While Minato was speaking at the conference table, trying to tie the interests of the Five Great Nations to the coming threat of the Otsutsuki, a massive wave of chakra swept recklessly through Konoha.
The air seemed to freeze in that instant.
Minato's voice came to an abrupt halt. He snapped his head toward the window, his deep blue eyes flashing with a sharp intensity.
'This chakra...'
There was no need for a report from the Sensory Unit. Everyone present was a powerhouse standing at the pinnacle of the shinobi world; the prickling sensation on their skin made them react instantly.
BOOM!
The already battered walls of the meeting room suffered another heavy blow.
A figure wrapped in lightning surged up from the ruins where Kaguya had previously sent him flying, crashing through the remaining debris and landing back at the gap in the meeting room, covered in dust and blood.
It was the Fourth Raikage, A.
Although he looked wretched, with a visible depression in his chest—a wound from Kaguya's Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack—his eyes were so red they looked as if they were about to drip blood, staring fixedly at the sky.
Having been specifically told by Minato to hold back, the Raikage had luckily survived.
"This chakra... I'd recognize it even if it turned to ash!"
A's roar was laced with deep-seated hatred and fury. "It's that bastard! The bastard who destroyed the Hidden Cloud!"
At the same time, the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, floated to the window, his wrinkled face turning so dark it looked like it might drip ink.
He had also recognized this aura.
The red-haired man who had hovered over the Hidden Stone, treating his Particle Style as if it were nothing and destroying half the village with a single blow.
"Akatsuki..."
Onoki gritted his teeth, forcing the word through the gaps in his mouth.
Through the shattered floor-to-ceiling windows, everyone could clearly see that dark clouds had somehow gathered in Konoha's previously clear sky.
Beneath those rolling clouds, a figure hung quietly in mid-air, looking down at the Hokage building below.
A black robe with red clouds billowed in the wind. He had short orange hair, pale skin, and those ripple-patterned eyes that emitted an eerie purple glow under the dark clouds.
Pain, the Deva Path.
Behind him, five other figures hovered like ghosts, six pairs of Rinnegan staring coldly at this prosperous land.
"Give... Killer Bee... back to me!"
A didn't care about his heavily injured body. The floor beneath his feet shattered instantly as he prepared to turn into a bolt of lightning and charge out.
"Calm down, Raikage!"
Minato's figure blurred, appearing in front of A and pressing a single hand onto his intact shoulder. "Rushing out now is just suicide! This is Konoha; let me handle it!"
"Get lost, Minato Namikaze!"
A shoved Minato's hand away. Although he didn't continue his charge, the suspicion in his eyes grew like wild weeds.
He turned his head, his gaze sweeping between Minato, Kaguya, and Pain in the sky, before finally letting out a shrill, cold laugh.
"Good... very good!"
A pointed at the sky, then at Minato, his voice trembling with rage. "First you trick us into coming to Konoha, and then the murderer who destroyed our village arrives right on our heels! Minato Namikaze, do you still dare to say this isn't a trap you've set?!"
"The Raikage is right."
Onoki also turned around. Although he didn't dare be too arrogant because of Kaguya's presence, the malice in his gaze hadn't diminished in the slightest.
"Hokage, isn't this all too coincidental? Just as the five of us gather, he arrives. Have you calculated that we'd bring our Tailed Beasts so you could wipe us all out here and fulfill your ambition to unify the shinobi world?!"
Even the silent Rasa and Yagura had quietly retreated to the corner, taking up defensive stances.
Clearly, in their eyes, this was a perfectly designed trap.
First, use a terrifying existence like the 'Otsutsuki' to intimidate them, and then let the Akatsuki harvest them.
A perfect script.
"Everyone, please use your heads."
Minato took a deep breath, forcing down his irritation as he explained with a serious expression. "If I truly wanted to kill you, you would have died when Lady Kaguya attacked. Why would I wait for the Akatsuki to arrive?"
"Furthermore..."
Minato looked up at Pain in the sky, his brow furrowed. "I didn't expect Nagato to choose to appear at this time, either."
This was indeed beyond Minato's expectations.
According to Gamakon's calculations, Nagato should have needed at least half a month to digest the chakra of three Tailed Beasts and stabilize his realm.
But he had underestimated the Uzumaki constitution and Nagato's inflating ambition.
"No more explanations!"
A bellowed, "The facts speak for themselves! Since you're in this together, then kill me along with them! But before that, I'll make sure to take a bite out of you!"
Seeing the situation about to spiral out of control and the Five Kage Summit about to turn into a brawl...
Just then, a white figure suddenly leapt from the side of the Hokage building, landing on the rooftop railing.
