Saiki's schemes and actions were like the first falling domino, triggering a chain reaction that shattered Madara Uchiha's careful arrangements.
Forced by the circumstances, Madara had to act ahead of schedule.
This was despite the fact that Nagato was still far from mastering the world-shaking power of the Rinnegan.
At the border between the Rain camp and the Stone-controlled zone, the air was thick with tension.
Yahiko led Konan, Nagato, and several Rain leaders who chose to trust them to negotiate with Onoki, the Third Tsuchikage.
"Lord Tsuchikage," Yahiko spoke clearly and firmly.
"Lord Hanzo is dead. The foundation of the alliance between the Rain and the Stone no longer exists."
"We, the Akatsuki, represent our Rain kin. We ask you to release the detained Rain units and allow us to leave with them."
"We wish to maintain a neutral stance and will no longer participate in this war."
Floating in the air, Onoki's small frame radiated a suffocating pressure.
He looked down at the group of "idealists" with nothing but mockery and contempt on his face.
"Hmph! A bunch of snot-nosed brats think they are worthy of negotiating with me?" Onoki sneered.
"The Rain Village chose to ally with the Stone; they must see it through to the end!"
"You want to walk away now? It's too late! Those Rain shinobi will either continue to serve as my vanguard, or... they will stay here forever as corpses!"
"Lord Tsuchikage! War only breeds more hatred and pain! Why can't we seek a peaceful resolution?" Yahiko clenched his fists, arguing his point.
"Peace?" Onoki laughed as if he'd heard the world's best joke.
"Peace in the Shinobi world is built upon strength! You brats think you can shake the rules of the world with a few words about 'ideals'?"
"Naive! Ridiculous! Go back and train for another few years!"
The merciless mockery hit Yahiko like ice water, dousing some of his passion.
His face flushed red, and he wanted to argue more, but the elder Rain leaders beside him pulled him back, signaling for a temporary retreat.
Ultimately, the Akatsuki group could only leave the Stone camp amidst a chorus of jeers and insults.
Yahiko ground his teeth, Konan looked at him with worry, and Nagato kept his head bowed in silence.
The Rinnegan beneath his hood shimmered with a complex, dark light.
However, they were unaware that an invisible pair of eyes had already locked onto them.
Shortly after they left, a white silhouette emerged from the shadows behind Onoki—White Zetsu.
"Lord Tsuchikage," Zetsu spoke in his unique, echoing tone.
"In that group just now... the red-haired one named Nagato... did you notice his eyes?"
Onoki frowned. "Those strange, ripple-patterned eyes? What about them?"
"According to certain ancient records, those eyes are likely the eyes possessed by the Sage of the Six Paths—the Rinnegan."
Zetsu's voice was full of temptation. "It is said that those who possess them control life and death, wielding the power to create or destroy worlds..."
"The Rinnegan?!" Onoki shuddered, his eyes instantly exploding with disbelief and absolute greed.
The eyes of the Sage of the Six Paths?!
If this were true... it was a treasure far more intoxicating than conquering Konoha or even unifying the Five Nations!
"Are you certain?" Onoki's voice was raspy with excitement.
"I cannot be 100% sure, but the features match perfectly. Such a prize in the hands of naive brats is a waste of heaven's gift..." Zetsu whispered meaningfully.
Onoki's gaze became incredibly sharp and cold.
He didn't hesitate. He issued the order immediately.
"Command! Dispatch the elite units! Hunt down that Akatsuki group!"
"At any cost, bring me that red-haired boy—and his eyes!"
...
Not far from the Stone camp, Yahiko, Konan, and Nagato were still processing the humiliation and anger of the failed negotiation.
"Yahiko, don't take it too hard. That Tsuchikage simply won't listen to reason," Konan soothed him.
"Yeah, Yahiko. We will find another way," Nagato added softly, though an unsettling feeling grew in his gut.
Yahiko took a breath and forced a smile. "I know. This path was always going to be hard. We won't give up... eh?!"
His sentence died as his face went pale.
From the surrounding hills and forests, a massive number of Stone shinobi emerged, surrounding them with murderous intent.
Two Stone Jonin with powerful auras led the blockade.
"What is the meaning of this? Are you preventing our departure?" Sensing the atmosphere, Yahiko stepped forward to shield Konan and Nagato.
One Stone Jonin sneered. "The Tsuchikage has an order. He wishes for our red-haired friend to return as a guest."
His greedy gaze locked onto Nagato. "And... we wish to borrow your eyes for a moment."
"What?!" The trio's hearts hammered with shock.
They hadn't expected the eyes to be recognized. Onoki was truly shameless—denying the talk one moment and sending thieves the next!
"Never!" Yahiko roared. "We will never hand Nagato over to you!"
"Hmph, you don't have a choice!" The Stone Jonin waved his hand. "Engage! Capture the brat alive if possible, but the eyes must remain intact!"
The battle erupted instantly.
Yahiko fought desperately with his kunai, but against multiple Stone Chunin, he was quickly overwhelmed.
Konan unleashed her Paper Dance, sending a storm of paper shuriken at the enemies, but they were easily countered by Earth Style walls.
"Shinra Tensei!"
