"How did you even find this place? What? Do you hate me? Looking for revenge?"
"As you can see, this is the chain reaction of hatred."
"Even if you kill me, nothing in this world will change."
"You hate me, I hate you—hatred cycles endlessly. No matter who wins, it's just temporary self-satisfaction. Sooner or later… one day…"
"The victor will eventually become the vanquished, only to die at the hands of a new avenger."
Taking advantage of Naruto's silence, Nagato unexpectedly hurled a chakra-infused black rod at him. The rod pierced Naruto's body, and his eyes instantly manifested a cross-shaped pattern—a fusion of Senjutsu Mode and the Nine-Tails' chakra!
With the rod controlling his chakra, Nagato sensed an overwhelming mass of hatred gathering inside Naruto. But as the Nine-Tails' power began to resist Nagato's control, the effects were immediately reflected back!
At the same time, Naruto, influenced by the Nine-Tails' vengeful will, found his rage bubbling up. His original intention to reason with Nagato vanished, and he charged at him in anger.
["The ninja world is filled with hatred. I, too, seek a way to resolve this hatred, but how to do so... I have no clue at present."]
Suddenly, the words of the Pervy Sage came to Naruto's mind, and for a moment, he felt clarity.
["I leave everything to you, Naruto."]
The fading voice of the Fourth Hokage overlapped with the Pervy Sage's, and together, they lingered in Naruto's mind. Finally, their voices merged into one: the last memory they had seen in the genjutsu—Jiraiya's words just before he was swallowed by the sea.
["By the way, what's the new chapter called?"]
["The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki."]
["Hmm, that's a fine name indeed."]
The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki...
Swish—
Naruto's foot scraped across the ground. Pivoting on his other foot, he abruptly stopped himself from attacking Pain.
"The Pervy Sage once said that an era of mutual understanding between people would surely come."
Naruto clenched his fists tightly, suppressing his emotions. He forced his anger and regret back down.
"When he said those words, I didn't think too much about them. He entrusted me with finding the answers. At the time, I took it as his way of recognizing me as his disciple, and I was just happy."
"Now that I think about it more carefully, the Pervy Sage's words weren't so simple."
Nagato scoffed. "People have to grow up. You understand now, don't you? Don't underestimate human nature. It's far from simple. Human relationships aren't something that can be built just by a few nice words, making people open their hearts, understand each other, and forget their hatred."
"Jiraiya-sensei's words were just outdated idealism. Compared to the truth of this world, and the complexity of human nature, he was far too naive."
"But after experiencing true hatred—after feeling it yourself, knowing what it's like to have someone important to you killed—can you still say things like that? That people can understand each other?"
"Face reality. Jiraiya-sensei's words were nothing but naïve nonsense, wishful thinking."
"…I know," Naruto said quietly. "I know both the Pervy Sage and I were naive, clinging to a one-sided belief in humanity's goodness. But…"
"After learning that you and I are from the same clan, after realizing you were also the Pervy Sage's disciple… I wanted to understand what happened to you."
He paused, then added, "Just now, I almost lost myself to the Nine-Tails' rage."
Nagato remembered how close Naruto had come to completely losing himself, nearly becoming nothing more than the Nine-Tails demon fox. Yet, in the final moments, a sudden reversal occurred. The Nine-Tails did not devour Naruto's consciousness completely; instead, it allowed him to regain control of himself.
"Yeah, I'm also wondering what exactly just happened. You should be filled with hatred—it wouldn't be strange if the Nine-Tails had swallowed your consciousness. But somehow, at that very moment, it didn't happen. Why?"
"Because..."
"I don't know why," Naruto Uzumaki paused, "but in that instant, I saw the scene of the Pervy Sage being killed by you."
"What?" Naruto's words startled both Nagato and Konan.
Nagato: "Then shouldn't you hate me even more?"
"It's true. When I saw the Pervy Sage, his throat destroyed by Pain, his vocal cords severed, his body covered in wounds... I truly came very close to losing myself."
Nagato's eyes widened slightly. This was indeed the state he had been in when he killed Jiraiya. To prevent him from revealing Amegakure's secrets, he had used Pain to destroy his throat.
