Three punches. Three core members of the Akatsuki organization neutralized.
Hidan's dismembered body parts lay scattered across the plaza like grotesque decorations.
Deidara sprawled in a smoking crater of his own creation, clothes charred, hair singed, one arm bent at an angle that made Konan wince. His clay bird had dissolved back into ordinary earth when his consciousness wavered. Weak, ragged breaths confirmed he was alive, but he wouldn't be making art for a while.
Sasori existed as a fist-sized cylinder tucked into Naruto's robe pocket.
And Kakuzu...
CRACK. Tsunade's fist connected with his jaw.
SPLASH. Kakashi's Water Style barrier redirected his attempted escape.
HISS. Orochimaru's snakes constricted tighter.
"THIS ISN'T FAIR!" Kakuzu's voice rose above the sounds of combat, cracking with genuine distress. "Six on one! Where's the honor?! Where's the—OW! NOT THE FACE!"
Nine-Tails had claimed one of Kakuzu's elemental masks as a trophy and was now sitting on the immortal's chest, batting at his face with tiny paws. "This is fun! Naruto, can I keep him? I promise to feed him and everything!"
"He's not a pet, Kurama."
"But he makes funny noises when I poke him!"
Nagato's eye twitched. Kakuzu is suffering the most shameful defeat in Akatsuki history.
The leader's attention returned to Naruto, who stood calmly amid the wreckage, not even breathing hard. A few of Konan's paper butterflies drifted near him, each one carrying explosive tags. He swatted them aside almost absent-mindedly, the way someone might brush away gnats.
The butterflies exploded mid-air, harmless fireballs that didn't even make him blink.
"Konan." Nagato's voice cut through the chaos. "Stand down. I'll handle this."
His oldest friend froze mid-technique, paper butterflies dissolving back into chakra. "Nagato, I can—"
"No." His tone left no room for argument. "You saw what happened to the others. Deidara's explosive art couldn't scratch him. Sasori's hundred puppets meant nothing. Hidan's immortality was irrelevant." His Rinnegan eyes never left Naruto. "Adding yourself to the casualty list helps no one."
Konan's jaw tightened, but she obeyed, retreating to stand behind Nagato's wheelchair. Her mind raced through tactical calculations.
Deidara's C3 explosion did nothing. If even concentrated explosive chakra can't damage him...
She thought of the lake outside the Hidden Rain Village. The secret location where she'd spent years preparing her ultimate technique—six hundred billion explosive tags, layered and sealed, waiting to detonate simultaneously. Ten minutes of continuous explosions designed to kill Obito, the masked man who'd manipulated them for so long.
Would even that be enough?
The fifteen billion explosive tags currently woven into her clothing and paper techniques suddenly seemed inadequate. She'd thought it was overkill for any opponent.
Now she wasn't sure it would be enough to slow Naruto down.
His body is too hard. I've never seen physical durability like this. Not from jinchūriki. Not from the Third Raikage. Not from anyone.
Still, she remained ready. Her fingers twitched, keeping the paper chakra active beneath her skin. If Nagato showed any sign of losing, she'd unleash everything. All fifteen billion tags at once, consequences be damned.
Nagato felt her presence behind him, solid and unwavering. Warmth touched his heart—brief, bittersweet. After everything, you're still here. Still ready to die for a broken dream.
He forced the sentiment down and focused on Naruto. "I heard how you addressed me earlier. You're one of Jiraiya-sensei's students as well?"
"That's right." Naruto's expression brightened. "Which means if you surrender and join my farm, we'd be brothers. Practically family."
The farm. Again.
Heat flared in Nagato's chest—not quite anger, something closer to insulted disbelief. He's mocking me. The leader of the Akatsuki organization, the wielder of the Rinnegan, the one who will bring peace to this world... and he wants me to work on a farm. With animals.
The sheer audacity of it was almost impressive.
"You're joking," Nagato said flatly. "You can't seriously expect—"
"I'm completely serious," Naruto interrupted. "The benefits are excellent. Kurama's cooking alone is worth it. Plus, you'd get room and board, healthcare, and a genuine sense of community. Way better than hiding in a tower controlling corpses."
Konan's eye twitched behind her paper flower.
Nagato took a slow breath, forcing his anger down into something cold and controlled. "Tell me your real purpose for coming here."
"I just did." Naruto held up one finger. "First, I'm here to disband the Akatsuki." A second finger. "Second, I genuinely want to be friends with you, Nagato. I want you to join me, work with me, build something better than..." He gestured vaguely at the scattered body parts and defeated members. "...whatever this is supposed to be."
"Join your subordinates?" Nagato's voice dropped to frost. "You want me to abandon everything—my organization, my goals, my purpose—to become your follower? Then tell me, Uzumaki Naruto." The Rinnegan blazed. "What is your dream?"
