In a dense forest overrun by venomous snakes, Orochimaru slowly rose from a shed snake body, looking down at Deidara lying on the ground, his body paralyzed by snake venom. He licked his lips with his long, thin tongue.

"Stop struggling, you can't escape."

Tsunade stood in the center of the barrier, her hands pressed to the ground. Fine beads of sweat glistened on her forehead from using some forbidden technique, but the life energy surging from her body was like a tidal wave. The Flower Tree World Descends—a colossal tree burst forth from the earth, blooming with countless giant, poisonous flowers, completely sealing off Obito's escape routes. Immediately afterward, a towering wooden figure rose from the sea of ​​trees, its massive hand slamming down on Obito with overwhelming force.

Two Kakashis attacked simultaneously from the east and west, and with the combined forces of the Anbu and Jonin, Obito was completely trapped in a space where escape was virtually impossible. Several more deep, bone-revealing wounds appeared on his body, and a corner of his mask cracked in the battle. He panted, his gaze sweeping over the familiar yet unfamiliar faces around him, finally letting out a low sigh: "This time, it's a complete defeat."

At the last moment, his figure transformed into a spatial vortex, narrowly squeezing out of the gradually closing encirclement and disappearing at the edge of Konoha Village. The shadow of Akatsuki looming over Konoha was dissipating, and Pain, the Deva Path, also quietly departed after Obito's retreat.

The Jonin of Konoha stood amidst the still-smoky ruins, weary yet resolute, gazing in that direction. Jiraiya deactivated Sage Mode, walked to Tsunade's side, and whispered, "He retreated southeast... probably towards the Fire Temple."

"The Temple of Fire?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow slightly.

"That place once sealed a remnant of the Nine-Tails' chakra." Jiraiya's expression became complicated. "If Pain's target is that... he hasn't given up yet."

Deep in the mountains outside Konoha Village, the secret conversations in the depths of a tree hollow continue.

Uchiha Yao's voice was calm and clear, and fragments of his memories from another parallel world unfolded before Nagato like a scroll. It was a world torn apart by war, where the opposition of black and white was like two unfathomable chasms. In that world, some chose to fight violence with violence, some chose to endure and seek peace, but Uchiha Yao chose a different path—he used his own power to end all conflicts, brought all the tailed beasts under his control, and integrated Konoha into a unified absolute center.

"I've walked the same path you've walked." Uchiha Yao looked at Nagato's Rinnegan. "Yahiko's wish was for everyone to coexist peacefully in trust. The order you later built with fear and intimidation has, in essence, deviated from his will."

Nagato lowered his gaze slightly and did not answer.

"You might say you're already on your way, but can you truly gain the trust of those in Akatsuki? Can you convince the Five Great Nations that you're merely capturing the Tailed Beasts and maintaining a deterrent?" Uchiha Yao's voice was calm and unhurried. "Peace that cannot be built on a truly solid foundation is ultimately just a tower built on sand. Nagato, your path will never end. The Rinnegan can't save anyone."

Konan stood behind Nagato, her gaze fixed on Uchiha You's calm and resolute face, like a drawn sword. She spoke, her voice cold and hard as iron: "What exactly do you want?"

"I want you," Uchiha Yao answered frankly. "I want you to see a different option. But I know you can't just abandon Nagato and go with him like that, so I won't force you. I'm leaving this invitation here; if you ever think things through, you can come find me anytime."

He stood up, turned and walked towards the cave entrance, but stopped after a few steps and gently tossed a small potion bottle. The pale green liquid gleamed calmly in the dim light, landing squarely in front of Nagato's knees.

"The First Generation Cell Serum." Uchiha Yao didn't turn around. "Nagato, your body is too damaged. Without a strong enough physique, you won't even finish your own path. If you still want to see the world you dream of, find a way to survive."

Only the flickering oil lamp and Nagato's gaunt figure remained in the tree hollow. He stared at the vial of medicine on his knees, remaining silent for a long time.