Long white hair, a red vest, and a massive scroll on his back.
Jiraiya.
He had been lurking in the shadows as the final line of defense for Minato.
But now, looking at that familiar yet strange figure in the sky, Jiraiya's face was a map of complex emotions.
Pain, regret, nostalgia, and... resolve.
He slowly stood straight, meeting the gaze of those six pairs of Rinnegan, and spoke with a raspy voice.
"It has been a long time..."
"Nagato."
Hearing that name, the Deva Path looked slightly to the side.
In those emotionless Rinnegan, a faint ripple seemed to flash, but it was gone in an instant.
Nagato controlled the Deva Path to descend slowly until it was level with the rooftop of the Hokage building.
He ignored the furious Raikage, the wary Tsuchikage, and even the 'god' standing nearby—Kaguya.
His gaze landed only on the white-haired man.
"It certainly has been a long time."
Pain's voice was indifferent, as if coming from the clouds. "Jiraiya-sensei."
"..."
That one word—'sensei'—caused the entire rooftop to explode in an uproar.
Raikage A whipped his head around, staring at Minato as if looking at the man who killed his father.
"Did you hear that?! Did you all hear that?!"
A pointed at Jiraiya and roared, "He called him teacher! This demon who destroyed the Hidden Cloud is a disciple of Konoha's Sannin, Jiraiya!"
Onoki also had an 'I knew it' expression, sneering, "So that's how it is... No wonder the Akatsuki never attacks Konoha. No wonder you were so certain, Hokage. So this is the fine disciple you Konoha people raised!"
"What else is there to say, Minato Namikaze!"
The Gold Dust in Rasa's hands condensed once more as he looked coldly at Minato. "A master and disciple working together to put on a show. That so-called 'Otsutsuki threat' was probably just a lie you made up to cover your ambition to rule the shinobi world!"
Facing everyone's accusations, Minato's expression remained steady, but his fists inside his sleeves had quietly clenched.
This time, he really was in a situation where he couldn't clear his name no matter what he said.
"Sigh..."
A long sigh broke the tense atmosphere.
The purple toad, Gamakon, perched on Minato's shoulder, helplessly covered his face with a paw.
"I say, Nagato, your timing for this entrance... is really something else."
Gamakon looked up at Pain, his raspy voice full of mockery. "You didn't come early or late, you came right when we're in the middle of a meeting. You're doing this on purpose to set up your junior brother Minato, aren't you?"
Pain's gaze moved, landing on the toad.
"A toad... is that also one of Jiraiya-sensei's summons?"
Pain raised his hand, palm facing the group in a posture of total control. "It doesn't matter. Whatever you are plotting is meaningless before absolute power."
"I came here for only one thing."
Pain's gaze bypassed everyone and looked deep into Konoha, where the aura of the Nine-Tails resided.
"Hand over the Nine-Tails. And then..."
He spread his arms wide, his black-and-red robe billowing. "Feel pain, and accept God's judgment."
"God?"
Just then, Kaguya Otsutsuki, who had been watching coldly, finally reacted.
She slowly took a step forward.
Just one step.
That terrifying pressure belonging to the Progenitor of Chakra descended once more.
The Six Paths of Pain, who had been hovering high and mighty in the air, suddenly sank, their bodies feeling as if invisible shackles had clamped onto their ankles.
Kaguya looked up, her pure white eyes showing a disdain that came from the depths of her bloodline.
She looked at the Rinnegan in Pain's eyes as if she were looking at a crude imitation.
"Hagoromo's eyes..."
Kaguya's voice was cold and clear, echoing in everyone's ears. "Why are they on a mortal like you?"
Nagato controlled the Deva Path to barely steady himself.
He looked at the woman in the white robe with the ridiculous headpiece, his brow furrowing slightly.
He could feel that this woman contained a chakra that made even him feel a sense of dread.
The quality of that chakra actually produced a strange resonance with the Rinnegan in his eyes.
"Who are you?" Nagato asked.
"It doesn't matter who I am."
Kaguya said indifferently, "What matters is, you call yourself a god?"
"Laughable."
Kaguya raised her sleeve and pointed at Nagato. "Those eyes are not yours. You are merely a thief."
"A thief?"
Nagato's gaze instantly turned cold.
Ever since he awakened the Rinnegan and proclaimed himself a god, no one had ever dared to speak to him like that.
"No matter who you are, those who hinder peace shall die."
Nagato wasted no more words as his chakra erupted.
"Almighty Push!!"
This time, he didn't hold back.
A terrifying repulsive force exploded like a tsunami. His target wasn't just the people on the rooftop, but the entire Hokage building, and it even rippled out to the surrounding blocks.
