Saving the Uchiha clan starts with becoming the clan leader.

"Tsk!"

Zongxian clicked his tongue in displeasure.

The moment Obito Uchiha used the Uchiha Flame Formation to protect Haku, the Gedo Mazo had already unleashed its power, releasing lightning and flames that shattered the wooden doll into pieces. Unfortunately, Obito Uchiha had already hidden in another dimension and was not touched by the Gedo Mazo's attack.

On the contrary, it was on top of the demonic statue of the heretic...

When the Uchiha Fire Formation was interrupted and the chakra transmission was dispelled because Obito Uchiha hid in another dimension, they found that Haku's figure had already disappeared. In such a hurry, they didn't even have time to take away the corpse of the White Scale Serpent.

"Did they escape?"

Zongxian relaxed his brow and finally let out a sigh of relief.

Let them run away!

So what if Haku is exceptionally talented? It doesn't matter if he gets mixed up with Obito Uchiha, Zetsu, and the others. As long as his plan goes smoothly, then... sooner or later, no one in the ninja world will be able to stand against him. Well! Although he is now practically the number one ninja in the world after Nagato's defeat!

However, Zongxian knew that,

His enemies are not limited to the current ninja world.

Now that Haku has escaped with the Rinnegan, and with Zetsu and Obito Uchiha, those two wicked guys... he'll probably have to deal with enemies from the past next, and naturally, enemies from the future await him.

"Phew! All of this... is just the beginning. The future is long and arduous!"

Zongxuan stood atop the head of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

With his hands behind his back, he looked down at the village, utterly destroyed. The only sound in his ears was the patter of rain. The flames of war had quietly died down; the great battle had finally come to an end. And the final result—

It was a resounding victory for Konoha.

This was a major defeat for the Akatsuki organization.

[Chapter 399. Nagato finally breathed his last]

Not far from the Gedo Mazo, Konan landed on the ground, carrying the dying Nagato. It wasn't that she didn't want to take Nagato away from the ravaged Amegakure, but Nagato's condition was simply too dire—

There's no way we can travel any further.

To put it more bluntly, Nagato is only clinging to life thanks to the Uzumaki clan's formidable physique and unwavering will. Otherwise, a stab to the heart would be a fatal wound unless he had learned Orochimaru's Substitution Technique.

Even the Uzumaki clan is no exception.

Konan knew very well that, whether she admitted it or not, Nagato's time was running out. He might be able to hold on for a few more minutes, or he might close his eyes in the next second.

"Ta-ta-ta—"

The sound of hurried footsteps reached my ears.

Xiao Nan looked up and followed the sound, where a strange yet familiar figure came into view.

An old man with long white hair, dressed like a kabuki performer, slowly approached.

"Jiraiya-sensei."

"Are you here to take our lives?"

Konan, holding Nagato, knelt on the ruins. Rain soaked her hair and dripped down her chin. Her light orange eyes were as beautiful as jewels, but Jiraiya could no longer see the gentleness and tenderness in them. Her eyes were filled with endless hatred and despair.

"Xiao Nan...you've grown up!"

Looking at his disciple, who was no longer a young girl, Jiraiya felt the countless questions and pain in his heart transform into a long sigh.

"Ahem!! Jiraiya-sensei!

Nagato struggled to speak.

That brief greeting caused him to choke and cough up another pool of blood.

"Nagato!"

Jiraiya quickly approached. A piece of paper floated up beside Konan. But after glancing at the unsuspecting Jiraiya and the dying Nagato, the paper slowly drifted back down. There was no need for a fight anymore. Even if she killed Jiraiya-sensei now, what difference would it make?

Can we save Nagato's life?

Continuing the fight is pointless.

Of course, if that bastard Orochimaru appeared in front of her, Konan would definitely blow that poisonous snake to ashes.

"These years have been tough, haven't they?"

Jiraiya knelt on one knee on the broken cement block, looking at Nagato who was barely breathing and about to die. He reached out and touched Nagato's head. Nagato's long hair was still as bright red as it had been in his childhood, but the shy and timid boy from before was nowhere to be found.

Those beautiful, light purple eyes are gone too.

Only two blood-red voids remained.

Seeing this made Jiraiya feel suffocated.

"I, cough cough..."

Nagato coughed twice.

Squeezing out the last bit of strength from his body, he spat out the blood stuck in his throat. Although his voice was still weak, it was finally coherent. "Jiraiya-sensei, I... failed again. I failed to protect Yahiko before, and this time I failed to protect our dream again. I really am... useless."

