Chapter 577: A Well-Intentioned Lie

As Nagato used the power of the Rinnegan to summon the souls of those who had died in battle back to the living world, followed by the words "Rinne Rebirth," a large number of the dead were resurrected, and the crowd immediately became chaotic.

Before using the technique, Nagato did not loudly tell everyone that he would release Rinne Rebirth to resurrect the dead, nor did he explain or defend his actions.

After the verdict was announced, Nagato simply released Rinne Rebirth and resurrected those who had died in battle.

After resurrecting everyone, Nagato’s body collapsed, falling to the ground and dying under everyone’s gaze.

Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that the moment Nagato finished using the technique, his life force had gradually faded away until not a trace remained.

"Nagato..." Looking at Nagato’s fallen body, Konan expressionlessly murmured his name, tightly clenching her fists and forcing herself to hold back her tears.

"Sigh." Jiraiya sighed, his expression filled with both melancholy and a trace of confusion.

When Jiraiya had encountered Nagato on the battlefield in the Land of Rain back then, he thought he had discovered the Child of Prophecy mentioned in the prophecy of the Great Toad Sage.

He believed Nagato’s eyes were extremely special, the legendary eyes of the Sage of Six Paths.

Because of the requests of the three children, along with some considerations of his own, he took them as disciples and began teaching them Ninjutsu.

During the process of teaching them Ninjutsu, Nagato displayed extraordinary talent. No Ninjutsu could stump him, and he soon became proficient in all five nature transformations. Jiraiya had barely taught him for long before he had nothing left to teach Nagato.

This made Jiraiya even more certain that Nagato was the Child of Prophecy foretold by the Great Toad Sage. With the legendary eyes of the Sage of Six Paths and such incredible talent of his own, as long as nothing unexpected happened, Nagato was destined to become a powerhouse at the pinnacle of the Shinobi World.

However, reality was cruel. Things did not develop as smoothly as Jiraiya had imagined.

He had once heard that the three children had created a Shinobi organization dedicated to pursuing peace and were active in the Land of Rain. Later, he heard that all three of them had died, but judging from the current situation, that should have been false information...

"Such a powerful expert actually died just like this." The Grass Shinobi leader shook his head regretfully, feeling a trace of worry for the future of the smaller Shinobi Villages.

What he regretted was not Nagato’s death as a person, but the loss of a powerhouse capable of fighting ten thousand enemies alone from the faction of the smaller Shinobi Villages.

Although Nagato could not defeat Nagasawa, Nagato could defeat everyone other than Nagasawa.

"Amegakure is not a simple place either..." Onoki shook his head.

Faced with the future situation of Otsutsuki invading the Shinobi World, there had actually been a considerable voice within the alliance suggesting that Nagato should not be sentenced to death, but instead be sentenced to life imprisonment.

The purpose was to take Nagato’s strength into consideration. He was basically only below Nagasawa in strength, so when the Otsutsuki invaded in the future, Nagato and Nagasawa could fight together.

Unexpectedly, Onoki had not expressed his opinion on this proposal. He had remained silent.

This surprised many people, because in a normal war, the biggest victim had been Iwagakure. Not only had its reputation been thoroughly trampled, but it had also suffered severe losses.

The number of Shinobi killed from the other four nations combined was still lower than Iwagakure’s. More than a thousand Iwagakure Shinobi had died, and the number of casualties was even greater.

Onoki had the most reason to hate Nagato, yet he had not expressed any opinion on this proposal.

Since Onoki remained silent, the others could not exactly ask him about it either. Wouldn’t that just be rubbing salt into his wounds?

In fact, Onoki had been extremely conflicted at that time.

’On one side is the future of the Shinobi World, the greater good. On the other side are the Shinobi of my Iwagakure, the children I watched grow up...’

How could Onoki choose?

If this had happened in the past, Onoki would have chosen his own village without hesitation.

But the situation was different now. The era had changed. In the current Shinobi World, a single Shinobi Village could no longer stand on its own, not even his Iwagakure.

Now that those who had died in battle had been resurrected, Onoki’s feelings toward Nagato had become even more complicated.

After all, when Onoki had been defeated by Nagato back then, Nagato had not killed him.

"Why did the leader commit suicide?" Musashi scratched his head in confusion. He had been planning to ask Nagato about the masked man after the trial ended. Wasn’t that precisely why he had infiltrated the Akatsuki?

