Chapter 113 - 113. Sudden Changes

The entry of Jiraiya made the two of them turn emotional, many memories resurfaced. Jiraiya, like a confused and worried father, went close to them despite Konan being on guard.

He simply went to Konan and caressed her blue hair, "You have grown so much, Konan."

*TING*

The kunai fell from her relaxed hand and she hugged Jiraiya with a sad face. Jiraiya patted her back and looked at Nagato, "What the hell happened after I was gone?"

Nagato didn't have as many expressions on his face as Konan, "We did everything as you taught us, Jiraiya sensei, yet... nothing worked out in the end."

"Where is Yahiko? I saw his clones outside." Jiraiya asked them.

Konan sobbed, "He's dead. We made the Akatsuki during the third shinobi war, to keep Ame safe and people secure. But... Hanzo colluded with Danzo, I was caught by Hanzo and Root men, for my safety, Yahiko was forced to kill himself."

Nagato spoke at that time, "And I became like this in return. My eyes... they grant me mysterious abilities. My body became attached to this thing... a tree husk of some sort."

Jiraiya felt pained by the misery they went through. "Why didn't you find me? I would have helped you."

"You taught us how to protect ourselves, asking more would have been wrong. I had developed a plan after Yahiko's death, to bring peace through pain. I found out that I can create a weapon, a forbidden jutsu, so powerful it can flatten the world. For that, I needed to catch and seal all tailed beings in this husk." Nagato explained.

...

At the same time, Shiroken was talking with Kurama, "Old Foxy, do you know what that thing is?"

Kurama ordered Naruto to look in the right direction, "Brat... stay still and let me look. Hmmm... AH GREAT... Shiro, remember the tale of Kaguya, her sons and ninshu I told you about?"

"Yeah, I remember it all," Shiroken affirmed.

Kurama continued, "Well, Hagoromo and Hamura sealed their mother inside the moon, or it would be right to say the moon was formed around her body. As you know, she was foolish enough to absorb the entire God Tree and turned into the ten tails. I and my siblings are 9 divided parts of that ten tails. After the division, what was left of Kaguya and the 10 tails was the husk, or you can call it the Gedo Statue. Right there, the thing that the boy is attached to is that Gedo Statue.

"He most likely summoned them with those eyes, they are similar to those of our old man."

Shiroken hummed in acknowledgement, "Then... does that mean that someone most likely fooled Nagato into thinking he was creating a jutsu while in fact, he was working to release Kaguya? Wait... is this an act of that Zetsu thing?"

Kurama shrugged, "I don't know Shiro. I only know what I saw and the old man told me. He never revealed what would be required to release Kaguya. But one thing is sure, if all bijuu are sealed in it, ten tails would come and flatten the world."

*Sigh* "Plots within plots, every puppet master has a puppet master behind him with his own plans and plots. This world really needs some purging done. I guess I should tell him that what he was doing was doomed to fail." Shiroken said and stopped talking.

Naruto meanwhile had question marks all over his face. He understood nothing that Shiroken and Kurama talked about.

...

"So Danzo meddled here too. It seems he was invested in everything but Konoha's prosperity." Jiraiya muttered.

Shiroken at the same time came forward, "You were fooled, Nagato. By sealing all the tailed beasts inside that thing it would not actually allow you to make a new jutsu. Instead, it will unseal an ancient being that could destroy the whole world with none left alive.

"The being is called the ten tails. It's a mad beast that cannot be controlled. So tell me, who told you about all this? Who told you about this forbidden jutsu?"

Nagato and Konan were shocked, Jiraiya too. But Nagato was too invested in it, unable to accept that all he worked for all his life was for nothing but a lie, "HOW CAN THIS BE... I... I am the reincarnation of the Sage of Six Paths... that's why I have these eyes."

"Well, I talked with the nine tails himself, and he confirmed everything. The tree thing is the leftover husk of the ten tails, it was sealed by the Sage of Six Paths in the moon. But with your eyes, you summoned it. How, I don't know. Why you have these eyes, I don't know." Shiroken persuaded him.

