Revealing information about the masked man was not an impulsive decision on Uchiha Jin's part.
He had thought it through carefully.
Right now, the man calling himself Uchiha Madara was single-minded in his goal—to drag Nagato into darkness.
In the original course of events, that man had slaughtered Akatsuki members who tried to reinforce Yahiko and the others after they fell into the trap laid by Shimura Danzō and Hanzō of the Salamander. That chain of events had ultimately led to Yahiko's death.
Jin's arrival had already disrupted that trajectory to some degree.
But missing one opportunity would not stop a man like that.
He would simply look for another.
If Yahiko's trio remained ignorant, they would inevitably be led by the nose.
Yahiko froze for a moment, memories surfacing.
Back when the Akatsuki had first begun operating, a strange masked man had approached them.
"Jin-nii… you know that man who calls himself Uchiha Madara?"
Jin raised an eyebrow.
"So he's already contacted you."
Yahiko nodded.
"He came to us shortly after we started moving around openly."
"His target was Nagato—more precisely, Nagato's Rinnegan."
"He said his organization inherited the will of the Sage of Six Paths."
"That those who possess the Rinnegan must be guided onto the correct path."
"He talked about how where there is light there is shadow… where there are victors there are losers…"
"That protecting peace inevitably breeds war… that protecting love inevitably creates hatred…"
Yahiko's expression darkened slightly as he recalled it.
"What he said sounded reasonable."
"But then he spoke about severing causality itself—creating a world with only victors, only love, only peace."
"That's impossible."
"I felt his motives weren't pure, so I refused."
Even now, remembering that meeting sent a chill down his spine.
The man's aura had been suffocating—dark, blood-soaked, like something clawing its way out of hell.
For weeks afterward, Yahiko had slept poorly, fearing the masked figure's return.
"Jin-nii," Yahiko asked quietly, "do you know who he really is?"
"I do," Jin replied.
"He isn't Uchiha Madara."
"But he does have ties to him."
"You could say… he inherited Madara's will."
Yahiko stiffened.
The masked man truly had a connection to the legendary "Ghost of the Uchiha."
Jin continued calmly.
"As for the things he told you—listen to them if you like."
"But don't take them to heart."
"It's a lie."
"A lie even he himself is caught inside."
Nagato frowned slightly.
"You mean the ideal of 'a world with only victors and only love' is false?"
He couldn't deny that, at the time, he had almost been persuaded.
Not just by the vision of a beautiful world—
But by the masked man's deep knowledge of the Rinnegan.
Nagato had always sought answers about his eyes.
Jin nodded.
"In the Uchiha clan shrine, there is an ancient stone tablet passed down for generations."
"It contains secrets visible only to those with the Sharingan."
"Among them are the method to awaken the Rinnegan…"
"And a method to create that so-called perfect world."
"Awaken the Rinnegan?" Nagato's voice trembled. "You're saying the Rinnegan evolves from the Sharingan?"
His shock at that revelation eclipsed everything else.
Even Konan instinctively looked toward Nagato's eyes.
Jin spoke evenly.
"The Uchiha descend from Indra, the Sage of Six Paths' eldest son."
"We inherited the Sage's ocular power."
"The Senju descend from Asura, the younger son."
"They inherited the Sage's life force."
"Under normal circumstances, the Sharingan's final stage is the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan."
"But when that power is combined with the strength of the Senju—"
"The Sharingan evolves once more."
"It manifests the Sage's power."
"The Rinnegan."
Jin deliberately stopped short of discussing reincarnated chakra or Indra and Asura's spiritual lineage. That truth was far too tangled—and far too dangerous to expose casually.
Even so, the trio were stunned speechless.
Nagato whispered, almost to himself,
"But… I'm not Uchiha. I'm not Senju."
"Why do I have the Rinnegan…?"
He didn't finish the sentence.
Because the implication had already struck him.
A vast, hidden conspiracy.
Jin gave him the answer.
"You're right."
"The Rinnegan in your eyes were not awakened by you."
"They were transplanted into you."
"By Uchiha Madara."
Silence fell like a hammer.
"Why?" Konan asked quietly.
"Because the Uzumaki clan are distant relatives of the Senju," Jin replied.
"They share Asura's lineage and possess powerful life force."
"Only those with Senju or Uzumaki constitution can sustain the Rinnegan."
"And in this era… there aren't many left."
Jin's gaze settled on Nagato.
"You were chosen."
"You were meant to be a vessel."
Nagato's face darkened instantly.
For years, he had believed his eyes were destiny.
That he was chosen.
Guided.
Special.
Now he learned he had been nothing more than a container.
A pawn.
Yahiko suddenly frowned.
"Wait… wasn't Uchiha Madara killed long ago by the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama?"
"Nagato wasn't even born back then."
Konan nodded.
The timeline didn't align.
Jin shook his head.
"Madara did not die in that battle."
"On the contrary—he obtained Hashirama's power there."
"The Uchiha possess a forbidden technique."
"Izanagi."
"It allows one to rewrite reality itself—turning unfavorable outcomes into illusion."
"Madara used Izanagi to fake his death."
The room fell into complete silence.
Outside, rain continued to fall over the Land of Rain—steady, relentless.
And inside that office, the foundations of everything the three youths believed were quietly collapsing.
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