Although Obito had appeared in front of Musashi before, Musashi had not seen Obito make a move before Nagasawa threw him away. Furthermore, Obito had mostly displayed the power of the Gravity-Gravity Fruit on the battlefield, so Musashi had failed to recognize him.

"In this cruel Shinobi society, anything can happen." Biwa Juzo spoke in a deep, meaningful tone.

Unexpectedly, many resurrected Shinobi suddenly appeared, making the scene somewhat chaotic. Some of the deceased’s family members happened to be present, resulting in one touching reunion after another.

However, because the area was somewhat crowded, some people could not squeeze their way over and could only embrace their family members from a distance.

Nagasawa flashed to Nagato’s body and briefly explained why the dead had been resurrected, as well as the fact that Nagato had died.

Nagato had died, while those who had died in the war had been resurrected. For most of the Shinobi present, this was a happy and satisfying ending.

Thus, the trial ended.

Although some members of the Akatsuki also had to die, they were not worthy of being put on trial like Nagato.

Looking at the handsome dual-wielding swordsman in the crowd who looked somewhat confused, Nagasawa could not figure out how to deal with him for a moment.

He had taken this adopted son back when he was grinding template fusion progress and had originally planned to leave him to fend for himself. Somehow, he had later become involved with the Akatsuki. Fortunately, Nagasawa had given him the Haki talent, allowing him to awaken Armament Haki and Observation Haki. He did not need Nagasawa to rescue him, and had managed to establish himself.

Nagasawa did not know how to explain this matter to Musashi. Should he simply confess to Musashi that his Whitebeard dad had never actually died, that the masked man had also been working for his Whitebeard dad, and that his dad’s name was not actually Whitebeard?

Nagasawa felt that reality might be difficult for Musashi to accept.

Sometimes, lies were not necessarily meant to harm others.

When Musashi and Biwa Juzo were preparing to leave, an Anbu Shinobi from Konohagakure stopped Musashi according to Nagasawa’s instructions.

"What do you want?" Musashi cautiously looked at the Anbu.

Anbu Shinobi did not have a good reputation in the Shinobi World. No matter which village they belonged to, Musashi thought Konoha was planning to deal with the two remaining Akatsuki members.

"Let me make this clear first. We are no longer members of the Akatsuki, and we have no intention of joining any Shinobi organization either," Musashi said.

"Don’t worry. It has nothing to do with the Akatsuki. Nagasawa, the advisor, wants to see you," the Anbu Shinobi explained.

"There are some things I can’t tell you here either. You’ll know once you meet him."

"Nagasawa, the advisor?" Biwa Juzo’s brows furrowed tightly. This was even more terrifying than something related to the Akatsuki. It actually had something to do with that Nagasawa.

Musashi thought about it. He felt that the famous Fujiwara Nagasawa did not seem like a bad person, so there should be no harm in meeting him. Thus, he said to Biwa Juzo:

"Then, Juzo, wait here for me. I’ll go meet this legendary Nagasawa."

Biwa Juzo nodded, then remembered something and reminded him, "Don’t even think about challenging him. I’ll fight you as much as you want after we go back."

Musashi said with a grin, "I’m battle-hungry, but I’m not stupid. My strength isn’t enough to challenge an opponent at that level. There’s no point."

Musashi believed that fighting was the best form of training, but that was under the premise that the opponent could not instantly kill him with one move.

Otherwise, if Nagasawa made a move and he was instantly taken out, what would be the point? Wouldn’t he just be getting beaten for nothing?

The best opponent was someone who was somewhat stronger than him, but still allowed them to fight back and forth. That was the kind of opponent he wanted.

Musashi followed the Anbu Shinobi to meet Nagasawa.

Musashi was not unfamiliar with the name Fujiwara Nagasawa. After all, he was the strongest person in the Shinobi World and Musashi’s ultimate goal.

After bringing Musashi over, the Anbu Shinobi left on his own, leaving only Musashi and Nagasawa in the room.

"Lord Nagasawa, why did you want to see me?" Musashi asked very directly.

"Do you recognize this?" Nagasawa extended his hand, then used Armament Haki to cover his body.

"This isn’t the thing old man used..." Musashi wanted to say it, but then realized that Whitebeard had apparently never told him what this was called. He had thought that only he and Whitebeard in the entire Shinobi World could use it.

"This is called Haki, Armament Haki." Nagasawa revealed the name of Haki.

"Did you awaken a technique that allows you to sense auras? That is also Haki. It is called Observation Haki."

"What a strange name." Musashi honestly complained before asking in confusion, "Why do you know this?"

