I, Naruto Uzumaki, don't need your approval.

"Since I was already dead at that time, it means that my ideals were no longer suitable for the Akatsuki organization. If we continue to cling to our wrong beliefs, Akatsuki will suffer another defeat, and perhaps even the peace of the Land of Rain cannot be guaranteed."

Nagato's mindset seemed to have returned to the past, and her voice became much softer:

“I thought you would blame me for going against the principles you set.”

Yahiko shook his head, pointed to himself, and said with a light laugh, "Nagato, have you forgotten something? We were only eleven years old when we founded Akatsuki, and we're not even fourteen yet."

“What flawless ideals can teenagers like us understand? We can only gradually change things by exploring step by step. As long as you keep trying and keep trying to change this terrible world, I will support your decision.”

After a pause, Yahiko continued, "By the way, how's your deterrence plan going?"

Nagato's face darkened, and his previous emotion vanished instantly. He sighed and said, "Before the plan officially began, I encountered the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. He left Konoha and established Uzushio Village. Even the Rinnegan couldn't defeat him."

"More importantly, he led the people of the Land of Whirlpools and the Land of Waves to live the life that the Land of Rain had always dreamed of."

"Moreover, he put forward many novel ideas. He believed that it was enough to take care of the lives of his own people and there was no need to care about the lives of people in other countries. As long as he was advanced and superior enough, other countries would follow suit and reform on their own."

"It was after visiting Uzushio Village that Jiraiya-sensei chose to become the Fifth Hokage."

"It seems the ninja world has become much more exciting after my death..."

Yahiko smiled and then continued, "I would also like to meet and exchange ideas with that Jinchuriki you mentioned, but unfortunately we are not ninjas from the same era."

"And according to you, the Third Shinobi World War seems to have ended a long time ago, and the five great nations seem to understand each other's pain and are all restraining themselves. I really want to see what peacetime looks like."

Upon hearing this, Nagato couldn't help but say, "Actually, Yahiko, you might not have died. I know who killed you. We could have completely avoided this tragedy. With this experience, we can develop the Land of Rain more professionally."

"In a few months, you will accept Hanzo the Salamander's invitation, which is a trap set for us."

"No, I'm going to kill Hanzo the Salamander right now, so he can't attack the Akatsuki!"

Nagato wanted to say something more, but Yahiko covered his mouth and said with a serious expression, "Nagato, knowing that you and Konan will live on in the future, and that Amegakure will usher in true peace, is enough."

"Knowing this is enough. I don't want to know anything else. You shouldn't stay here either; you should return to your own time."

"But these tragedies could have been avoided..."

Nagato explained that he was no longer the god Pain, but the weakest of the trio.

Yahiko stood up with a solemn expression and said, "Nagato, you are now the leader of Amegakure. You should have your own opinions and ideas. You should think about how to develop your village instead of dwelling on the past."

"As for me, I will stick to my principles and negotiate with Hanzo the Salamander."

"Even if this negotiation is just a trap, even if it leads to the complete annihilation of the Akatsuki? Only Konan and I remain from the original Akatsuki?"

"No, with the information you provided, I will be careful and will absolutely not let what happened in the future happen again."

"The Akatsuki organization doesn't have the strength to deal with Hanzo the Salamander right now. You are no match for Hanzo the Salamander."

Nagato could not accept Yahiko's stubbornness and stated this with absolute certainty.

Yahiko gently shook his head: "That's how it used to be, but with the information you provided, I won't give up on similar mistakes. I will nurture my Nagato, let him grow up ahead of time, and then continue to uphold our ideals."

"You still stick to your beliefs?" Nagato couldn't help but ask.

Yahiko looked at Nagato calmly: "That's right, I still stand by my beliefs, but I will not oppose the beliefs you implement in the future. Your world and my world are two completely different worlds."

"I appreciate your help, but you're not the Nagato I know. You should find a way to return to your own world; it can't do without you."

"What if your plan fails and something unexpected happens to you? What will happen to Konan and Amegakure in the future?"

Nagato persisted, saying he wanted to stay in the past, in this world where Yahiko still existed.

Yahiko sensed Nagato's thoughts, left the secret room without looking back, and walked towards the Akatsuki members, a hint of helplessness on his lips.