The Rinnegan in Nagato's eyes pulsed. A massive repelling force erupted from him, throwing the advancing Stone ninja backward, slamming them into rocks with the sound of breaking bones.
"Is that the power of the Rinnegan?!" The Stone Jonin was both terrified and ecstatic.
"Truly legendary! Everyone, attack! Drain his chakra! Wear him down!"
More Stone ninja surged forward, burying Nagato under a rain of Earth Style techniques.
Nagato struggled to hold them off. He cycled through the Rinnegan's abilities—absorbing chakra or releasing more repelling force.
But against a coordinated elite force, he began to falter.
His mastery of the eyes was too shallow; he couldn't maintain the output.
"Bansho Ten'in!" Nagato pulled one ninja toward him, only to have his arm grazed by an Earth Spear from the flank.
The situation spiraled toward disaster.
SPLAT! Attempting to block a strike for Konan, Yahiko took a kunai to the back, leaving a deep, bloody gash.
"Konan!" Nagato screamed. He saw Konan caught in a massive Earth Net, unable to escape, as two Stone ninja grabbed her roughly.
"Nagato! Run!" Yahiko, covered in blood, continued to block the path, roaring at his friend.
"Run? No one is leaving today!" The Stone Jonin laughed. He wove signs, and a jagged rock lance tore from the ground, aiming straight for Nagato, who was now kneeling in exhaustion!
"NO!!"
Yahiko summoned his final spark of strength. He lunged forward, throwing his body between the spear and Nagato.
SQUELCH—! The stone spear pierced Yahiko's chest without resistance.
Time seemed to freeze.
Nagato's eyes went wide as he watched Yahiko slowly fall, his blood painting the dirt.
Yahiko—the one who led them, the one with the dream of peace, the one who was their sun—his life was fading in seconds.
"Ya... hiko..." Nagato's voice was a shattered, agonizing whisper.
"Grab him!" the Stone Jonin ordered. Several ninja lunged for the dazed Nagato.
Just as their hands were about to touch him—
An indescribable, apocalyptic chakra—erupting as if from the deepest pits of hell—exploded from Nagato's body!
The Rinnegan in his eyes radiated a heart-stopping, divine light.
"SUMMONING JUTSU: GEDO MAZO!"
Accompanied by Nagato's guttural, demonic shriek, the earth shook and cracked violently.
A colossal, withered palm burst from the ground, swatting the nearby Stone ninja away like flies.
An unimaginably massive, terrifying statue—a fusion of rotted timber and demonic essence—tore through the bedrock and descended upon the world.
The Gedo Mazo had arrived!
Though it looked emaciated after being drained of its power for eons, the Nine-Tails' chakra it had recently recovered gave it a terrifying vitality.
Triggered by Nagato's life force and his total despair, it unleashed a world-ending power.
The statue let out a silent, soul-piercing roar.
Countless thick chakra dragons erupted from its mouth. They moved like living things, instantly entangling the Stone ninja.
"AAAGH!!" "What is this monster?!" "My chakra... it's being sucked out!"
The screams were a chorus of the dying.
The Stone ninja caught by the dragons were hollowed out in seconds, their chakra and life force siphoned away until they were nothing but mummified corpses.
The Gedo Mazo harvested lives with total indifference, turning the clearing into a portrait of hell.
"What... what is this power?!" Onoki reached the edge of the clearing and froze, his face ashen.
He didn't hesitate. "Particle Style: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!"
A transparent cube of light expanded toward the Gedo Mazo and Nagato.
However, the Mazo simply raised a massive hand.
A wall of condensed chakra met the Particle Style beam head-on, physically blocking the light that was meant to disintegrate all matter!
Though the statue's arm showed signs of minor erosion, it held!
"Impossible!" Onoki's soul shook.
His ultimate Particle Style was actually blocked?!
Just then, a chakra dragon lunged for Onoki like a viper.
Onoki barely dodged, but the body of the dragon clipped him. He coughed up a spray of blood, his internal organs feeling as if they had been rearranged.
He stared in horror at the life-devouring statue and the god-like figure of Nagato floating before it. For the first time in his long life, Onoki felt true terror.
"RETREAT! EVERYONE RETREAT!"
Onoki had lost his will to fight. He led his surviving subordinates in a panicked, desperate flight from the slaughterhouse.
Only Nagato remained on the field, standing before the Mazo with a faint pulse and a heart full of absolute destruction.
Yahiko's cold body lay in the dirt, surrounded by the husks of the Stone ninja.
Konan stood nearby, forgotten by the enemies, paralyzed and silenced by the nightmare she had just witnessed.
Nagato looked at Yahiko's corpse. Tears mixed with blood rolled down his face.
He touched Yahiko's cooling cheek. His voice was a guttering candle, yet it carried a bone-deep hatred.
"Yahiko... the peace you wanted... does not exist..."
"From now on, let the world feel pain..."
"I will make this world... drown in endless war and despair!"
The Gedo Mazo seemed to sense his resolve, letting out a low, vibrating hum that announced the arrival of an age of pain and vengeance.
And Saiki, one of the primary architects of this move, had no idea that the game he pushed had spiraled into total, dark chaos.