"Tobi, Nagato wants to see you."
From the shifting shadows, Black Zetsu emerged, his voice as cold and oily as ever.
Tobi tilted his head slightly, his tone laced with irritation."I thought you explained everything to him already. Why does he need to see me again?"
Black Zetsu resisted the urge to snap.
He has the nerve to act annoyed... after setting this whole disaster in motion? And now I'm stuck cleaning it up?
But he forced himself to remain composed. "I did explain. But Nagato wants the full report on Uchiha Gen from your mouth — directly. After all..."Zetsu's eyes gleamed. "This entire situation is your doing."
Tobi's masked face stiffened. A flicker of regret, buried beneath layers of denial, passed through his eyes.
With a sigh, he gave a summary of his earlier conversation with Itachi. Zetsu listened in silence, his expression darkening with each passing detail.
The nature of Gen's Mangekyō Sharingan — the manipulation through words, the corruption of will, the infection of even other Mangekyō — this wasn't normal Uchiha evolution.
Not even Indra's reincarnations displayed this kind of conceptual-level manipulation.
"This doesn't feel like a Sharingan technique," Zetsu muttered. 'It's more like... something from the Ōtsutsuki.' Black Zetsu also quietly thought
Tobi waved dismissively. "It doesn't matter anymore. Just take me to Nagato."
Zetsu scowled behind his shifting mass.This fool will bring ruin to everything... and not even notice.
Hidden Rain Village — Akatsuki's Meeting Hall
Tobi entered the dim chamber of the Akatsuki base. The core members were already present.
At the center sat Nagato, stoic and regal in the corpse of Yahiko, his Rinnegan pulsing with power. Konan stood beside him, worry etched into her face. Around the table, others loomed in silence:
Kakuzu, arms crossed, eyes calculating.
Sasori, motionless and unreadable.
Orochimaru, licking his lips in anticipation.
Itachi, still as stone, but his gaze far away.
Nagato's voice cut through the silence.
"The Ninja World is on the verge of annihilation."
Kakuzu scoffed. "We're shifting from mercenaries to prophets now?"
Orochimaru's grin widened. "The destruction of the world? Now that is intriguing~…"
Nagato opened his Rinnegan fully. "This is not a metaphor. It's not genjutsu. Hold your rings — and see for yourselves."
One by one, the Akatsuki members accessed the Rinnegan's shared vision — a gift and curse Nagato controlled absolutely.
What they saw stunned them to the core.
From the void of space, a planet-sized celestial object — a dark, burning mass of divine wrath — was plummeting toward Earth.
Nagato projected the simulations his paths had generated. Earth itself shattered in the mental visions — oceans boiling, mountains crumbling, the very crust torn like paper as the world was reduced to pieces.
Even Orochimaru, ever mocking, ever amused by catastrophe, now lowered his eyes. His lips pressed into a thin line.What good is immortality in a world that doesn't exist?
His fingers clenched.
Sasori sneered at Itachi. "So this is the reward for murdering your clan? You kill your own people for a pathetic cause, and now the whole world burns?"
But his heart was roaring.
He had sacrificed everything for peace. For the village. For the greater good. He had calculated every variable, accepted damnation.
Yet Uchiha Gen, left behind in the shadows of that massacre — the one life spared — had awakened a power that warped fate itself.
"He chose revenge. Even knowing it would doom us all..."
Itachi closed his eyes, pain flaring behind his lids.
Why couldn't Gen ignore the uchiha massacre? Why couldn't he just... leave the village?
Worse still — if they had fought Gen that night, he would've lived. Gen was that strong.
Instead, Gen sacrificed his life force, fusing hatred into his Mangekyō. He chose to curse the world rather than ignore it.
The end of everything began the night Itachi pulled his blade.
Across the room, even Kakuzu remained silent, his mind whirring with grim calculations.
No economy. No currency. No clients.
Konan's expression was pale. But she remained near Nagato — the only one who had any clarity in this madness.
Nagato rose slowly, the Deva Path stepping forward with power radiating from every joint.
"This world was already broken. But if we are to survive... we must unite. We, the Akatsuki, will be the last hope."
"These Rinnegan eyes... might be the only tool left that can challenge this incoming disaster."
He turned toward Orochimaru.
"You will contact Konoha and Jiraiya. The cycle of hatred ends here, or we all burn together."