Start with a Zanpakuto and build the strongest Mist Village.

"Do not……"

"Flying Dragon Strikes the Thief, Thunder Cannon Shakes the Sky."

With a calm voice, a huge straight beam of light suddenly burst forth from Night's palm, completely shattering Pain's physical body.

The 88th Kido, cast instantly at point-blank range, was utterly unstoppable for Pain at this moment.

As the explosive energy dissipated, only Pain's head remained intact; his entire body was completely shattered and disappeared.

Night held Pain's head in his hand, and with his other hand, he slowly pulled out a chakra rod from Pain's neck, playing with it in his palm, while saying in a calm tone: "Now, can you recognize yourself a little better, Kami?"

Sensing chakra, Night's lips curled slightly upward, and he vanished from his spot in an instant.

Meanwhile, in a hidden place outside the Iron Castle.

Just a moment ago, Zetsu was still hesitating whether to wait for another move while watching Nagato's Chibaku Tensei display its power. But the next moment, Ye's Frostbite made Black and White Zetsu immediately behave.

"No, Nagato is no match for that guy. Take Nagato away quickly!"

Black Zetsu directly controlled Zetsu's body and arrived at the hidden place, anxiously saying, "Konan, Nagato, hurry!"

"No, I am God, I am the savior of this world, I will not be defeated, I will not be defeated!"

Nagato muttered in a somewhat mad tone, but his aura grew increasingly weak.

The Six Paths clones are a continuation of the Rinnegan's power. Although they are just clones, all their power requires Nagato, the original body, to provide chakra to maintain them.

Now, Nagato's Six Paths clones were easily defeated by Yoru Mizuki, and even his powerful move, Planetary Devastation, was destroyed by Yoru's single strike. Nagato's chakra had already been largely depleted, leaving him with very little.

"What's happening outside?" Seeing Zetsu's anxious expression and Nagato's somewhat deranged appearance, Konan's heart skipped a beat.

"This is not the time to talk about these things. Pain won't last much longer. We need to retreat quickly."

Black Zetsu's hoarse voice was very urgent; almost all of his plans were based on the Rinnegan.

After a thousand-year wait, they finally found Uchiha Madara, the reincarnation of Indra. If something had happened to the Rinnegan, who knows how many more years he would have to plot to create another pair of Rinnegan.

"Nagato..."

Seeing that Nagato seemed somewhat dazed, Konan didn't hesitate and used Paper Release to retreat with Nagato, who was sitting in a specially made wheelchair.

"I am God, I will not be defeated, I am God..."

"Nagato!"

“Kounan…”

With a sharp shout, Nagato, who had been lost in his trance, was jolted awake. Seeing Konan spreading her wings and flying, Nagato quickly formed hand seals and summoned the Yatagarasu, dragging Konan along as they flew into the sky.

"I'm sorry, Xiao Nan, I... I failed."

Nagato was utterly dejected, as if all his energy had been drained away: "I'm no match for that guy at all. He's the true god, and I..."

"Nagato!"

Xiao Nan hissed, "Stop talking nonsense. With your divine eyes, you are the one chosen by heaven. You are the true god."

"Although Minazuki Yoru is powerful, it is all power he obtained by devouring souls. According to the information Zetsu obtained, for the past two years, he has been using his Seireitei to have those so-called Shinigami collect souls for him all over the ninja world in order to strengthen himself."

"Do you remember the book 'The Story of Jiraiya' published not long ago?'"

“Jiraiya-sensei…” Nagato murmured, his slightly dazed gaze refocusing.

When Minato Namikaze was lost and confused about his life, the Toad Sage gave him this book by Jiraiya, which rekindled Minato's fighting spirit.

After Minato Namikaze became the Fourth Hokage, he published the book extensively, and it circulated widely in the ninja world.

Actually, not many people bought it. The main reason was that it was priced low and cheap. It was not only half the price of novels published at the same time, but also had a buy-one-get-one-free offer, making it an epic toilet paper.

However, Minato Namikaze didn't mind.

"The Tale of the Indomitable Ninja" is a novel with profound meaning, intended to promote unwavering fighting spirit and to end war. Such a novel is destined to have a limited readership, so Minato Namikaze used this approach to spread the book throughout the ninja world as widely as possible, allowing more people to see Jiraiya's creation and will.

Nagato was one of the few audience members and supporters.

