Danzo's order came. Qianyu moved.
Qianyu prepared to engage. Hanzo retreated instantly, falling back beside Danzo to observe the battle.
Qianyu's eyes flickered between Nagato and the colossal Gedo Statue. His hands moved, forming seals.
"Earth Style: Descending Lid!"
A massive slab of rock plummeted from a spatial rift above, crashing down on the Gedo Statue.
The statue's massive arm swung up. A thunderous boom. Stone shattered into dust.
Nagato responded immediately. A spectral dragon of chakra lunged forward, seeking to drain Qianyu dry. Qianyu moved, a blur of motion, dodging while his hands never stopped weaving.
"Earth Style: Descending Clay!"
A torrent of thick, viscous clay poured from the rift, coating the Gedo Statue's body.
"Fire Style: Majestic Demise!"
Qianyu gathered chakra in his throat and unleashed a sea of flame, a roaring tide of heat aimed squarely at the clay-covered statue.
Nagato raised his hands. "Shinra Tensei!"
A pulse of repulsive force blasted the incoming fire away from him, Konan, and Yahiko's body.
The clay baked solid under the inferno, encasing the Gedo Statue in a thick ceramic shell.
Hanzo and Danzo watched intently. Contained?
A crack. Then another. The shell splintered, then exploded outwards. The Gedo Statue roared, free. It brought its clenched fists down in a devastating hammer blow aimed at Qianyu.
Qianyu vanished with a Body Flicker. The fists struck earth. The ground cratered, spider-webbing with fissures. The shockwave threw Konan and Yahiko's body further back.
Good. Nagato thought, unable to spare them a glance. The distance kept them safer.
In the dust cloud, Qianyu's hands formed a single, hidden seal—Summoning Jutsu.
As the dust settled, he reappeared on a sheer rock face, parallel to the ground. "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Song!"
Four fiery dragons erupted from his mouth, streaking towards Nagato from four different angles.
Nagato spread his hands wide. "Preta Path: Absorption Seal!"
A barrier of swirling chakra formed before him, swallowing the flames whole.
Qianyu crouched low. Chakra surged.
"Thunder Breathing. First Form: Thunderclap and Flash!"
A crackle of blue-white lightning erupted from his body. He vanished, becoming the lightning itself, a single, brilliant line aimed at Nagato's heart.
Nagato's Rinnegan tracked him perfectly. His Uzumaki senses screamed a warning even before his eyes registered the movement.
"SHINRA TENSEI!"
The repulsive force hit Qianyu a fraction of a second before his blade connected. It was like hitting a mountain. He was flung back, skidding across the broken ground, carving a trench before coming to a stop.
Nagato panted heavily, each breath ragged. Controlling the statue was an immense strain. Qianyu's relentless, razor-sharp assaults were pushing him to his limit.
Qianyu's gaze shot to where Konan had been. His eyes narrowed.
Yahiko's body was gone.
Konan, frantic, was searching the rubble, but the Rain and Root shinobi were closing in. She was forced back into a defensive stance, paper swirling around her.
Nagato's brow furrowed. Qianyu was already preparing another attack. No time. No more time.
If this dragged on, neither he nor Konan would leave this place.
He couldn't die here. Yahiko's last command echoed. Protect Konan. Live. Fulfill the dream.
With a final, desperate exertion of will, Nagato sent one last command to the Gedo Statue. Then, he screamed, muscles straining as he physically ripped the black chakra receivers from his back, severing the connection.
Two more chakra dragons erupted from the statue's maw, lashing towards Qianyu. Ignoring the screaming agony in his legs, the hollow emptiness in his core, Nagato lunged for Konan.
"Shinra Tensei!"
The Rain and Root shinobi surrounding her were blasted away like leaves in a gale. Nagato stumbled, a fit of wet, hacking coughs wracking his frame. "Konan… run. Now."
Konan cast one last, despairing look over the battlefield. No sign of Yahiko. She bit her lip, tasting blood, and slung Nagato's arm over her shoulder. They fled into the downpour.
Qianyu dodged the spectral dragons, but the Gedo Statue, now a mindless behemoth, blocked his pursuit. By the time he maneuvered past it, Nagato and Konan were gone. The statue dissolved into mist.
Qianyu let out a slow, controlled breath. Good. If they hadn't run, with Danzo watching, he would have been forced to actually kill them.
He had been holding back. From the first strike to the last.
In Qianyu's calculation, Nagato dying now would be inconvenient. The system's warning echoed: Major events tend to find a way. If Nagato fell, the wheel of fate would simply find another spoke. A new Pain, an unknown variable. Better the devil you know. Qianyu could plan around the Nagato of his memories.
And besides…
He had what he came for.
When the shockwave threw Konan and Yahiko apart, Qianyu's Summoning Jutsu had activated. A white serpent, swift and silent, had swallowed Yahiko's body whole and returned to the depths of Ryūchi Cave.
Qianyu's eyes were on a future beyond Konoha. He needed allies, assets. He knew little of Yahiko's strength, but his value to Nagato was incalculable. A potential bargaining chip. A means to secure an understanding with the future leader of the Akatsuki.
If Yahiko still lived. And if he could be kept from interfering with Nagato's path. Otherwise… he would become expendable.
…
Qianyu returned to his place behind Danzo. "My apologies, Lord Danzo. I failed to eliminate him."
Danzo waved a dismissive hand. "The fault is not yours." The Gedo Statue had been a shock. Those eyes… the Rinnegan. They burned in Danzo's memory. This was also his first time truly seeing Qianyu fight. The boy had performed admirably. Against an unknown opponent with such power, holding his own was commendable. With better intelligence, the result might have been different.
He turned to Hanzo. "That red-haired boy. Who is he?"
Hanzo's voice was flat. "He was an unknown variable. Even to me."
Danzo's tone was final. "The Akatsuki are dealt with. My part of our arrangement is complete."
Hanzo nodded once. "Understood. You will have my full support."
Danzo addressed the surviving Root operatives. "Secure the area. Recover our dead. We return to Konoha immediately."
The remaining Root ninja moved with silent efficiency. They gathered their fallen comrades. A dead Root shinobi carried secrets in their mind—secrets no enemy must ever learn. The bodies would never be left behind.
When the grim task was done, Danzo led his forces out of the Rain Village, vanishing into the storm-shrouded landscape, homeward bound.
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