"A dream?"

Jiraiya sighed with a wry smile.

Nagato's dream... In his eyes, it was undoubtedly wrong. This child had gone astray. But looking at the dying Nagato, many words were stuck in his throat and he couldn't say them. At this moment, it would feel too cruel to say those words of rebuttal!

After all, he was the disciple whom he had once regarded as the chosen one of destiny.

He couldn't bear to do such a thing.

only--

"Nagato, you are walking on the wrong path. Failure is only a matter of time. You cannot bring true peace to the world by inflicting pain. Doing so will only drag the ninja world into a longer, endless war, and the Warring States period that was ended will once again descend upon this land."

Jiraiya still said it.

"is it?"

Nagato didn't argue with Jiraiya. He just said weakly, "Perhaps you're right, Jiraiya-sensei. After all, I'm just a loser, and losers have no right to talk about the future." Although he said that, Jiraiya could tell that Nagato didn't really think he was wrong.

Simply because he lost.

"Nagato..."

"Alright, Jiraiya-senpai, let's not waste any more words with this stubborn guy."

"Zong Xian?"

Jiraiya turned around and saw Sogen walking towards him at a leisurely pace.

"Is it over there?"

"Yes, Obito Uchiha and Orochimaru's subordinate escaped, and the Rinnegan was also taken away. But overall, this operation was quite fruitful and not a waste of time. Oh, and there's one more thing: I killed Orochimaru."

Orochimaru...

Jiraiya was stunned.

"However, that's only for now. As for Orochimaru... it's hard to say. I wouldn't be surprised if he were to be resurrected someday in the future."

Zongxian emphasized one point.

Although he used the power of the Human Path to extract Orochimaru's soul, when he tried to read Orochimaru's memories, his usually invincible 'Heart Layer Dive' technique failed. Orochimaru's soul had been modified and had become some kind of 'abnormal'.

Even the power of the human realm couldn't extract any valuable information from it.

As a result,

Even if we send it into the belly of Yama, to be honest, it's uncertain whether we can truly confine it in the underworld and prevent it from coming back to life.

"Orochimaru."

Jiraiya was speechless for two seconds, but he found that he was not surprised or doubtful of Sogen's words at all. On the contrary, he thought they made a lot of sense. If it was Orochimaru, he would not have died so easily. Although he had never said it to anyone, he always felt that he would leave this world before Orochimaru and Tsunade.

"Let's not talk about this anymore. Will there be any trouble if the Rinnegan is taken away?"

When Jiraiya asked the question

She couldn't help but glance at Zongxian's light purple eyes.

"There might be some trouble in the future, but there's no need to worry too much. As long as Konoha continues to grow stronger, Obito Uchiha and his group won't be able to cause any real trouble," Zongxian replied calmly. This wasn't a lie told to reassure people.

This is his honest opinion.

As long as Konoha continues to grow stronger.

Then,

Ultimately, Obito Uchiha and his group were not a threat.

After Obito and Haku escaped, Sogen contacted Shisui and arranged for Shisui to organize people to start cleaning up the battlefield. The purpose of cleaning up the battlefield was actually to search for Nagato's Deva Path clone, which was Pain's corpse. That corpse... was still useful. At the same time, they could also try to find Deidara, Sasori, and others.

He rushed over after confirming Nagato and Konan's location.

The Akatsuki suffered a crushing defeat.

Even though Obito Uchiha and Zetsu might continue to operate under the Akatsuki name, Amegakure's stronghold has been destroyed. Sogen needs to consider how to deal with Amegakure, since Amegakure and Akatsuki cannot be directly equated.

Amegakure is, after all, a village with a history roughly the same as Konoha.

Although this battle resulted in significant losses of manpower,

However, thanks to Nagato's evacuation of most of the population before the war, aside from the fact that most of the village was destroyed, Amegakure's population resources were not actually greatly lost. With the Amegakure ninja's methods and strength, rebuilding the village was not an impossible task.

If you want to completely erase Amegakure from the list...

We need to find a way to deal with the evacuated villagers of Yuyin Village.

If the future of Amegakure is not erased,

Then we also need to consider how to tame Amegakure into Konoha's lackeys!

Victory on the battlefield is just the beginning.

There's still a lot of loose ends to clean up!

"Nagato, what a sorry sight! Look at you, even breathing must be torture for you, right? Why won't you die?" Zongxian walked over slowly, looking down at Nagato, who was clinging to life and refusing to die.

"This time... I lost, but..."

"There will be no next time."