Jada swallowed. This was her first time meeting him, the leader of the Akatsuki, the same man who could level the Leaf Village.
"Where is Arthur?" the Naraka Path asked.
"He's trapped in this orb," Alex said, holding the object tightly.
Konan's amber eyes narrowed. She had a hard time believing that someone like Arthur Bennett—a man with such overwhelming power and knowledge—could be trapped in an orb by two seemingly simple Leaf ninjas.
"If this is true," Konan stated, "then give Arthur to us."
"No," Alex instantly answered.
Konan blinked. She hadn't expected such a flat refusal given the disparity in their apparent stamina. Even Jada was a tad taken aback.
"Arthur was a rogue from the Leaf," Alex continued. "That makes him the Leaf's priority, so I can't hand him over."
"Then we'll take him by force," the Naraka Path said.
Straightaway, Jada's thoughts stirred. She could try to fight, but she was drained from the Susanoo usage. Alex himself didn't look like he could reactivate his Tenseigan Chakra Mode. Against Pain and Konan, in this state, they would die.
Perhaps talking to the two Akatsuki would work. This was, after all, the perfect moment to try and convert Nagato and Konan, steering them away from Obito's manipulation.
But could she do it? She wasn't Naruto Uzumaki.
Before she could attempt it, Alex held up his hand. "Just a moment…" Then he tucked the orb deeper into his vest and looked directly at the Naraka Path. "I understand that you recruited Jasper into the Akatsuki."
Jada looked at him sharply. How does he know that?
"He's currently in the Leaf Village," Alex continued, "and without him, I wouldn't have been able to come here in time to seal Arthur."
"And…?" Konan pressed.
"And it means that he still wants to join you after knowing what sort of peace you're trying to attain." Both Akatsuki members paused. "And if he joins, you can be assured that he will be feeding intel to you. High-level intel. Specifically about the location and security of the Nine-Tailed Jinchūriki, Uzumaki Naruto."
"Alex!" Jada hissed, eyes wide. "What are you saying?! You can't offer up Naruto!"
Alex ignored her and kept his eyes locked on the Rinnegan.
"You can also be confident that Arthur won't be let loose," Alex added. "No, the moment he fell prey to my trap, his fate was sealed."
It was a tempting gamble, but Jada finally understood what Alex was doing: he was trading a potential future asset for their immediate survival. And if he succeeded, they would be avoiding an upfront confrontation.
"You expect us to believe that Arthur won't escape?" Konan skeptically questioned.
"No," Alex answered with a small, tired smile. "I expect the Akatsuki to be pragmatic and carry on their missions in secret. Fighting us here costs you energy and risks damaging the prize you want later. Walking away gets you an inside man."
"You sound like you know a lot about us," Nagato probed through the Path.
The suspicion was understandable since these were just kids in his eyes.
Alex had to be careful. So he did what he normally did: he lied. "Not really. All I know is that Jasper wants to join you. And he's my friend, so if he wants to join, then it means you guys aren't all that bad."
Konan looked at Nagato. She couldn't tell if this strange boy was joking or insane. The Akatsuki were unknown terrorists. They were murderers. Nothing about them screamed "good." Yet, this supposed boy spoke with a strange lack of fear.
The silence stretched as the wind whistled through the crater.
Jada couldn't take it anymore. This deception, the cold calculus—it wasn't right. These were broken shinobi still being manipulated by Madara and Obito.
"Listen!" she finally announced, stepping forward. Konan shifted, ready to attack as Jada said, "I know who you two are. Konan. And..." She paused, looking at the Naraka Path. If she said his name, would it be an instant death sentence? She had to try something to appeal to Nagato's pain. "Yahiko… he wouldn't have wanted this."
The reaction was instantaneous: the Naraka Path flinched, and Konan's eyes widened. For the first time, their composure cracked.
Yahiko. The name was a ghost to them, as he was the foundation of the Akatsuki, the dream that died in the rain. Very few knew that name. Even fewer knew the connection between Pain and the founder.
It put Nagato on edge. The Leaf Village knew too much. Something was wrong. Someone had to have leaked their information. Therefore, Nagato's killing intent spiked as he growled. "How do you know that name?"
Yet before they could answer, Konan had rapidly considered the situation. Arthur, the unpredictable variable who had caused this war, was captured. The Akatsuki's forces had taken losses. The element of surprise was gone. And now, this girl was invoking the name of their dead comrade.
"Wait, Pain," she said, catching the Path's signal.
The Akatsuki's objective had failed. To continue fighting these two unknowns—one who had defeated Arthur and one who knew their deepest secrets—was tactically unsound.
The war here was over.
Straightaway, Konan pulled out a handful of spheres and threw them at her feet.
Pop! Hiss!
Thick, grey smoke exploded outward, engulfing them. Jada and Alex shielded their eyes. Through the smoke, the sound of rustling paper filled the air as thousands of sheets of paper swirled before funneling.
By the time the smoke cleared, the Naraka Path and Konan were gone.
Alex immediately activated his Byakugan and scanned the horizon. He saw the chakra signatures moving fast, retreating west alongside the remaining Rain Village members. To make sure things were safe, not even White Zetsu's spores could be found lingering.
"They're gone," Alex finally said, relaxing himself. "Ya almost had me there when ya said Yahiko's name."
Jada looked around the empty battlefield. The silence was deafening. Arthur was gone. The Akatsuki had fled. But the cost.
"The Uchiha," she whispered. "The Uzumaki. Arthur actually revived them. They're still out there, Alex, and they aren't just going to stop."
