwell on it now. From this moment, forget you are Hanzo the Salamander. Your only job is to take good care of Naruto."
Hanataki finally felt he could breathe. God only knew what fresh hell Naruto had put him through these past few days.
"Understood."
Hanzo nodded.
Perhaps due to the gender change, Hanzo's babysitting skills had progressed at a terrifying rate.
Watching Hanzo deftly change Naruto's diaper with practiced ease, Hanataki's face twisted into a strange expression.
He had truly, single-handedly, derailed the entire aesthetic of the Naruto world.
Hanzo the Salamander, the legendary "God of the Rain Village," becoming a woman and changing diapers… it was an image the original author would have never dared to conceive.
But damn, was it useful!
Tomorrow, he'd have to sort out Hanzo's new identity. How was he supposed to explain a woman suddenly living in his house?
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