"My Nima!"
Everyone inside the Akatsuki's space was about to explode.
Why hadn't Nagato said something so important sooner?
It was one thing for the organization's operations to be exposed — that was inevitable. But personal information? That was a different level of catastrophic. In the ninja world, intel wasn't just valuable — it was everything. A shinobi's strength was only as effective as the secrets they kept. The moment someone mastered your data, your strategies, your identity… you became prey.
The members of Akatsuki turned toward Nagato with wide eyes, searching for answers. But they only found the same pale, expressionless face. Not a twitch. Not a blink. No visible panic.
Their unease slowly eased.
If he, the God-like Pain, wasn't flustered, why should they be?
Still, someone had been stripped clean on the world stage. Naked, exposed, humiliated — and it wasn't just a metaphor. As realization dawned on the group, they all turned toward the curled-up figure of Uchiha Obito.
Red. Steaming. Curled up like a roasted shrimp.
If not for the scraps of fabric covering his essentials, it would have been a full-on censorship emergency.
"FEIDAN!!! I'LL KILL YOU!!! FEIDAN!!! I SWEAR I'LL TEAR YOU APART!!!"
Obito's voice echoed through the ground, grating and hoarse. He thought he was invisible in this dimension, unseeable to the outside world. But everything was exposed.
...
Elsewhere, Jiraiya blinked dumbly at the broadcasted answer.
The whole ninja world could see?
Including... her?
"Tsunade...?" he whispered, as his face flushed a deep crimson. "Did she... just see all that?"
A second later, he was waving frantically at the screen like a drunken fool. "HEY! TSUNADE! YOU SEE ME?!"
...
SLAP!
That was the sound of Tsunade's palm smacking her own forehead.
"This idiot…"
Tsunade's face was hot, and not from battle. Mute stood beside her, eyes twitching as the silent tension swelled.
"When he gets back, I'm going to kill him myself," Tsunade muttered, pulling her cloak up and over her head like a hermit. The number of people staring at her along the road... it was unbearable.
The entire ninja world now knew Jiraiya liked her — and she wasn't exactly hiding her reaction.
This… was humiliating.
...
Watching the Konoha chaos, Killer Bee wrinkled his nose, confused. He took a deep sniff.
Was that... sour?
Was he being third-wheeled by the universe?
He looked around at the other Kage, but his gaze settled on his brother, the Raikage.
They'd fought alongside Tsunade and Jiraiya once. Back then, Bee had assumed Jiraiya was like him — a committed bachelor. He even thought Raikage and Tsunade could've been a match.
Now?
Now he just felt betrayed.
"You claspin' your hands for this, bro?"
"What're you lookin' at me for?" Raikage frowned. "You thinkin' the same thing?"
"Well... yeah. Big bro, I thought you could talk to her—"
"Don't finish that sentence."
Raikage folded his arms tightly, eyes narrowing.
This wasn't the time for sentimentality. If anything, the exposure of Akatsuki was the opening move of something greater.
A turning point.
...
"The troubled times are coming..." Onoki sighed, rubbing his old shoulders.
As a veteran Kage, he could see the currents of change before they broke the surface. The Moon's Eye Plan, the fate of Jiraiya, the rise of Uzumaki Naruto — everything had been shaken.
Jiraiya would change. He wouldn't walk the same path. He wouldn't die chasing secrets.
And if that changed, Naruto's future changed.
He would likely receive training earlier, better guidance. Maybe even more allies. The prelude of chaos was being rewritten.
The shinobi world was already shifting beneath their feet.
...
Nagato, meanwhile, had read the screen again.
And again.
A fourth time.
Each glance was another psychological stab.
His lips twitched as he mentally replayed the words "The Peak of Forbearance."
It had been meant as praise. An ideal. A signal to the Akatsuki's dominance.
But broadcast across the entire planet? With visuals?
Of him, getting beaten down by Naruto?
It wasn't just exposure — it was theatrical exposure. Like a god being heckled on stage.
Nagato clenched his fists behind his knees. His cold, emotionless mask was now the only thing keeping him from disintegrating into a red puddle of shame.
"I am a god," he whispered. "Not a man."
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
It's just a live broadcast…
...
But his mind was racing.
The Moon's Eye Plan… would not work.
It was no longer a tool of peace — it was a fantasy based on lies, and lies had been exposed. Obito couldn't be trusted. Jue was suspect.
Still, the tailed beasts — the keys to chakra — needed to be captured.
If not for the Eye of the Moon, then to dismantle the power of the Great Nations.
It had to begin now.
Before Naruto grew stronger.
Before alliances could form.
Before peace was decided without him.
Nagato's eyes shone with terrifying resolve.
Maybe now... now was the perfect time to reveal Akatsuki to the world. Not from the shadows, but with divine fire.
Then he paused.
He couldn't just repeat Deidara's line — "The end of forbearance" — no matter how dramatic. That was his moment.
Nagato was the leader.
He needed something greater.
Something... legendary.
Something that would echo through history.
Then — like a bolt from the sky — the words struck him.
A smirk curled the edge of his lip. His eyes gleamed with heavenly arrogance.
The space quieted as he stood, Pain's body rising in front of the others.
And with a voice like thunder, he declared:
"If peace cannot be taught… then let it be engraved — in pain."
Everyone froze.
Even Deidara blinked.
"...Tch. Not bad," he muttered.
Nagato didn't need approval.
The world would hear it soon enough.