Deeply hidden inside a dark cave sat a haggard-looking man with straight red hair and purple eyes with a ripple pattern that allowed him to share his senses with his six puppet bodies. He looked visible undernourished and had a multitude of black stakes piercing through his body while sitting in what appeared to be a mechanical walking contraption.
Currently, he was frozen in place; not a single muscle in his body was moving as he listened in on the conversation his Deva Path body had with Yuna.
Moments later, a shudder went through his body while a sweet drop flowed down his face. He absentmindedly wiped away the sweat drop and looked at it in confusion.
‘Why am I sweating?’
Shortly after that question appeared in his mind, he immediately noticed something else.
‘Why is my hand shaking?’
He clenched his fist to stop it from shaking as a realization struck him.
‘Am I afraid of her?’
He smashed his fist onto the armrest of his walker while a fierce expression appeared on his face.
“NEVER!!! I WILL BRING PEACE TO THIS WORLD!!! NO ONE WILL STAND IN MY WAY!!! I AM A GOD!!! I AM AFRAID OF NOTHING!!!”
After the man’s outburst, he took a deep breath and took his focus back to the body standing in front of Yuna, which had been quiet for a while now, allowing the conversation to continue.
‘I will show her the power of a god. Only then will she understand that there is no point in opposing me. Only then… will she know pain.’
Back to the top of the Hokage office, Deva Path Pain still had a neutral expression on his face as he continued talking.
“All of those paths are false. There is no meaning in peace if there is no one left. There is no meaning in peace if there is no free will. And there is no possible way for such a being ever to exist.”
Yuna chuckled in amusement when she heard Nagato’s counterargument before shrugging her shoulders.
“Naturally, the first and second options are nonsense. That is why I mentioned them. After all, achieving what you call true peace is pretty much impossible. As for the third option, hehe, such a bold statement from a little brat like you. How could you possibly judge whether the existence of such a person is possible or not? Just a frog at the bottom of a well.”
“Ohh! Here it is! Yuna-sama hit him with the ‘Just a frog at the bottom of a well.’, you know!”
“Hahaha, that sure must sting, you know!”
“That’s a classic, you know!”
“Err, sorry, but could someone explain that one to me? I have no idea what that means.”
“””””….”””””
An awkward silence followed that statement which was broken just seconds later.
“””””Sorry, me neither.”””””
Naturally, Yuna casually ignored the peanut gallerie’s commentary while making a mental note to make using and understanding specific phrases a fundamental part of the Uzumaki clan’s education.
The appearance of an Uzumaki clan young master character was almost inevitable by now, and Yuna couldn’t allow her clan’s first young master to go around spouting phrases incorrectly. If her clan produces trash, it should at least be high-quality trash.
Although Nagato didn’t understand what Yuna’s last words meant, he didn’t have to be a genius to figure out that she was mocking.
“In the end, everything you say is meaningless. From the very beginning, there was no point in this conversation. You, someone, who is not interested in peace, has no right to stand before me and ridicule the path I have chosen.”
Nagato spread his arms as he started floating in the air.
“Since all alternatives you have are nonsense and mockery, I will show you my path. The path to true peace. The path of pain.”
Nagato started flying higher and higher while traveling towards the center of Konoha. Or rather, to a specific place in the center of Konoha.
“I will show you true pain.”
“Y-Yuna, shouldn’t you stop him?”
Yuna heard Tsunade’s question and shook her head in denial.
“No, my knee still hu…*cough* I mean there is no need for that. Everything is going just as I wanted it to go.”
Seeing the doubt on Tsunade’s face, a slight smirk appeared on Yuna’s face, causing Tsunade to tremble.
“Say, Tsunade, what do you think about peace? Do you think I should try to achieve peace as well?”
Tsunade almost fainted out of fear when she heard Yuna’s question. If others asked something like that, she would obviously encourage them to do just that, but considering the three options Yuna mentioned not even a minute ago, that question was a ticking time bomb.
Yuna saw the cold sweat flowing down Tsunad’s face and chuckled in amusement. Obviously, she was just messing with her. No matter how Tsunade answered her, her opinion about peace and war was set in stone ages ago, and no one could change that view so easily.
Frankly, she disliked both. Peace inevitably leads to stagnation and ultimately will only lead to another war. War and peace are an endless circle. Funnily enough, only Yuna’s first option, killing every sentient being, could bring true lasting peace, in her opinion. Well, at least as long as no other sentient beings pop up.
On the other hand, war just doesn’t make sense from the get-go. Thousands of innocent people are pitted against each other because a few big wigs at the top called each other names. That was just nonsense.
Meanwhile, the Uzumaki clan members surrounding Tsunade noticed Nagato’s flight path as well and realized where he was going.
“Is he flying towards the Uzumaki compound?”
“That seems to be the case, you know.”
“Isn’t that bad?”
“Mhh? Why would that be bad? Our barrier will hold, no matter what!”
“No, I’m not talking about that. I heard that when this whole mess started, Yuna-sama ordered the barrier to be at 100 percent power until this mess was over, you know.”
“100 PERCENT!?”
“S-SHOULDN’T SOMEONE STOP THAT POOR MAN, YOU KNOW!?”
“W-WHAT IF HE ACTUALLY TRIES TO INVADE IT PHYSICALLY, YOU KNOW!?”
“W-WILL THE REST OF KONOHA BE FINE, YOU KNOW!?”
Tsunade couldn’t help but get goosebumps when she heard the bantering around and immediately sent a glare at Yuna that would have caused weaker minds to faint on the spot.
“Mah, no need to worry, Tsunade. Konoha will be fine… *cough* probably.”
Meanwhile, Pain arrived a few dozen meters above the Uzumaki compound and pointed his hand at its faintly visible barrier.
“I will give the world pain! [SHINRA TENSEI]”
