"Father…"
Hatake Kakashi thought of his own father, Hatake Sakumo.
After Kakashi died in the earlier video, he must have gone to meet him.
He wondered whether his father had been satisfied with how he had lived all these years.
Kakashi had spent so long drifting through life that his father would probably have been disappointed.
No children. No close friends. No love. He hadn't even taken his training seriously.
When I put it that way, I really am a failure.
"Naruto, you will always be your mother's and my pride."
Namikaze Minato murmured softly.
He had no complaints about the son who had grown up in such an environment.
Naruto had inherited his hair and features, along with his mother's loud, carefree personality.
As parents, all they needed to do was believe in their child.
In the video, just as the Nine-Tails was about to break free from Chibaku Tensei, it suddenly vanished.
The Nine-Tails had been sealed again, revealing Uzumaki Naruto beneath it.
"His confusion is gone? What happened?"
Even Deva Path Pain seemed unable to understand.
"Can he control the Nine-Tails now?"
But Nagato, who was controlling him from afar, was already on the verge of death.
The chain of battles had clearly pushed him beyond his limits. He could no longer maintain Chibaku Tensei, and the massive sphere began to crumble apart piece by piece.
Uzumaki Naruto was also close to his limit.
Only the Senjutsu Chakra currently within his body remained. He had very little time left.
It was only then that Naruto noticed the condition of Konoha in the distance.
Chaos was everywhere.
After transforming into the Nine-Tails and attacking wildly, Naruto had nearly beaten Deva Path Pain to death. He had also caused tremendous damage to Konoha.
Fortunately, no one had been killed.
"It's time to settle this," Deva Path Pain said. "Do you understand pain a little better now? Unless you experience the same pain as someone else, you can never truly understand them."
Deva Path Pain continued preaching his philosophy of pain.
"And even if people do understand one another, that doesn't mean they can sympathize. That is simply the truth. Your pursuit of Sasuke is no different."
Uzumaki Naruto answered calmly.
"Take me to your real body. I have something to say to him."
His response was unexpected.
"Oh? So you noticed there was a real body? Jiraiya-sensei, you, the people of Konoha… You're all rather capable."
Deva Path Pain wasn't angry. He merely smiled faintly, his praise carrying an air of condescension.
"But I've already said everything that needs to be said. No matter what you say now, nothing will change."
"Just let me say a few things."
Uzumaki Naruto remained firm.
"Sage Mode, and that troublesome Chakra Shuriken of yours. It seems you can only use it twice at most. Once you do, Sage Mode will disappear as well."
Deva Path Pain had no intention of taking Naruto to Nagato's location.
"So we really do have to fight."
Uzumaki Naruto sighed.
"If both Rasenshuriken miss, you lose. The moment you miss, it's over. I'll beat you half to death and take you with me."
Deva Path Pain charged straight at him, no longer interested in wasting words.
Naruto seized the opportunity to snatch one of the black rods from his hand.
By tracing the Chakra used to control it remotely, Naruto instantly located Nagato's real body.
"He's using Sage Mode to trace me?"
Nagato immediately realized what Naruto was doing when he sensed the probe from Sage Mode.
Uzumaki Naruto then created Shadow Clones and used them to launch a Rasenshuriken.
The attack split apart, while countless Shadow Clones disguised themselves as debris and secretly rushed Deva Path Pain.
Even Shinra Tensei failed to destroy them all.
Naruto endured the terrifying repulsive force and caught the five-second gap between uses.
One Rasengan completely disabled Deva Path Pain.
"So they were Shadow Clones. That really is just like you, Naruto."
Hatake Kakashi froze for a moment before laughing.
Naruto truly was the number one most unpredictable shinobi.
Kakashi hadn't been able to imagine how Naruto could possibly turn the situation around.
In the end, he had done it using his two most basic techniques.
Shadow Clone Jutsu and Rasengan.
With them, Naruto launched his final counterattack and completely defeated Deva Path Pain.
Nagato had finally run out of options.
The last Pain had fallen.
Never before had he faced such a troublesome opponent.
Uzumaki Naruto pulled the black rods from Deva Path Pain's body and destroyed what little mobility remained.
In the end, he decided to meet Nagato alone, even if his companions couldn't understand his decision.
Uzumaki Naruto eventually reached the hollow tree where Nagato was hiding.
Konan immediately stepped forward to stop him, but Nagato called out.
"Konan, stand down."
"Nagato."
Konan looked unwilling.
"It's all right," Nagato repeated.
Only then did Konan step aside.
