The two great dōjutsu inherited from the Ōtsutsuki clan were the Sharingan and the Byakugan.
From these eyes came even greater evolutions.
The Sharingan could evolve into the Rinnegan, the legendary eyes possessed by the Sage of Six Paths, while the Byakugan could evolve into the Tenseigan.
At this moment, Nagato's Rinnegan stared quietly at Yugito Nii standing before him. The instant those ripple-patterned eyes focused on her, the Two-Tails sealed within her immediately became restless.
Inside Yugito's consciousness, Matatabi's blue flames flickered violently.
"Yugito! Be careful!"
The Two-Tails' voice echoed in her mind.
"What happened?" Yugito asked inwardly.
"Those eyes… those are the Rinnegan! The eyes Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki himself possessed! Don't provoke him!"
Yugito's expression immediately became tense.
The Rinnegan?
The legendary eye spoken of in ancient stories?
She had heard of the Sharingan and Byakugan countless times, but the Rinnegan was practically a myth.
Yet now, the owner of those eyes stood directly before her.
Nagato looked at Yugito and sighed softly.
"I don't intend to hurt you."
His voice was calm.
"But for now, I need you to stay quiet."
Before Yugito could react, an overwhelming pressure descended upon her.
Nagato slowly extended his hand and placed it on her forehead.
"The Human Path."
The Human Path's ability activated instantly.
Yugito felt her consciousness become blurry as an invisible force grasped her soul.
In the next second, her body froze completely.
Her eyes lost focus.
Her limbs became limp.
Without her soul controlling her body, she nearly collapsed.
Fortunately, Sasori reacted immediately.
The former Red Sand of the Akatsuki stepped forward and caught her before she hit the ground.
A glowing soul floated in Nagato's hand.
It looked like a pale blue flame.
"So this is the Human Path…"
Deidara stared with widened eyes.
Even though chinatsu had explained the Six Paths of Pain's abilities before, witnessing one of them firsthand still felt unbelievable.
The ability to directly extract a person's soul was simply absurd.
No wonder chinatsu had repeatedly warned them during the battle against Pain.
The Human Path had to be neutralized first.
Otherwise, a single touch could decide the outcome.
Nagato's expression became slightly awkward.
Thinking back now, the battle from several days ago was simply painful.
The moment the Six Paths appeared, the group had targeted the Human Path and Naraka Path first.
The Naraka Path, which controlled the King of Hell and could repair damaged bodies, was treated as a healer and immediately focused down.
The Human Path suffered even worse.
Before it could display its abilities, Naruto's Sage Mode punch, Sasuke's Chidori, Kisame's Samehada, Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear tendrils, and Hidan's giant scythe had all arrived simultaneously.
The Human Path had practically spent the entire battle being beaten.
Even now, recalling the experience made Nagato's face twitch slightly.
Kakuzu stepped forward and lifted Yugito onto his shoulder.
There was no princess carry.
No romantic atmosphere.
It looked exactly like someone carrying a sack of rice.
The group immediately turned and headed toward the Uchiha compound.
Not far away, Kakashi, who had just returned from a mission outside the village, witnessed the entire scene.
His visible eye widened.
"Wait… isn't that Yugito Nii?"
As a former ANBU captain, Kakashi naturally recognized the famous Two-Tails Jinchūriki of Kumogakure.
But what confused him wasn't Yugito's presence.
It was the people around her.
Former Akatsuki members.
Pain's real body.
And all of them appeared to be following chinatsu.
Kakashi rubbed his forehead.
"Has chinatsu really absorbed the entire Akatsuki?"
The more he thought about it, the more absurd it sounded.
Yet the evidence was walking right in front of him.
Meanwhile, inside the Hokage's Office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi calmly sat behind his desk.
A pile of documents rested before him.
"What? chinatsu expanded her forces again?"
The Third Hokage casually flipped a page.
"Good for her."
"What? Nagato joined her?"
Another page turned.
"Excellent."
"What? Akatsuki is basically hers now?"
Hiruzen nodded approvingly.
"Very efficient."
At this point, he had completely stopped worrying.
Compared to worrying about chinatsu, processing paperwork was far more important.
Ten minutes later.
Inside the Uchiha compound.
chinatsu sat lazily in a folding chair.
Her eyes slowly moved from Kakuzu to Yugito hanging over his shoulder.
Then she looked back at Kakuzu.
Then at Yugito again.
Finally, she spoke.
"…Kakuzu."
"Yes, Young Miss?"
"You and Hidan were beaten up by Yugito before. I understand you're still upset."
Kakuzu blinked.
"But you didn't need to kill her."
"…She's not dead."
Nagato immediately raised his hand.
Floating above his palm was Yugito's soul.
The room instantly became silent.
A few seconds later, Nagato gently pushed the soul back into Yugito's body.
The Human Path's ability was released.
Yugito's eyelashes trembled.
Slowly, she opened her eyes.
The first thing she saw was Uchiha Chinatsu.
The two stared at one another.
Silence.
Awkward silence.
Very awkward silence.
chinatsu slowly raised a hand.
"Yo…"
"…"
"Long time no see?"
"…"
The atmosphere became even more awkward.
For the next thirty minutes, chinatsu explained everything.
From surviving the battlefield years ago.
To hiding her identity.
To the fake death.
To returning to Konoha.
To becoming the Uchiha Clan Head.
Everything was explained honestly.
As the explanation continued, Yugito's expression changed repeatedly.
Shock.
Disbelief.
Confusion.
Relief.
Then sadness.
Then relief again.
Meanwhile, chinatsu became increasingly embarrassed.
The more she spoke, the more she realized how much her fake death had affected Yugito.
For years, Yugito had believed she had failed to save her.
For years, she had carried guilt.
For years, she had trained harder and harder, convincing herself she would never lose another companion.
From a certain perspective, chinatsu truly felt like a villain.
Her voice gradually became quieter.
Eventually, she lowered her head entirely.
"If you're angry…"
"You can hit me."
"…"
"No, really."
"…"
"A punch is fine."
"…"
"Two punches are also acceptable."
chinatsu braced herself.
She was already mentally prepared.
After all, even a punch from a perfect Jinchūriki wouldn't seriously injure her now.
However
No punch came.
No attack came.
Instead, when chinatsu looked up again, she froze.
Large tears were rolling down Yugito's cheeks.
Yugito bit her lip tightly.
Her shoulders trembled.
Yet there was not a trace of hatred in her eyes.
Only relief.
Pure relief.
"That's great…"
Yugito's voice shook.
"You're alive…"
"That's really… really great…"
chinatsu immediately panicked.
She was terrible at handling crying people.
Her hands waved helplessly in the air.
She looked left.
Then right.
Then directly at the Akatsuki members.
"You people! Do something!"
Everyone immediately looked away.
Kakuzu studied the ceiling.
Deidara examined the wall.
Sasori observed a tree outside.
Even Nagato pretended not to hear.
As for Hidan
Comforting people wasn't his specialty.
Recruiting people into Jashin's religion was.
Seeing that nobody intended to help, chinatsu could only slowly turn back toward Yugito.
Looking at the tears that continued flowing from Yugito's eyes, the usually calm Uchiha Clan Head completely blanked out.
For the first time in a long while, Uchiha Chinatsu didn't know what to do.
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