Chapter 18: Part 3

- Fourth Raikage A -

"Did you find anything?" He asked as soon as Mabui entered his office.

She nodded and handed him the report from the Land of Fire.

He quickly flipped the pages of the file and checked the information. After a few minutes, he looked up with a frown on his face.

"Is this some kind of a joke?"

"As much as I want it to be, no. This is the exact news I have received from several of our spies in the Land of Fire and Konoha."

"A dozens of kilometres long dragon? A God? And a trench which connected Konoha to the ocean. What kind of nonsense is this? I want information of what secret weapon they are using, not a story from the drunk fantasies of the taverns from the Land of Fire."

"Do you really think it's nonsense? Even after seeing what happened to the moon?" Mabui replied and he found his retort getting stuck into his mouth.

"It had to be a genjutsu. That… that kind of power is not real. It cannot be real."

"And yet it is. Even according to the legends, the moon was created by the Sage of Six Paths. If that is so then I don't think what we saw was really a genjutsu."

He clenched his hands and looked at the file in front of him as if it was some kind of curse.

"Can it… is it really true? Are there really Gods in this world?"

"Who knows? But there are certainly beings with godlike powers… and Konoha has provoked several of them."

He looked blankly at the table and went in thought.

A part of his mind wondered what kind of beings they were and if they were beings like Tailed Beasts and if that was so, could they be captured and used for Kumogakure?

Then he remembered their powers and pushed those thoughts away.

No.

Against that kind of power, they would have no other choice but to die.

That was the freaking moon, dammit.

The moon!

"A-sama. Konoha is extremely weak right now. Should we… should we prepare for a war? We could use this opportunity…"

Yes… what is the situation in Konoha right now?

"No. Wait till we have the full details of the situation. Find everything. Who were those people? Where did they come from? Why did they attack Konoha? How did Konoha survive such an attack? If they can indeed survive such an attack, they might have some trump cards of their own. What if they sealed such a monster into a Jinchuriki? Send more people near the borders and test them but don't attack them outright. Take advantage of this situation to infiltrate the Land of Fire and find out all the details. That old bastard Onoki will also be looking for a chance. Let them make a move first."

He quickly gave commands to make them move.

The incident had left everyone in shock and fear. It was his duty as the kage to ensure that his people remained calm.

- Konan -

"What are we going to do, Nagato? Are there really Gods in this world?" She asked, trepidation showing in her voice.

Nagato has been unnaturally quiet since hearing the report about the incident in Konoha village.

She didn't disturb him either because she knew how worried he would be in such a situation. The news had been just that shocking and even she had a hard time believing it… even after seeing the moon collapse in front of her own eyes.

"It… doesn't matter."

"Eh?"

"It doesn't matter if there are Gods in this world. They aren't doing their job well either way." Nagato continued.

Konan looked at him surprised but he was looking down at the floor as he continued.

"If they were really doing their jobs then there wouldn't be all this pain in the world. But they aren't, so… it's time they stepped aside." He looked up and there was a craze in his eyes unlike anything before. "If there are such cruel and sadistic Gods in this world who would take pleasure in seeing the pain of people… then I am going to bring them down."

"Nagato!"

"No Konan… I am Pain… I am the pain of every person who has been suffering in this cruel world. The suffering which those so-called Gods have subjected us to… it's about time they knew Pain…"

"You can't be serious. Didn't you read the reports? Didn't you see the moon crumbling apart?" She tried to reason.

"The moon was created by the Sage of Six Paths and the destruction they cause could be done if we can collect all the Tailed Beasts. I… can do it. With these eyes of mine. Perhaps, this is the reason I have been given these eyes… to bring those cruel Gods down and make them know pain…"

Konan looked at him with wide eyes and tried to reason with him but no matter what, he wasn't ready to listen.

At this point, she didn't even know what to do anymore.

- Fugaku Uchiha -

He opened his eyes and the world became clear again.

"Are there any problems?" Mikoto asked and he activated his Sharingan.

The power which flowed in his eyes… it felt much stronger than before. In fact, he himself felt far stronger than before. His chakra had risen. His vision was sharper. His power flowed much smoother.

He looked at a mirror on the side of the room and pushed more power into his eyes. His eyes changed… morphing into a six cornered star pattern, different from his three cornered star pattern before.

The eyes of undying light, the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan…

Even through the mirror, he could feel the power in those eyes…

Mikoto quickly checked a few more things and finally let out a sigh of relief. "Everything seems to be fine."

He nodded. "How are things outside? What was happening outside while I was unconscious." He asked.

She nodded and reported everything.

"Today is a meeting of the council. Everyone wants to know what we have unearthed from our investigations."

"I see. Okay, I will attend it." He got up and looked at Mikoto who hesitated a bit. "What is it?"

"Fugaku… Itachi… he is… ill."

"Hmm?"

"When Tsunade-sama was treating him, she discovered that he had a serious illness in his lungs. It could become terminal if not treated soon."

He paused at the news while she continued.

"Tsunade-sama told me that I could verify the news from other doctors if I doubted her. I did. It was true. I…"

"Ask Tsunade what she wants. Get him the best treatment available." He interrupted.

Mitoko looked at him in surprise and he winced.

"Do you really think I don't care about him?" He asked, breaking her surprise. He shook his head. "The reason I am doing this is to show him the true face of the people he was siding with. Those eyes… I gave them to him for a reason."

The power of those eyes… he knew the temptation and fear they carried. Even he himself wasn't unaffected. But that's why he gave them to Itachi…

Let him see the same people he was willing to betray his family for, turn against him due to those eyes… because there was no way anyone would allow such a power to keep on existing.

As for him using those eyes on the Clan… even if he were to somehow bypass the cooldown period of the technique, it would be for the best that he doesn't use it… at least that way he can keep using those Mangekyo again.

He had sealed a technique in those eyes that would destroy them if the user ever tried to use Kotoamatsukami. But even without that technique, a pair of Mangekyo Sharingan was very strong. Just the normal Genjutsu capability and perception boost from it was far beyond a normal Sharingan not to mention the Susanno…

Fugaku didn't hate his son… but that didn't mean he wasn't disappointed. It chilled his heart to think what could have happened if this whole incident hadn't happened. His son had really gone astray… and it was a father's duty to show his son the right path.

- Jiraiya -

He sat in the corner of the room, waiting for everyone to gather for the meeting.

Today was the day the Uchiha Clan was going to disclose the results of their investigations of the whole incident.

One by one, people filled the room.

Jiraiya was sure his sensei was getting removed from his position as Hokage… probably the first kage to be ousted from their position in the history of the Elemental Nations. Sigh…

He looked at the picture of Minato on the wall… which had been replaced after the last one was taken by Naruto…

How would he feel if he were here now?

Jiraiya's mind has been in turmoil… especially since he was summoned to Mt. Myoboku by the Toad Sages.

Somehow the Prophecy he was chasing all this time… was void.

It was shattered and the Great Toad Sage had another dream. In this dream, he saw a figure with icy blue eyes and black hair. He stood in the midst of a frozen world. Even the lines of fates which approached him were being sliced to pieces.

The description only reminded Jiraiya of one person.

The Great Toad Sage has been in a critical situation since he saw that vision. Apparently, even just a glimpse of that person had injured his spirit greatly…

Just what kind of beings did they get involved with this time?

Suddenly, Jiraiya was left with nothing…

He had lost his friend, lost his student and was probably going to lose his sensei too. He was really at a loss at what to do.