Chapter 416: Pain
Hidden Rain Village's tower.
Ice-cold rain endlessly hammered the thick metal exterior walls, producing an unceasing tapping sound.
Tendo Pain sat at the tower's edge. He was quietly listening to Konan's report from behind him, that face belonging to Yahiko showing not a trace of expression, like wearing an exquisitely carved mask.
"Orochimaru sent a message." Konan's voice carried a trace of barely perceptible tension. "He's betrayed [Akatsuki]."
"It doesn't matter." Tendo's voice was low and calm. "The vacant position has already been filled by a new member."
"No, the problem isn't that. He's joined another organization—[Ember]."
"And the message he brought is... [Ember]'s leader 'Menma' wants to have a talk with us."
"...Talk?" Tendo's Rinnegan eyes shifted slightly. "What does he want to discuss?"
Not long ago, a white snake had bizarrely bypassed all security measures, appearing directly before Konan. After spitting out a small scroll, it dissipated into smoke. This unique and unsettling delivery method made her immediately realize it was Orochimaru's handiwork.
The scroll's contents made her feel the situation was sliding toward an uncontrollable direction.
"Menma... he knows our plan. He demands we abandon capturing tailed beasts."
"At the same time, he wants us to hand over 'Madara' and 'Zetsu.'"
"But—Menma explicitly stated in the message... that the one calling himself 'Uchiha Madara,' his true identity is Uchiha Obito."
Regarding that mysterious masked man calling himself "Uchiha Madara," who wielded the Sharingan and space-time ninjutsu, Konan and Nagato had always harbored doubts.
Now "Menma" had directly exposed his identity as "Uchiha Obito." Konan's first reaction was... who is Uchiha Obito?
Konan immediately mobilized their intelligence network to investigate. The result made her even more confused—he was merely a Uchiha youth recorded as having died in the Third Ninja War, completely unremarkable.
A long-dead chunin, versus that "Madara" from the Warring States period, called the Shura of the Ninja World?
The gap and contradiction were so vast as to be unbelievable.
A flash of cold killing intent passed through Tendo Pain's Rinnegan eyes. "Abandon capturing tailed beasts..." His voice remained steady yet penetrated with bone-deep coldness. "He's delusional."
Compared to "Madara's" true identity, he cared more about this provocation attempting to obstruct the path to peace.
"It seems [Ember] is determined... to wage war against us?"
He stood, looking down from his high position at the curtain of rain outside the tower.
"Summon all of Akatsuki's members."
"I'll wait for him here. They will personally experience—just how foolish and futile opposing a god truly is."
"...Understood." Konan responded quietly, yet the unease in her heart didn't dissipate. She understood Nagato's will and knew the near-invincible power and confidence granted by the Rinnegan.
Pain—or rather Nagato controlling the Six Paths of Pain—though holding some wariness toward "Menma" and his [Ember] organization's displayed strength (such as attacking Konoha years ago without killing anyone, plus subsequent support for Konoha against Orochimaru and other rumors), according to intelligence, "Menma" possessed nothing more than power at the level of "completely destroying a village."
And this point, with his Rinnegan, he could also accomplish, even more "thoroughly."
In Nagato's perception, the Rinnegan was the supreme ocular power, the necessary path toward "understanding pain and creating peace." He didn't believe anyone in this world could truly rival the Rinnegan's power.
"Sorry for the intrusion."
An abrupt voice cut without warning into the tower's oppressive silence.
"!!!"
"!!!"
Tendo Pain and Konan spun around in the same instant. The Rinnegan's purple light suddenly sharpened. Pain raised his hand, Rinnegan ocular power poised to strike. Paper behind Konan immediately condensed, massive angel wings unfurling abruptly, countless sharp paper blades rapidly forming in the air around her, pointing directly at the voice's source.
Right behind them where nothing existed, pitch-black void tore through reality. A figure slowly stepped forth from that void "gate."
First entering view was that iconic fox mask, widely circulated through the ninja world's shadows yet rarely seen in person.
Facing this desperate, hair-trigger destructive formation, Menma simply stood quietly before the void gate.
He didn't even deliberately mobilize his chakra.
"Well..."
The voice from behind the mask carried almost helpless gentleness, completely at odds with the scene's tense atmosphere.
"Don't get so worked up."
Menma's gaze fixed on Tendo's face belonging to "Yahiko." Then, using a tone of stating plain fact, he delivered his first sentence—
A sentence sufficient to violently shock those who knew the truth.
"Nagato... Konan."
That first sentence easily tore away the mysterious veil of "Pain's Six Paths" as "god," directly pointing to the true name of the controller behind them.
Tendo Pain's pupils contracted imperceptibly for an instant. Though this puppet body had no true physiological reactions, that trace of shock and chill transmitted back through chakra to the main body was very real.
Konan's gaze toward Menma mixed vigilance with deeper suspicion.
Ignoring the increasingly dangerous energy fluctuations around both of them, Menma stepped forward. The void gate quietly closed behind him.
"Let's have a heart-to-heart talk."
....
uhhhhh I swear he already met them before? or was that an other FIC I'm working on? genuinely confused rn, but anyways.
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