"But in that moment, I didn't just witness the Pervy Sage's death—I heard his voice. I heard the will he intended to entrust to me before his sacrifice..."
Naruto tapped his chest. "It all came through here, crystal clear!"
"Including my name!"
"Including my father and mother's hopes for my birth!"
"Including the Sage of the Six Paths' hopes for me!"
"Including the prayers for peace from my father, the Fourth Hokage, my mother, Kushina Uzumaki, my master, the Pervy Sage—from all of them!!"
Naruto's expression grew solemn. "The 'Legend of Jiraiya' is an excellent book. Precisely because of that..."
"Its sequel, 'The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki,' must be even more exceptional!"
Seeing that resolute gaze in the eyes of Naruto Uzumaki, another disciple of Jiraiya, Nagato himself felt a surge of emotion.
"You are not a god! You will never become one! You're merely the Jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails! What makes you think you can bring peace to this ninja world?!"
Naruto: "As you said, I'm not a god. Born ordinary, we know there are no shortcuts in life. If I can't bring peace to this world, then I'll follow the Sage of the Six Paths' example—take on a disciple, pass down my ninja way, and trust him to fulfill my dream, the Pervy Sage's dream, my parents' dream, and the dream of every soul in this Ninja World who yearns for peace!"
"I believe that one day..."
"...this world's brutal ninja system will come to an end."
"........"
Silence fell upon the figures in the darkness.
Save for Nagato's labored breathing, none spoke.
After a long while, Nagato finally said, "Didn't you just say you wanted to hear my story? Then I shall tell you everything about my suffering."
Without waiting for Naruto to respond, he began recounting his past.
"The Uzumaki clan? I only learned of it recently, and whether it's true or not remains to be seen. But living under a false name in Amegakure? That's real."
"My father was a doctor, my mother a homemaker. My red hair comes from her." Nagato continued, "Because of these eyes, I could never leave the house."
"When I was young, the entire Land of Rain was a battlefield. As a medical ninja, my father was always busy. He was busy treating the Land of Rain ninja who fought in the wars, but he also had to treat the Konoha ninja who used this land as their battlefield, and ninja from other nations as well."
Even so, he couldn't escape the fate of having his family killed by a Konoha ninja.
A Konoha ninja, who hadn't found food in a long time, broke into their home, ransacked it, took their food, and then accidentally killed his parents.
The only words his parents left him were: Run.
"That was the first time I used the power of these eyes."
Nagato: "It was also the first time I understood the cycle of hatred. Konoha ninja killed my parents. I killed them. Wasn't that only natural?"
…
"If blame must be placed, it can only be placed on the ninja's fate."
"Those ninjas who killed my parents later regretted it when they discovered my parents weren't enemies, just ordinary people. Years of unending war had worn them down physically and mentally. Even a single extra second to confirm their targets could mean dying at the enemy's hands…"
Naruto: "......"
"After killing those two Konoha ninjas who apologized and begged for my forgiveness, I began wandering the Land of Rain as a child. Amidst the chaos of war, no one could sustain a livelihood. To a lone orphan like me, they could only choose to look away and turn a deaf ear."
"I nearly starved to death several times."
"It was then that Yahiko and Konan took me in. As orphans who had lost loved ones to war, the three of us fought desperately to survive."
"Yahiko was extraordinary. Even in that dire strait, he never gave up hope..."
As Nagato spoke, his words were relayed in real-time to the people of Konohagakure.
Because...
Though Naruto sought out Yahiko himself, don't forget he also carried a slug from the Shikkotsu Forest. All slugs in that forest share a connection—if needed, Tsunade and Hashirama could tap into the slug's five senses.
Thus, everything Nagato said, everything Naruto said, was relayed by Katsuyu, word for word.
Regarding the Second Shinobi World War, it occurred during an era when even the current Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, was still little more than a young woman.
At just five or six years old, Yahiko witnessed his own parents being killed by Konoha ninjas.
Got it! Here's a revised version:
Hashirama Senju sighed. "War is inevitable, no matter where you go." He remembered how both his and Tobirama's younger brothers, along with themselves, had perished in missions before reaching the age of seven.
Listening to Nagato's mature voice, Yahiko recalled the memory of that beautiful, easily blushing youth.