"Hm?"
Nagato suddenly looked up, a cold glint flashing in his tired eyes. "So you finally came."
As soon as he spoke, a strange spiral appeared in the hidden room. From within it, Obito, wearing his mask, stepped out. "Judging by your state, it looks like you're about to reach your limit."
Nagato didn't answer, not even lifting his eyelids. "I still haven't found Namikaze Minato's grave. The brains of those ordinary shinobi don't hold that kind of information—only the burial records for the memorial stone."
The memorial stone only had a name on it, and anyone could pay their respects there. But the actual bodies of past Hokage were buried in carefully guarded locations elsewhere.
After all, in this world, a corpse could reveal a lot of secrets.
It might seem a bit unethical, but that's just how things worked here.
If it weren't for his search for Namikaze Minato's grave, Nagato would have already retreated—or, better yet, sent Konoha straight into the sky with a single Shinra Tensei. But right now, that wasn't an option.
The only chance left was the Nine-Tails that had been with Namikaze Minato. The one inside Uzumaki Naruto? They wouldn't dare mess with him right now.
Obito let out a cold snort before finally speaking. "I know a general location. You just need to buy a little more time."
Nagato lifted his head and frowned at him. "How do you know?"
"Tsukuyomi Limited."
Obito chuckled darkly. "Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke might be tough to deal with, but I won't say they're completely useless. If it weren't for them, those two idiots wouldn't have spilled the location so easily."
Nagato's frown deepened. "Is the information from Tsukuyomi Limited the same as in the real world?"
"I don't know." Obito shrugged. "That jutsu isn't even something I can control. The fact that it was developed at all was a miracle, and miracles don't happen twice."
"But instead of blindly searching, isn't it better to have a target?" His voice carried a chilling tone. "Besides, Tsukuyomi Limited is about to be broken by those two troublemakers. We don't have much time left."
A dark look flashed through Nagato's eyes. "Not even Tsukuyomi Limited could hold them back?"
Obito remained silent.
The truth was, he knew the answer.
Back when Naruto and Sasuke were in Konoha, he had been watching from a distance. Since he was only a thought projection, they couldn't sense him.
He also knew that if it weren't for Kurama being occupied, those three would have broken free long ago.
On a side note, it was Obito who had lured the Konoha shinobi into trying to seal Kurama.
His plan had been to use Konoha's own forces to keep Kurama busy.
But in the end, he had miscalculated.
This Kurama was nothing like the obedient one from the original future.
"In any case, we need to speed things up." Obito turned around and activated Kamui, forming a vortex in the air. "Buy me some time. The others are basically done—only one more left. Our progress here will directly affect the entire plan."
Nagato watched as Obito disappeared into the vortex, his hands unconsciously clenching into fists.
A glint flashed across his Rinnegan. Through the eyes of the Deva Path, he saw the two people standing before him.
Tsunade looked a little battered. The cloak with the word "Gamble" on it was gone, and there were bloodstains on her arms. She seemed a mess, but in reality, she was completely fine. Even her chakra consumption was within expectations.
After all, she had Katsuyu-sama's support.
Jiraiya was in much better shape. His clothes were still intact, only covered in dust. Thanks to Fukasaku and Shima, his Sage Mode had remained active the whole time, and his chakra was well under control.
Having been through two Shinobi World Wars, fighting for a whole day and night was nothing to him.
But when Nagato looked at himself, things were different. The Deva Path remained unchanged, but of the Six Paths of Pain, only the Deva Path and Konan were left. Jiraiya and Tsunade had taken down all the others. The most ridiculous part? The Preta Path had turned to stone after absorbing too much Senjutsu chakra.
Wait… that could happen?
Even Shima was stunned at the time. Then she nodded and said she'd learned something new—Mount Myoboku had learned something new. From now on, if they couldn't win a fight, they'd just pump their enemies full of natural energy and turn them to stone.
Huh? Had she said that before?
With her memories sealed, Shima was completely confused.
"What's wrong? Can't hold out any longer?" During yet another brief pause in battle, Tsunade clenched her fist and grinned at the Deva Path. "It's only been a day and a night, and you're already done?"
"Fire Style: Giant Flame Bomb!" Jiraiya formed a hand seal and spat out a massive fireball. "Nagato, just give up already. It's not a big deal."
The Deva Path reached out and deflected the fireball without so much as a change in expression.
"Calling it a break while launching sneak attacks with Ninjutsu—is this how the great villages fight?"
"Yep." Tsunade nodded without hesitation.
Nagato: "..."
He had heard it many times before, but Tsunade's shamelessness still caught him off guard.
"You really don't act like a leader from a great village." The Deva Path pulled out a black rod and threw it at Tsunade while twisting in midair to block Jiraiya's attack.
Konan quickly formed a hand seal, and countless paper shuriken rained down on Jiraiya.
After fighting for so long, she had realized that attacking Tsunade was pointless—it didn't work and often backfired. Only the Deva Path's black rods could do any real damage to her, but landing a hit was nearly impossible. Tsunade wasn't some standing target.
After forcing Jiraiya back, Konan spread her wings and descended from the sky. The Paper Person of God technique was reaching its limit, and her body's paper transformation was almost at its end.
The Deva Path landed beside Konan, his gaze filled with concern. "Konan, step back. If you keep going, you won't last."
Unlike the three monsters she was facing, Konan's chakra was nearly depleted.
"Not a chance. We're not letting you leave so easily." Tsunade stepped forward and slammed her fist into the ground. The earth cracked apart, and the deep fissures spread rapidly, threatening to swallow everything in their path.
Not even Shinra Tensei could block an attack like this.
Nagato gritted his teeth. These two had actually figured out Shinra Tensei's weakness. Not only were they baiting him into using it, but they also attacked relentlessly during its cooldown. If not that, they used earth-cracking jutsu like this or Swamp of the Underworld to trap him.
Something like this… even Shinra Tensei can't block it!
For the first time in this battle, Nagato realized his own weakness—he lacked experience fighting opponents on his level.
He had always relied on sheer power and an information advantage to crush his enemies. He truly saw himself as a god, but the moment his opponents figured him out, he was immediately at a disadvantage.
"Bang!" Nagato slammed his fist onto the chair beneath him, gritting his teeth as he glared at Jiraiya and Tsunade. "If it weren't for Namikaze Minato's grave, you wouldn't have been able to act this arrogant for so long!"
He wanted nothing more than to unleash a massive Shinra Tensei and wipe Konohagakure off the map.
Or maybe… Chibaku Tensei would work too.
But no—he couldn't. This was their only chance. At least for now, he still couldn't destroy Konohagakure.
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