After recovering from the initial shock of his forced transference, Nagato lowered his head, his expression darkening as he asked, "What happened, you ask? You abandoned us, Sensei...if you had remained or taken us with you, our comrades and Yahiko-kun would still be alive..."
"That was your kids' decision," countered Jiraiya, shaking his head before reminding, "The three of you were adamant about bringing change to your home, and you couldn't have accomplished that as Konoha Shinobi. I had my own home—"
"Are you listening to yourself!?" exclaimed Nagato, tears streaming from his glowing amethyst eyes as he cried, "We were children! We didn't want to burden you, so we couldn't ask you to stay after you had already done so much for us! But that's not the worst thing...!"
Clenching his teeth hard enough to make his gums bleed, Nagato stated, "You taught us how to defend ourselves and filled our heads with absurd ideas about how we could inspire others and become beacons of hope for a world without war. Then you left us in a despotic, war-torn country ruled by the man who anointed you one of the Legendary Sannin. If even three legends couldn't beat him, and you knew the kind of person he was, how could you fill our heads with such ideals and then leave us to oppose him? You—Konoha radicalized us to destabilize Ame from within without having to imperil their own Shinobi...!"
"You know that's not true..." asserted Jiraiya, his brows furrowed and jaw briefly clenching as he conceded, "But you're also right that I could have done more for the three of you. The true reason I didn't take you with me is because of those eyes of yours, the Rinnegan. With the Uchiha, Hyuga, and certain opportunistic individuals present, Konoha wouldn't have been a safe place for someone bearing a mythical Dojutsu tied to the founding of the Shinobi World..."
"So you left us here to protect us...to protect me...?" growled Nagato, the air tensing and space appearing to distort around him as he trembled with near-insuppressible fury.
"Nagato...please calm yourself..." muttered Konan, attempting to sound monotonous, but she couldn't prevent an emotional tremble from tinting her tone. Jiraiya's words aside, it didn't change that she and Nagato had chosen to remain in Ame because Yahiko, the one who had brought them together even before they underwent Shinobi training, had inspired them. His—their desire to change Ame stemmed from them being war orphans. It wasn't an idea Jiraiya had implanted within them. It was a sentiment he nourished to give them hope...
With Konan positioning herself between him, Jiraiya, and Minato, Nagato suppressed his urge to attack and instead lowered his gaze to meet her's, a tense silence hanging between them before he asked, "Are you worried that I won't be able to defeat them? Even the so-called Demigod, Hanzo, was nothing before my power..."
"Nagato-kun..." started Konan, her voice flat but eyes full of concern as she asked him plainly, "How did we get here...?"
"..."
'She has a point...' Nagato conceded to himself. Without knowing how he and Konan had been transported in front of the Konoha duo, they were at a technical and informational disadvantage. Minato was famed and feared for his use of the Hiraishin no Jutsu(Flying Thunder God Technique), but if that were the Jutsu used to transport them, it wouldn't have bypassed the seals protecting his and Konan's respective chambers.
"Phew...it's good to see that Konan-chan can still get you boys to settle down when your blood gets to your head..." sighed Jiraiya, his tone joking, but his body full of tension as the Chkra that had radiated from Nagato's emaciated frame was more potent and menacing any he had felt before—even compared to the Kyuubi(Nine-Tailed Demon Fox). It was as though the world itself had been prepared to bend to his will...
"And you, Jiraiya-sen—Jiraiya-san..." corrected Konan, meeting Jiraiya's gaze and frowning as she expressed, "Please do not make jokes or speak familiarly with us. That time has passed..."
"That may be," said Minato, joining the conversation and drawing both Konan's and Nagato's gazes as he proferred, "But I believe we can help one another..."
"Us, help one another...?" repeated Nagato, tensing the muscles in his jaw as he questioned, "How can you help us, and why would we want to help Konoha? No. As the leader of Amegakure, I will not allow it to be dragged into a war between the so-called Five Great Shinobi Nations..."
Shifting his gaze to Jiraiya, Nagato asserted, "If there was ever a moment when you truly cared about us, you will leave us and ensure Konoha never meddles in Ame's affairs."
"Is that an option?" questioned Jiraiya, directing the question to Minato. There was no getting around that Ame no Kuni was the ideal location for their proxy Tower of Ascension, but it didn't have to be placed there. And, no matter where they dropped it, people would be drawn to the promise of a land untouched by death.
With Althaea receiving confirmation from Vahn via Sis, Minato offered an affirming nod, confirming, "The Tower's placement is ultimately for us to decide. But, once they hear what we have to say, I'm certain that Nagato-san and Konan-san can be persuaded to cooperate with us."
"We don't care what you have to say..." rebutted Nagato, his body tensing and gaze hardening as he proclaimed, "If you refuse to leave Ame despite our asking, I will make you leave."
"Then, let's make a deal," suggested Minato, adopting a friendly smile as he preempted Nagato's response by proposing, "I will not resist anything you try to do. If you cannot kill me within ten moves, you will hear us out. And don't worry. Even if you succeed, Konoha won't seek revenge against you."
Tapping his forehead, bereft of an identifying forehead protector, Minato surprised Nagato and Konan tremendously by revealing, "You see, for reasons I would be more than happy to get into, Jiraiya-sensei and I have become Nukenin(Rogue Shinobi). Konohagakure will forever be our home, but we no longer serve or represent its interests or those of Hi no Kuni(the Land of Fire)."
"..."
"..."
Following a tense silence, Nagato adopted a deep frown and asked, "Do you think us fools? Why would one of the Legendary Sannin and Konoha's Yellow Flash—heroes of the Second and Third Shinobi Wars—cut ties with their village to become Nukenin? Did you finally recognize that you served a broken system that perpetuated misery and violence instead of bringing it to an end?"