Even after more than ten years, Nagato is still as childish as he was when he was a child.

……

A few hours later, Nagato, wearing a straw hat and a mask to conceal his identity, left the Akatsuki headquarters.

Yahiko forbade him to interfere with the past as Nagato, so he acted as Pain, searching for information about the masked man in this past timeline.

In his memory, the masked man, Uchiha Madara, was not only mysterious, but also appeared at an all-time ingenious time.

He appeared just when the Akatsuki organization was wiped out and Konan was at her most confused, and presented them with a plan to create tailed beast weapons, which made them doubt their own beliefs.

Soon, Nagato sensed the presence of the White Zetsu and chased after one of them.

Several tens of minutes later, Nagato sensed the presence of the Gedo Mazo and saw an old man covered in tubes. The man opened his eyes, revealing a strange three-tomoe Sharingan.

Why would an old man with the Sharingan possess the Gedo Mazo? Nagato's expression changed.

Just as he was trying to gather more information, his body gradually turned into specks of light.

This made Nagato's expression turn somewhat grim, but he still activated the Rinnegan's ability to send this information to the current Nagato, which can be considered his final contribution to the Akatsuki organization in this era.

Chapter 209 A Meeting Across Time

With a shift in time and space, Naruto and Nagato returned to their own era.

After exchanging a glance, the two quickly distanced themselves and retreated to a corner of the Dragon Vein Altar. The spacetime was unstable at the moment, and if they were to trigger the Dragon Vein again, who knew what kind of unexpected events might occur.

At that moment, Nagato noticed the deformed corpse on the ground, frowned, and said, "Menma, is that Danzo's corpse on the ground? You killed him in the past?"

Naruto glanced at Nagato, somewhat puzzled, and asked, "Is Danzo also your target?"

Nagato nodded: "I did come here to hunt down Danzo, but you beat me to it. Have you encountered anything interesting in the past?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes and stared at Nagato, saying, "Aside from dealing with Danzo, I haven't interfered too much with the past. If I disrupt the timeline, even the present might be completely different. There's no need to take such a big risk."

He didn't want Nagato to know about the past, nor did he want Nagato to change it.

Nagato pondered for a few seconds before saying, "So what do you plan to do with the core of the dragon vein in front of us? If someone else wants to change history, it won't be a good thing for us."

"The remaining power of the dragon vein is no longer able to traverse time, and it will take at least several decades to recover. I plan to seal it with the clan's sealing technique to prevent others from having the opportunity to use it."

So you don't let others use it, but you use it secretly yourself?

Nagato didn't believe Naruto would really seal the Dragon Vein; who could refuse the chance to change the past?

However, the dragon vein is indeed in a weakened state, with only about 30% of its chakra remaining compared to before. But there is still a chance to travel through time in the future, which makes him somewhat tempted.

However, he has not yet re-established contact with the Six Paths of Pain, and is not yet a match for them.

After considering the matter, Nagato abandoned his idea of ​​seizing the Dragon Vein and slowly said, "I believe you can safeguard the Dragon Vein, but you have seen Danzo's fate. This power is not something we can covet."

After saying that, Nagato slowly walked out of the Dragon Vein Altar and disappeared as a black shadow.

After Nagato left, Naruto relaxed his brow. He wouldn't mind sparring with Nagato anywhere else, but the risk of fighting near the core of the Dragon Vein was too great. He might get caught up in some strange timeline.

If you get lost in the past, you can never come back.

He wouldn't have taken such a big risk if it weren't for dealing with Danzo.

Nagato must have realized this as well, and gave up the fight for control of the dragon vein, choosing to leave on his own initiative.

Pulling his wandering thoughts back, Naruto looked at his stomach; he had more important things to do.

After infiltrating the sealed space, Naruto breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the Nine-Tails, which had previously disappeared, reappear within the sealed space. He still needed the Nine-Tails' power to face enemies of Nagato's caliber.

"Narama, it's so good that you're alright."

Kurama pushed away Naruto, who was lunging at him, and said with some confusion, "Haven't I been here the whole time? Why are you saying that? Did I just leave?"

