"I'm sorry, Konan! This time... I have to leave you... alone... I'm sorry... You must... live well... I..."

Nagato's voice was a dying whisper, a candle flickering in the wind, each word a monumental effort. Before he could finish his last sentence, the light in his eyes faded, and he exhaled his final breath.

"Nagato—!!!"

Konan's scream pierced the very sky, a raw, wrenching cry of endless sorrow and despair. Tears streamed from her eyes like broken strings of pearls, blurring her vision. They mixed with the dust and grime on her face, etching a path of tragic beauty. She clung to Nagato's hands, already growing cold, as if her grasp alone could keep him from leaving her.

"Why... you also have to leave me... I am alone now"

The air around them seemed to freeze, only Konan's broken sobs and the faint whisper of the wind intertwining into a mournful elegy. She closed her eyes tightly, unwilling to accept the cruel reality, but the tears flowed, an unstoppable spring. She knew that no matter how she cried out, Nagato would never answer again. Of the three of them, she was the only one left. Alone.

The wind continued to blow, carrying a chilling whisper, as if it bore Nagato's final blessing, gently caressing Konan's face, urging her to be strong, to live on.

After a long, agonizing silence, Konan wiped away her tears. She gently lifted Nagato's body and carried him away from the ruins of the Hidden Rain Village. She would survive. For Yahiko. For Nagato. And she would avenge him.

A few minutes earlier...

Kagami, having expended the chakra of his clone to shatter the meteorite, glanced at Uchiha Madara and smiled. "We'll fight again someday!" With a poof, the clone dissolved into a puff of smoke.

"Hmph, I've finally exhausted his chakra... Hahahaha... What a tough battle!" Hashirama Senju breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to Madara with a triumphant grin. Kagami's strength was terrifying. Even with both of them fighting, they had only managed a stalemate. He couldn't imagine how they would have won if Kagami's true body had been present.

Madara, despite his pride, did not refute his friend. He knew better than Hashirama. Kagami's clone hadn't even used its full strength, and it had simply dispelled itself when its purpose was served. "What a horrifying child," he muttered to himself. Just a clone, and it had pushed him so far. If he were to face Kagami's true body, he knew he had no chance. Unless... he became the Ten-Tails' jinchuriki.

At that moment, a Wood Clone of Uchiha Madara emerged from the ground, holding his original Rinnegan. Madara's eyes widened. He immediately dug out the Sharingan in his own sockets and replaced them with his true eyes.

"Madara, you..." Hashirama was stunned, wondering where Madara had acquired such eyes.

The Sage of Six Paths also emerged from his barrier. He watched Madara's actions and instantly understood that Madara had taken the Rinnegan from Nagato. He hesitated for only a moment, then chose not to intervene. He had initially intended for Nagato to become the Ten-Tails' jinchuriki, but Nagato's performance had been disappointing. Now, with Madara seizing the Rinnegan, he could simply use Madara as his new pawn. Though Madara would become uncontrollable with the Rinnegan, the Sage still held a secret leverage over him. And Kagami's power was even greater than he had anticipated. If he wanted to deal with Kagami, there truly was no better chess piece than Uchiha Madara.

Madara paid no attention to either of them. He focused his chakra, repairing the optic nerves. As the new eye was implanted, an unprecedented power surged within him. His eyes became deep and complex, as if they could see into the very essence of everything. At that moment, Uchiha Madara truly became a god. He slowly stood up, a powerful aura radiating from him, making everything else pale in comparison. The Rinnegan in his eyes slowly rotated, releasing a breathtaking light that enveloped everything in a deep, mysterious hue.

"I've finally gotten my power back! Hahahahahaha..." Feeling the power surge within him, Madara threw his head back and laughed wildly. The return of this power not only made him feel stronger than ever but also rekindled his deep desire for conquest.

Then, his gaze, sharp as a sword, fell upon the "Sharingan" he had just discarded. Under the all-seeing power of the Rinnegan, the meticulously crafted fakes had nowhere to hide. As Madara withdrew his chakra, the luster on their surface dimmed, as if a soul had departed. They evaporated in his palm like morning dew, transforming into wisps of pure energy that dissipated into the air, leaving only a faint, unwilling warmth.

"Tsk, is that really all it was?" A trace of disappointment crossed Madara's face, quickly replaced by a renewed fighting spirit. These were not true eyes, merely constructs of Yin-Yang Release, sustained by his chakra. Though they could mimic the basic Rinnegan, a fake would always be a fake. He had suspected as much, so it was no great loss. He immediately exited the Rinnegan state, conserving his power.

Meanwhile, because of Nagato's death, the Nine Consuming Seals ritual was interrupted. The chakra of the Seven-Tails and Five-Tails, still in their jinchuriki, was not completely absorbed by the Gedo Statue. After absorbing a vast amount of Tailed Beast chakra, and with the Rinnegan's control suddenly gone, the Ten-Tails fell into a semi-resurrected, violent state. The Seven-Tails and Five-Tails, having escaped their fate, seized the opportunity and immediately began to flee.

"ROAR—!!!" The Ten-Tails' roar was like a thunderclap ripping through the sky, shaking the very space itself, echoing throughout the underground cavern.