Nagato's gaze hardened, the rings of his eyes narrowing. "So… light itself," he muttered, studying the faint shimmer of Borsalino's form.
Borsalino gave a lazy shrug, his smirk unfazed.
Nagato exhaled. "even light will not remain unaffected by God."
With a sudden mechanical whir, the flesh along his right arm split open — metal plates sliding apart like a blooming flower of steel. From beneath, the machinery came alive, glowing veins of chakra running through it like molten light. Gears turned, steam hissed.
Borsalino raised an eyebrow. "Ooh~ that's new. You're full of surprises, aren't you?"
Nagato's voice echoed, low and resonant. "This is merely a taste of the power of a God."
The newly revealed arm pulsed — and in an instant, searing beams of chakra erupted from his forearm, streaking upward. The air screamed as they tore through it, chasing Borsalino's golden form across the sky.
Borsalino darted between them effortlessly, each beam flashing past his blurred image. "So fast~ but not fast enough!" he teased, his body refracting into multiple rays that zigzagged around the explosions.
Nagato pivoted, his mechanical arm tracking with unnatural precision. Dozens of laser bolts followed, detonating against surrounding buildings. Each impact kicked up dust and debris.
Through the smoke, Kizaru reappeared in a flash, hovering above the ruined plaza. "Lasers, huh?" he said with a grin, a finger of light extending from his hand. "How scary~. But you're playing with my specialty now."
He raised his arm — a single beam forming at his fingertip, so bright it painted the surroundings yellow. "Let's see whose light can outshine the other, eh~?"
Nagato stood below, arm still humming with chakra heat; Kizaru floated above, poised like a star ready to fall.
Then both fired.
Two pillars of brilliance collided midair — yellow and blue— merging, twisting, and detonating in a sunburst that blinded the horizon.
When the light faded, the surroundings, already devastated were now a complete wasteland. At the center of the devastation, Nagato stood breathing heavily, his mechanical arm steaming.
Above him, Kizaru's silhouette shimmered, voice calm but quieter now. "You're… quite the monster, aren't you~?"
Nagato's reply came through quietly "A monster born from pain will always outshine those born from false things such as Justice.
Borsalino's brow furrowed slightly, the smirk faltering as the figure before him began to waver — faint ripples distorting the air around it.
Before he could react, the body of Nagato flickered — then burst apart into fading embers of chakra.
His eyes widened a fraction. "A clone, or an illusion~?"
The realization struck just as the lingering chakra dispersed into the wind, leaving nothing but shattered stone and scorched earth behind.
Far from the battlefield, the true Nagato stood on a summoned bird leaving the island. His breathing was steady but deliberate, steam rising from his mechanical arm as he flexed it experimentally. The inner mechanisms hissed and clicked, still unstable from the strain of channeling so much power.
"So… this body still needs refinement," he murmured to himself. His tone held no frustration as he calmly analyzed his body. "The Rinnegan's connection feels clearer here… but the limits are different. This world's energy is not chakra."
He looked down toward the archipelago fading into the distance — the site of his arrival, and his first display of his new power. His expression remained unreadable.
"This world runs on another law of power… something crude, yet vast. I must understand it before I reshape it."
The bird soared higher, the waves below scattering into white foam. Nagato's eyes gleamed faintly in the dim sky, his Rinnegan reflecting silent determination.
"There is no peace in this sea — only greed, domination, and false justice," he said softly, almost to himself. "Perfect. Pain will thrive here."