Uzumaki Naruto looked at the man before him.
"So you're Pain's real body?"
Only then did he notice how thin Nagato was.
His body was little more than skin and bone, suspended inside a strange machine that made him look deeply unsettling.
Aside from Seventh Hokage Naruto, this was the first time anyone watching the diary had seen Nagato in this state.
He looked nothing like the arrogant madman they had imagined, the one who wanted to rule the world.
Instead, the Nagato inside the hollow tree seemed surrounded by the faint aura of death.
"So peace has shamelessly come walking through my door," Nagato mocked.
At his words, images of Naruto's two dead teachers flashed through his mind.
"Do you hate me? Your enemy is right in front of you."
Nagato's voice rose with emotion.
"You want revenge, don't you?"
He still believed he was right.
Naruto was no different from him.
Nagato's defeat today didn't mean his beliefs were wrong. It only meant he had been weaker and lost to Naruto.
Simply put, he had exhausted too much strength during the battle in Konoha.
Otherwise, Uzumaki Naruto could never have defeated him.
"Killing Nagato here and taking revenge won't change the world. It would only satisfy your own desire for vengeance."
Konan quietly inserted her own argument.
She was terrified that Uzumaki Naruto might suddenly lose control and kill Nagato. All she could do was try to restrain him with words.
"You have no answer, so there is nothing you can accomplish. Your purpose is to sacrifice yourself for the peace I will create. That is the correct answer."
A mechanism beneath Nagato fired a black rod.
It instantly pierced Uzumaki Naruto's body.
"That bastard fights dirty!"
Uchiha Sasuke erupted in fury at the sight.
Uzumaki Naruto had come to Nagato intending to talk, yet Nagato had attacked him without warning.
"At this distance, my Chakra can control your movements however I wish."
Nagato spoke with confidence.
"Don't worry. I avoided your vital Chakra points. You are an important Jinchuriki, after all."
The instant he finished speaking, Nine-Tails Chakra surged from Naruto's body.
An overwhelming flood of emotion struck Nagato directly.
Only then did he realize that Uzumaki Naruto had never intended to avoid the rod.
"I came here because I wanted to talk to you."
Uzumaki Naruto spoke in a low voice.
"But there was something else I wanted to confirm."
"I wanted to know what I truly felt. If my enemy stood directly before me, what would I do? Even I didn't know."
Naruto pulled the black rod from his body.
"As I thought, I can't forgive you. I want to kill you right now. My body won't stop trembling."
"That's impossible. At such close range, he resisted Nagato's Chakra?"
Konan stared in disbelief.
Uzumaki Naruto roared and charged at Nagato.
His fist was about to strike when he suddenly stopped.
"Pervy Sage said that one day, an age would come when people truly understood one another. He believed it with all his heart.
"When he told me that, I barely listened. I never really thought about it. He said he was entrusting me with the task of finding the answer, but I was so happy that he acknowledged me as his student that I didn't think any deeper.
"Now I finally understand what Pervy Sage meant.
"It wasn't something simple."
"But you still can't forgive me," Nagato said. "Human emotions aren't so cheap that a few pretty words can erase them. What Jiraiya-sensei spoke of may have been nothing more than outdated idealism. Reality is far too cruel.
"You said you would defeat me and bring peace to the shinobi world. That is what you should say now, even if those words are only for appearances. Even if it is nothing more than revenge to satisfy yourself, so long as you believe it is justice, then so be it.
"You are not a god. After seeing reality for what it is, can you truly continue believing in Jiraiya-sensei's empty dream?"
The question silenced not only Uzumaki Naruto, but everyone watching.
When confronted with hatred, could they truly let it go?
"Impossible. I will never forgive them!"
Uchiha Sasuke clenched his teeth.
There was no chance he would abandon his revenge against Uchiha Itachi or Danzo.
No matter what reasons they had, the harm they caused was real.
He would never give it up.
"When I learned that you were also Pervy Sage's students, there was something I wanted to ask you."
Uzumaki Naruto looked at them.
"You were his students, so why did you become like this? I know you're different from the other members of the Akatsuki. You don't kill merely for pleasure.
"But I know nothing about either of you.
"So I want to hear your side first. Then I'll search for my answer."
"Very well."
Uzumaki Nagato chose to reveal his pain.
"I'll tell you everything we suffered, one thing at a time."
Only then did everyone learn that Nagato's parents had been killed by shinobi from Konoha.
After witnessing their deaths with his own eyes, Nagato awakened the Rinnegan and killed both Konoha shinobi in an instant.