The sun was warm, the sky a brilliant blue. Yuto walked along the road back to Konoha, the dense forest on either side alive with the sounds of rustling leaves and birdsong.
"You called me evil earlier, but aren't you the real evil one here?" Kushina's voice chimed in, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "You literally drove Kurosuki Raiga into an existential crisis!"
"He's just stuck in his old ways," Yuto replied, a faint smirk curling his lips. "Once he gets used to it, he might even realize it's not so bad."
"Get used to it?!" Kushina's eye twitched in disbelief. "There's no way anyone could ever get used to that!"
Just imagine a grown bloodthirsty man with a pair of assets bigger than hers?
"Never say never," Yuto chuckled. "People change over time. Who knows? He might grow to love it."
"Oh yeah? Then what about you?"Kushina shot back. "Would you learn to love it?"
"Not my thing,"* Yuto answered
"Pfft HAHAHA!" Kushina burst out laughing at his blunt honesty, rolling her eyes. "You won't even like it yourself, yet you assume others might?!"
"People have all kinds of weird kinks you never know!"
"Oh really?"
"I mean, just think about 'Magical Girl Uchiha Madara' . Would any sane person be into that? And yet, it's got a market!"
"SHUT UP! Don't even mention that thing!"
Inside the Spirit Pearl, Kushina's face twisted as if she'd bitten into a lemon.
Nightmare. That thing was her personal nightmare!
She deeply regretted her past curiosity.
*l"So… still planning to spread it across the whole shinobi world?"" Yuto asked, amused.
"YES!" Kushina roared without hesitation. "That's EXACTLY why we HAVE to spread it! If I had to suffer, the entire world will SUFFER WITH ME!"
"Spoken like a true legend."
As they bantered, the gates of Konoha came into view.
Presenting his pass, the guards at the gate blinked in surprise before quickly waving him through.
Back on the familiar streets, Yuto took a deep breath.
"It's only been a few days, but it feels like a lifetime."
"Well, your status has changed," Kushina teased. "You left as a mere academy student, but now you're the supreme leader of the Land of Waves~!"
Indeed, Yuto was now the de facto ruler of the Land of Waves.
Originally, he'd planned to install Yakushi Nonō as the figurehead leader only for his dear teacher to pull a spectacular backstab during the inauguration ceremony. In front of the entire nation, she'd publicly declared him as the new leader.
Kushina would never forget the look on his face, priceless!
"Ah yes, the classic 'return of the king' storyline," Yuto deadpanned.
He never wanted this position. He knew his limits running a village would've been pushing it, let alone a whole country.
But the people of the Land of Waves had insisted. After learning he was the hero who'd toppled Gato," they'd practically forced the title onto him!
Some craftsmen had even started drafting designs for a statue of him in the town square.
Yuto had immediately shut that down, suggesting they build one for Zabuza instead after all, he was the one who'd actually killed Gato.
Plus, making Zabuza the "Hero of Waves" helped Yuto maintain his low profile in Konoha.
He wasn't planning to defect, not yet. Doing so would only put the Land of Waves and Nonō in the crosshairs of Konoha's higher ups.
'Slow and steady wins the race.'
"So, what's next?" Kushina asked.
"First, we pay "Lord Danzō" a visit… and hand him a 'loyalty offering.'" His grin turned downright sinister.
Meanwhile, at the Akatsuki hideout "The 'Project Tsuki No Me'?" Nagato, frail and wheelchair bound, stared wide eyed at Konan.
"Mhm."
Konan stood before him, her expression unreadable. "That so called 'Uchiha Madara' his ultimate goal is to cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi with the Rinne Sharingan, trapping the entire world in an illusion."
"So that's his plan?" Nagato lowered his gaze, deep in thought.
"You're not actually considering this 'cyber peace,' are you?" Konan raised an eyebrow. "It's just escapism, Nagato."
"…Cyber peace?"
"Think of it as collective delusion."
Nagato sighed. "You're right."
"Also, both the fake and real Uchiha Madara got scammed," Konan added.
"Huh?"
"The real mastermind wants to use the Infinite Tsukuyomi to free his mother. Those two just ended up as Gotham's finest."
"Gotham's… finest?"
"Yeah. Clowns."
Nagato's eye twitched. "Where did you pick up these phrases? And who fed you all this intel? Weren't you just on a simple mission in the Land of Waves? What the hell happened over there?"
"It's… complicated. Short version? I picked up a little brother in the Land Of Waves."Konan stated matter of factly.
"???"
Nagato inhaled sharply. "A little brother?"
He thought he knew his old friend well. After Yahiko's death, he'd assumed she, like him, had sealed her heart away.
Yet here she was, dropping this bombshell on him.
"A little brother?!"
"Yes. He's young, but… extraordinary."
"Konan, are you serious?" Nagato's voice was low.
Aside from Yahiko, he didn't believe anyone in this world was extraordinary, not even himself. He called himself a god, but "Pain" was the deity, not Nagato.
"Absolutely. I'd even call him the future of the shinobi world though he'd disagree." Her gaze was unwavering.
Nagato frowned, half-convinced his friend was under a genjutsu.
Yahiko himself had never earned such high praise from her.
"I know words alone won't convince you." Konan pulled out a document, handing it to him. "This is his gift to you."
"A… gift?" Nagato took it, puzzled.
"The first of two." Nagato opened the cover and froze.
*[Five-Year Plan to Revolutionize the Shinobi World.]*
'Revolutionize?'
The term was… intriguing. He flipped to the next page and was hooked.
By the time he finished, he sat in stunned silence.
"Well?" Konan asked.
"I see why you called him the future," Nagato admitted. "He's a genius. A real one."
Many understood that war stemmed from scarcity but no one had ever proposed liberating shinobi from their roles as mere tools, redirecting their skills toward productive labor instead.
It was a brilliant tangible path to peace. Yahiko would've loved this.
"He's already implementing this in the Land of Waves," Konan said proudly, handing him a small vial of crimson liquid. "And this is his second gift."
"What is it?"
"Drink it. It'll show you a whole new world."