Nagato watched the battlefield with wide eyes.
The sight was grotesque. The ninjas under his command — revived legends, symbols of eras of war — were being defeated and absorbed like shadows by Jin-Woo's army. It didn't matter how powerful they had been in life. It didn't matter that they had been reanimated with maximum chakra and enhanced by the power of the Rinnegan. Still... they fell. And as they fell, they became slaves to a will that wasn't his.
Nagato's throat tightened. His fist clenched so hard that the sound of his bones cracking echoed in the rarefied battlefield air. The sky above felt heavy. The world was silent.
— They were chosen... to judge the world... and now they kneel before a monster from another universe...
And then he spoke.
With a cold tone, not shouting, but filled with crushed fury:
— The world needs pain... purpose... not servitude. — Jin-Woo... you are the reflection of what I always feared: a force without ideology, without peace, without love. Only domination. — I am Judgment... but you... you are the Fi—
But before he could finish...
Jin-Woo was in front of him.
No sound. No warning. The dagger already in hand.
Nagato barely had time to react. His Rinnegan eyes narrowed. He leaped backward with a concentrated burst of chakra at his feet, and at the same time extended his hand.
— Shinra Tensei!
A repulsive wave exploded the air between them, throwing stones and dust in all directions. Jin-Woo was hurled back several meters but landed on his feet, sliding like a controlled beast.
He said nothing.
He charged again, and the fight began.
Impact. Speed. Precision.
Both fought like war veterans. Their hands clashed in rapid strikes, Jin-Woo's dagger gleaming with dark chakra, while Nagato blocked with arms reinforced with invisible chakra.
Nagato tried to maintain distance using Rinnegan techniques, but Jin-Woo was relentless, closing in every second, attacking blind spots as if he already knew his opponent's entire style.
— Shinra Tensei! — once more.
Jin-Woo was thrown into the air, but instead of falling, he launched himself with a shadow under his feet and came back with a descending kick.
Nagato crossed his forearms to block — the ground cracked beneath them both.
— Why do you fight, Jin-Woo? — Nagato growled, sliding to the side and firing five black chakra rods at him. — For power? For survival? I fight so the world understands the value of pain. So peace is feared. So fear unites everyone!
Jin-Woo dodged with a clean motion, the dagger spinning between his fingers and slicing one of the rods in half.
— I fight... because only I can control the darkness.
He charged again.
Beru, Igris, and other shadow soldiers watched from a distance, ready to intervene — but Jin-Woo raised his hand. This was a duel of wills. Of ideologies. Of monsters who refused to fall.
Nagato closed his eyes for a moment.
— Banshō Ten'in.
Jin-Woo was violently pulled toward him. Nagato extended his free hand, preparing the killing technique.
— Chikushōdō: Kuchiyose! A colossal centipede emerged from the ground, moving to crush Jin-Woo midair.
But the hunter spun on his axis and summoned a shadow under the creature, paralyzing it for a second — just enough to launch himself at Nagato with the dagger ready.
They clashed like two planets colliding.
Nagato used brute strength and Rinnegan jutsus in rapid succession: Shinra Tensei, Banshō Ten'in, chakra rods, summons, ninjutsu absorption. But Jin-Woo alternated between physical combat, subtle use of shadow power, instant displacements through dark spots on the field, and blocking techniques that resembled advanced taijutsu.
With every blow, the earth trembled.
Nagato tried to impose his philosophy with harsh words:
— True peace... only exists when everyone feels the same pain. You don't conquer the world with immortal armies, but with the trauma of war. I am the scar the world needs to carry!
Jin-Woo responded with silence.
The dagger glowed with black chakra — pure condensed shadow.
Nagato tried to absorb it with the power of Gedō: Fūjutsu Kyūin, extending his arm — but upon touching the blade, his chakra was sucked in return, as if something beyond energy was being ripped out.
— What...?!
— This dagger... isn't made of normal chakra — Jin-Woo finally replied. — It's made of the souls that followed me. No technique can absorb this.
Nagato staggered. For the first time... he bled.
—
But even wounded, he didn't stop.
He retreated, extended his arms, and the entire field twisted.
— Chibaku Tensei!
The sky was torn by pure gravity. Rocks, trees, even dead soldiers began to rise. A gravitational core was forming above them, trying to trap Jin-Woo in a seal of destruction.
Jin-Woo looked up. A shadow emerged behind him — Igris — and without a word, the knight launched him out of the suction area with a calculated push.
Jin-Woo hit the ground, rolled, and charged again.
— You're trying to rebuild the world from ruins, Nagato — he said firmly. — But I've seen too many ruins. I've buried everyone I loved. I don't want a world of fear. I want a world where no one else has to bleed.
They clashed again.
Chakra against shadow. Ideology against survival.
The fight went on for minutes — each blow, each technique, each wound told a story. Nagato bled from his nose, arms, but kept going. Jin-Woo's armor was cracked, but his breathing remained steady.
In the end, both were panting, eyes locked on each other.
And then Jin-Woo charged one last time, dagger in hand.
Nagato tried to respond with one final Shinra Tensei, but it was too late.
The strike pierced his chest.
Nagato fell to his knees. The physical pain was immense, but the philosophical pain... was greater.
— I just wanted the world to understand...
Jin-Woo approached, kneeling beside him.
— And it did, Nagato. But I'm the next chapter.
And Beru asked telepathically: "Why didn't you finish him off with your overwhelming strength, my lord?"
Jin-Woo stood. The battle was won. And he answered Beru:
"This way, the battle wouldn't be interesting!"
Nagato's eyes, the Rinnegan, began to fade.
But before he completely fell...
his body was enveloped in shadow.
And Nagato... was about to be reborn as yet another shadow.
Until...!