Seeing Jiraiya's reaction, a hint of surprise flashed in Nagato's eyes. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised… You really do regain your composure fast."
"Yahiko, tell me what happened. Why are you doing this?" Jiraiya's voice was steady as he looked at Yahiko.
Nagato fell silent for a moment before turning to Konan. "Konan, continue…"
"Don't you dare leave!" Jiraiya suddenly shouted, locking eyes with Yahiko. "Stay here and explain everything before you go anywhere."
A powerful surge of chakra erupted from Jiraiya's body. Even Nagato was slightly surprised by the sheer force of it. His expression grew serious, but his tone remained unsurprised. "As expected of you. Just Tendo and Konan alone wouldn't be enough to defeat you."
Tendo? Jiraiya narrowed his eyes. Naruto and Sasuke had mentioned this name to him before.
But he didn't speak. He simply waited for Yahiko to continue.
Nagato took a deep breath, but he didn't tell Konan to leave. Instead, he turned to Jiraiya with a serious expression. "I am not Yahiko. Yahiko is dead. I am Pain—Tendo, the leader of Akatsuki, a ninja of Amegakure."
Konan understood what Nagato meant. After he finished speaking, she added softly, "I am Konan, the White of Akatsuki, a ninja of Amegakure."
"Zero? White?" Jiraiya frowned. "The Ten. . . I remember Akatsuki had many members in the past. Yahiko created Akatsuki to bring peace. But what you're doing now—does it have anything to do with peace?"
Nagato's expression turned colder. "This ninja world is twisted. It's filled with hatred everywhere. Achieving peace is impossible."
"Yahiko, why would you think that?" Jiraiya couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"I told you, I am not Yahiko." Nagato's eyes sharpened. "Jiraiya-sensei, I should have realized long ago—if you want those arrogant fools to understand peace, you must first make them experience the pain of war!"
"Only by understanding pain will they cherish peace. If I had known this earlier. . ." Nagato took a deep breath. "Yahiko wouldn't have died."
Jiraiya's mouth fell open. "What did you say? Yahiko is dead?"
"W-wait a minute! You're Nagato!"
As unbelievable as it was, Jiraiya was at least able to grasp the situation. Besides, Naruto had already told him about the Rinnegan's power. Even though he didn't know why Nagato now looked like Yahiko, it was clear that Pain—Tendo—was one of the Rinnegan's abilities: the Deva Path.
"I see now!" Jiraiya looked at Nagato. "The—"
"The Deva Path, Asura Path, Animal Path, Preta Path, Human Path, Naraka Path… These are the six paths of the Rinnegan. So that's how it works. . . Now I understand."
His gaze grew heavy, and he looked at "Yahiko" with pressure in his eyes. "Nagato, you turned Yahiko's body into one of your bodies, using the Rinnegan's power to make him the Deva Path, and through that, you control the entire Akatsuki."
"If I'm not mistaken, the seven attackers who invaded Konoha this time were your six Rinnegan bodies and Konan, correct?"
Jiraiya's tone was firm. Though it sounded like a question, he was clearly confident in his deduction.
Konan's lips parted slightly, and a hint of surprise flashed across her calm face. "Even you shouldn't have been able to know that."
Nagato was equally shocked. He hadn't expected Jiraiya to figure out the secret of the Six Paths of Pain so easily. But that was impossible. How could someone who didn't understand the Rinnegan know so much about it?
This was beyond anything Nagato and Konan had anticipated.
But in truth, if Naruto hadn't told Jiraiya about the Rinnegan's abilities, he wouldn't have known what was going on with Yahiko either. However, when Naruto returned from the Sage of Six Paths' era, the first thing he did was brag about the Sage's strength—especially about the Rinnegan.
The Sage of Six Paths didn't bother hiding anything. He cheerfully explained all the Rinnegan's powers in detail, and Naruto, having memorized it all, eagerly shared it with Jiraiya, as if he were the only one in the world who knew.
Uh. . . To be fair, at that time, aside from Naruto and Sasuke, the only ones who knew about the Rinnegan's powers were Nagato, Konan, and Obito. The other Akatsuki members all believed that the one with the Rinnegan was Tendo, not Nagato.
Jiraiya clenched his fists. He didn't give Nagato any time to process his shock and immediately asked, "How did Yahiko die?"
Back when he taught the three of them ninjutsu, Nagato had the most talent, while Konan had the least. But later, Konan naturally developed her origami abilities and created the "Paper Jutsu of the Gods," while Yahiko remained the most ordinary of the three.
Even so, compared to Nagato and Konan, Yahiko's talent wasn't weak. By the time they grew up, he had already reached the level of a Jonin and used his strength to establish Akatsuki, vowing to bring peace to the ninja world.
The three of them were strong. In the Land of Rain, they weren't invincible, but they had influence. If someone still managed to kill Yahiko, then it had to be—
"Hanzo!"
Nagato spoke the expected name, but what he said next even shocked Jiraiya. "And Konoha's Anbu."
"Konoha's Anbu?" Jiraiya was stunned. His first instinct was to say, "That's impossible." But in the next second, he swallowed those words. "Who was leading them?"
Nagato hesitated. "You're not going to deny it?"
Jiraiya shook his head bitterly. "If it were the present, I could confidently say, 'That's impossible.' And I trust that Tsunade wouldn't do such a thing. But back in those days… Konoha might have been capable of it."
Whether it was old man Sarutobi, Danzo, or those two useless Hokage advisors, any of them could have done something like this.
Eliminating all possible obstacles for the sake of peace—this wasn't just something that happened in Konohagakure. Back in that era, it was common practice across the ninja world. Even Sarutobi, who was considered to have some integrity at the time, would do the same.
"This is a bit unexpected," Nagato closed his eyes, staying silent for a moment before speaking slowly, "It was Danzo."
"Danzo, huh." Jiraiya let out a small laugh. "Well… that's not surprising at all."
Nagato saw Jiraiya's bitter smile. Even though his heart had long been frozen, he still didn't know what to say in this moment.
It wasn't that he didn't care about his bond with Jiraiya as his former student. If possible, he didn't want to kill Jiraiya or become his enemy. But reality was cruel. The moment he set foot in Konohagakure, he had already prepared himself to fight Jiraiya.
Konan watched the two of them, focusing mostly on "Tendo." The moment she sensed Nagato's inner conflict, a faint smile appeared on her face.
The next second, she spread her wings, and countless pieces of paper transformed into shuriken.
"Shikigami Dance: Paper Shuriken."
Jiraiya saw the attack coming. The trajectory was simple enough that he could dodge it with just a slight movement.
But that wasn't the point.
He looked at Konan, her paper wings fluttering behind her, and his gaze landed on the familiar paper flower atop her head. Jiraiya smiled—a light, relaxed smile.
"As I thought, no matter what happens, you are still the kindest of the three."
Because she knew that Nagato and Jiraiya's battle was unavoidable. Because she knew that Nagato was struggling inside. Because she knew that Nagato would have to make the most painful decision.
So before that could happen, she stepped into the pain first.
A seemingly simple attack, yet it allowed Nagato's heart to settle once more.
Konan, you really are a kind girl.
Jiraiya smiled with genuine warmth.