The rain was heavier in this part of the world.
Sheets of it slid down the steel buildings like tears on glass. Amegakure — the Village Hidden in the Rain — was a city of shadows, metal, and endless gray skies.
Naruto walked quietly between Itachi and Kisame, his hood raised as droplets tapped against the fabric. The roads were narrow and quiet, the people hidden behind shuttered windows. The atmosphere wasn't hostile, exactly — but it was suffocating. Always watched. Always waiting.
Even the air tasted different here.
'Last time I came here… it was war' Naruto thought. 'Pain had declared himself a god. We were enemies'
Now he stood on the same streets without chaos — just the silence before something big.
The tower at the center of the village loomed above them, like a jagged blade piercing the sky. It felt alive. Heavy with chakra. Watchful.
Kisame cracked his neck lazily. "Back in the fishbowl," he muttered. "Hope the boss is in a good mood."
Naruto didn't speak. His eyes flicked from rooftop to rooftop, then briefly toward the water tanks, half-expecting to see those strange chakra receivers embedded in bodies. But not yet.
They entered the tower's lower level — quiet, humming with a low current of energy.
Then a swirl of paper descended like feathers.
A woman stepped from the folding wings.
Konan.
Still, serene. Beautiful in that cold, composed way. Her blue hair tied in a loose bun, her eyes like polished dusk — sharp and sad.
Naruto froze.
Memories hit him like lightning. His last conversation and meeting with her before she left with their bodies.
She had died alone. Brave. However unable to protect Nagato body and his Rinnegan.
Not this time.
Naruto exhaled softly. He stared at her with something close to awe and guilt. He would save her. He had to.
Konan's eyes flicked to Naruto, curious. "Is this… the boy?"
Itachi nodded once. "He asked to meet Nagato."
Kisame smirked. "He also asked to join us."
Konan looked at Naruto directly. "You're younger than I expected. But… I sense no fear."
Naruto lifted his head. "I'm not afraid of truth. Or change."
Konan's expression didn't shift, but something unreadable passed behind her eyes. She turned and began walking down the corridor. "Then come. He's waiting."
"We be heading to our rooms, see you later brat, if you survived that is" Kisame crackle as he walks off. Itachi glance at Naruto before following after his partner.
Naruto followed after her in silence — footsteps echoing off cold floors.
Naruto's heart pounded. Not from fear — but from the storm of thoughts rising in him.
Nagato. Pain.
'The one who taught me so much... by breaking everything first'
And then — another name burned in his mind.
Zetsu.
The puppet-master hidden behind a thousand lies. The one who used Obito. Used everyone, He will pay.
Naruto's hand clenched slightly at his side.
He need to warn them. Before it's too late.
He tell them soon. About Zetsu. About the real threat. But first…
He looked forward, where the hallway opened to a great circular room.
I have to face Pain again.
———
The halls of the Rain Tower echoed with every step.
Konan walked with silent grace, her cloak barely brushing the ground. Behind her, Naruto followed steadily, eyes calm, mind racing. He could feel the pressure in the air — heavy with chakra, dense with memories of death, and drenched in the sorrow of war long before it began.
Konan glanced over her shoulder more than once.
There was something off about this boy.
He wasn't scared. He wasn't loud. He wasn't reckless.
He was… watching everything. Calm. Patient. Measuring.
And that unnerved her more than if he'd come in screaming.
He's nothing like the reports from Konoha.
They reached a side corridor before the main chamber — a small moment of pause. Konan stopped and turned to him.
"You're surprisingly composed for a child," she said flatly.
Naruto gave a small smile. "I've already been here before… just not in this body."
Her eyes narrowed. Not in this body? What does that mean?
A soft chime rang through the air — and the System screen opened before Naruto's eyes.
[New Quest: Break the Cycle]
Objective: Gain Nagato's trust
Bonus: Change the future of the Akatsuki
Rewards: 1000 XP, Gacha Tokens, +Affinity: Konan/Nagato
Status: In Progress
Naruto's fingers twitched at his side.
So it begins.
He looked back at Konan. "Can I ask you something before we go in?"
She tilted her head slightly.
"If I can change Nagato's mind… would you listen too?"
Konan didn't answer immediately.
Then she said quietly, "If you can do that… I'll listen."
The Chamber of Pain, The door slid open with a quiet hiss.
Naruto stepped forward into the massive room. A ring of large black rods jutted from the walls. Water dripped faintly from above, and six figures stood in a loose half-circle.
The Six Paths of Pain.
But Naruto's eyes locked onto the central one — Tendō, the Deva Path. Yahiko's body. Nagato's voice.
"You are Uzumaki Naruto," the voice echoed.
Naruto stood straight. "Yes."
"You want to join us. Why?"
Konan stepped aside, watching both closely.
"I want to stop the future that's coming," Naruto said. "And I need to talk to the real Nagato."
The Six Paths were still.
"I am Nagato," the Deva Path replied.
Naruto took a step forward.
"No. That's a puppet."
The air tensed.
Naruto's voice was calm. Clear.
"I want to speak to you. Not the mask. Not the god. Not Pain. But the real Nagato Uzumaki."
Even Konan shifted.
The Deva Path's eyes narrowed slightly. "How much do you know?" Is this kid gonna be a threat? If so, he will get rid of him.
Naruto's answer was even, but his words shook the room. "Because we're family. My mother was Kushina Uzumaki. That makes you and me cousins."
Konan inhaled sharply.
The Six Paths didn't move, but the chakra in the room shifted.
"All Uzumaki have long chakra reserves," Naruto went on. "We're gifted with sealing jutsu...long life, We have red hair. And we're all survivors of a clan destroyed for its power... However my father dominated the blood gene so yeah, I couldn't had my mother's hair"
"...How do you know this?" Konan asked, stepping closer.
Naruto looked at her. Then at the Deva Path.
And finally said the words he knew would change everything. "Because I'm not from this timeline. I've lived this life already — and I died. Before I woke up as a kid again."
Silence.
Dripping water.
The hum of chakra buzzed faintly through the rods.
Konan stared. "...You're saying you traveled back in time?" That sounds so impossible.
Naruto nodded. "Through death. I don't know how. Maybe it's the Nine-Tails. Maybe the world is a game. But I'm here now — and I'm not going to let history repeat." He better get in contact with Kurama too, He didn't got the time to check if he came along with him. If he did, it would make things easier and find out if he knows how Naruto ended up here and maybe about this so call system.
The Deva Path's voice was quiet now.
"And in that future… what happened?"
Naruto looked directly at it — no fear, no hesitation.
"You died. Konan died. Akatsuki was used by Zetsu. By a bigger lie. And the world burned."