"BUT... MADARA UCHIHA SAID..."

Shiroken felt red flags as he heard this name, "Are you referring to the masked man in your team?"

Konan nodded. "Did you kill him?" She inquired.

Shiroken shook his head, "No, I did not. But I did see his face. And that was not Madara Uchiha, it was the boy I saw in Minato and his genin team's photo. Jiraiya, did Minato mentor an Uchiha boy?"

Jiraiya was speechless by one revelation after another. Of course, he could do two plus two calculations. He was not called a sage for nothing. He had extensive knowledge about the world and its history, the lore, the legends, he knew them all. And as Shiroken spoke the name of the ten tails, the Sage of Six Paths, it all started to make some sense. Now this, about the fake Madara.

"Yes, he did. He was called Obito Uchiha, only had a grandmother. A good kid actually, I saw him a few times. He was very much like Naruto, cheerful, goofy and dreamt of becoming a Hokage, sometimes he used to shout this to everyone. But... he died in the Kannabi Bridge incident." Jiraiya informed him.

Shiroken rubbed his chin, "Hmm... well, he didn't die. And for some reason, he's going around calling himself Madara Uchiha, planning and plotting, not just that, he was also the one who attacked Konoha the night Naruto was born and he also participated in the Uchiha Clan's massacre."

*THUD*

Konan sat down, Nagato looked dejected, Jiraiya was in shock and Naruto was in confusion.

Shiroken decided this was enough revelations for them. They were, after all, mortals and couldn't handle the truth about Kaguya, the God tree and aliens. He even felt a headache from this Obito Uchiha, who was at the centre of so much conspiracy going around. Then there was Danzo, a man as evil as they come, who lives in the false sense of self-worth.

"Cheer up, Naruto. Whoever is the one behind all this will be served justice. You focus on getting stronger. And Nagato, boy, you can now instead devote your life to finding the truth behind your eyes. I can heal your body and take the husk away. It needs to be kept as far away as possible." Shiroken offered him.

Nagato was disappointed in himself and hence looked dejected. ~All I stood for... It was a lie?~

Shiroken tried to persuade them. "Konan, tell him it's okay to live. Life is a constant line of learning and changing oneself. You were about to kill the village, I stopped you. You can now redeem yourself by dedicating yourself to preserving and saving as many lives as possible."

Why was he doing it? Because he believes Nagato had the potential to get a lot stronger and maybe one day he can help him fight the aliens.

Jiraiya agreed, "Yes, Nagato. Lord Dama is right. A person's worth isn't in his arms, but in his mind and ability to do good. You... as I remember, are a good kid."

Nagato kept on staring at the ground. He was completely lost and defeated. "Thank you... as long as people like you two are alive. There is indeed hope for peace... But.

"I have sinned too much. I have killed too many. My hands are painted red... I'm a murderer. I have no place here... I should be dead."

"YES, YOU SHOULD BE!"

Out of nowhere, a strange voice resounded in the hollowed tree. *BAM*

A black arm suddenly pierced out of the 10 tails statue and stabbed through Nagato's chest. With that, its full-body slowly emerged. It was a black humanoid thing, with no physical features except a demonic mouth and two round eyes.

*COUGH*

Nagato coughed out blood in anguish. The hand had literally made a hole in his chest. The dark thing smiled and stretched his arms towards Nagato's eyes, "THESE AREN'T YOURS TO KEEP, I SHALL TAKE THEM BACK!"

"YOU CAN TRY!" Shiroken bellowed and kicked the ground with a strength greater than he had ever used before. Not since he had gotten out of the crystal.

Trees got uprooted, the ground got destroyed, air flew away from him in a raging cloud of dust as if he were a meteor falling from the sky. Just a moment later, he was nowhere to be seen.

*BOOOOOOOM*

[A/N: Well, not everything can be sunshine and happiness.]

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