Naruto: The Savior of the Shinobi World is a Liar?

"Nagato, so you are truly the body of Pain?"

Hanzō's complex gaze swept over Nagato, and the anger born from near death dissipated completely in that moment.

At first glance, Nagato hardly resembled a living being; instead, he appeared to be a forgotten relic, a skeleton weathered over millennia in a dark corner.

His body had become hauntingly emaciated, the lifeless, pale skin tightly adhered to sharp bones, as if some unseen force had drained all blood and flesh away.

Every rib was sharply defined, his collarbones seemed carved with a knife, and his arms were as thin as dry twigs in winter, appearing as if they'd snap with just a light touch.

Moreover, his legs were disabled due to Hanzō's explosive tags from earlier, rendering him nearly incapable of moving without being confined to that makeshift apparatus.

His long, red hair hung like wilted vines, giving his face the semblance of a skull covered only by a thin membrane; beneath red hair, his eye sockets were deeply hollow.

Yet within those hollow sockets, there gleamed the "eyes of the sage," flashing a bewitching light in the dimness.

The Rinnegan.

This legendary"eye of the sage" was embedded in an emaciated shell, as if divine power had been forcibly stuffed into a crumbling vessel.

"Hanzō, you have indeed come, but…"

Nagato's Rinnegan slowly turned, seeking the figure beside Hanzō, but even this legendary eye couldn't pierce the shadow surrounding him.

Nevertheless, Nagato could sense a familiar aura emanating from the man.

The agony of his soul had yet to fade away, and that kind of fear remained deeply embedded in his memory, making his body tremble slightly.

"Hello, Mr. Nagato."

Hyūga Kumo stepped forward, his tone humble yet accompanied by a smile. "You may call me 'the Shadow'. I presume you've met my master; please allow me to apologize on his behalf."

As these words left his mouth, Hanzō instinctively looked down at his hands, while Konan paused, quickly processing the implications, her face blooming with anger.

"So it's you!"

Since the source of Nagato's pain was not Madara or Zetsu, it could only be attributed to Hanzō and the man in front of him.

"No, no, Miss Konan, it's my master, not me," Hyūga Kumo calmly corrected her in the same gentle voice.

"That person is who?" Nagato cut in coldly.

"It is my master," Hyūga Kumo replied with a smile.

"..."

Nagato felt a throb of pain in his head, but he understood that this person was clearly not inclined to reveal much. He opted for a colder tone. "So you're here to die, then?"

As he spoke, the ripples in his pupils began to radiate outward, and a powerful aura emanated from within him once again.

He had readied himself to fight; Konan's eyes also burned with hatred.

But at that moment, Hanzō suddenly nodded, his answer short yet powerful: "Yes."

"..."

Nagato's chakra felt as if it momentarily stalled; he was taken aback, realizing that Hanzō was genuinely responding to his earlier taunt?

"I am here to die," Hanzō asserted, his voice low and clear, directing the blade of his kusarigama toward his heart—a confirmation of Nagato's speculation.

Hyūga Kumo observed Hanzō at that moment, a flash of mirth crossing his mind, reminiscent of the scene in the original where Mifune, for the sake of compensating for Tobirama, plunges a kunai into himself before Uchiha Madara. He couldn't help but chuckle softly.

The former Hanzō, now standing before them, how much of it was real, and how much of it was pretend? Hyūga Kumo and Nagato were unaware; perhaps even Hanzō himself didn't know.

Hyūga Kumo had already communicated to Hanzō what those eyes represented and conveyed Nagato's plan to turn tailed beasts into weapons of fear to establish peace.

Hanzō was more aware than anyone of the limits of an ordinary shinobi.

On his way here, he had witnessed too much that he had formerly overlooked.

He looked toward the town, witnessing the once prosperous, bustling stone houses now in ruins.

He gazed towards the riverside, only to find the vibrant, joyous area submerged under the prosperity turned to flood.

He saw the busy port that had swallowed ships reduced to desolation under war, and the once few wheat fields lying flattened.

He was even recognized by some civilians, who told him how those he had saved years ago had starved to death on the roadside three years prior.

Yes, not from death in battle, but from actual starvation.

