The Otsutsuki clan was not composed entirely of monsters. At least those two were weak. Very weak. So weak that Hidan's taijutsu alone was enough to completely overwhelm Kinshiki. And Isshiki, despite being stronger, was being toyed with by Kakuzu after his body had been enhanced.
Obito Uchiha was mainly responsible for preventing either of them from escaping through space-time techniques. Nagato analyzed their abilities with the Rinnegan. Itachi Uchiha copied their techniques with the Sharingan. And everyone else mostly watched.
Zaraki Kita was clutching her head in regret. Obito was laughing so hard he nearly fell over.
"So what exactly is the joke here?" Konan looked completely lost.
"Please don't say it!!" Zaraki Kita panicked. But Obito, of course, did not miss the chance to expose her. "Back when we decoded the Fire Temple ruins, those two nearly scared her to tears, HAHAHA!"
The laughter echoed. And then came judgmental stares.
Zaraki Kita immediately tried to defend herself. "Wait, no! Listen to me! It wasn't me, it was Kaguya who freaked out! I just got affected by her reaction! I did NOT cry, okay?! Stop looking at me like that!"
"Mm. I understand now." Konan's gaze was disturbingly calm.
Zaraki Kita felt like her reputation had died permanently.
And then the laughter stopped. The atmosphere shifted.
The Rinnegan embedded in Isshiki's palm pressed against Kinshiki's body. In an instant, his power surged violently. Nagato watched as a massive man was compressed into a crimson sphere the size of a fist. But what shocked him more was that while mocking them as "lower beings," Isshiki began to eat it. Kinshiki. He ate him?
Isshiki's chakra exploded upward into a completely different level. Kakuzu was kicked away. Hidan was struck mid-motion and sent flying after him.
Nagato's expression darkened. The air itself trembled. Konan immediately understood, he's serious now.
"Next is, YOU." But the sentence never finished. A blur cut through the air. BOOM. Nagato appeared instantly in front of Isshiki, grabbing his throat mid-sentence. The world went silent.
"Is this how you gain power?" Nagato's voice was cold.
"Ghk!" Isshiki struggled, claws gripping Nagato's wrist, but it was useless. He couldn't even activate his full strength. This, this is not possible, I should have brought more pills. "Th-this is the difference, between gods, and lower beings!" Pride twisted into desperation. His feet left the ground.
Nagato looked at him like something already dead. "I thought you were just people with different beliefs from us," Nagato said quietly. "But I was wrong in a way far deeper than I imagined."
"Ghk, bastard."
"I don't want to hear another word from you."
The Rinnegan flared. Dark red light spread. Isshiki shrank rapidly, just like Kinshiki. Until he became a second blood-red sphere. A "pill." A condensed existence of power.
Nagato crushed it. CRACK. The sphere burst, spilling thick crimson residue across his hand.
Silence followed. "What is life, to them?" No one answered. Not Konan. Not Itachi. Not even those who usually overthink everything.
Itachi closed his Sharingan and spoke softly. "Then, what is life to us?" No one had an answer.
Konan stepped forward, placing a hand on Nagato's shoulder. Not heavy. Not dramatic. Just present. Nagato did not need philosophy. Not comforting words. Not empty ideals. Those things meant nothing here.
Obito finally broke the silence. "Life doesn't matter that much." "We're human. That's enough." "Good things, bad things, pain, joy, it's all part of being alive." "I don't care what the Otsutsuki think. I don't care enough to change them either." "And honestly?" "We're basically terrorists anyway. So we just do what we want and let the rest of the world panic."
The silence returned. But this time, it was different.
……
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