"After that, countless comrades died in the war..."
"Many, many, many people kept dying."
"The people of the Land of Fire basked in the illusion of peace. They relied on Konoha's meager commissions, which in turn became the funds for war. Many of them knew they were contributing to the conflict, yet they prated on about their hypocritical peace."
"The peace of you Great Nations is built solely upon the sacrifices of the smaller ones."
"Your peace is nothing more than violence against us."
"As long as people live, they will unconsciously hurt others."
"As long as humanity exists, hatred will exist."
"In this cursed world, true peace does not exist at all."
"Everything Jiraiya-sensei said was nothing more than fiction."
"I have told my story... as for the story of our fellow apprentice, Kanon, hers is far more cruel than mine. You should wait for her to tell you herself."
"Now, let me hear your answer!"
In response, Naruto reached into his clothes and pulled out a book titled The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja.
Nagato gazed at the book, lost in thought.
"It truly might be as you say... I feel that you might be right," Naruto said.
"Is that so..." Nagato nodded.
"I've come to understand you. Even so, I still cannot forgive you!"
"Then let us settle this," Nagato said flatly.
"I really do hate you... But... But Pervy Sage believed in me and Kanon. He entrusted everything to us."
"If that's the case, then I will try to believe in what Pervy Sage once believed in so deeply."
"That is my answer!"
"I'm not going to kill you," Naruto declared, his expression resolute.
"To believe in what Jiraiya-sensei once believed in?"
"I see. So that is your answer?"
"Are we supposed to just wait, believing that you can bring peace to the world?!"
"Don't make me laugh! Never mind me, even Kanon, after all the suffering she has endured, do you think she can still believe in Jiraiya's words?!"
"Even if you defeat me here, you have many hardships ahead of you. The hatred between Kanon and Konoha is impossible to resolve! Have you thought about what you will do?!"
Naruto fell silent. He truly hadn't thought that far ahead. Perhaps the only way was for the two of them to die together. He wouldn't be the Fox, and Kanon wouldn't be an Uchiha; in another world, they could finally understand each other.
At this moment, Naruto was prepared to die alongside Kanon. He had not found a true solution.
"True peace does not exist! As long as we live in this cursed world!"
"Such a thing is impossible!"
Naruto looked up, staring directly at Nagato. "If that's the case, then I will break this curse!"
"If peace truly exists, I will seize it!"
"I'm not giving up!"
At those words, Nagato was stunned. His expression froze.
These weren't words Naruto had come up with himself, they were the very answer Nagato had once given to Jiraiya.
It was only pain that had forced him to abandon that path. Yet here was Naruto, having experienced the same level of pain, still clinging to his original conviction.
"Those words..."
"Yeah. They're all lines from this book!"
"It was the first book Pervy Sage ever wrote. He truly wanted to change the world with it."
"At the end of the book, he wrote about the student who inspired him. It was your name, Nagato."
"How can it be..." Nagato actually felt a flicker of regret.
Memories of his time with Jiraiya flooded his mind. At that moment, Pain was truly defeated.
Naruto looked at the copy of The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja in his hand and said softly, "The protagonist of this book... his name is Naruto!"
"So my name is a precious memento left to me by Pervy Sage."
"I can't give up and tarnish my master's legacy!"
As Naruto spoke, he remembered the dreams he had discussed with Kanon while sitting on the cliff as children. Finally, he said with conviction:
"I will become Hokage, and then I will bring peace to the Hidden Rain too!"
"Believe in me!" Naruto shouted.
"Why? How can you be so sure that you will never change?"
"In the future, no matter how much pain you face, even if Kanon turns her blade against you, you won't change?"
"Can you believe in yourself that deeply?!"
"Can you declare it with such certainty?!"
"Can you trust yourself?!"
Hearing Nagato's words, Naruto lowered his head. "I have my own pain..."
Naruto thought of his childhood, being loathed by everyone, yet having Kanon by his side.
He thought of forming Team 7, of being the dead last, while Kanon supported him.
He thought of Kanon's departure, and his battle with Sasuke at the Valley.
He thought of Jiraiya dying before Kanon's eyes, and those tears of blood.
All of this motivated him every second to be a better person.
"Inside me, a great pain has been cultivated."
"I don't know what kind of pain will come at me next..."
"But, if I stop believing in myself because of that..."
"If the protagonist changes, it becomes a different story. The legacy sensei left behind would become a different book. That wouldn't be Naruto!"
"I can't write books like sensei did! So, the sequel is the path of my own life."
"No matter how painful things get, I will keep walking."
"Because that's who Naruto is!"
Nagato's pupils dilated, and then he gave a small nod. "If the protagonist changes, it becomes a different story..."
"I am the senior disciple. We studied under the same master, and shared the same respect for him."
"I said before that we should be able to understand each other."
"Though that was originally just a joke."
"You are a truly extraordinary fellow. You and Kanon give me entirely different feelings. Looking at you... I can't help but be reminded of my former self."
Hearing Nagato's words, Konan said worriedly, "Nagato."
"I cannot believe in Jiraiya."
"No... I cannot even believe in myself..."
"But, I have a premonition."
"The paths you and Kanon walk will lead to a different future. A better future than mine..."
"Let me look forward to it. Between you and Kanon, two different extremes, who will hold the true answer?"
As Nagato spoke, he pulled his hands out of the control apparatus.
"Naruto Uzumaki, Kanon Uchiha... I shall place my faith in the two of you, the disciples of Jiraiya-sensei."
"Naruto Uzumaki, when you clash with Kanon Uchiha again, you will understand that her pain is far from inferior to mine."
"At that time, ponder the true answer. But before then..."
"Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique!"
"Nagato! You—!" Konan cried out in alarm.
"Konan! That's enough! I have a new choice now, the choice I once abandoned."
"When you go back, take my place and stay by Kanon's side. She has lost everything; she cannot lose you too. And if you are with her, I can rest easy."
"What?! What is that jutsu?!" Naruto asked in shock.
Konan saw the determination in Nagato's eyes and remembered Kanon's previous despair and frenzied agony. She seemed to understand. She turned her gaze toward Naruto.
"One who possesses the Rinnegan not only has the technique to fully manipulate the Six Paths of Pain, but is also said to be able to transcend the cycle of life and death."
"Nagato's ocular power is a technique that governs life and death. The Seventh Pain..."
Konan looked at Naruto. She knew that once Nagato used this technique, he would surely die.
Was he willing to go this far to help this child? An extraordinary child... one who had changed Nagato...
Nagato's body trembled.
"Outer Path! Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique!"
Beneath the Hidden Leaf Village, a massive King of Hell opened its mouth, and countless green lights flickered across the entirety of Konoha.
Innumerable gates of light emerged, and everyone who had died returned to life, including Neji and the others whom Kanon had killed with Amaterasu.
…
Mount Myoboku.
The Great Toad Sage watched the crystal ball.
"To think that the destinies of Jiraiya's disciples, the two Children of Prophecy, would intertwine so... No, there is yet another Child of Prophecy, one who has become the guide for the revolution of the shinobi world..."
"Back then, when Jiraiya chose not to give up and Fukasaku was saved by Kanon... perhaps this was already predestined."
"Who would have thought that book would truly become the key to changing the world?"
"But the other Child of Prophecy... she will also shake the world to its foundations."