Chapter 64 — "Nagato, Bro: Uchiha Yujiro Is Truly Stronger Than Me"
Heavy.
So heavy.
Uzumaki Nagato felt as though he were sinking—
falling endlessly into a bottomless abyss.
Am I… dying?
Ah.
Yes.
He had lost.
Before his fading eyes, scenes began to flicker—
like a lantern reel of his life.
He saw himself running under a crimson sunset,
Yahiko and Konan by his side,
and Jiraiya-sensei watching them with that gentle, proud smile.
That was his youth—bright, simple, and gone forever.
---
The memories kept rolling forward.
He saw the founding of Akatsuki—
the dream that once burned brighter than war.
They had traveled across nations, helping the suffering and the poor.
To the people of the Rain Country,
they were heroes—
Robin Hoods of the shinobi world.
Ninja and civilians alike had joined their cause.
They shared a single goal, a single hope.
Those days were the happiest of his life.
But happiness never lasted long in this world.
---
As Akatsuki's influence grew,
so too did the fear it inspired.
Hanzō of the Salamander, once the proud ruler of the Rain Village,
the so-called "hero who cherished talent,"
had smiled upon samurai like Mifune,
and shown courtesy to the Sannin of Konoha.
But when true talent arose beside him,
his mask cracked.
He chose to destroy them.
To destroy Nagato's dream.
To destroy Yahiko.
Was it age that soured his heart?
Or had that supposed admiration for genius always been a lie?
Nagato no longer cared.
He only remembered one thing—
Yahiko's body collapsing in his arms.
Hanzō's fear.
Danzo's betrayal.
And his own fatal mistake.
The wound never healed.
Even now, the memory throbbed like a knife in his soul.
---
After Yahiko's death, everything changed.
Without his charismatic leader,
Akatsuki began to crumble.
In the end, only Konan remained at his side.
That's when Nagato made his decision.
Allies couldn't be trusted.
Dreams couldn't bring peace.
Only power could.
He created the Six Paths of Pain.
And, in his madness, turned Yahiko's corpse into the Deva Path—
his divine avatar.
Through it, he would rule.
Through it, he would make the world feel pain.
And through pain, he would create peace.
That was his godhood.
That was his curse.
---
Everything had gone according to plan—
until today.
Until that man appeared.
Uchiha Yujiro.
A man whose strength made even a god bleed.
But worse than his power—
was his tongue.
The things he said.
The questions he asked.
The truths he revealed.
Each word sliced deeper than any blade.
And in those words, Nagato had seen something terrifying:
Everything I have done… has been meaningless.
That realization chilled him to the core.
Then the fear turned to anger—
and the anger into madness.
So they fought.
Nagato.
Uchiha Yujiro.
The Three Legendary Sannin.
And then…
He fell.
---
"Ah… yes. I've lost," he thought.
"The Lightning Flame Sword Dance… what a monstrous technique."
So this was death?
This was what it felt like to die?
"What a shame. Yujiro said he had a way to fix everything…
I guess I'll never know what it was."
His breath grew shallow.
"Yahiko… will I see you soon?
Will you be disappointed in me?
Hm? Wait… this warmth…
Konan? Is that you…?"
---
The memories faded.
The regret, the pain—
all dissolved into silence.
And slowly, Nagato realized—
he was still alive.
He was being held by something warm and wet,
a tremendous chakra pouring into his body,
healing his wounds.
"What… what is this? Oh… oh, it's just a slug."
When he finally opened his eyes,
a human-sized slug was perched on his chest,
its two stalked eyes blinking innocently at him.
For a long, awkward moment, they just stared at each other.
Then the slug—
blushed.
"...The hell."
---
Before Nagato could process that image,
the slug was suddenly shoved aside.
"Nagatoooo!!!"
Jiraiya threw himself onto his half-healed student,
hugging him so tightly that Nagato could barely breathe.
"You idiot—why'd you have to go that far!?"
Honestly, Nagato didn't know what to say.
It was… embarrassing, really.
Partly because of the clingy display,
but mostly because of guilt.
He had raised his hand against his teacher—
and now that same teacher had forgiven him,
even saved him.
How could he not feel ashamed?
---
Trying to escape Jiraiya's embrace,
Nagato turned his head—
and then noticed something strange.
The battlefield was quiet now.
But there was one thing missing.
Yujiro's voice.
