Resurrection techniques had once been a research focus of every village.
Konoha had Impure World Reincarnation,
Sunagakure had One's Own Life Reincarnation,
and unbeknownst to Chiyo, there also existed Dragon Life Reincarnation and the Rinnegan's Outer Path — Samsara of Heavenly Life.
The reason Kyoichi had spent Ten-Tails chakra—even though he knew he might never achieve a permanent, Sage-level seal like the original Sage of Six Paths—was precisely because of this.
Killing White Zetsu was easy.
Killing Black Zetsu was almost impossible.
And secondly—
Black Zetsu was too slippery.
Silent, traceless.
Almost nobody in the world could sense its presence.
Even Kyoichi couldn't normally detect it—he could only find it through crude methods or when Black Zetsu exposed itself by mistake.
In truth—
From the moment Black Zetsu was created, it had maxed out every stealth attribute possible.
The only ones who could truly detect it would be the Ōtsutsuki clan.
Even Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo might not manage it.
Otherwise, Black Zetsu would never have survived back then.
With the power of Hagoromo and Hamura, sealing a creature like Black Zetsu would've been trivial—especially since Kaguya created it right in front of them.
If they could've detected it, they would have.
There would have been no need to wait centuries.
So—
Black Zetsu was a complete and utter problem.
Even sealed inside a Six Paths–level Chibaku Tensei, it wasn't truly "safe."
Kyoichi sat below the mountaintop, thinking over and over about the aftermath, his head pounding from the sheer complications.
Though their Chibaku Tensei wasn't a perfect "Six Paths" technique…
It was very close.
The massive sphere floating in the sky, nearly indistinguishable from a second moon, made that obvious.
Kyoichi and Nagato might not have reached the strength of the Six Paths brothers—but they had produced something with similar form.
Thus—
Storing it in a sacred land like Mount Myōboku was impossible.
If he could, he would've happily dumped the sphere there—let that old toad who kept preaching "peace of the shinobi world" stare at Black Zetsu forever.
But that wasn't happening.
"Right… shouldn't we name it first?
The Sage created the moon, and while ours isn't exactly a moon, it still counts as a once-in-a-lifetime sight…"
Nagato slumped on the mountain peak.
Kyoichi had brought them here through Flying Thunder God.
Both of them were exhausted—
and this was with Ten-Tails chakra assisting.
Without it, one could imagine how impossible such a technique would've been.
But there was good news.
They still had about one-third of their Ten-Tails chakra left.
If not for wanting to preserve that fraction, they wouldn't have pushed themselves into such a miserable state.
"Oh right, why did you bring us here? Even if we didn't appear, those people down there already know what happened."
"They do. But if we don't show ourselves, they won't know how strong we truly are—or what exactly you and I accomplished inside that sphere.
And that uncertainty forces them to think twice before doing anything stupid."
Kyoichi nodded lightly.
He didn't spell it out fully, but Nagato was no longer the same straightforward young man he'd been before arriving in Konoha.
During this short time, he had learned many things.
One of them being—
to think.
Not because Kyoichi or Tsunade lectured him, but because Nagato had always been smart—
he'd simply never had the right environment to step back from war, loss, and pressure.
With Yahiko and Konan safe,
with no constant threat hanging over their heads,
his mindset had stabilized, and his reasoning matured quickly.
Nagato thought for a moment and understood instantly.
Mystery and uncertainty create deterrence.
Otherwise—
If the two of them showed up publicly, someone with strong perception might realize their condition wasn't flawless—
or sense the Ten-Tails' chakra within them.
Those were secrets Kyoichi didn't want exposed.
"…But weren't there Kiri ninja at sea earlier?"
Nagato found the flaw.
Kyoichi chuckled.
"True. But Yagura has fought me several times—we're… familiar. He won't be foolish."
What was Kirigakure's current situation?
A pile of disasters.
The Third Mizukage survived only because of constant medical support.
The position of Fourth Mizukage was still up in the air—this whole northern mission was basically Yagura's fight to regain credibility.
Otherwise, how could Yagura have been sent north?
So—
Kirigakure was already half-crippled.
There was no way they would dare offend Konoha, now or in the future.
Especially because—
Kirigakure and Kumogakure still had an old, unsettled debt from years ago.
They weren't directly responsible for the Third Raikage's death,
but judging from A's attitude,
that grudge was far from erased.
Nagato didn't know all this, but he understood that Kirigakure's strength was no longer what it had been.
"So what do you plan to do next? Return to Amegakure?"
"Hmm… honestly, I'm not sure.
Part of me wants to go home, but part of me wants to see more of the world. The shinobi world is big—I've barely seen anything beyond Amegakure."
Nagato gazed over the vast landscape, quietly emotional.
After a moment, he said softly:
"Truthfully… I've always feared others discovering I had the Rinnegan. I was mentally prepared to hand them over to you.
But I didn't expect…"
"The Sage's eyes—everyone wants them."
Kyoichi didn't deny it.
Pretending he had no desire for the Rinnegan would be too hypocritical.
He wasn't here to act like a saint.
Nagato froze, then asked:
"Then why didn't you take them?"
Kyoichi smiled.
"The Rinnegan is powerful, no doubt. But compared to a pair of eyes, I need something else more."
Nagato blinked in surprise.
"A comrade.
A partner with the same goals.
The shinobi world isn't as safe as we'd like to think. Madara is dead, yes—but the secrets of the Ōtsutsuki and the God Tree aren't solved yet."
A genius like Nagato would misunderstand if Kyoichi dodged the truth.
Better to be direct.
Nagato processed it, then nodded slowly.
What Kyoichi said made sense.
If positions were reversed, he would've made the same choice.
And the implication was clear—
Kyoichi trusted him.
Saw him as a comrade.
That recognition stirred something warm in Nagato's chest.
"Why not travel the world with Jiraiya?"
"Huh?"
Nagato froze for a moment, unsure how to respond.
"He is your teacher, isn't he? And most of your ideals came from Jiraiya… and Yahiko. Though Jiraiya himself doesn't understand half of what he preaches—so don't copy him too closely."