In the Land of Rain, on the vast sea, waves surged, and the gray sky hung low, as if about to fall at any moment. Obito's figure staggered out of the void, landing on a bare reef in the sea. He knelt on one knee, panting, his single eye beneath his mask gleaming with exhaustion. This battle against Konoha had cost him a Sharingan, and depleted a large amount of chakra; it was a crushing defeat.

However, before he could catch his breath, a white figure appeared on the reef in front of him. Konan's paper wings slowly folded in the sea breeze, and her gaze, sharper than ever before, pierced directly at Obito.

"Long time no see, Afei." Her voice was as cold as the mist on the sea.

Obito's body stiffened slightly. He slowly stood up, shifting his gaze from Konan to the larger reef behind her. A slender figure sat there, the sea breeze ruffling his red hair, revealing a pale and gaunt face, and those all-seeing Rinnegan eyes.

"I've been waiting for you," Nagato said, his voice unusually calm. "I've been waiting for you to come and tell me some things in person."

Obito remained silent for a moment, knowing that the moment of truth had arrived. He slowly removed his tattered mask, revealing a half-disfigured face, his single eye calmly gazing at Nagato and Konan: "What do you want to ask?"

"Back then..." Nagato's voice was as calm as a lake, "It was you who helped Yahiko establish Akatsuki. It was you who gave him the Rinnegan. It was you who led Yahiko step by step to where he is today."

"Yes." Obito did not deny it.

Why?

"Because Akatsuki's path is part of my plan." Obito's voice was unwavering. "Yahiko's will, your Rinnegan, the establishment of Akatsuki... all of these are pawns. Pawns only have meaning when they are placed in their proper positions, allowing the game to continue."

Nagato lowered his gaze and remained silent for a long time. When he raised his head again, a deep rage surged in his Rinnegan eyes, like a volcano that had been dormant for many years suddenly awakening. He formed a hand seal, and six figures of Pain silently rose from below the water.

"Since you treat me as a pawn, then I'll show you how far this pawn can go."

Huge waves surged on the sea as the chakra blasts from the Six Paths of Pain, like a barrage of cannonballs, shattered the rock Obito was standing on. Obito stumbled through the rubble, forced to face the relentless onslaught of the six figures. He repeatedly used intangible abilities to dodge, only to find that with each evasion, Nagato's attacks became increasingly precise, blocking his next foothold. Both were heirs to the power of the Uchiha lineage, intimately familiar with each other's techniques. This battle was like a clash of two sharp blades, each impact sparking deadly energy.

Behind the reef, Xiao Nan stood quietly, gazing at the churning sea. Her paper wings fluttered slightly in the sea breeze, her gaze complex and profound. She neither made a move nor left. The sea breeze tousled her long hair, making her resemble a stone statue watching the flames of war from afar.

In the brief pause between releasing the Six Paths of Pain, Nagato glanced down at the vial of medicine left by Uchiha Yao at his knee. He paused for a moment, then unscrewed the cap and drank the liquid in one gulp. The medicine, like a blazing fire, spread along his meridians, repairing the muscles that had atrophied and died from overuse of the Gedo Mazo. He felt his legs, which had been unable to stand for years, slowly but steadily regaining sensation. He gritted his teeth, braced himself against the stone platform beneath him, and stood up inch by inch.

The sea breeze blew in his face, making his large coat flutter loudly. In the distance, Pain, locked in fierce combat with Obito, seemed to sense his master's change, and his attacks became even more ferocious. Nagato stood on the reef, facing the sea breeze, overlooking the churning battlefield: "This time... I will walk this path myself."

……

da da da.

In the deep cave, only the sound of water droplets falling from the cracks in the rock echoed. Uchiha Yao stood before the wall made of countless glass jars, his breathing long and even. Dim yellow light refracted in from the cave entrance, casting an eerie halo on the surface of the glass jars.

A whole wall of Sharingan eyes.

Those bloodline remains from the night of the massacre were sealed away by Obito like specimens in this unknown depths of the earth. Some eyeballs still retained their former crimson color, while others had turned white and shriveled, as if their essence had been completely drained. Yao's gaze slowly swept over the rows of jars, from the first to the last, as if he were identifying each vanished name.