Hanzō dared not linger; he could only walk and walk, nearly fleeing, until he entered this cave and beheld those eyes.

The eyes that controlled life and death.

Hanzō knew that the present state of Amegakure was already the limit of what he could offer.

However, the eyes that belonged to Nagato held greater possibilities, could achieve more.

So he wanted to give it a try.

"I have learned everything from 'the Shadow'."

Hanzō didn't attempt to justify his errors but met Nagato's Rinnegan directly, speaking each word deliberately: "Conspiring with Danzo to kill Yahiko was my fault; it was my command to eliminate the Akatsuki."

His admission was so thorough, so calm, devoid of embellishment or evasion.

Then Hanzō paused, as if recalling something, and smiled bitterly at his own thoughts.

"I once met a samurai; while all his companions fled in desperation, that man, knowing he was outmatched, still charged at me with his sword."

"He was defeated by me, yet that resolve to face death moved me. So I told him that a man's end is not death, but the moment he loses his convictions; I said I would proclaim him a hero."

"But ironically, faced with fading life, vanishing strength, and the persistent threats from all sides coupled with the fear of death...I capitulated."

"Day by day, I became weak and cowardly, losing my once-held beliefs and ideals, transforming into the very coward I had despised most."

The samurai Hanzō spoke of was none other than Mifune, the now-lord of the Land of Iron, once a youth in his prime.

Thus, Hanzō ultimately did not kill Mifune but spared him, moved by his resolve and appreciation. At that time, Hanzō truly deserved the name of a strong warrior.

Yet about these things, he felt no need to divulge to Nagato. Hanzō didn't want Nagato to misconstrue his past hopes to live on as a plea to treat him as he once spared Mifune.

Wrong is wrong; he was no longer the former Hanzō, confronting death with an excuse.

"I'm not saying this to seek your forgiveness; I'm aware that all your pain has been wrought by my own hands."

Hanzō's tone was calm and even: "After my death, whether you expose my corpse to the wilderness or wipe out my reputation, allowing my name to be reviled by countless souls..."

"Do as you will, so long as it holds meaning for you."

"I have only one request."

Looking at the still-silent Nagato and the dazed Konan, he gradually lowered his imposing stature.

"I have entrusted my Last Testament to a trusted individual; you have the rightful claim to inherit Amegakure."

Hanzō spoke softly: "Please, after my passing, lead Amegakure and this suffering country toward the future that Yahiko envisioned."

"I can no longer do it, but you, possessing those eyes, will surely be able to."

Yes, the attitude he presented now might partly stem from the mistakes of his past, but more so it was for the nation he cared about.

"..."

Time seemed to freeze, plunging into a profound silence.

Gazing at Hanzō, who had diminished almost to the dust beneath him, the ripples in Nagato's Rinnegan momentarily stilled.

He had envisioned countless reactions from Hanzō at their reckoning.

Defiant resistance, deceitful justifications, pleas for mercy, ugly disgrace…

However, he never expected the scene before him.

This was not Hanzō he had known at any time; not the proud and powerful Hanzō of yore, not the old and weak Hanzō who would shy away from death.

At this moment, Hanzō was simply an old man who willingly accepted the cost of his past mistakes, resolutely confronting death.

Konan stared intensely at Hanzō, whose eyes glistened with blood. Memories of that stormy night crowded her mind.

She recalled Yahiko's desperate lunge toward Nagato, raising a kunai, and the faint sound of the kunai piercing through his heart.

She remembered her own heart's horror and collapse, the gut-wrenching despairing cries, and the Nagato now ensnared by hatred...

"What is this?"

Konan's trembling voice shattered the silence, her heart filled with indescribable confusion. Looking at Hanzō, her voice nearly cracked as she exclaimed, "Then just go die!"

As those words fell, Hanzō moved.

His motions were incredibly swift, imbued with a calm certainty.

He gripped the kusarigama in his hand—the weapon that symbolized his past strength and pride, a tool that had claimed countless lives.

At this moment, in a gesture resembling an embrace, he thrust the blade into his chest.

Puchi…

------------

-------------

ps:Support and join my Patreon

patreon.c@om/PipiMonkey[Remove @]

You can read up to 40 premium chapters.