Naruto: Sasuke Uchiha Returns from Soul Society

Sasuke looked down at her, his voice flat.

"cost?"

“You have nothing left to give, Xiao Nan.”

These words made Xiao Nan stiffen, and the light in her eyes dimmed instantly.

But Sasuke's next words gave her hope.

"But since he has agreed to become my strength, I will naturally not let him die so easily."

"Wait here."

After saying that, he raised his hand, and the power of the Rinnegan was activated once again.

A rift leading to the Pure Land opened before everyone, and Sasuke stepped into it, his figure disappearing instantly.

Naruto stared blankly at the closing crack, opening his mouth as if he wanted to shout something.

Since Sasuke can go to that place called Pure Land and bring back the souls of the dead...

Does that mean my parents...?

The Fourth Hokage who sacrificed himself to protect me, and the mother I never met...

Can also...

"Naruto?" Jiraiya noticed his unusual behavior and patted him on the shoulder with concern. "What's wrong?"

"Huh? N-nothing..."

Naruto snapped back to reality, and seeing Jiraiya's concerned gaze, he swallowed the words he was about to say.

He looked down at his toes.

"Resurrecting the dead... that must be very difficult."

He thought to himself silently.

Sasuke has already sacrificed a lot to save Konan.

Now we have to go save Nagato...

If I make such a capricious request again, will it cause him too much trouble?

and......

The parents were heroes who sacrificed themselves to protect the village and themselves.

If we were to forcibly disturb their rest, merely to satisfy our own selfish desire to see them...

Is that really the right thing to do?

Naruto clenched his fist and sighed silently in his heart.

"That, the lecherous immortal."

To hide his disappointment, Naruto forcibly changed the subject, pointing to Nagato's corpse on the ground and asking curiously.

"Just what kind of person is this Nagato?"

He paused, then pointed to Deidara beside him, "That blond guy just said he was the 'leader,' what did that mean?"

"Yellow Hair?!"

Upon hearing this title, Deidara, who was standing nearby, instantly bristled.

"You brat! How dare you call me Yellow Hair?!"

He pointed at Naruto's hair and roared, "Aren't you a blond guy too?! Huh?!"

"Hehehe!" Naruto made a face at him. "My hair is a cool golden color, like the sun! It's nothing like your straw-like color!"

"You bastard...!" Deidara trembled with rage.

"Alright, Naruto, stop fooling around."

Jiraiya shook his head helplessly, pressed Naruto's head down, and made him behave.

Then, his gaze became profound.

“Nagato…” Jiraiya’s voice turned low, “That was a long time ago.”

"After the Second Shinobi World War, the Land of Rain was devastated, and there were displaced orphans everywhere."

"Out of guilt towards this war-torn country, and also in search of the legendary 'Child of Prophecy'..."

"I took in three destitute children and taught them ninjutsu, hoping to give them the strength to survive in this cruel world."

"Those three children are Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko."

At this point, Jiraiya turned his head and looked at Konan, who was kneeling beside Nagato's corpse, with a complicated expression.

"Speaking of which, where is Yahiko?"

"Why is Nagato the leader of Akatsuki? Where is Yahiko?"

Jiraiya's brows furrowed tightly.

In his mind, although Nagato possessed the legendary Rinnegan, he was not a qualified leader.

Nagato's personality is too introverted, sensitive, and even somewhat weak.

Jiraiya still clearly remembered that a Chunin from Iwagakure tried to ambush them, and Nagato, in order to protect his comrades, subconsciously used the power of the Rinnegan to kill the attacker.

That night, the child couldn't sleep all night because of guilt.

Such a gentle, even somewhat timid, child...

How could such a cold, cruel, and even evil organization as "Akatsuki" be established, which even attempts to intimidate the world by collecting tailed beasts?

This is completely unreasonable.

In contrast, Yahiko, who has unwavering convictions and a constant desire to change the country, is more like the leader who can unite people and guide his companions.

and......

The Akatsuki's current style of operation is full of bloodshed and conspiracy, which is completely contrary to the innocent dream that the three children had when they sat around the fire, looking at each other with longing and saying that they wanted to create a world without war.

He didn't believe it was their voluntary choice.

"Yahiko..."

Upon hearing this name, Xiao Nan's body trembled slightly.

"Yahiko..."

"He's already dead."

"Dead?!" Jiraiya's pupils suddenly contracted.

"He was forced to his death by that old scoundrel Hanzo, who colluded with Danzo of Konoha."

Although Xiao Nan's voice was calm, the hatred within it was undisguised.

"To save me, to protect Akatsuki..."

"He deliberately rammed into the kunai in Nagato's hand."

"What......"

Jiraiya was stunned; he hadn't expected the truth to be like this.

Hanzo... Danzo...

Is it just another of these damn political conspiracies?

"From that moment on, the real Akatsuki was dead."

Konan stood up and looked at Jiraiya. "Those who survived are only those who carried Yahiko's dreams and pain..."

"Payne."

“Nagato turned Yahiko’s corpse into the Heavenly Path, so that he would exist forever as the leader of Akatsuki.”

"And he himself stayed behind the scenes."

"This is the answer you wanted to know, Jiraiya-sensei."

Xiao Nan's voice was cold.

"This world has never given us the right to choose kindness from the very beginning."

Chapter 232 Smoke of War (5k)

Inside the dark cave, the candlelight flickered.

Obito Uchiha emerged from the distorted spatial vortex.

"You're back." Madara's deep voice came from the shadows. "Where have you been all this time?"

Obito raised his head and his gaze fell on the man sitting on the stone chair.

Even from several meters away, one could clearly sense the warm aura of the living.

"It seems you succeeded."

His voice was hoarse, and he didn't seem too surprised. "How does this body feel?"

"not bad."

Madara Uchiha flexed his wrist, feeling the blood rushing through his veins, and a wild laugh spread across his face. "Compared to that disgusting reanimated body, this is true living."

He stood up and stared at Obito.

"You, on the other hand, seem to have been quite busy these past few days?"

"I went to Daming Prefecture."

Obito didn't hide anything and directly revealed his whereabouts: "Those greedy guys have already taken the bait."

"The daimyo of the five great nations have reached a consensus that they will gather all the fighting forces of the five great ninja villages under the pretext of 'attacking Uchiha Sasuke' and form an unprecedented ninja alliance."

"A joint attack by the five major powers?"

Upon hearing this, Ban raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. "You actually managed to persuade those guys who usually only scheme against each other to join forces? That's truly amazing."