The rain poured endlessly over the metal towers of Amegakure, cloaking the city in a dull haze. Thunder echoed in the distance, but the storm wasn't natural. This rain carried chakra. Hidden within the side of a cliff, just beyond the city's edge, a pale figure blended into the shadows, White Zetsu. His plant-like body merged with the terrain as he observed the ruins of a battle that had already ended.
Below him, the last of the Six Paths of Pain had just fallen, their bodies scattered across a wide field cratered with destruction. Hajime stood tall and unmoving in the center, his silver-grey armor shining wet in the storm. The battle had ended almost too quickly. Each of the Six Paths had come with deadly intent, but one by one, they were taken down. Zetsu narrowed his eyes.
"He didn't even use his full strength," White Zetsu muttered, vanishing into the earth.
Far from Amegakure, deep inside a hidden cavern, Obito Uchiha listened carefully as White Zetsu's voice echoed from the walls.
"Hajime wiped out the Six Paths. All of them. Just like that," Zetsu reported.
Obito's single eye glowed under the mask. "So, he's even more dangerous than we thought."
"He didn't flinch. Took the full force of Shinra Tensei and didn't even move."
Obito frowned. "Deidara. Sasori. Now Pain… He's hunting us down."
Black Zetsu, emerging like a shadow, hissed low. "If Nagato falls, the Rinnegan may fall into his hands. That cannot happen. The Eye of the Moon Plan depends on it."
Obito turned away, cloak rippling as he opened a vortex with Kamui. "I'll retrieve the Rinnegan myself if I must. He cannot be allowed to interfere."
He vanished into the swirling space-time distortion.
Back in Amegakure, deep within the tower where Nagato's true body was hidden, Hajime walked calmly through the sealed corridors. The very air pressed against him, chakra seals covered every inch of the walls, masking Nagato's presence. Yet Hajime's psychic perception ignored them. He had no need for sensors or sight. He simply felt him.
When Hajime entered the chamber, Nagato was waiting. His thin body sat on the mechanical support frame, limbs pierced with black rods, his red hair draped over his shoulders. Konan stood nearby, tense, her paper wings partially unfolded.
Nagato's Rinnegan widened.
"You found me."
Hajime didn't answer. He simply stood across from him, his silver-grey armor gleaming in the flickering lights. His golden halo hovered silently behind him, its runes glowing softly.
Nagato's fingers twitched. He didn't waste words.
"Shinra Tensei."
The air exploded outward with crushing force.
It was like a bomb went off in the room. The repulsion hit Hajime with the full force of a mountain. The floor cracked, walls shattered
machines were ripped from their mounts, debris flung across the chamber
and a tall metal building outside, directly behind Hajime, was completely destroyed by the blast. Windows shattered across the tower. Smoke and dust surged from the impact zone.
Everything behind and beside Hajime was obliterated, pillars, wires, walls, gone.
But Hajime didn't move an inch.
His armor, unscathed. His stance, solid. Not even bent knees.
A shimmering psychic barrier, born from his golden halo, surrounded him like a second skin. The energy pulsed with blinding light, easily visible even through the smoke. His red visor lenses now glowed bright blue, radiating intense psychic energy.
Konan's eyes widened. "He… he didn't even stagger."
Nagato's mouth fell slightly open. His arms dropped to his sides. Never had Shinra Tensei failed to push something back. But this man stood as if nothing had touched him.
"You call yourself a god," Hajime finally said, stepping forward once through the ruined floor. "But your power has limits."
Nagato gritted his teeth. "Then I'll show you a power beyond those limits."
He raised his hands, trembling. Chakra surged through his thin body, pulling hard from his very life force.
"Chibaku Tensei!"
A black sphere shot into the sky. Instantly, the room trembled. The ground itself cracked and began to rise. Stone, steel, and debris lifted toward the black core floating in the clouds. Outside the tower, Amegakure's landscape began to deform,entire chunks of the city rising upward.
Nagato cried out, veins bulging around his eyes. His skin grew paler, his fingers bony. The edges of his red hair turned white. Every second drained his life force.
"You'll be buried in your own prison," he spat.
Far above, Obito now stood quietly atop a nearby tower, body half-phased through the wall. He watched the sphere grow larger as more of the land floated up to it.
"He's pushing himself too far," Obito muttered. "If he dies now, I can't retrieve the Rinnegan."
Black Zetsu clung to the wall behind him. "Then take it. Before the body is ruined."
Obito narrowed his eye. "No. Not yet. Let's see what he does next."
Back in the air, the black sphere pulsed. Hajime looked up calmly, watching the mass of land grow into a forming satellite. Boulders and rubble flew past him, but none touched his body. His halo flared again, redirecting the gravitational pull.
"You'd throw your life away… for a jutsu that won't work."
Nagato screamed, pouring more chakra into the technique. The light in his eyes flickered. He began to cough, blood trailing from his mouth.
Hajime raised a hand.
"I gave you a chance."
As the newly forming moon above him grew larger, the sky turned darker. Konan fell to her knees beside Nagato, horrified at how this didn't even work to Hajime.
Hajime didn't move yet. He just watched. Waited. The Moment the watcher Intervenes.
And it would end everything.
—To Be Continued—