Yes, it's one of the must-read books for the Akatsuki. Even after reading "The Story of a Strong-Willed Ninja," Nagato himself had the idea of ​​writing a novel.

The name has already been decided, it will be called...

Nagato's Struggle!

With great ability comes great responsibility.

In Jiraiya's chronicle of unwavering perseverance, it is written that to quell the chaos and war-torn ninja world, one must possess steadfast willpower and an indomitable spirit to overcome difficulties.

These ideas were absorbed by Nagato, which strengthened his belief that he was the savior.

When Heaven is about to place a great responsibility on a person, it will first test their will, strain their muscles and bones, starve their body, leave them destitute, and thwart their endeavors.

After I dedicate myself to training for another three years, I will make sure that Mizuki Yoru knows who the true god of the ninja world is!

"I understand, Xiao Nan..."

Nagato took a deep breath and controlled the Yatagarasu to retreat quickly.

but.

Before anyone knew it, a figure had already stood atop the head of the Yatagarasu.

A calm voice came from Yoru's mouth. He looked at Nagato and Konan and shook his head: "I have been too negligent in my treatment of you. If I had taken you back to Kirigakure by force back in the Land of Rain, you wouldn't be in this state now."

"Looks like this?"

The Yatagarasu, which had been fleeing for its life, suddenly stopped.

Nagato's weak spot was brutally touched, and the rationality she had just regained was instantly shattered once more by Minazuki Yoru: "I am a god, I am..."

"A god like a stray dog?"

Night shook his head: "You're like a frog in a well, blinded by power. If you open your Rinnegan properly and take a good look at this world, you'll find that you're just a slightly stronger ant."

“Look, you’re even sitting in a cradle.”

"What do you know? Nagato is a god who cherishes peace and yearns for peace. He is here to lead us to true peace!"

Xiao Nan glared angrily at Ye, unleashing countless paper shurikens from her body, which shot towards Ye like a storm.

The night remained unmoved; the paper shurikens would turn into shattered ice and fall helplessly the moment they were about to touch the night.

"Shikizhi Dance!"

Seeing that her attack had missed, Konan activated her chakra, and her body transformed into countless paper-like fragments, which once again shot towards Ye like a storm.

Ye shook his head and walked forward. Under the freezing of the four realms, even the gravity of the Earth Explosion Star lost its power, let alone the paper shuriken.

"Xiao Nan, get out of the way!"

Suddenly, Nagato let out a furious roar, clasped his hands together, and his eyes flashed with a dark light.

His face became incredibly ferocious and twisted, his Rinnegan eyes were bloodshot, and his chakra seemed to burst forth like a flood.

No, it's not just chakra.

If it were Nagato at his peak, he might have been able to do it by exhausting all his chakra, but at this moment, Nagato was engaged in a fierce battle with Yoru, and with one Super Shinra Tensei and one Chibaku Tensei, he had already exhausted most of his chakra.

Therefore, at this moment, in addition to chakra, even the little life force in Nagato's body was mobilized.

Her once lustrous and vibrant red hair quickly faded, and her body became incredibly thin and emaciated, looking like skin and bones, and more than ten years older.

And with such a massive energy consumption comes incredibly powerful techniques.

"Die, Minazuki Yoru!"

"The art of psychic..."

"The Demonic Statue of the Heretic!!"

Nagato's roar made Konan understand something. She looked at Nagato with worry, but still jumped off the Yatagarasu immediately. She spread her paper wings in mid-air and looked at the energy-stirring sky with a worried expression.

The entire space trembled noticeably at that moment, and accompanied by billowing white smoke, an incomparably magnificent demonic creature suddenly descended upon the world.

It has nine eyes, a body like a withered tree, ten pillar-like protrusions on its back, and shackles and chains on its hands, like an ancient demon god that has been sealed away, ferocious and terrifying.

"The Demonic Statue of the Heretic?!"

On the ground, Hei Bai Jue stared in shock at the ferocious monster that had suddenly appeared and descended from the sky.

"Damn it, Minazuki Yoru actually caught up with us!"

"Nagato's physical condition... This is bad. Even if the Gedo Mazo can defeat Minazuki Yoru, Nagato will probably be drained dry by it!"

"How could this happen? How could things have turned out like this!"

Black Zetsu was extremely nervous. Nagato was the absolute core of the current plan, the person whose eyes were the most compatible with Madara's, without exception, and who had been adapting to him since childhood.

