"A fight?"
"Ah… it's war," Toneri said casually.
"War… here?" Nagato asked in surprise.
Toneri nodded, pointing toward a floating temple. "Those are my clan's tombs. The main and branch families disagreed, and then they fought. The main family was wiped out, and only a few of the branch survived. When I was born, it was just my father left here."
As he spoke, Obito emerged from the void, carrying an oil-paper bag. Inside was the barbecue they had just eaten. He handed it to Toneri. "Eat first, just to tide you over."
"Ah, it smells amazing!" Toneri exclaimed, finally letting go of Nagato's hand. He grabbed a piece eagerly and popped it into his mouth. His eyes instantly lit up. "Ah, so delicious! Is this the meat from below? It smells incredible!"
"No, no, not all meat is this good. We had a barbecue below before coming here," Obito quickly said, handing Toneri a bottle of chilled lime juice. "This is a popular drink down there. You probably haven't tried it."
"Ahhh, lime juice, North—"
Before he could finish, Obito shoved another piece of meat into his mouth, silencing him.
"Ahem. Eat up. Did you forget what I was saying?"
Toneri nodded frantically, still chewing. Nagato didn't mind the little antics—his thoughts were still on Toneri's mention of war.
"This kid said there was a war here? Why?" Nagato asked Obito.
Obito nodded and walked ahead with the group, casually answering. "Ah… a few decades ago, the main and branch families fought over disagreements about protecting the lands below."
Uh… That reason was beyond Nagato's expectation, and even for the others, it was surprising.
"What kind of disagreement?"
"There were always differences. The main family believed letting the lower lands fend for themselves, hiding as long as possible. The branch thought it was hopeless, better to destroy it. Later, the Geto Statue was stolen from here, and the branch fought back—they won, but few people survived. They initially planned to use the Rinnegan to destroy and then rebuild below, which would erase the Ōtsutsuki's coordinates and leave some hope behind. But even though the branch won, they were too exhausted to do it." Obito summarized simply.
Toneri added vaguely, "Honestly, it wasn't just ideological. They probably just didn't like each other, looking for an excuse. If you ask me, they're all idiots. Wait until the lands below really can't hold on, then destroy it! Now it's just me doing all the work!"
Obito laughed, ruffling Toneri's white hair. "Only you would complain like that. Eat your food first."
Under the guise of reconstruction, they were actually destroying. Akatsuki had no clue why. Nagato looked at Obito, puzzled. "Are you really trying to protect the lands below?"
Obito nodded. "You'll see for yourselves. Nagato, Itachi… just follow along."
At the corridor's end, Obito stepped onto a floating stone platform with stone railings. "We have to fly across." Toneri nodded and jumped onto the platform as well. It could only hold four or five people, but thankfully, there were multiple platforms. A few floated forward with a bit of dust but remained stable.
"It's the first time so many people have come to my house… before it was just me and Obito and—"
Before he could finish, Obito lightly tapped Toneri on the head. The boy pouted up at him, whining, "I'm not talking to you! You keep hitting me!"
"You brat… at least eat first!"
Nagato and Konan stepped onto the platform. Obito said, "Come up, this is the only way."
The floating platforms moved as if by their own will. Even Kakuzu, experienced as he was, had never seen anything like this, but no one faltered. This path wasn't leading to another floating island—it led toward the glowing artificial sun. From their perspective, it looked like flying toward the sun.
Interestingly, it wasn't hot. On the contrary, the closer they got, the colder it felt. When Toneri pressed his greasy hand against the golden surface, a door opened, releasing a cold, chilling aura. It was freezing. Then…
The golden Rinnegan appeared.
Its beauty was indescribable. Nagato could not find words for it, nor for the immense power emanating from it. Even Kakuzu stood stunned for a while before recovering.
Nagato tore his eyes away from the mesmerizing gaze. He saw the spatial rift Obito had mentioned—a massive tear as if some flood or beast had ripped the world apart. Roughly rectangular, three to four meters wide, and at least ten meters high. The golden Rinnegan looked minuscule against it.
Is this… something humans could do?!
Toneri chewed his meat, standing before the rift. "Ugh… this is annoying. Obito, did everyone down below start messing with tailed beasts recently? There are so many now!" He pressed a greasy hand against a smaller rift floating in front of him, small enough to grip with one hand.
"I asked about that. The Nine-Tails went training with Jiraiya, probably learning to control its chakra. That one came from him. The remaining ones, one through eight, haven't moved," Obito explained.
"That's way too frequent… it's increasing my daily workload. Eh, eh, eh… is this a tailed-beast cannon?!" Toneri gawked at a new hand-sized tear forming in a previously intact space. Obito hurriedly pushed Itachi aside, warning, "Don't touch it! You'll be sucked in! Everyone step back! Why are there so many rifts recently?"
"Exactly! That's why I asked! Why so many now?!" Toneri complained, holding the oil-paper bag. A yellow chakra sphere appeared in his hand, covering the palm-sized rift. "Ugh… so slow… this will take a long time to fix. I'm hungry…"
"What is this?! What could cause damage like this?!" Nagato said, dumbfounded, pointing at the enormous tear.
Obito took the chakra sphere from Toneri, repairing the rift while sighing. "This rift was discovered by Hagoromo when he was alive. He somehow transferred it here. At first, it was small, smaller than a finger. Over the years, from the start of the wars between Asura and Indra, the repeated use of tailed beasts expanded the rift. One day, even the Rinnegan might not hold it."
"Wait… you're saying war can create rifts here?" Kakuzu asked in disbelief. Obito nodded. "Any war involving tailed beasts affects this place. Even a single use of tailed-beast chakra can do it."
"That's impossible! No way!" Deidara said, stunned. He'd seen destruction from battles—scorched mountains, rivers diverted—but never something that tore space itself so extensively.
"I wish it were a lie," Obito said, voice heavy with loss. Looking at Toneri, his eyes were tinged with guilt.
"This clan has spent centuries protecting the lands below, repairing the damage we caused, day after day, year after year. A hellish world, yet they guard it. I have to help them protect it," Obito said.
"This isn't about whether it can be protected anymore," Itachi said, gazing at the massive rift. His eyes betrayed his awe. "Humans can really cause this?"
"War can," Konan replied.
The group fell silent. Even the usually brash Hidan was at a loss for words. As Obito said, this world was hell. The enormous spatial rift before them was a scar that made dreams and wishes seem insignificant. Life is fleeting, a mere drop in the ocean—but even this tiny drop inflicted an almost unhealable wound on the world. Is it the world's nature, or humanity's hand? No one could say for sure.
Nagato sighed.
"I understand. Let's do it."
The Akatsuki members stepped forward together, none hesitating.
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