Naruto: Sasuke Uchiha Returns from Soul Society

"You've come." He opened his eyes, his tone calm. "Uchiha Sasuke."

His chakra began to circulate wildly, and ripples flowed in his Rinnegan.

Even though his body was broken and his chakra was almost depleted, he was still a god and the owner of the Rinnegan.

Sasuke ignored his wariness and stepped into the house.

Sasuke sized him up, his gaze sweeping over Nagato and settling on his head, on the faded, dull red hair.

"The Whirlpool Clan..." he sighed softly, his tone carrying a hint of understanding. "No wonder their true forms didn't show up; their bodies have deteriorated to this extent."

"Is this the price you call 'god'?"

These words caused Nagato's eyes to narrow slightly.

"Did you come here just to mock me?" Nagato's voice was cold and hard.

"laugh at?"

Sasuke stopped in front of Nagato and said calmly, "Only the weak need to be mocked. You look like nothing more than a pathetic wretch being used."

He didn't dwell on the topic, his gaze sweeping over the empty room, his brow furrowing slightly.

"Where's Obito Uchiha?" Sasuke asked directly. "Where is that masked guy?"

A complex emotion flashed in Nagato's eyes when he mentioned that name.

Konan died, the Six Paths of Pain were destroyed, and the "comrade" who kept saying that he would create peace together was nowhere to be seen at the most critical moment.

“That’s what I want to know too.” Nagato was silent for a moment, then slowly said, “He disappeared after he realized you were coming.”

"Disappeared?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

“That man…” Nagato chuckled self-deprecatingly, “knows better than anyone else how to protect himself.”

"I see."

Sasuke nodded, seemingly unsurprised by the result.

Do you know where he's going?

Nagato remained silent, only shaking his head.

"I don't know either..."

Sasuke sighed, a look of disappointment on his face.

He raised his right hand, and a wisp of dark lightning began to flicker in his palm.

Nagato looked at the ball of lightning without fear or pleading, and calmly closed her eyes.

For the loser, death is the only destination.

But as Sasuke thought of Nagato's Rinnegan, which had similar markings to his own, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

He lowered his hand, and the lightning in his palm dissipated.

"Considering that you also possessed the Rinnegan and are a member of the Uzumaki clan..."

"I can give you a chance to say your last words."

Sasuke's voice was calm, "If nothing unexpected happens, these will be the last few words you, as a living person, can say."

Nagato opened his eyes and looked at Sasuke with some surprise.

"Uchiha Sasuke..."

He looked at him, a weak smile appearing on his pale face.

"Someone like you..."

"They're even allowing the losers to leave their last words?"

"His last words were just an afterthought."

Sasuke spoke calmly, his gaze fixed on those purple eyes.

"Rather than listening to your boring rants, I'd rather know where you got those Rinnegan eyes from?"

"as well as......"

Sasuke looked around, sensing the lingering atmosphere in the secret room.

"What is your purpose in collecting the Tailed Beasts?"

Nagato paused slightly upon hearing this.

He hadn't expected that Sasuke was concerned about these things.

After a moment of silence, he slowly spoke, his voice hoarse.

"These eyes are natural."

"Born that way?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Hmm." Nagato nodded, seemingly recalling that vague past.

"I have no memory of these eyes when I was very young."

"Until one day, it just suddenly awakened."

Upon hearing this explanation, Sasuke sneered and shook his head.

"lie."

"What did you say?" Nagato frowned.

"The Rinnegan is the ultimate evolution and sublimation of the Sharingan, requiring an extremely large amount of chakra and a special bloodline as support."

Sasuke pointed to his eyes, where his golden Rinnegan were emitting a faint glow.

“I have these eyes, so I know better than anyone else.”

"If it were truly an innate awakening, your body would have already adapted to this eye power, and you wouldn't experience this side effect of being devoured by chakra and having your life force almost completely depleted."

He looked at Nagato's body, which resembled a dried-up corpse, and made his judgment.

"Furthermore, you have never shown any of the 'exclusive pupil techniques' unique to these eyes."

"Rather than saying you awakened it, it's more accurate to say..."

Sasuke's voice became meaningful.

"Your eyes were forcibly transplanted into you, becoming a vessel to hold them."

"That's why I said you're just a pathetic wretch being used."

"If it weren't for the fact that you are a member of the Uzumaki clan and possess life force far exceeding that of ordinary people, you would probably have been drained dry by those eyes long ago."

"..."

Nagato's pupils contracted, and his body stiffened.

container? transplant?

These possibilities, which he had never imagined, became so jarring and real under Sasuke's calm analysis.

Could it be that...

That man who calls himself Uchiha Madara, is he even deceiving himself with this?

Looking at it this way, all the suffering I had endured, the "divine power" I had gained, even Yahiko's death...

Could it all just be a carefully orchestrated scheme by that man for some ulterior motive?

"So that's how it is..."

Nagato murmured softly, her voice filled with an indescribable bitterness.

"The so-called 'god' is nothing more than a clown who can be manipulated at will."

He closed his eyes, and two lines of clear tears slid down his gaunt cheeks.

"If that's the case, then what is the purpose of collecting the Tailed Beasts?" Sasuke didn't give him much time to be sentimental and continued to press for an answer.

Nagato took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the surging emotions within her.

Before I answer you, I'd like to tell you a story.

"A story about 'Akatsuki,' about peace, and about despair."

Sasuke did not refuse and stood there quietly.

"We were once raised by Jiraiya-sensei, but after he left..."

Nagato's voice became ethereal, as if returning to that bygone era.

"The three of us orphans formed an organization called 'Akatsuki' on that war-torn land."

"Our leader is Yahiko."

Upon hearing this name, a glimmer of light finally appeared in Nagato's lifeless eyes.

"It's the living being of the 'Pain of Deva Path' that you just defeated."

"He was a person full of sunshine and dreams. He firmly believed that even in this chaotic world, there must exist a way to achieve peace without relying on force and hatred."

"We travel around to help civilians affected by the war and mediate disputes between countries."

"That pure belief gradually attracted many like-minded partners, and the reputation of 'Akatsuki' began to spread throughout the Land of Rain."

"At that time, we really believed that as long as we persevered, peace would surely come."

Nagato paused, the light in his eyes gradually dimming, replaced by deep pain.

"Until that day, the leader of Amegakure, Hanzo, who was hailed as a 'demigod,' took the initiative to find us."

"He said he endorsed our vision and hoped that, with 'Xiao' at its core, we could act as a neutral third party to conduct peace negotiations with the three major powers that were at war at the time."

"Although we had some doubts, we granted his request for the sake of that attainable dream of peace."

Nagato's voice began to tremble, and her hands gripped the armrests of the wheelchair tightly.

However, when we arrived at the agreed location full of hope...

"What awaits us is not the dawn of peace, but a trap."

"There were no envoys from the three great nations there, only fully armed members of the Rain Village's Dark Guard, and..."