Some civilians even recognized him, yet from their mouths he learned that people he had once saved had starved to death by the roadside three years ago. They did not die in battle, but starved alive.
Hanzo did not dare to stop walking and could only keep moving forward, almost like fleeing in disgrace. He walked until he entered this cave and saw those eyes.
The eyes of a god that controlled life and death. Hanzo knew that what the Land of Rain had become was already the limit of what he could achieve.
But Nagato, who possessed those eyes, had more possibilities and could do far more. So he wanted to try.
"I already learned everything from Shadow."
Hanzo did not try to defend his mistakes and looked straight into the Rinnegan as he spoke each word clearly. "Colluding with Danzo Shimura to kill Yahiko was my fault, and it was also my order to eliminate Akatsuki."
He admitted everything completely and calmly, without excuses or deflection. His tone carried no decoration, only acceptance.
Then Hanzo paused, as if recalling something, and gave a self-mocking smile. "I once met a samurai. When all his companions fled for their lives, he knew he was no match for me, yet he still charged forward with his blade."
"I defeated him, but his resolve to face death moved me. I told him that a person's end is not death, but the loss of belief, and that I would tell the world he was a hero."
"But what's laughable is that when faced with fading vitality, weakening power, constant threats, and fear of death, I gave in."
"Day after day of barely surviving made me weak and timid. I lost my old beliefs and ideals and became the coward I despised the most."
The samurai he spoke of was the current general of the Land of Iron, Mifune, from the time when Ao was still active. That was why Hanzo did not kill him back then, but spared him out of respect and admiration.
There was no need to tell Nagato any of this, and Hanzo did not want him to think he hoped for mercy in the same way he once spared Mifune. A mistake was a mistake, and he needed no excuses as he faced death without fear.
"I'm not saying this to beg for your forgiveness. I know that all of your suffering was caused by my own hands."
Hanzo's tone and expression were utterly calm. "After I die, you can leave my body in the wilderness, or erase my reputation and let countless people curse my name."
"Do whatever you think has meaning."
"I have only one request."
Facing the silent Nagato and the dazed Konan, his upright posture slowly lowered. His movement was deliberate and heavy.
"I have already given my will to someone I trust, so you can take over Amegakure openly and legitimately."
Hanzo spoke softly. "After my death, please lead Amegakure, and lead this country that has suffered so much, toward the future Yahiko once described to you."
"I can no longer do it, but you, who possess those eyes, certainly can."
That was the truth. Part of his attitude came from his past mistakes, but more than anything, it was for the country he cared about.
Silence followed, as if time itself had stopped. The cave fell into complete stillness.
Looking at Hanzo, who had lowered himself almost into the dirt, the ripples in Nagato's Rinnegan froze. He had imagined countless ways Hanzo might react when faced with judgment.
Desperate resistance, excuses, begging for mercy, or ugly behavior. He had imagined them all.
But he had never imagined this.
This was not the Hanzo he had known at any point. It was neither the proud and powerful Hanzo of the past, who would never bow, nor the old and cowardly Hanzo who would never choose death.
At this moment, Hanzo was simply an old man willing to pay the price for his past mistakes and face death calmly.
Konan stared at Hanzo with bloodshot eyes as memories of that storm-filled night surged back. She remembered Yahiko pushing Zetsu as he lunged toward Nagato's raised kunai.
She remembered the faint sound of the blade tearing into a heart. She remembered her own terror and collapse, the desperate cries of Zetsu, and the hatred that now controlled Nagato.
"What is this supposed to be?"
Konan's trembling voice broke the silence, filled with indescribable confusion. She looked at Hanzo and nearly shouted, "Then go die!"
As her words fell, Hanzo moved.
His motion was extremely fast, carrying a calm sense of release. He gripped the Kusarigama in his hand, the weapon that once represented his power and pride.
It was a tool that had taken countless lives. Now, with all his strength, he drove it toward his own chest in a motion that looked almost like an embrace.
A wet sound echoed through the cave.
A soft, wet sound rang out, thin and clear, like cloth being torn apart by a Lie. Warm red blood flowed out steadily, sliding along the cold black sickle blade before dripping into the dirt and spreading into a dark stain. The blood did not spray but seeped slowly from his chest, soaking and dyeing the cloth red.
pata… pata… Drop by drop, again and again.
"Why?"
Hanzo's hand gripping the sickle trembled, not from fear but from strain. All his strength and will were poured into this act, yet the blade tip, already buried in his chest, could not be pushed any deeper. At some point, Nagato had raised his hand, and Universal Pull locked onto Hanzo's arm.
The man who wanted to die was forcing the blade toward his own heart, while the one who should have wanted him dead was stopping him. Yunchuan Hyuga watched in silence, only flicking a glance toward Tobi hiding in the corner, then shifting his footing slightly.
"Do you want to do it yourself?" Hanzo lifted his head and stared into those cold eyes. He clenched the black handle and asked in a low voice, "Your enemy is right in front of you. Do you not want revenge?"
Konan stood frozen in place. Her face, once hardened by hatred, had gone stiff as she stared at the sickle that Hanzo had driven into his own chest, watching the crescent blade slowly soak in glaring red blood.
"I still cannot forgive you."
Nagato's voice sounded like rusted gears grinding together. In those Rinnegan eyes, the detached calm of a god cracked open along a thin line of Lie. Beneath that crack burned a molten rage that threatened to scorch all reason, a feeling that belonged to humans.
"If I could, I would kill you with my own hands right now," Nagato said, his voice forced through clenched teeth. "Just thinking about it makes my body shake, and I cannot stop."
"Then why do you not do it!" Hanzo snapped, his expression just as dark. "Do not tell me you still believe that naive dream Yahiko talked about, that mutual understanding can bring peace."
"I was willing to give my life and Amegakure to you because I knew you would bring peace by seizing the Tailed Beasts and developing a Forbidden Technique that would terrify other nations!"
To Hanzo, Nagato's plan was a realistic path. Even in Yunchuan Hyuga's eyes, standing nearby, it was the same. Yahiko and Jiraiya were both idealists who felt guilt over harming others and believed people could understand one another and erase conflict.