She wanted to speak to Itachi. She wanted to explain to Nagato that his parents were likely walking the earth again. But she had missed her chance.
"We can worry about those details later," Alex said, patting the orb in his pocket. "I'm just happy we won. To think Arthur really disorganized things. Don't think I've ever seen someone do that in Kishi's fanfics before either." Jada turned to him, unamused by the joke. "Sorry. Just tryin' to lighten the mood."
After a brief moment, Jada looked up at the sky. The world was a mess of revived ghosts and broken alliances. "We have a lot of work to do."
"Yeah. But first... let's get home."
"Can you transfer your chakra to me?"
Alex blinked before smacking his forehead. "Good idea. Almost thought we had to fly back." His optimism was not nearly as infectious as he had hoped.
✟
The air at the Leaf Village gates shimmered, distorting like heat over asphalt. A split second later, the familiar swoosh of the Flying raijin cut through the silence. Alex and Jada materialized out of thin air as their feet hit the packed dirt of the main road.
They hadn't been on the ground for even five minutes before the sound of rushing sandals filled the air.
"Looks like we've got company," Alex smiled.
"Wait, how did they—"
"It's Arthur's chakra pouring from the seal. It should relax in a second."
"But what should we tell them when they get here?"
Alex pondered for a split second. "I dunno."
The response almost made Jada fall back.
Not a moment too soon, the Leaf Village's defenders converged.
"Alex! Jada!" Alice yelled, breaking through the line of guards first.
She didn't hug them, but her relief was palpable in the way her shoulders dropped. Behind her, a formidable assembly followed. From Jasper to Margaret and William standing next to him to even the village council that commanded the space: Hiruzen, Tsunade, and Minato. Flanking them were Asuma, Kakashi, Might Guy, and a few notable clan heads like Choza Akimichi.
"We're back," Jada said with warmness.
Tsunade pushed to the front as her eyes scanned them for critical injuries. When she deemed them unneeded of medical attention, she demanded, "Mind explaining what that was earlier?" That, being the pressure, made everyone feel like the sky was falling.
Alex straightened himself and the attention of the gathered leaders. There was no point in filtering the truth now.
"It was Arthur," he calmly stated. "Arthur Bennett."
The name sucked the air out of the conversation.
Alex wasted no time as he launched into a comprehensive report. He detailed his arrival, the location of where they were, and the revelation that Arthur had not only survived his supposed death but had also been orchestrating a shadow war.
Alex even spoke of the army of mercenaries, the Akatsuki, and the terrifying reality that Arthur had perfected a technique to revive the dead en masse. Nothing about those facts was left out. Not even the revival of both the Uchiha and Uzumaki clans.
Jada watched the faces of the crowd. She had wanted to tell them more—the truth about the Akatsuki, about the deal Alex made—but she held her tongue on that specific detail.
The revival of the clans was damaging enough, and the shock was already absolute.
So much so that Hiruzen's pipe nearly fell from his mouth. Minato looked pale due to the implication of his wife's clan being revived—that hit on a personal level.
Even Kakashi, usually unshakeable, widened his visible eye. He glanced over at Jasper, finally understanding why the boy had returned in such a catastrophic state earlier. Whatever these "kids" just faced was an unimaginable skirmish of the ages.
"You guys did all that without me?!" Margaret announced with wide eyes.
"Unbelievable," Asuma muttered. "An entire war... right under our noses."
Suddenly, a loud wail broke the tension. "You mean to tell me you kids fought in a WAR without ME?!" It was Might Guy with tears streaming down his face in thick rivers. He then grabbed Jada by the shoulders, shaking her gently. "My youthful pupil! To face such odds and return! I am so proud of you! Your flames of youth are burning brighter than the sun!"
It seemed as if Guy was the only one ignoring the gravity of the necromancy report. He soon turned to Alex, giving him a gleaming thumbs-up. "And you, Alex! A splendid display of guts!"
The praise was lavish and loud. Jada managed a weak smile. However, the enthusiasm didn't extend to everyone.
Jasper received a few side-glances from the Jōnin, but no one rushed to congratulate him after knowing he was also in this war. His reputation as a troublemaker left him isolated in the victory.
"Enough, Guy," Tsunade cut in. She then stepped closer to Alex. "If you sealed Arthur in something, where is it?"
Alex reached into his vest pocket and pulled out the glass orb. "Here it is."
The group leaned in, fascinated and horrified. They could sense the chakra radiating from it—it felt like a cage made of nightmares.
"I understand that you're very talented, Alex," Minato began. "But how could you have possibly created a sealing jutsu of this magnitude?"
He was right to ask now of all times since such a technique clearly required resources that don't exist in the village's collections. Much less a teenager's arsenal.
Alex didn't blink. "I used the Curse Mark," he lied. "After having reverse-engineered the juinjutsu's consciousness-transfer properties, I inverted the seal to make a construct."
Alice and Jada knew he was lying. But they both stayed silent because, if the village knew Alex had been hunting Tailed Beasts or possessed the Tenseigan, he would possibly be locked up alongside Arthur.
"Orochimaru's work..." Hiruzen mused, stroking his beard. "Dangerous. But effective."
Minato looked at the orb, then at Alex. A realization was dawning on him. "If Arthur perfected a revival jutsu, then he's also the one responsible for Kushina and I being here."
"As well as Ino's and my son's resurrections," Shikaku added.
The thought didn't settle well with Asuma as a heavy silence returned.
At that very moment, they all understood that those who had gotten a second chance to roam the earth were due to a move on a chessboard by a teenager who sought to control the world. Such a revelation cast a grim shadow over their existence.