“Don’t worry, you can trust us,” Terra said.

“Yeah, he won’t know a thing… for a price, though,” Thena added slyly.

Terra looked at her weirdly.

“Is this blackmail?” Nina asked, narrowing her eyes slightly.

“I don’t know, you tell me,” Nima said with a nonchalant shrug.

“You sly little bastard… alright, name your terms,” Nina said.

“Ohhh, so it’s this serious? Then I’ll make sure to milk this opportunity dry,” Thena said.

“I want you to teleport us to school today,” Thena continued. “I don’t want to get to class tired, and my last condition is a favor.”

“What’s the favor about?” Nina asked.

“I can’t tell you now,” Thena replied.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Nina asked, skeptical.

“Yes,” Thena said.

“I have no part in this, Aunt Nina,” Terra muttered.

“Yeah… Terra is definitely walking all the way to school today,” Thena said with a grin.

“Fine, we are definitely doing this,” Terra said through gritted teeth.

“OK… then, but you’ll regret this… very much,” Nina said darkly.

“We’ll see,” Thena said, unfazed.

“Alright then, let’s get somewhere hidden,” Nina said, leading the way toward a narrow alley.

Once there, she created a shadow clone and placed her hands on Thena and Terra’s shoulders, vanishing with them. Before leaving, Thena and Terra called their goodbyes. Nina’s expression turned serious.

“You can come out now, Zetsu,” she said.

White Zetsu emerged from the ground. “Yo, nice to meet you. So how can I help you? Be quick, because I’m on babysitting duty,” he said.

“Ohhh, Dad told you to keep an eye on the kids, huh?” Nina asked.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it,” Zetsu replied.

“OK, so here’s the thing. You won’t tell him anything you heard here, and I won’t reduce you to nothing with my Amaterasu. Got it?” Nina said firmly.

“So that’s how it is… I’m the one being threatened now. Fine, I won’t tell him a thing,” Zetsu said with mock annoyance.

“Good. Now go and do as you are told,” Nina said, and Zetsu vanished into the ground again.

Nina didn’t like threatening Zetsu,he had always been kind to her in her time to the point that she could consider him family, but her father really didn’t need to know what she had told Thena and Terra. Part of this was revenge for him being a hypocrite: he had taken advantage of the situation when she misfired a technique and still had the audacity to reprimand her, like that infant of her mother.

Enough about them anyway. Nina hadn’t yet had the chance to savor the moment of actually creating Dust Release, which was huge progress. Her strength would increase once she mastered it, but then what? Getting the Rinnegan? Impossible. Six Paths Sage Mode? Also impossible.

The only ways to increase her power now were extreme: becoming the Ten-Tails’ Jinchūriki, obtaining the Chakra Fruit, or maybe convincing her father to lend her one of his Rinnegan. All options had slim chances of success. It seemed she would have to stick to physical training again because she was still far from hitting her limit.

Hours later…

Pain lounged on his newly-crafted throne like he was born on it,one knee raised, cheek resting against his fist, looking every bit the arrogant final boss he absolutely wanted to be.He had developed new tastes lately. Onyx and Lady Shiva stood at his sides like twin shadows, his lieutenants.

A ripple of darkness slid across the floor as one of his enhanced operatives stepped in, dropped to one knee, and bowed deeply. With both hands raised, the shadow presented a small drive.

Before the minion even reached the first line of tiles near the throne, Onyx moved and plucked the drive from the operative’s hands without a word and stepped up to Pain, offering it to him .

Pain took it, rolled it between his fingers then nodded once.

“You’ve done well,” he said slowly. “Dismissed.”

The shadow bowed again ,lower this time and backed out of the chamber before slipping into the darkness like it had never existed.

Pain leaned back in his throne with a smirk tugging at his lips. He had been planning to retrieve the artificial kryptonite formula himself… but then he remembered something important:

He had juiced-up, overpowered minions now.

Why do the chores when you have competent monsters eager to impress?

He extended the drive toward Onyx.

“Take this to Langstrom,” Pain ordered, his voice low, resonant. “I expect tangible results soon.”

“Yes, sir,” Onyx replied, bowing her head slightly before turning on her heel and leaving with that deadly elegance she carried everywhere.

Pain watched her go

And not even a full minute later, the chamber’s doors slid open again. Another shadow sprinted in,this one clearly standard cannon fodder, not one of his enhanced elites,and immediately dropped to his knees, forehead nearly touching the floor.

“L-Lord Pain, I bring terrible news!”

Pain didn’t even bother sitting up properly. “Speak.”

“The base in Gotham has been attacked.”

Pain’s brow creased, irritation flickering over his features. “By whom?”

The man swallowed hard. “By a man who called himself… Talon.”

For a moment,there was silence.

In his mind, a single thought echoed with venomous disappointment:

These guys are so disappointing. Thirty highly-trained men… with my training… taken out by one man? Pathetic. Utterly pathetic.

“I see,” Pain finally said, voice calm in a way that made the shadow tremble. “You’re dismissed. I’ll handle this matter myself.”

The operative didn’t wait to be told twice,he scurried out as fast as dignity allowed.

Lady Shiva took one step forward. “I think I would be more than enough for this.”

Pain raised a hand, stopping her mid-breath. “No. There is no need.”

His eyes sharpened, glowing faintly with cold fury.

“I want to personally rip his soul out of his body… and shove his corpse into a meat grinder.”

Shiva exhaled slowly, conceding the point.

“What I do need,” Pain continued, “is for you to escort Talia and Nyssa out of here. Their services are no longer required.”

He started walking away, hands behind his back, cloak trailing like living shadows,then paused mid-step.

“And besides,” he added, tone dropping with icy disdain, “I think Talia has shared enough information with her boyfriend.”

“I understand ” Shiva said

“Oh,one more thing,” he said, voice echoing through the hall. “Tell Talia she will not be pursued, and her son will remain unharmed… provided she keeps her distance.”

And with that said, Pain vanished,disappearing in an instant,.

——-

Meanwhile at the Schiller residence…

Thena, Terra, and Nina sat around the table with Max, plates full, eyes bright, and each of them looking like they were moments away from cracking up. Every time they glanced at their father, the snickering started again—quiet, choked, barely-contained laughter they tried desperately to hide.

Nina, however, was dying inside.

She kept shooting them frantic warning looks,wide eyes and sharp glares,When that failed, she started kicking them gently under the table. She knew the danger:

If Max asked seriously,like seriously seriously,Thena and Terra would fold instantly.

In hindsight, maybe telling them that Max is kinda awkward with women had been a mistake.

Max finally had enough. He lifted his fork slightly, voice suspicious.

“…What’s so funny?”

All three girls froze like a summoned boss had just entered the room.

Terra stared down at her food like it was the most interesting thing she’d ever seen. Thena cleared her throat awkwardly. “Nothing.”

Nina acted fast.

“It’s just a prank they saw being pulled at school,” she said quickly.

Thena turned to speak,probably about to ruin everything,when Nina’s foot jabbed her ankle like a warning shot.

Max sighed. “Okay… but you three should get a hold of yourselves. Laugh at the joke when it happens, not five hours later. Otherwise you just look like lunatics.”

The girls nodded obediently, faces almost painfully blank as they forced themselves into silence.

“Anyway,” Max continued as he cut another piece of his food, “I’m going to be away for a while.”

Thena’s head shot up instantly. “Away? Where?”

“Hell.”

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