"You want to kill me? Do you even realize that I was the one who brought you into this world?!" The System glared at Kamizuki Hikari, its pair of Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan looking especially bewitching at that moment.
Hikari smiled faintly. "You brought me here? Are you sure about that?"
"Anyway, none of that matters. All I know is that you want my soul, and I don't want to die. So how about you die instead?"
"Don't kill me! Do you realize that with me, you could transcend this world? You could go to other worlds and obtain far more cultivation resources. You might even encounter a world where you can truly become an immortal! Your future achievements would be far greater than they are now. That would be a real immortal — not some fake like the Sage of the Six Paths!"
The System was begging for its life.
But Hikari's expression remained cold and completely unmoved.
*Crack... crack...*
A sound like shattering glass rang out. The System still wanted to say something, but the next moment Hikari's hand simply crushed it into fragments.
Hikari didn't believe it, and he had no intention of wasting words with the System. In this world, it wasn't just villains who died because they talked too much — even the heroes had the same problem. The best solution was to kill the other party before they could spout any more nonsense.
After destroying the System, Hikari looked at his own physical body, his expression somewhat complicated.
For some reason, he reached out and grasped the body, holding it in his hand.
"Since you could control my eyes, there's probably some kind of back-up plan hidden inside my body too, right? In that case... let me send you off on your final journey!"
Hikari didn't dare take the gamble.
The System he had once relied on had been constantly suppressing his soul, waiting for the moment he achieved the power of the Six Paths — so it could use him as nourishment.
He didn't want to die. He had no such noble spirit. So he could only send the system on its way.
Black flames erupted. Hikari's physical body slowly melted within the Amaterasu flames until it completely disappeared.
Gradually, Hikari's Yin spirit grew stronger and stronger.
---
At the gates of Konoha.
A group of Akatsuki members wearing black cloaks with red clouds stood with Pain at the center, facing the Five Kage opposite them.
"Fifth Hokage, hand over the Eight-Tails. If you do, we will leave today." Pain stated his demand.
Eight-Tails.
He didn't mention the Nine-Tails at all.
Tsunade's expression shifted slightly. She wasn't sure whether Pain was using some kind of ploy, and she didn't dare take the risk. She knew full well that the Akatsuki's goal was to collect all nine tailed beasts.
This was one point the two sides could never reconcile.
"Impossible," Tsunade said firmly. "Whether it's the Eight-Tails or the Nine-Tails, I will never hand either of them over to you!"
Seeing that, Pain turned his head toward the Fourth Raikage. "Our Akatsuki has developed a cloning technology that can create a tailed beast. If the Fourth Raikage is willing to tell us where the Nine-Tails is hidden, I am willing to leave the Eight-Tails alone and only target Konoha. How about it?"
A blatant divide-and-conquer tactic.
It was crude, but often the most effective.
Because people's hearts are unreadable, and not long ago the Raikage had been humiliated by Tsunade. Under such circumstances, could the Raikage really let go of his grudge against Konoha?
No one could be sure.
Feeling the suspicious gazes around him, the Raikage's face darkened.
"Our Kumogakure will not sit idly by while your Akatsuki grows stronger. Neither the Eight-Tails nor the Nine-Tails will be handed over to you."
In truth, the Raikage felt bitter. He had never even seen where the Nine-Tails was hidden — asking him to reveal its location was simply impossible.
"Very well then. Let's begin!"
Since the attempt to sow discord had failed, Pain had no intention of wasting more words. Kamizuki Hikari had already been gone for quite a while. He didn't want to drag this out any longer — who knew when Hikari might return?
He needed a decisive victory. He needed to obtain the power of the Ten-Tails as quickly as possible.
As long as he became the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki and the new god of the shinobi world, he could establish new rules and make the shinobi world follow his vision — a world without war.
"I'll handle the old man Ōnoki. The rest of you, stay out of it!"
Deidara declared loudly, then summoned a giant clay bird and flew into the sky.
"Old man, you were once my teacher. Today I'll let you witness the full extent of my power!"
Ōnoki frowned slightly but said nothing as he followed Deidara upward.
"My identity... the Sunagakure should already know it, right? Let us settle this today as well."
Sasori stepped forward. Looking at the young Gaara, Temari, and Kankurō, a feeling he didn't want to admit — envy — stirred in his heart.
He envied Gaara for having such bonds.
Since the Akatsuki's goal was about to be achieved, he simply wanted to settle his own affairs.
"Mizukage-sama, allow me to be your opponent." Kisame Hoshigaki greeted Terumī Mei.
Under normal circumstances, Mei should have gladly accepted.
But she was going to disappoint him.
Tsunade immediately grabbed Mei's arm.
"Even though the Akatsuki didn't mention you, that doesn't mean they've truly secured the complete Three-Tails. It's better if you stay in the rear."
After giving Mei that instruction, Tsunade stepped forward again.
"Enough talk. You people are just annoying to look at."
"Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees!"
A vast forest of trees burst out from the ground, surging straight toward the Akatsuki members.
"Shinra Tensei!"
Deva Path Pain unhesitatingly unleashed a smaller-scale Shinra Tensei, instantly clearing a large swath of trees.
But the very next moment, the broken trees regrew even more fiercely than before.
"Konan, fall back!"
Pain shouted. He and Konan immediately flew backward.
"Hey hey, Boss! What about me?!"
Hidan yelled toward Pain, but very quickly he was completely ensnared by the trees and vanished from sight.
As for Uchiha Itachi, who had been standing there — at some point, he had already disappeared.
Whether it was a genjutsu or whether the one who came was only a genjutsu clone from the beginning, no one knew, and no one bothered to ask.
---
"No passage allowed here, sorry~"
Inside the Uchiha clan compound, Yakumo suddenly appeared in front of Uchiha Itachi, raising her hand to block his path.
*Mangekyō Sharingan, activate!*
"Tsukuyomi!"
The moment the Mangekyō technique was unleashed, blood trickled down from Itachi's left eye, making him look especially tragic.
But to his dismay, the Yakumo standing before him remained completely unaffected by his genjutsu.
"Using genjutsu in front of me isn't a very good idea, you know~"
Yakumo smiled brightly at Itachi.
"Did you come here to take Sasuke away... or to kill him?"
Itachi fell silent.
Through his Mangekyō, he could vaguely see that something was strange about Yakumo.
Real and fake, illusion and reality — genjutsu was being displayed to its fullest extent on her.
"I just want to see him one last time," Itachi said honestly, realizing he couldn't defeat her.
The current course of the shinobi world had already slipped far beyond his ability to control. Whether it was Pain of the Akatsuki or Tsunade of Konoha — he was no match for either of them now.
No matter which of them won in the end, he no longer wanted to interfere.
Honestly... he was tired.
His body wouldn't hold out much longer anyway.
He needed to use himself to help Sasuke awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, then give his eyes to Sasuke so that his brother would never go blind.
As for the shinobi world... it no longer had anything to do with him.