If Nagato is destroyed, Madara's resurrection will be postponed indefinitely until a suitable vessel for the next Rinnegan is found.

but.

Leaving aside whether finding a vessel for the Rinnegan is so easy, judging from the current state of Nagato and Minazuki Yoru's battle, if the fight completely exceeds expectations and destroys the Rinnegan in Nagato's eye socket...

"No, absolutely not!"

"If Nagato suffers a truly massive loss, the price will be beyond what we can afford," Black Zetsu murmured, his gaze resolute. "Let's move closer. White Zetsu, prepare to merge with Nagato!"

"what?"

Bai Jue muttered, "I know how serious this is, but I'm not Tobi. If I want to merge with him, I have to completely merge into his body. Nagato is very resistant to merging with me."

"Then let's force a fusion!"

Black Zetsu's voice left no room for doubt: "Nagato cannot lose, at least not here."

"I understand……"

The pitcher plant moved quickly through the soil, heading towards Nagato.

Meanwhile, Nagato, suspended in mid-air, stood atop the Gedo Mazo, using his chakra to attach his weak and withered body to it.

The so-called Gedo Mazo is the original body of the Ten-Tails that was defeated by the Sage of Six Paths. However, after the Ten-Tails split its chakra into nine parts and scattered them throughout the ninja world, the Ten-Tails transformed into the Gedo Mazo and was left on the moon by the Sage of Six Paths.

Later, in his later years, Madara awakened the Rinnegan after contemplating life and death, successfully summoning the Gedo Mazo to prolong his life. He also used the Mazo and Hashirama's cells to cultivate White Zetsu.

After Madara's death, the Gedo Mazo was summoned by Nagato. After turning the tide of the battle between Akatsuki and Hanzo in the Land of Rain, it stayed in the Akatsuki base in the Land of Rain and was used for Akatsuki gatherings.

At this moment, the empty shell of the God of Heavenly Eyes, driven by Nagato's massive energy, awakens once more and fights for him!

"Roar!!!"

The demonic golem roared and howled, and a strange expression finally appeared on Night's face.

This wasn't the first time he'd seen the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path; the last time was two years ago on the battlefield of the Land of Rain.

However, at that time, he fought against Shisui, the filial son who awakened the Eternal Eye by killing his father's death aura, in the Land of Rain, and did not have the opportunity to experience the Gedo Mazo up close.

Although Shisui later awakened the Rinnegan and was able to summon the Gedo Mazo, he was stopped by Yoru.

To activate the Gedo Mazo, a massive amount of chakra and life force is required. Naturally, Yoru didn't want one of his hard-won generals to end up like Nagato, half-crippled by the Gedo Mazo.

Secondly, if the summoning of the demonic statue were to follow an unorthodox path, it would inevitably drive Black Zetsu insane.

Yoru was still quite wary of this third son of the Goddess of the Rabbit, and therefore Yoru never had the opportunity to personally come into contact with the Gedo Mazo.

"A six-level life form body..."

A look of keen interest appeared in Ye's eyes.

The Ten-Tails is a Six Paths level creature, equivalent to a beginner Otsutsuki. Understanding the Ten-Tails' combat power can prepare one for future battles against Otsutsuki.

"Die, Minazuki Yoru!"

"flame!"

Nagato's bright Rinnegan stared intently at Minazuki Yoru in front of him. Although he was extremely weak at the moment, the Gedo Mazo beneath him seemed to give him endless confidence, allowing him to return to the state of 'I am a god, I am the savior'.

Nagato gave the order in a furious voice, and the demonic statue of the Outer Path immediately let out a roar.

A scorching heat suddenly appeared on the broken ten-tailed pillar behind it, and countless rising flames gathered together, transforming into a terrifying and scorching fire dragon capable of incinerating everything!

As the progenitor of chakra, the Gedo Mazo is not just a creature of brute strength.

Even in its empty shell stage, this body of the God of Heavenly Eyes still possesses top-tier combat power, including attacks with all-attribute chakra, as well as the power of the soul and seals.

It can be said that the Gedo Mazo possesses all the pinnacle of techniques currently inherited in the ninja world! (Except for space-time ninjutsu).

The fire dragon was magnificent, and the surrounding world, which had become extremely cold due to Minazuki Yoru's Bankai, began to heat up continuously. Then it roared and rushed towards Minazuki Yoru.

"Come, let me see the power of the God of Heavenly Eye!"