In Konoha, This Naruto Has Decided To Take It Easy

Jiraiya, with a serious demeanor, instructed Naruto to seal Konan's Chakra to prevent her from suddenly using any Ninjutsu.

Konan, however, remained expressionless, like a puppet, allowing herself to be manipulated by others.

Naruto, who had no idea how to perform such a Sealing Technique, casually patted Konan's body, pretending to follow orders. After all, she hadn't even glanced at Yahiko's body, so her despair seemed far greater than any physical loss.

The people of Amegakure in a state of panic, all eyes were fixed on the towering structure where their 'god' resided.

At the top of the tower, Jiraiya and Naruto, with Konan in tow, easily reached Nagato, who had been relentlessly burning through his lifespan. The reunion between master and disciple was a bleak one, and neither spoke.

The pitch-black room was extremely simple. Nagato, his upper body skeletal, sat in the stone seat with a dim, defeated expression. Half of his face was hidden behind his long hair, his beard was untidy, and he had lost the ability to walk.

Behind him, clusters of black rods connected to his body like grotesque extensions. They loomed behind him like a monstrous figure, glaring at the intruders with its maw open.

"Yahiko... when did he die?" Jiraiya asked somberly, and he didn't seem to be in a very good mood.

"In that war. Konoha's people framed us, Hanzo held me hostage, and Yahiko... to save me..." Konan's voice was steady, but she paused for a moment before continuing, "He chose to sacrifice himself."

Hearing this, Jiraiya sighed, not knowing what to say for a moment. Naruto stood on the side with indifferent expression, showing no intention of getting involved in the conversation.

After all, what had happened was in the past. How to deal with Nagato and Konan was Jiraiya's decision. And as long as the Akatsuki disappeared, Naruto didn't care what happened next.

Just as Naruto thought everything would conclude quietly in this tense atmosphere between master and disciple, Nagato, who had been silent, suddenly spoke in a low voice.

"Jiraiya-sensei, when Yahiko died, where were you?"

The first part of his voice was icy, but towards the end, Nagato's tone unconsciously carried a hint of a sob. Jiraiya's breath caught in his throat, and he opened his mouth but couldn't find the words to respond.

Konan's heart clenched as she averted her gaze. She couldn't deny that there had been a part of her that blamed Jiraiya for what happened. After all, Yahiko's death had been more painful for her than anyone else.

She had gone through everyone she could think to hate.

But with time, all those deep-seated obsessions had faded. Yahiko's death was the result of their own weakness and naivety. Not everyone in this world desired peace.

"Hanzo, that guy, he never wanted peace. All he wanted was to control the Land of Rain." Nagato's voice trembled, "Yahiko..."

"Yahiko believed in your ideals of peace, Jiraiya-sensei. That's why he trusted Hanzo so easily. When Yahiko died, he told me and Konan to survive no matter what."

"He said I was the savior of this world, but what kind of savior am I? This world is filthy and corrupt! Now that Yahiko is dead, I'll make this world feel the same pain we did. What's wrong with that?"

"Why, sensei? Why do you keep trying to stop me?"

Jiraiya remained silent for a long time, his gaze shifting between Konan and the ghostly figure of Nagato on the stone seat. Finally, he sighed again and spoke, "The news I received was that all of you had died… perished in that war."

Nagato didn't say anything, while Konan, who is standing beside him, clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white, and her lips trembled. She turned her head and stared at Jiraiya, her body frozen in place, suppressing her emotions as her voice shook, "Jiraiya-sensei, did you... did you come back to look for our bodies?"

"I did." Jiraiya answered solemnly, half of his face obscured by the shadows, "But I couldn't find them. The rain in the Land of Rain was too heavy... I feared wild dogs might have taken the bodies away."

Jiraiya had indeed gone looking for them, and he had looked for them several times, but to no avail. The heavy rain of the Land of Rain extinguished the last flicker of hope in his heart. Who would believe that one of the legendary Sannin had become obsessed with searching for wild dogs across the mountains?

He found a corpse pit filled with corpses of Amegakure's Shinobi, and the bottom of the pit was filled with poisonous gas. Jiraiya had jumped down and searched through the bodies, but the corpses were so decomposed and bloated from the rain that they were completely unrecognizable.

"It is only natural for a master's Ninja Way to be passed down to his disciples." Jiraiya muttered to himself, "I taught Yahiko well, and of course he would follow through with his ideals. Even knowing the risks, he would still go."

"He wouldn't back down. If he did, he wouldn't be Yahiko anymore." Jiraiya seemed to be speaking to himself, his voice growing firmer.

"Don't talk nonsense! If it wasn't for you spouting that garbage, Yahiko wouldn't have died at all!" Nagato roared.

Suddenly, with a bang, Naruto appeared beside Nagato. He used the invisible Flying Thunder God Kunai to teleport and took advantage of Nagato's unstable mood to instantly appear on his side.

Without hesitation, Naruto delivered a heavy punch directly to Nagato's face, smashing his nose flat and sending a mouthful of blood flying.

"Nagato!" Konan cried out in alarm, but was stopped by Jiraiya just as she was about to take action.

"He is also my disciple." Jiraiya explained, introducing Naruto to Konan, "Before I knew you were alive, he was my only surviving disciple."

"I didn't want to get involved, but I really can't stand it anymore." Naruto glanced at Jiraiya, then turned to look at Nagato, "I'm on a tight schedule to get home. How long are you two going to drag this out?"

"Even a charming young man like me knows one thing: this world is complex, but justice exists. There are always people who will not care about the consequences, and will continue to sacrifice themselves for the justice in their hearts."

"I've said it before, if you want to blame someone, blame yourselves for being too weak. The world is so big, how many people are willing to listen to your reasoning? If your dreams are too lofty, you're bound to be knocked down."

Nagato's eyes grew cold, "And what makes you right? Do we deserve to die just because we're weak? We haven't done anything wrong. Why does someone always have to stop us?"

"This world is rotten to its core. Since Yahiko's path can't bring peace, then I'll tear it down myself!"

Naruto's eyelids twitched, and he thought to himself, 'Tear it down? If you tear the Shinobi World apart, what happens to me?'

Building up his frustration, Naruto shouted back at Nagato, " Tear down what? Try tearing something down right now! If you were capable of that, you'd have done it already. What's the point of scheming for so many years? Just stay put!"

"What right do you have to say that?! Have you ever felt pain? (Naruto yelled at him at the same time: To hell with your pain! You're out of your mind!) Only by tearing down this world can we bring real peace! (Peace my ass!)"

"The world's already rotten! If you're so great at talking, why don't you do it yourself! (Naruto: I'm just supposed to be the good guy? Only you get to be the villain?!) You'll never be the savior!"

"There's always someone who wants to be the villain!" Naruto pointed at Nagato and yelled, "Who wants to be the savior? You get to be evil, but I can't? I just want to suppress you and make it impossible for you to rise!"

Nagato roared in fury: "You're courting death! (Naruto: Bring it on, you useless punk!)"