Chapter 249: The Ruined Home Beneath the Rain

Nagato had set the spatial coordinates on a rooftop. So stepping through the portal felt like stepping down a stair, but instead of landing, he was falling. A flash of rain entered his vision. A faint stench of burning rot drifted in. This isn't our rooftop.

"Shit, where the hell is this?! What kind of coordinates did you set?!" Obito blurted out. He immediately released chakra wings to stabilize himself, avoiding a brutal fall.

One by one, the others emerged, floating midair, staring down at a world that no longer made sense. Konan could not see it, but she could smell it. That stench of corpses, thick, unnatural, unfamiliar. Not even the bodies of the Otsutsuki carried this kind of odor. Something was wrong. Deeply wrong.

Beside her, Kita's expression changed. Cold. Sharp. Dangerous. Konan reached out instinctively, trying to calm him, but as her hand lowered, she felt it too. The battlefield.

What once had been towering buildings was now ruins. What once had been lively streets was now shattered craters. What once had been a village of soft rain was now soaked in blood that even the downpour could not wash away. This is home. This is the world we swore to protect.

Silence. Only rain. Only smoke. Only death.

"What... happened here?" someone asked.

Konan lifted her sleeve. And the world responded. Memory unfolded.

A massive Rasenshuriken shattered a red barrier. Countless figures surged forward. People ran in panic. Weapons pierced bodies indiscriminately, old, young, women, children. The battlefield did not stop. Life did not stop leaving.

Karin fought desperately. Suigetsu struck with everything he had. Shigure fought like a man ready to die without regret. Every single person who could hold a weapon resisted against an endless army, against strangers who showed no hesitation. But in the end there was nowhere left to run. No way forward. No way back. Only collapse.

A white-haired man in a red cloud cloak stepped forward. And what followed was nightmare. People were dragged away. Bodies piled, burned alive in mass pyres. Women screamed. Children cried. Men cursed the heavens. Thousands became hundreds. Hundreds became dozens. Dozens became nothing.

Buildings collapsed. Memorial towers, the resting places of heroes, were torn down one by one. Their remains, once honored, were thrown into flames. Fire roared endlessly. Smoke covered the sky. Crackling sounds filled the air. Burning hope. Burning belief. Burning everything.

Eyes of cyan cruelty. A woman like a serpent, merciless and calm. Executioners who treated life as meaningless debris.

And then it stopped. The illusion shattered. Reality returned. Ruins. Smoke. Rain.

Even Kita, who had seen too much, fell silent. Even Sakura's eyes reddened. Even Obito clenched his teeth. No one spoke. Because words were too small.

They stepped forward onto blood-soaked ground. This was their home. The place they once called home even in another world. They had fought the Otsutsuki. They had endured exile, battle, near-death. They had lost sight. They had lost flesh. They had lost everything, not for conquest, not for power, not for domination, but to protect this broken world from becoming exactly this.

If we fail, this is what our homeland becomes. Nagato's words from long ago echoed. A world of bones stretching endlessly into white emptiness. That was their reason. Their vow. Their war. But now.

"Shinra Tensei." A cold voice shattered the silence. Dark figures of ANBU were thrown into the sky. Nagato stood there, face like a demon of judgment.

"Akatsuki. Capture everyone."

"Understood."

This was not a battle. It was an execution. One-sided. Absolute.

He stopped before a broken door. Behind it, people. Thin. Broken. Starved. Missing eyes. Missing limbs. Living scars. There was no hope in their eyes. Only exhaustion. Only survival.

"P-Pain-sama...?" A trembling voice. "Akatsuki...? You're back?!" "Akatsuki is here!! We're saved!!"

Hope erupted like fire in dry wood.

"Leader!!" A girl with red hair staggered forward. Karin. Bruised. Broken. Barely standing. "I-I'm sorry... I failed... I couldn't protect them..." She was crying uncontrollably.

Konan gently placed a hand on her face. "It's not your fault, Karin. You did well."

"Kon-Konan-sama..." Shigure dropped to one knee. Not in pride. In shame.

Konan's hand found his face. Warm. Steady. Human. "I'm back," she said softly. Just like before she left.

"Forgive me... I failed you... I deserve death..."

"Stand up, Shigure. I know everything. This is not your fault." "And the others?" she asked.

No answer. Only silence.

"And Kakashi?" Obito's voice cut through.

Shigure hesitated. Then answered. "We don't know. But he's in a very bad condition. We lost contact. If we don't find him soon, he may be at his limit."

"I'll go." Obito activated Kamui. His body began to fade, then snapped back. Nothing. No effect. "What?" He tried again. Blood leaked from his eyes. Still nothing. Space-time ninjutsu had failed completely.

Konan narrowed her eyes. Then clapped her hands together. A moment later, five invisible strikes spread outward. Boom. Far away, massive stones collapsed simultaneously.

"The Six Paths Five Elements Formation is active. Now it's usable again."

Nagato nodded. Obito disappeared instantly.

Konan turned. "Medical support. Now. Sakura, assist. Food and supplies. Search for chakra suppression seals on everyone."

Karin spoke quietly. "We were all sealed. Chakra suppression needles."

"So that's why..." Son Goku muttered. "I can barely sense Kurama."

"Don't contact the tailed beasts yet," Nagato ordered.

"Time report," Konan said.

Shigure answered. "Two years and ten months."

Silence fell again. Less than three years. And their world had become unrecognizable.

Konan stood still for a moment. Then exhaled slowly. So this is what happened, while we were gone. This is what was waiting for us, at home.