"All conflict in this world stems from humanity's failure to understand one another. And this heavenly screen—whatever it is—is merely another discordant note in that strife."
His voice carried an inhuman, aloof indifference. "If it tries to obstruct peace, then—"
Deva Path Pain slowly raised his hand, palm toward the sky, as if proclaiming divine authority.
"I will make the world feel Pain; that will settle everything."
Konan watched the familiar yet utterly alien back of "Yahiko," listening to the obsessive, absolute words spoken through him by Nagato.
The worry in her eyes did not fully fade, yet in the end it melted into silent trust.
She gave a slight nod. "Mm. I believe in you."
After a brief silence, Deva Path Pain spoke again, turning to practical matters: "Uchiha Itachi has been confirmed to have defected from Konoha. He will join the organization soon."
Konan's brows drew together at once. "Uchiha Itachi? The one who massacred his own clan? A man like that must be twisted inside; his mind is surely broken. His joining—"
"The organization needs manpower." The Deva Path's answer was terse and pragmatic. "His power is worth using. If he truly harbors ill intent—"
A killing chill flashed through the Rinnegan, "I will teach him that the majesty of a god brooks no challenge."
Several days later, the Ninja World's public opinion exploded.
If the appearance of the "heavenly screen" had cast a troubling question mark, the news that followed—of the entire Uchiha Clan annihilated in one night by Konoha's Rogue Ninja Uchiha Itachi—was a bomb that detonated across the entire realm!
At first, everyone who heard the tale dismissed it as absurd.
"What kind of joke is this? That Uchiha? One of Konoha's strongest clans?"
"Uchiha Itachi? The famous prodigy? Slaughtered his whole clan? The rumor's beyond ridiculous!"
No one wanted to believe it.
It sounded more like a sick prank or a smokescreen from Konoha.
Yet, as spies from every nation paid steep prices to send back irrefutable intelligence—
Konoha's Uchiha district had become a dead zone; the sole survivor, Uchiha Sasuke, had been placed under the personal care of the Third Hokage; and the Rogue Ninja Uchiha Itachi had been issued an S-rank bounty—
all doubts were shattered.
The Ninja World truly erupted.
But unlike the tangled reactions inside Konoha, the other great countries and hidden villages, after the initial shock, were swept by feelings of schadenfreude and the pleasure of watching from a safe distance.
"Hahahaha! Those Konoha fools chopped off their own sharpest blade!"
"Who on the battlefield didn't fear the power of the Sharingan? Now it's gone thanks to their internal strife!"
"Konoha's strength has taken a nosedive! The heavens themselves aid us!"
"So much for the so-called number-one hidden village—rotten to the core inside!"
No one pitied Konoha.
In the brutal game of the Ninja World, a rival's self-weakening is a godsend.
The fall of the Uchiha meant a grievous loss of Konoha's top-tier combat power and a drastic reduction of the Sharingan's threat on any battlefield, shifting the balance among the Five Great Nations.
For a time, while the higher-ups of every land were shocked by Itachi's ruthlessness and might, they secretly rejoiced.
Some even began re-evaluating Konoha's threat level, hungrily wondering what gains they might extract.
Konoha was pushed to the storm's crest: internal woes yet unsettled, external dangers already born.
Land of Rain, Akatsuki hideout.
"I have summoned you today because a new member joins us," Pain's Deva Path intoned, voice cold and emotionless, echoing through the cavern.
"A newcomer?" Kakuzu snorted, green eyes gleaming with indifference toward anything not money.
"Let's hope he doesn't die too quickly."
Sasori of the Red Sand let out a hoarse, low laugh from within Hiruko.
Zetsu's fly-trap body slowly rose from the ground, the half-black, half-white face wearing an eerie grin.
Orochimaru's golden, slit pupils flickered with genuine curiosity.
Who could warrant Pain summoning the entire organization so formally?
The answer soon appeared.
A figure walked in slowly.
Short black hair; the scratched-out forehead protector of a Konoha Rogue Ninja; most arresting of all—his eyes.
Deep crimson, three tomoe slowly revolving, carrying a coldness and lifelessness far beyond his years.
"Uchiha… Itachi!" Orochimaru's serpentine pupils contracted sharply, disbelief flooding them.
He knew of the Uchiha massacre and Itachi's defection, of course.
But never had he imagined that the perfect genius he had once coveted would appear in the Akatsuki base in such a fashion!
Shock gave way to an almost rapacious desire; Orochimaru's long tongue slid across his lips, an uncontrollably excited grin on his face.
"Hehe… hehehe… those eyes, that perfect Bloodline Limit… magnificent…"
He murmured in a low voice, gazing at Itachi as though admiring a peerless treasure.
Uchiha Itachi's expression remained calm as water, indifferent to the curious, appraising, or avaricious stares around him.
Yet inwardly, waves surged.
He could clearly sense that every person present exuded an extremely dangerous and powerful Chakra.
This organization called "Akatsuki" possessed members whose strength far exceeded his imagination.
What goal could gather such formidable Rogue Ninja?
How great a threat might they pose to Konoha?
"Itachi the Clan-Slayer—"
Pain had just begun—when suddenly…
Pain's Rinnegan snapped toward the cavern ceiling, as though piercing solid rock.
Not only he; every member present, including Zetsu, Orochimaru, and the newly arrived Itachi, simultaneously sensed a strange, vast fluctuation.
From the sky!
"What's going on?" Kakuzu was first to speak.
"Something… is outside," Sasori's rasp carried weight.
Without hesitation, Deva Path Pain's figure shot first toward the exit as a blur.
The rest followed instantly, each using their own means to vanish and race outside.
Even the newly joined, still-uninformed Itachi sensed by instinct that something momentous was afoot; with a flicker, he followed.
When they burst from the base and looked up at the heavenly screen—
the massive screen that had hung silently above the Ninja World for days—was now emitting a soft yet impossible-to-ignore radiance, its images beginning to move!