Chapter 103: Crazy Diamond
In Amegakure, transport convoys bearing the Konoha Uzumaki emblem and the Sunagakure hourglass mark were like two long dragons with their marrow sucked out, continuously pumping the flesh and blood of the great nations into this barren little country.
"Tsk tsk, truly spectacular."
Orochimaru stuck out his long tongue and licked his somewhat dry lips. His voice was as raspy as if he had been watching a play here for three days and nights: "Yahiko-kun, you didn't just win a war; you've plunged a needle into the arteries of the great nations to draw blood, performing a blood transfusion on the dried-up corpse that is Amegakure."
"This is called the rational redistribution of resources."
Yahiko was lazily nestled in a sofa, tossing a gold coin in his hand.
Clink!
The gold coin traced a golden line in the air, its crisp sound particularly piercing in the dead silent room.
"The external infrastructure is just the Face; there's an 'inner lining' here that's in even greater need of 'maintenance'."
Yahiko flipped his wrist and caught the coin. His gaze bypassed Orochimaru and landed on the shadows in the center of the room.
There, the man known as a "God" was now slumped in a wheelchair like a cripple.
Nagato's red hair hung down, obscuring those Rinnegan eyes that could scare half the Ninja World to death. But his legs, peeking out from under the blanket, were enough to make any medical Ninja shake their head in despair.
They were withered, shriveled, and as black as two pieces of charred charcoal. These were the side effects left behind after the Gedo Statue used him as a dry-cell battery.
"Konan, change the dressing," Yahiko said, his tone devoid of emotion.
Konan bit her lip and knelt beside the wheelchair, her hands shaking like a sieve. As the layers of bandages soaked in pus and blood were unwrapped, a nauseating stench of rotting flesh instantly exploded, hitting them right in the Face.
There was no blood.
Because these legs had long since dried up to the point where not a single drop of blood could be squeezed out.
"Hiss—" Orochimaru turned around like an expert appraising an antique. "Vitality overdrawn to this extent means cellular activity is essentially zero. If Tsunade were here, she'd probably just suggest amputation to save his life."
He gave a strange laugh, his eyes glinting with the malice of someone enjoying a disaster. "Having the Rinnegan in such a broken shell is like lighting a fire inside a paper house. Yahiko-kun, your 'God' is about to be scrapped."
"Shut up!" Konan looked up abruptly, her eyes red.
Nagato, on the other hand, was eerily calm.
He looked down at his mummified legs and spoke without a hint of emotion: "It doesn't matter. As long as Yahiko's ideals can be realized, this body was always meant to be a consumable."
"A consumable?"
Yahiko suddenly laughed, a cold laugh.
He stood up and walked to the wheelchair in two steps, looking down at Nagato with fire suppressed in his amber eyes.
"How many times have I told you? The world we want to rule is a world of the living."
Yahiko's voice was as hard as iron: "Put away that self-indulgent theory of sacrifice. In my plan, there is no need for a god used as a consumable."
After speaking, he tilted his head slightly, his peripheral vision sweeping toward Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru, get out."
"Hmm?" The fake smile on Orochimaru's Face froze. "Yahiko-kun, what about the 'truth of evolution' we agreed upon?"
"But not right now." Yahiko pointed toward the door, his tone brook no argument. "Go downstairs and help Pakura Stand guard. Don't let a single fly in. That's an order."
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, his gaze shifting between Yahiko and Nagato.
Though his heart was itching as if a hundred ants were crawling on it, his wariness of the leader won out.
"Fine, the boss calls the shots." Orochimaru shrugged with a look of "I'll get it eventually" annoyance and turned to leave.
Bang.
The door closed, leaving only the original trio in the room.
"Yahiko, what are you trying to do?" Nagato asked, somewhat confused.
Yahiko didn't waste any words.
He reached into his robes and pulled something out.
It was an arrow.
The moment he saw it, Nagato's pupils shrank to the size of pinpricks.
It was that.
The ghostly thing that had rejected him in the basement and nearly turned him into a pool of pus.
"Problems that the Chakra system cannot solve must be broken by a higher-dimensional power," Yahiko said, holding the arrow. "You failed last time because your head was filled with self-destruction and confusion. The arrow does not recognize a madman who only wants to perish together with his enemies."
Yahiko took a step forward, the cold tip of the arrow pressing against Nagato's heart.
"But now, it's different."
"Nagato, look out the window." Yahiko's voice carried a devilish power of suggestion. "Look at those ruins, look at those villagers who just managed to fill their bellies. Right now, what do you want most?"
Nagato turned his head.
Through the floor-to-ceiling window, he saw the Amegakure that was being reborn.
It was the homeland where, no matter how hard he tried, he had only brought death and weeping. His parents died, the place was rotten, shattered into pieces.
Destruction was easy.
A single Shinra Tensei; that pleasure of dominating life and death was indeed exhilarating.
But what comes after?
Looking at the devastation everywhere, that sense of emptiness could practically swallow a person whole.