"Actually, when I was young, I once had an experience traveling around. During my journey, I encountered a powerful man named Whitebeard who had a large build..." Nagasawa began making up a story.

In Nagasawa’s story, he had not yet been the strongest person in the Shinobi World at that time, and his strength was not as great as it was now, though that was only relative.

He had fought Whitebeard for a while. Seeing that he possessed extraordinary talent, Whitebeard had wanted to take him as a son.

"That settles it. It was old man!" Musashi laughed loudly.

He had also been taken in as Whitebeard’s son after fighting Whitebeard.

Thinking about how his naive younger self had actually attempted to defeat Whitebeard, Musashi could not help but laugh.

Now, even if he only used one hand, he could easily kill a hundred versions of his former self.

Yet even now, he still felt that Whitebeard’s strength was unfathomable.

If not for Whitebeard being old, and the intense battle against that demigod Hanzo that left him poisoned by Hanzo’s deadly poison, then he would not have...

"I didn’t agree, but we traveled together for a while, and I learned this Haki Secret Technique because of that," Nagasawa said.

Although he was making up a story, Nagasawa did not want to become Whitebeard’s son either. That would be far too strange.

"That’s a shame. I thought I had gained a brother who was the strongest person in the Shinobi World." There was no trace of regret on Musashi’s face despite what he said.

"Old man died in the Land of Rain..." Musashi wanted to tell Nagasawa that his father had died.

After talking for a while, Musashi discovered that Nagasawa was quite easy to talk to. He did not seem like someone who would fail to repay kindness, so Musashi told Nagasawa about the masked man and wanted him to help investigate.

Originally, Musashi had planned to ask Konan how much information she knew. If he could get Nagasawa to help as well, that would be even better.

Nagasawa was not only the strongest person in the Shinobi World, but his Shinobi Village, Konohagakure, was also the strongest Shinobi Village at present. It was a permanent member of the Shinobi World Alliance, so it could be said that he possessed immense influence.

Before Musashi could finish speaking, Nagasawa took out a Sealing Scroll, pulled out Kumo-giri from inside, and handed it to Musashi.

"Where did you get this?" Musashi’s eyes widened. He immediately recognized it as the weapon his old man had once used.

"I heard about what happened in the Land of Rain. After investigating, I found this weapon. Since you’re his son, this weapon should naturally be inherited by you," Nagasawa said.

He had gotten this weapon for free back then in the Land of Rivers. It was forged from Chakra metal and was an extremely valuable premium weapon.

"I also killed the masked man who killed Whitebeard." Nagasawa spoke again.

On this matter, he had indeed been quite unscrupulous, letting the two adopted sons he had taken live in hatred.

Therefore, after that, Nagasawa stopped using this method to increase his fusion progress. There was no need. He was Fujiwara Nagasawa, and he did not need to become someone else to increase his fusion progress.

Musashi froze, staring blankly at Nagasawa, seemingly forgetting how to speak for a moment.

"The masked man is dead?" Musashi asked for confirmation.

"Yeah, the masked man is dead. There will never be another masked man in the Shinobi World," Nagasawa replied.

Musashi did not know what adjective he could use to describe his current emotions.

Happy? His greatest enemy was dead, so he should be happy. In fact, he did feel a trace of that emotion.

Melancholy? Just a few minutes ago, he had still been preparing to search for the masked man, only to suddenly receive the news that the masked man was already dead.

But what he felt most was emptiness. The goal he had been pursuing all this time had disappeared, and Musashi felt as if his heart had suddenly become hollow.

The masked man was already dead, so there was no need for revenge anymore. Then there was no need to keep increasing his strength or continue challenging others.

Everything he had done all this time had lost its meaning. Musashi could no longer find a direction to move forward.

"I heard that you really like challenging powerful opponents?" Nagasawa asked.

"Yeah." Musashi nodded somewhat dazedly. He had not actually heard what Nagasawa was saying.

Only after coming back to his senses did he wave his hand and say, "That was before. There’s no need anymore."

"Why is there no need?"

"Because I did all that before to avenge my old man. Since the masked man is already dead, there’s no need anymore," Musashi answered.

"But I once heard that there was an unusual swordsman among the samurai. Instead of staying in the Land of Iron to train, he traveled throughout the Shinobi World..." Nagasawa said.

Hearing the story of his past, Musashi’s eyes became somewhat clearer.

"Your existence isn’t for the sake of avenging anyone. Don’t forget what you originally wanted."