because it's not a meaningless thing to say

And this is not mentioning all the other bullshit my boy had to go trough.

It's extremely bewildering to me that most readers don't understand the most simple narrative choices to shift a thematic apparatus from one character to the next--indefinitely. As in, all the themes (or a singular theme that carries minor ones) gain new life with the other character; or, to put it simply, continue on with the other character in lieu of dying off; and I ought to make a post on this; however, I'm going to say this:

What's so difficult about understanding that Kishimoto passed all of Nagato's Theme of Revolution (a lost youth locating purpose in vengeance against organized terrorism of the military junta) to Sasuke? Is it a coincidence that what lead to Nagato's shift from Akatsuki, a peace-keeping, albeit toothless, force to a militant one whose sole purpose was to disrupt the junta's peace was the incident in which Konan was utilized as a human shield by Hanzo? That her very life was used as a bargaining price to crush Akatsuki? And when Yahiko hesitated, showed frailty, he had to forfeit his own life to keep the peace? A peace that never lasted? Not till Nagato didn't crush Hanzo, his family, his acquaintances so utterly? Did it not show that you can't trust military establishments that thrive on terrorism, atrocities, and massacres? It was that moment of trust that Yahiko's life would be enough to placate Hanzo. It wasn't.

Did it not show that peace is a futility--the death of justice when militarism and profit from that militarism run the course of these states? That moment--that single moment--ruined everything; and Yahiko paid the price; and Nagato tried to course-correct it, kept his friend in spirit by ruining Hanzo and everything he stood for via the tragedy he'd created. He made him relive that irony. It's a matter of contention, even for me, that Kishimoto meant to show Nagato's trust in Naruto as the same slip like before; but that's the topic for another day; but what he did intentionally was how similar Sasuke's situation was to Nagato's: companions in peril and one taken hostage, a human shield to end Sasuke and his journey and his Clan's along with it.

Where Nagato faltered, nearly died had it not been for Rinnegan's lucky summon (Nagato didn't summon the Spirit Dragon intentionally; and had it not arrived, Hanzo's forces would've slaughtered everyone even after Yahiko's sacrifice), Sasuke did not. He left Suigestu and Jugo behind, utterly relentless to not let Danzo go; and where Yahiko took his own life and nearly condemned their entire struggle to a complete end, Sasuke ran his chidori through Karin, ended Danzo and set his sights on the conflict's heart, Leaf.

And what can be more decisive than the intrinsic association between Danzo and Hanzo? An intimacy between state terrorists? Danzo, with Leaf's blessing, was the one who funded Hanzo to end Akatsuki. That creates an intricate parallel between them, one that is seldom talked about in the fandom. And Kishimoto is quite casual about parallels, which reoccur time and time again; sometimes, they're superficial; other times, they aren't. Granted, the Ame orphans shared more than just brief companionship with each other; they survived through thick and thin; their harmony presents a great contrast to Team Taka's disharmony; and it was that element of disharmony that allowed Sasuke to go through with his decision; remember, where Nagato failed, Sasuke didn't, a choice that was to decide the fate of justice.

And history does repeat itself; and Kishimoto was very blatant about that reality: it repeated here for Danzo, but where Nagato was powerless, Sasuke chose to be bold. We can talk endlessly about the moral implicature of it (I'm perfectly fine with the way Sasuke handled the situation with Karin, and I've talked about that many times, as well); but that doesn't mean that there wasn't an element of repetition that transferred all that was Nagato to Sasuke; and to the surprise of no one, this part is one of my favorites in the manga.