He wanted to give Konoha a heavy blow, just as he had destroyed the Hidden Cloud and the Hidden Stone.
"This is bad!"
Minato's expression changed, and he instantly threw out a Flying Thunder God kunai.
He had to redirect this force, or the center of Konoha would be reduced to ruins.
But someone was faster than him.
"Showing off chakra in my presence?"
Kaguya snorted coldly.
She didn't weave any signs; she simply extended her palm and made a grasping motion toward the incoming repulsive force.
"Rabbit Hair Needle."
Countless white hairs, difficult for the naked eye to track, shot out like a torrential rain.
These hairs weren't physical; they were high-density chakra needles. They accurately pierced into the repulsive field of the Almighty Push, actually breaking through that invisible force by sheer strength!
Boom, boom, boom!
A series of dense explosions rang out in the air.
The shockwave of repulsion that was enough to destroy a building vanished before Kaguya like a popped balloon.
The Deva Path was struck by the hairs and his body was thrown back dozens of meters, forced to interrupt the release of the Almighty Push.
"What?!"
Nagato's real body, in the high tower of the Hidden Rain Village, suddenly widened its eyes.
Almighty Push... was broken?
And it was done in such an unheard-of way?
"Is this your so-called... trump card?"
On the rooftop, Onoki stared dumbfounded at Kaguya, who had effortlessly neutralized Pain's attack.
He had personally experienced Pain's terrifying repulsion not long ago.
It could absorb Particle Style and blow away the Raikage.
Yet before this woman, it was like child's play.
"Do you see it now?"
Gamakon hopped onto the railing, pointed at Pain in the sky, and gave the four Kage behind him a sidelong glance. "That is the difference! The power of the Otsutsuki!"
"And most importantly, Nagato's Rinnegan was not awakened by him."
"Those eyes belong to Madara Uchiha."
"Now, do you still think this is some plot by Konoha?"
"If we wanted to destroy you, Lady Kaguya alone would be enough. Why would we need to put on an act?"
These words, though harsh, carried an irrefutable logic.
Strength was the only thing that mattered.
Raikage A clutched his chest, looking at the repelled Pain in the sky, then at Kaguya, who was standing there without even a hair out of place. The suspicion in his eyes finally began to waver.
It was true.
If Konoha had this kind of combat power, they wouldn't need any schemes.
They could just flatten everyone.
"Jiraiya-sensei."
Minato spoke up now, looking at his teacher. "I'll leave Nagato to you. I know you have many things to ask him."
"As for Lady Kaguya..."
Minato bowed slightly to Kaguya. "Please provide support. As long as he doesn't use those large-scale destructive techniques that could harm the village, please leave it to Jiraiya-sensei. This is... a settlement between master and disciple."
Kaguya gave Jiraiya a casual glance and withdrew her hand.
"As you wish."
She had little interest in these mortal squabbles, as long as they didn't interfere with her grand plan to face the Otsutsuki main family.
Before a more promising partner, she didn't mind waiting a bit longer to take back the eyes.
Jiraiya took a deep breath, his wooden sandals letting out a crisp 'clack' on the floor.
He walked step by step toward the edge of the roof, his aura beginning to climb.
"Nagato!"
Jiraiya shouted, his voice piercing through the clouds. "Since you call me teacher, then let me see what you have learned all these years! What has turned you into this?!"
"And what made you betray the promise between us?!"
In the sky, the Six Paths of Pain readjusted their formation.
The Deva Path looked at Jiraiya below, his face devoid of emotion.
"Teacher, you are too weak."
"Without absolute strength, the ideals of peace you cling to are nothing but castles in the sky."
"Since you refuse to understand, then be buried along with the ruins of this old era."
Whoosh!
The Deva Path dove down instantly, crashing toward the Hokage building like a meteorite.
"Don't even think about it!"
Jiraiya had been waiting for this; Sage markings appeared around his eyes.
He hadn't just been standing around; he had been preparing!
Now, he could enter Sage Mode without the help of others!
"Sage Mode, activate!"
Boom!
A battle between master and disciple officially erupted on this stage, witnessed by the Five Kage and a true god.
Meanwhile, standing in the back, Minato didn't focus entirely on the fight.
He looked at the other Kage around him.
"Everyone."
Minato's voice was calm and powerful. "The situation is clear now. The Akatsuki is an enemy to the entire shinobi world, and the Otsutsuki threat is a blade hanging over our heads."
"Konoha has shown its sincerity, and its power."
"Now, the choice is in your hands."
"Do you continue to suspect each other and be picked off one by one by the Akatsuki..."
"Or do you set aside your prejudices and join forces with us to face the coming apocalypse?"