"My dream?" Naruto considered the question seriously. "To make friends. Many, many friends. To connect with people, understand them, help them find happiness."
Silence.
Then Nagato laughed. Not the warm laugh from earlier, but something harsh and bitter, edged with genuine pity.
"That's it? That's your grand ambition?" His voice carried equal parts disbelief and contempt. "Making friends? Such a small, childish dream. Such a worthless dream." He leaned forward in his wheelchair, eyes blazing with fanatical certainty. "You want to disband my organization for that?"
The words poured out faster now, passion overriding restraint. "My dream is to achieve world peace—true, lasting peace that eluded even the First Hokage. Your dream is playground nonsense. The difference between us is the difference between a god and a child playing in the dirt."
His expression shifted, becoming almost ecstatic. "Can you imagine it? A world without war. No more children starving in the rain. No more families torn apart by conflict. No more small nations crushed between competing powers." His hands clenched. "That's what I'm building. That's what the Akatsuki organization represents."
Nagato's voice hardened. "So no, Naruto. I won't surrender. I won't disband the organization. And I certainly won't let you hinder the path to peace."
He met Naruto's eyes directly. "You were born in a great nation. Konoha—one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries. You've never known what it's like to be caught between giants, to watch your home become a battlefield for other people's wars."
Emotion crept into his voice despite his efforts to suppress it. "I was born in the Hidden Rain Village. A small country crushed between Fire, Wind, and Earth. I've watched children die in the crossfire of conflicts that had nothing to do with them. I've seen entire families erased because they happened to live where armies clashed."
His hands trembled slightly on the wheelchair's armrests. "I hate that feeling. The helplessness. The injustice. So I decided—I swore—that I would create a world where such suffering was impossible."
The Rinnegan blazed brighter. "The only way to achieve true peace is to eliminate the source of conflict. No nations means no borders to fight over. No governments means no politicians sending others to die for their ambitions. Just humanity, united under one absolute power that enforces peace through overwhelming force."
He smiled, cold and certain. "When people truly understand pain—when they fear it enough—they'll finally abandon war. That's the path to peace. That's what you're trying to stop with your childish dream of friendship."
Naruto listened quietly throughout the entire speech. His expression didn't change, but something in his eyes shifted.
Not fear. Not doubt.
Disappointment.
"You're right about one thing," Naruto said softly. "I was born in Konoha. I don't know what it's like to watch your village become a battlefield." He paused. "But I do know what it's like to be alone. To be hated for something you didn't choose. To have your dream mocked and dismissed by people who think they know better."
His voice remained level, but gained an edge. "And I know what it's like when someone laughs at your dream. When they call it worthless, stupid, childish."
The temperature seemed to drop.
"Nagato." Naruto's eyes locked onto the Rinnegan without flinching. "You can insult me. You can try to kill me. But you never, ever mock someone's dream."
The words came out quiet. Controlled. But beneath them ran something vast and dangerous, like an ocean before a tsunami.
"Any dream—no matter how small it seems—deserves respect. Because dreams are what make us human. They're what give us hope. And you..." Naruto's expression hardened. "You just called mine worthless."
Killing intent washed across the plaza. Not dramatic, not flashy—just a sudden, crushing weight that made breathing difficult. Like standing at the bottom of an ocean trench, pressure building from all sides.
Konan stumbled back a step despite herself. What is this presence?
Even Nagato felt it, his borrowed hearts skipping beats inside the Paths of Pain.
"So here's what's going to happen," Naruto said, each word crisp and clear. "I'm going to make you understand. I'm going to teach you why laughing at someone's dream is the stupidest thing you could possibly do."
He took one step forward.
"You want me to feel pain? To understand it?" Naruto's lips curved into something that wasn't quite a smile. "No, Nagato. You're going to feel pain. You're going to understand it. And when this is over, when you're lying in the dirt questioning everything you thought you knew..."
Another step.
"Then we'll talk about whose dream is worthless."
The words hung in the air like a death sentence.
Nagato stared at him, mind racing. Those phrases. 'Feel the pain. Understand the pain.' Those were my lines. The speech I was about to give. His jaw clenched. He stole my dramatic moment.
But beneath the irritation, genuine concern stirred. The pressure Naruto was exuding, the absolute certainty in his voice—this wasn't bravado. This was someone who knew exactly how powerful they were and wasn't afraid to use it.
I wanted to make him understand the reality of my dream through pain. To show him the futility of resistance. Nagato's hands gripped his wheelchair tighter. But he's reversed it. Now I'm the one who needs to prove myself.
"Very well," Nagato said, forcing his voice to remain steady. "You're powerful, Naruto. I won't insult you by pretending otherwise." His chakra began to surge, flowing through the black receivers embedded in each Path of Pain. "But power alone doesn't determine the outcome of battle. The Rinnegan has existed since the Sage of Six Paths. Its abilities transcend conventional combat."