Upon hearing this, Naruto's expression changed slightly, and he then relayed his experience of returning to the past to Kurama.

Nine-Tails rested his chin on his hand, pondered for a moment, and said, "I don't know anything about the Dragon Vein either. It may be related to the Ten-Tails and the Divine Tree. However, I do have a lot of chakra, so it's not impossible that I can't be taken back to the past by the Dragon Vein."

At this moment, Kurama's expression turned playful: "Naruto brat, are you feeling defeated without my power? You're having such a hard time even dealing with Danzo. You've really disgraced the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki."

"You're so strong, yet you were still defeated by Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha back then."

Naruto seized Kurama's weakness and launched a precise counterattack, since Kurama hated Hashirama, Tobirama, and the Uchiha clan as the top three ninjas.

"Naruto, ninjas can't always dwell on the past; they have to look to the future."

After a moment of silence, Kurama transformed into a philosophical master, beginning to avoid the topic of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha. In terms of raw strength, it was actually on par with those two monsters, but unfortunately, its Wood Release and Sharingan were too effective counters.

Both of these powers originate from the Divine Tree, the vessel that imprisons the Tailed Beasts.

Naruto didn't expect to get much useful information from Kurama. Kurama probably knew less about the ninja world than he did. At least Kurama knew that Black Zetsu, the dutiful son, was lurking within Akatsuki, and that the Sage of Six Paths was still silently watching the world.

After getting used to the Nine-Tails' power, Naruto picked up Danzo's body and walked towards the outside of the Lost Tower.

Shisui had been waiting there for a long time, surrounded by the corpses of Root ninjas. Upon seeing Naruto, he quickly teleported over and said, "Lord Menma, you're finally back."

"How long have I been missing?"

"About an hour... By the way, is the corpse you're holding Danzo?"

Naruto had no intention of hiding anything and directly threw the body to Shisui, making up a story: "You guessed right, this is Danzo's body. Danzo, the leader of Akatsuki, and I were transported to another dimension, where we killed Danzo."

"Speaking of which, the Akatsuki leader's target was also Danzo. Danzo was really lucky to have encountered the two strongest ninjas in the ninja world today!"

Shisui was speechless. His own leader had already said all the complaints, so he had nothing to say.

However, the moment he saw Danzo's corpse, his breathing became rapid. This old man, a high-ranking official of Konoha who had targeted the Uchiha for decades and who had taken advantage of his trust to steal Kotoamatsukami, had finally died before his eyes.

From then on, the Uchiha no longer had to worry about the threat from Danzo. All of this was because they made the right choice: to trust Menma and to lead their clan away from Konoha.

At this moment, Naruto seemed to remember something and said to Shisui, "Shisui, I got my hands on Danzo's Kotoamatsukami Sharingan. It may take a few days to study it before I can return it to you."

Shisui was stunned. He really didn't expect Naruto to be willing to return the Mangekyou Sharingan to him.

After all, although the Kotoamatsukami Sharingan was his, after Danzo took it away, ownership no longer belonged to him, and its return was based on an equal strength.

Naruto was unaware of Shisui's inner thoughts; he simply felt that the Mangekyou Sharingan was somewhat useless to him.

Several years ago, he took Shisui's Mangekyou Sharingan, partly to guard against Sharingan genjutsu, and partly to guard against Kurama breaking its promise.

But now his relationship with the Nine-Tails is completely different from what it used to be, and he can even activate the Celestial Fox Mode.

The perfect Jinchūriki is immune to most genjutsu, and in his battle with Danzo, he realized that Kotoamatsukami was not as terrifying as he had imagined and could be prepared for in advance.

Therefore, instead of continuing to use the Mangekyou Sharingan, it would be better to return Kotoamatsukami to Shisui and improve the overall strength of the village.

Friendships between people may change, but interests will not. Under the overall direction of the Uchiha clan, Shisui could not possibly defect from Uzushio Village.

At this moment, Shisui suddenly asked, "Lord Menma, what should we do next?"

Naruto glanced at the figure hiding behind the ruins: "Go and scout the area first, see if there are any Root remnants. I'm going to see an old friend."

Chapter 210 The Own of the Dragon Vein