The Land of Rain.
Amidst the rain, in a desolate wilderness, a high platform stood where few people ventured.
At this moment, a very strange combination of groups stood divided into two teams on the left and right sides. On one side were Rain Shinobi, and on the other were masked members of Konoha.
In front of these two teams, Hanzō and Danzo stood prominently.
Hanzō currently held the life of a blue-haired woman in his hands; she was none other than Konan, one of the three main members of the Akatsuki!
Hanzō, holding Konan, looked down from above at Nagato and Yahiko, the only remaining members of the Akatsuki.
That's right, the Akatsuki had been ambushed at the previously agreed meeting place. Konan of the Akatsuki was captured alive by Hanzō, while Nagato and Yahiko survived.
However, other weaker members were not so fortunate.
"To me, your organization is simply too much of an eyesore!" Hanzō said coldly, looking down at the gritting Nagato and Yahiko. "Yahiko, as the leader, you must perish here!"
With that, he took out a Kunai and threw it in front of Yahiko and Nagato.
"If you dare to resist, this woman's life will be forfeit!"
Yahiko and Nagato looked at the Kunai stuck in the ground, gritting their teeth fiercely, struggling.
"That red-haired fellow over there, use this Kunai to kill Yahiko! If you do, I'll spare your life and this woman's!" Hanzō said with a cold voice again, seeing the two motionless.
"Stop! Nagato, don't mind me, you two run away quickly!" Konan shrieked, still under Hanzō's control.
"Nagato."
At this moment, Yahiko suddenly called out, then turned to look at Nagato. His face had become surprisingly calm. He spoke under Nagato's disbelieving gaze.
"Kill me."
Nagato's eyes widened as he looked at Yahiko, panting. Though he wasn't particularly tired, he felt an immense weight on him at that moment.
"Nagato!" Yahiko shouted.
"Stop!" Konan cried out.
"Hurry up! Is it alright if this woman dies?!" Hanzō urged again.
Under the urging from all sides, Nagato tremblingly walked forward, each step as if he might fall, but he eventually picked up the Kunai, holding it in his hand and looking up at the crying Konan on the high platform.
"Konan..."
Then, just as he turned to look at Yahiko, he saw a figure rush into his embrace before he could react, and he heard the sound of a Kunai piercing flesh.
"Yahi...ko?"
Nagato looked in disbelief at Yahiko, who had rushed into his embrace and was pierced through the heart by the Kunai.
Blood continuously gushed from Yahiko's mouth, but a smile appeared on his face as he said, "With Konan, you must live no matter what! You are the savior of this world, you will surely be able to..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Yahiko finally collapsed to the ground, motionless.
"Yahiko!!" Konan cried out in agony. At this moment, Hanzō's restraint finally disappeared. She knelt on the ground, weeping for Yahiko.
A smile quietly appeared on Hanzō's face, hidden beneath his gas mask. However, he never intended to let Konan and Nagato go. He only did this because he was worried that Yahiko, as the leader of the Akatsuki, might become desperate.
If Yahiko escaped, his strength would pose too great a threat to the Rain Shinobi and Hanzō's rule!
And now, Yahiko was finally dead. Konan was not a concern for him; she was a woman who could be killed at will, so even releasing the restraint was not a big deal. What he had to do now was... "Attack!"
At Hanzō's command, the Rain Shinobi on the high platform began to throw Ninjutsu tools at Nagato.
In an instant, an overwhelming barrage of Ninjutsu tools covered Nagato from above. If it were an ordinary ninja, there would be almost no chance of survival under such a dense bombardment of Ninjutsu tools.
But this was Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan!
He seemed to have come to a realization, his eyes wide open. He raised his hand, and in just an instant, all the Ninjutsu tools seemed to hit an invisible barrier and were repelled.
Danzo, seeing this scene, narrowed his eyes. He was only there as Konoha's representative in the 'reconciliation' talks; there was no need for him to get involved in such matters.
Thinking this, Danzo retreated with his Root.
Unfortunately, even now, he had not clearly seen Nagato's eyes. If he had truly seen those Rinnegan, perhaps he would not have retreated at this moment.
At this moment, Nagato, who had repelled the Ninjutsu tools, gathered a massive amount of Chakra in his feet and shot towards Hanzō's position, wanting to rescue Konan.
The reason for doing this was naturally that the opponent had released Konan, and the opponent had already broken the agreement. Even if he didn't rush over, the opponent wouldn't let Konan go, so he might as well try.
Seeing Nagato rush over, Hanzō also retreated. It wasn't that he didn't have time to kill Konan before Nagato arrived, but rather... the moment Nagato rushed over, Hanzō formed hand signs.
In an instant, on the ground around Konan, the exploding tags hidden on and blended with the ground finally activated, surging towards Konan and Nagato's position, quickly entangling Nagato's feet.
Hanzō smiled as he watched this scene. He had naturally considered the possibility of this happening, so he had prepared countermeasures in advance.
"Bang!"
That was the sound of the exploding tags. The sheer number of exploding tags blew away more than half of the entire high platform.
Being directly hit by such an explosion at close range, even a Kage-level ninja could perish there.
After all, most ninjas, even Kage-level ones, are existences with high offense and low defense; their defense is not enough to withstand explosions of too great power.
However, Hanzō underestimated Nagato, and even more so, the Rinnegan.
Nagato, with his legs already wrapped, could not prevent them from being destroyed by the explosion, but other than that, he saved both himself and Konan.
When the smoke from the explosion cleared, what was revealed was an unharmed Konan and Nagato with crippled legs.
"To be hit by my Fire Release and still escape..." Hanzō looked at this scene, also extremely surprised, until he saw Nagato's eyes, no longer concealed and wide open.
"Those eyes!"
Nagato was already insane at this moment. His mind and thoughts were running wild. The Ninjutsu he previously couldn't use now had no hesitation whatsoever.
Even if Konan was next to him and didn't want him to use it, she couldn't stop him!
"Summoning Jutsu - Gedo Statue!"
In just an instant, a giant Demonic Statue, dozens of meters tall, surged from the ground behind Nagato. Its ten-meter-long palms swatted away all the approaching Rain Shinobi!
"That is!" Both Hanzō and Konan were shocked, and Konan clearly thought of something, wanting to stop Nagato from continuing.
But Nagato, who was already insane, roared regardless, and several pitch-black rods emerged from the Demonic Statue, piercing into his body from his back.
Nagato didn't care about these, and using the black rods piercing his body, the terrifying amount of Chakra within him surged into the Gedo Statue.
That massive amount of Chakra finally activated the Gedo Statue, which spewed out a long dragon made of Chakra, rushing towards the direction of the Rain Shinobi.
This giant dragon was invincible, killing anyone it touched. After eliminating all the Rain Shinobi, it once again charged towards Hanzō!
"It seems you are the true hidden leader, to possess the Rinnegan, it's truly astonishing!"
Hanzō said calmly, forming hand signs and escaping using the Body Flicker Technique. Even he, known as a demigod, did not want to clash head-on with the Rinnegan.
Having killed the Rain Shinobi and driven away Hanzō, Nagato now seemed like he should release his Chakra transmission, as every extra moment the giant dragon existed was draining his body.
However, he did not choose to release it just yet. Instead, he controlled the giant dragon to rush in one direction.
And there, stood an existence that had long been hidden: Takuno!