"In a sense..." confirmed Minato, his casual admission and affirming nod leaving Nagato at a loss. Then, sporting a friendly smile, he reaffirmed, "If you're willing to hear us out, Nagato-san, we would be happy to share our story and our dream with you and Konan-san. Once you do, I'm confident you'll want to cooperate. Because, when everything is said and done, the four of us desire the same thing."
Seeing no deception in Minato's clear blue eyes, Konan cautiously turned to Nagato, muttering, "Nagato...perhaps we should hear them out? If they are truly Nukenin and our goals align, they might be able to help us realize your—our dream..."
Though his frown deepened at Konan's slip of the tongue, Nagato didn't draw attention to it and instead seriously considered the advantages and disadvantages of cooperating with or confronting Minato and Jiraiya. He was confident he could defeat his former mentor, but Minato was rumored to have defeated a thousand Iwa Shinobi alone. Such a story sounded too absurd to be the truth. However, one certainty was that, near the end of the war, Iwa and Kumo had removed Shinobi from high-ranking families from the frontlines and issued flee-on-sight orders to talented Chunin and Jonin they deemed too important to lose as—regardless of whether they had a numerical advantage, any squad who encountered Minato and tried to fight him would perish without fail.
"Very well, Namikaze Minato..." conceded Nagato, closing his eyes and visibly slumping as he expressed, "We will hear what you have to say. But if I don't find it compelling...don't expect that you or Jiraiya-sensei will be able to leave here alive..."
"I understand," responded Minato, offering a curt nod and maintaining his smile as he gestured with his right hand to a space a short distance away, prompting an eight-sided, predominately red pagoda with three floors to appear out of thin air as he proposed, "Before we talk, let's get out of this rain."
'That wasn't Kuchiyose no Jutsu(Summoning Technique)...' noted Nagato, the concentric circles within his Rinnegan contracting. He was supposed to be able to see through and analyze even the most complex Jutsu at a glance, but as far as he could tell, the pagoda had quite literally appeared out of thin air. There were also no notable changes in Minato's or Jiraiya's Chakra reserves—which should have depleted considerably summoning such a large structure.
Recovering from his analytical stupor, Nagato looked to Minato and said, "I would prefer if we spoke out here...besides, in my present condition, I cannot leave this mechanical walker."
Before Minato could respond, Nagato's eyes widened to their limits as a sudden, comfortable warmth filled his body. For a moment, he thought he was being placed under Genjutsu, but Minato and Jiraiya appeared just as surprised as the Chakra Rods in his body were promptly expelled from his back, forearms, and calves. At the same time, he became noticeably less gaunt, his previously visible rib cage disappearing and his ghastly, almost bone-white complexion regaining a healthy ruddiness.
"What is this sensation...?' Nagato asked aloud, staring down at his hands and body with a mix of fascination and awe in his expression and tone as he had never felt such comfortable and pure energy before. It was similar to Chakra in that it was a blend of physical and spiritual energy, but there was much more to than that—so much so that, even with his Rinnegan, he couldn't make sense of its composition.
"That would be the power of our patron, the Dragon God of Intertwining Fates, Vahn Mason-sama," stated Minato, drawing Nagato's and Konan's understandably confused, questioning gazes as he smiled and assured, "I will explain everything once we're out of the rain."
As if in response to Minato's words, a comfortable black robe with red trim, visually similar to Konan's, appeared on Nagato's body. He had just been about to point out that he didn't have any clothes on hand to leave his walker, but the entity that Minato had referred to as the Dragon God had ostensibly taken notice of this, drying his body before providing him robes and even underclothes that fit him to a tee...
'Are there truly Gods in this world...?' Nagato asked himself, gazing at the overcast sky overhead with an impassive expression. As he did, sunlight abruptly pierced through the clouds, causing them to disperse rapidly as, for the first time since the death of his guiding light, Yahiko, the sky over Amegakure became clear, vast, and breathtakingly blue...
...
..
.
"I wasn't aware that you could clear up the weather like that," remarked Venelana, brows raised in surprise.
"My current powerset is better suited for creating storms, not dispersing them," stated Vahn, shaking his head before explaining, "What I did was have the clouds transferred to a new location, specifically over the oases of Suna. They could use some rain."
"My, how thoughtful of you..." hummed Venelana, exhaling a faint, sensual chuckle as she leaned her head against Vahn's shoulder. Then, as she felt sorry for the duo of Nagato and Konan, she tentatively asked, "Should we consider reviving Yahiko-kun as a Devil? Nagato-kun has kept his body so well-preserved that it has continued to age, and summoning his soul from the Pure Lands shouldn't be too difficult..."
"Mmn...it's something to consider..." responded Vahn, nodding. "But since Konan originally loved Yahiko, there's a non-negligible chance she would leave Nagato-kun to be at his side. I believe he would want them both to be happy, but with time, he might grow to resent them..."
"But such emotions are part of life and growing up..." hummed Venelana, her tone gaining a dream-like quality as she softly contended, "I think we can make a concession in this instance...those three deserve a chance at happiness and the opportunity to choose for themselves which path they intend to walk moving forward..."
"Mmn...consider it done..." responded Vahn, his expression smoldering and tone deep as he gave Venelana's and Grayfia's bottoms affectionate caresses. He wanted to avoid establishing a habit of resurrecting those who had died of natural or narrative causes, but since the world of Naruto had resurrection built into its structure—similar to worlds like Dragon Ball—he was willing to make an exception since it would smooth things over for Minato and make Venelana and the trio of Ame orphans happy...
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.