"I want to fix it."
Nagato murmured to himself. His gaze changed, shifting from hollow to burning, finally transforming into a near-obsessive fanaticism.
"I want to fix this rotten country, sew up those wounds, and piece back together everything that was broken!"
Buzz—!
The arrow pressed against his chest seemed to understand this intense, ultimate desire, suddenly emitting a piercing hum.
"That's it."
A wild, arrogant curve hooked the corner of Yahiko's mouth. "Then take it!"
Puchi!
Without any hesitation, Yahiko exerted force with his wrist, and the rusty arrow plunged into Nagato's chest!
"Nagato!!" Konan screamed, about to rush forward, but she was directly knocked back by a terrifying shockwave.
"Arghhhh—!!!"
Nagato threw his head back and roared, veins bulging on his neck as if he were about to vomit out his very Soul.
An incredibly domineering pink energy instantly exploded within the room.
The light faded.
A tall phantom hovered behind Nagato like a guardian spirit.
It was a blend of pink and silver-white, its body covered in armor as smooth as a sports car's shell. Large heart-shaped emblems were set on its chest and shoulder pads.
Flashy, wild, and brimming with power.
Unlike the Gedo Statue which felt so eerie, this thing radiated a brilliant vitality called "Diamond."
Huff, huff...
Nagato panted heavily, cold sweat soaking his back. But he could feel an extra "hand" in his mind.
"This is my heart?" Nagato looked at the pink powerhouse, so shocked he was speechless.
Yahiko crossed his arms with an "I knew you could do it" expression. "It's a portrait of your spirit, the gentlest yet most violent cheat in this world—Crazy Diamond."
Nagato subconsciously raised his hand.
Behind him, "Crazy Diamond" clenched its fist in sync.
"Try it." Yahiko pointed to the heavy Obsidian coffee table nearby. "Smash it."
Nagato's gaze sharpened.
A thought flickered.
"DORARARARARARARA—!!!"
In that instant, Konan couldn't even see what had happened.
She only heard a dense series of battle cries as that incredibly hard Obsidian coffee table took hundreds of punches within 0.01 seconds, instantly crumbling into a cloud of stone dust.
"This destructive power..." Konan covered her mouth. This was practically more terrifying than Tsunade's monstrous strength.
"Don't blink," Yahiko said calmly.
Just as the stone dust was about to scatter, Crazy Diamond threw another punch.
It wasn't destruction, but—Restoration!
The flying stone dust seemed to have a rewind button pressed on it, defying the laws of physics as it frantically flowed back, gathered, and locked together.
Kacha!
A crisp sound.
The perfectly intact Obsidian coffee table reappeared in its original spot without a single crack, as if the shattering just now had been a hallucination.
Konan's eyes widened, and she reached out to touch the cold stone surface.
It was real.
It wasn't a genjutsu; it was absolute restoration on a physical level!
"This power..." Nagato looked at his hands, his whole body trembling with excitement. "As long as it hasn't disappeared from this world, no matter how shattered it is, it can be fixed!"
"Nagato!" Konan turned abruptly, tears falling. "Your legs! Quick! Use it to heal your legs!"
This was practically a miracle! With this, why would Nagato still need a wheelchair?
Nagato was also filled with wild joy.
He immediately controlled Crazy Diamond, placing those hands capable of creating miracles onto his charred legs with great hope.
Golden light flashed.
Dead silence.
No reaction.
Nagato refused to believe it; veins bulged on his forehead as he frantically pushed his will.
"Fix it! Fix it for me!!"
There was still no change.
Those legs were still like withered branches, devoid of life.
Crazy Diamond could fix everything in this world, piece a pulverized table back together, and sew up torn wounds, but it remained indifferent only to its master.
The light faded.
Nagato's hand froze in mid-air, the wild joy on his Face cracking bit by bit, finally turning into a tragic smile.
"It can heal everything, yet it's the only thing that can't save me."
Nagato hung his head like a puppet with its Soul sucked out.
Was this destiny's sick joke? Giving him the strongest healer skill, yet making him a low-health character who would die without healing.
Konan covered her mouth and let out a stifled sob. The greater the hope, the deeper the despair.
Suddenly.
A large, warm hand patted Nagato heavily on the shoulder.
"Don't make that loser expression; it's hideous."
Yahiko stood by the wheelchair, staring deeply at the pink Stand. Instead of being upset, a mysterious smile played on his lips.
"Nagato, in this world, power comes with a price, but rules are meant to be broken."
"What?" Nagato looked up blankly.
"Crazy Diamond can't save you, but that doesn't mean another Stand can't."
Yahiko turned around and walked toward the floor-to-ceiling window, his back to the two of them, leaving an unfathomable silhouette as if he had anticipated all of this.
"Get ready, Nagato."
"The Akatsuki's 'Glorious Evolution' is about to begin."
"Crazy Diamond is only half the puzzle. Next, we're going to find the other piece that will let you Stand up again."