Normally, he'd be here already—
mocking him, teasing him,
dropping some smug one-liner like:
"Hey bro, what's with that blush? You a bubble teapot or something?"
But… nothing.
---
Curious, Nagato turned his head—
and saw him.
Across the field, lying comfortably in Tsunade's arms,
his head resting on her thigh like a prince from some melodramatic novel.
Uchiha Yujiro.
Smiling faintly, looking half-dead and wholly content.
Meanwhile, Nagato was still covered in slug slime.
Same battlefield, same story…
Why does he get the girl while I get the mollusk?
He sighed deeply.
"Tch. Life's really unfair, huh?"
---
"Nagatoooo!!!"
Jiraiya's voice cracked again as he clutched his student tighter.
Nagato just stared into the rain-filled sky,
his expression caught somewhere between guilt, exasperation,
and reluctant admiration.
"Uchiha Yujiro…" he murmured quietly,
"you really are stronger than me."
Jiraiya-sensei was still wailing. Loudly.
So, to spare himself another minute of that grief opera, Nagato turned his head—
only to see Orochimaru bargaining with Manda, the giant snake.
"Can I eat that one?"
Manda's eyes gleamed with hungry anticipation as he gestured—
not toward a corpse, but toward Uchiha Yujiro,
who was currently lying in Tsunade's arms,
bathed in sunlight and affection, looking like the protagonist of a tragic love story.
"No," Orochimaru replied flatly. "That one's an ally."
Manda's scaly face twisted into what could only be described as… a pout.
Somehow, this giant serpent actually looked offended.
Nagato blinked.
He didn't even think snakes could make human expressions.
But Manda wasn't done.
"What about this one then? Can I eat him?"
The snake's gaze slithered over to Nagato.
Orochimaru tilted his head.
"You could try," he said softly. "If you're not afraid of Jiraiya going berserk and hitting you with a Sage Art: Super Giant Rasengan."
Manda shuddered violently at the image of an unhinged Jiraiya dual-wielding Rasengans like a maniacal god of destruction.
He backed off—grudgingly.
But his temper was rising.
"Then what about those?!"
The serpent swung its head toward the battlefield, pointing at the motionless corpses of the Six Paths of Pain.
Orochimaru gave him a thin, amused smile.
"Only if you don't mind food poisoning."
"You Geneva-level bastard, Orochimaru! You made me do all this for nothing—"
Before Manda could finish his rant, Orochimaru casually performed a hand seal.
Poof.
The giant snake vanished in a puff of smoke, forcibly reverse-summoned back to Ryūchi Cave.
---
Watching all this unfold, Uchiha Yujiro couldn't help but feel moved.
He made a mental note:
After this, he really needed to talk with Orochimaru about efficient ways to exploit summoning beasts.
But first, there was something far more important to deal with.
---
Reluctantly, Yujiro pulled himself out of Tsunade's soft, perfumed embrace—
a true act of heroism in its own right—
and walked toward Nagato.
He gently lifted Jiraiya by the collar, set him aside like a squawking rooster,
then sat down cross-legged in front of the red-haired Uzumaki.
"So, bro," Yujiro said with a faint smile,
"you basically died once already, huh?"
Nagato just stared at him silently.
"Which means," Yujiro continued calmly, "now we can finally talk."
There was a long pause.
The sound of rain had stopped.
Even the air felt still.
Finally, Nagato spoke—his voice low and weary.
"So," he said, "what do you want me to do?"
His eyes met Yujiro's.
"And just so we're clear—no matter what your plan is,
I won't abandon my ideals."
Yujiro's smile widened.
"No problem," he said without hesitation.
"That's exactly why I want to work with you."
He reached out a hand.
For a brief moment, Nagato hesitated—
the god, the fallen idealist, the man who once ruled through pain.
Then, quietly, he reached out and took Yujiro's hand.
---
Orochimaru said nothing.
Tsunade didn't react—her focus still half on healing, half on disbelief.
Jiraiya opened his mouth as if to object…
but no words came out.
He could only watch.
---
And just like that—
before the ruins of Amegakure,
under the gray sky that still smelled faintly of ozone and blood,
Uchiha Yujiro and Uzumaki Nagato sealed their pact.
The Devil of Konoha and the God of Pain—
their handshake marked the birth of a terrifying alliance.
An alliance that would soon shake the entire shinobi world.
---