"You gouge out the eyes of your people, then use them as consumables, throwing them away after you're done." Yao's voice echoed softly in the empty cave. "You don't even have the most basic respect for the dead."

He raised his right hand and gently placed his palm on the glass surface of a jar. The next instant, an invisible suction force surged from his palm—the Sharingan inside the jar trembled violently, the patterns on the surface of the eyeball began to twist and decompose, turning into streaks of scarlet light that flowed along the glass wall toward his fingertips and into his palm.

The first jar dimmed. Then the second, the third…

One by one, the Sharingan eyes in the jars were drained of their ocular power, turning into grayish-white residue that fell to the bottom. The crimson light flowed like rivers flowing backward, continuously converging into Uchiha Yao's body. He closed his eyes, letting the immense ocular power wash over his meridians. Suddenly, a burning pain shot through his eyes. Fragments of memories carried by the different Sharingan eyes—each person's joy, anger, despair, and struggle—surged into his consciousness like a torrent.

Yao gritted his teeth, enduring the impact that would have driven an ordinary person to mental collapse. His strange eyes, where the Tenseigan and Rinnegan overlapped, were undergoing a dramatic transformation. The foreign ocular power wasn't simply devoured or consumed; instead, it was like ore thrown into a furnace, slowly melted, tempered, and reshaped by his vision. He felt his eyes nurturing an unprecedented power, a higher level of existence that transcended the original boundaries of the Tenseigan, Rinnegan, and Mangekyou Sharingan.

"Not enough..." he murmured. "These eye powers can only serve as nourishment. The true power to complete the transformation lies in a far more distant place."

He opened his eyes. In that instant, it was as if two miniature stars lit up in the dark cave. A golden and a purple light flowed in his eyes, and intricate patterns floated faintly in the depths of his pupils before quickly disappearing, returning to the deep black of his usual eyes.

He stepped past the now-dim wall and ventured deeper into the cave. There lay a pile of dusty wooden crates and scroll racks, including ninjutsu scrolls, summoning contracts, and ninja tools left behind by Uchiha Madara. His gaze swept over the items, finally settling on an inconspicuous corner—a large iron fan leaned against a rack, its surface bearing the marks of time, yet still exuding a calm yet sharp aura.

"Flame Fan." Yao reached out and grasped the fan handle, feeling the fire-style chakra subtly flowing within the ancient ninja tool. Uchiha Madara once wielded this fan, routing the Konoha ninjas. Now it lay here, as if waiting for a true master to awaken it once more.

He tucked the flame fan behind him and then unfurled a yellowed scroll of ninjutsu. It was densely covered with notes on Madara's taijutsu, fire release techniques, and Sharingan secret techniques. At the end of the scroll, a line of slightly hastily written text caught his attention:

"After my battle with Hashirama, I studied the relics left by the Goddess of the Rabbit and suspected that her original power was related to the moon. In the future, someone will inherit my will and go to the moon to find out the truth."

Yao's gaze lingered on that line of writing for a long time. He slowly put down the scroll and murmured, "Kaguya Otsutsuki... Infinite Tsukuyomi... Moon... Tenseigan."

He raised his head, his gaze seemingly piercing through the cave walls and across the entire sky, seeing the enormous moon hanging silently around the planet beyond the ninja world: "The secrets of the two ninja worlds indeed lead to the same source. First, I'll go to Amegakure to check on Nagato's situation, and then... it's time to make a trip to the moon."

The land of rain, above the sea.

Under the grey sky, the entire sea resembled a leaden mirror. Xiao Nan's figure hovered in mid-air, her paper wings slowly unfurling behind her like those of an angel. She looked down at the seemingly calm sea, her white pupils devoid of any ripples.

There were no enemies on the sea. Obito's figure lay hidden beneath the calm surface, whether lying in wait or lying in ambush, it was unclear. Konan slowly raised her hand—in that instant, countless explosive tags appeared on the sea around her, covering an area of ​​one kilometer in radius like dense scales. This was just a fraction of the six hundred billion explosive tags she had prepared over more than a decade. For this moment, she had buried most of her savings beneath this sea, just to confirm Obito's true strength and, at the same time, to end his life completely.

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