"You—"
Obito stared in disbelief at Nagato, who had taken his own life.
He couldn't understand.
Why did Nagato choose to die?
Blood trickled down Nagato's face in two thin lines, and a kunai was lodged in his neck.
Yet, he was laughing—softly at first, then fainter and fainter... until his hands finally dropped.
His consciousness was swallowed by darkness.
"Yahiko, Konan, I failed your expectations... I'm sorry!"
As Nagato's life faded, all he felt was guilt.
He had broken the promise he had made to Yahiko.
He had let down Konan, who had supported him all the way.
But at least...
Konan had left the Akatsuki ahead of time and was no longer involved.
At this moment, Nagato felt grateful—grateful that he hadn't insisted on keeping Konan by his side.
Had he done so...
She might have perished today as well.
"Konan, live well! Carry on in my place and Yahiko's. Continue watching over this world!"
Obito remained silent as he gazed at Nagato's lifeless body.
Then—
"Hm?"
His eyes widened.
A seal inside Nagato's body suddenly ruptured, releasing a malevolent, overwhelming chakra that burst forth before swiftly dispersing.
"This is... the Nine Tails?!"
Obito's expression shifted in shock. He had never imagined that Nagato had hidden the Nine Tails within himself.
To be precise, Nagato had sealed the Nine Tails inside his own body.
What was he thinking?
Obito couldn't comprehend it.
Even if Nagato had been wary of him, there was no need to go this far, was there?
Did Nagato truly have no desire to live anymore?
Otherwise, why would he imprison the Nine Tails within himself?
After all, once the Nine Tails was extracted, Nagato, as its Jinchūriki, would die.
Unless...
Nagato had some means of removing the tailed beast without harming himself?
But it no longer mattered.
Nagato was dead, and Obito would never get answers to these questions.
One thing was certain—Nagato had deceived him.
The Nine Tails had always been with him.
But through intricate sealing techniques, Nagato had completely masked its chakra signature—even Obito hadn't noticed.
"Nagato, you bastard!"
Obito glared at the lifeless corpse in front of him.
Then, turning toward the tower's exterior, his eyes narrowed.
"But I suppose... you didn't know there is another Nine Tails in this world."
His gaze sharpened, as if piercing through the barriers of space to focus on two distant figures clashing at the forest's edge.
"Ryosuke... what exactly was the Nine Tails you gave to Nagato?" Obito murmured.
At first, he had assumed the tailed beast given to Nagato was the same Nine Tails sealed inside the Jinchūriki.
But later, he realized something bizarre—the Jinchūriki was still alive.
And the Nine Tails was still sealed within them. This left Obito baffled.
Yet, before the sealing of the Two-Tails, everything had appeared normal, meaning there had been no issues with the tailed beast Ryosuke had provided.
So then...
How could two identical tailed beasts exist in this world?
Obito couldn't immediately grasp the answer.
But it didn't matter.
If he couldn't figure it out, he wouldn't dwell on it—as long as the Eye of the Moon plan could still proceed.
However—
With the Nine Tails inside Nagato now gone...
His last hope rested in the Nine Tails sealed within Naruto.
At this thought, Obito felt a headache coming on.
Naruto.
A Konoha ninja.
Ryosuke.
"Or perhaps... this is the perfect moment?"
A flicker of excitement crossed Obito's mind.
This time, Konoha's forces in Amegakure did not include Ryosuke.
That realization stirred Obito's interest.
Should he take this opportunity to seize Naruto?
But soon, he dismissed the idea.
It was impossible. Naruto wasn't alone. He had formidable allies—Jiraiya, Kakashi, and...
That unpredictable Sasuke.
If Obito attempts to capture Naruto now, Sasuke will undoubtedly intervene.
And with the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan in Sasuke's possession...
Obito knew it wouldn't be easy.
"Damn Nagato!"
Grinding his teeth, he shot one last glare at the corpse before vanishing into a swirl of distorted space.
Meanwhile, within Amegakure—
The battle, which had raged for over an hour, was drawing to a close.
The village's ninjas had been nearly wiped out.
The remaining Akatsuki members were outmatched against the Five Great Villages' coalition.
Many attempted to flee—only to be cut down.
The worst off were the so-called undead duo.
Hidan had been decapitated by Kakashi and strung up.
Yet, despite losing his head, the foul-mouthed rogue continued cursing.
Annoyed by his noise, a Konoha ninja yanked off their sock and shoved it into Hidan's mouth.
Finally—silence.
But for Hidan, it was torment.
"Damn it, why does this sock taste so awful?"
Cursing internally, his eyes drifted to a nearby corpse.
It was Kakuzu.
All five of his hearts had been obliterated.
He was dead—beyond any doubt.
A man who had survived since the First Hokage's era...
Now, beaten to death.
Elsewhere—
Kisame had met his end at the hands of Guy's Seventh Gate.
His only solace was that Guy had finally pronounced his name correctly before killing him.
It took long enough!
On another battlefield—
Sasori and Deidara faced Iwagakure's forces.
Initially, Sasori had held them off with his vast puppet army.
But after Obito took away Nagato's Rinnegan, the Six Paths of Pain had ceased functioning.
Suddenly—
The forces of Kumogakure and Kirigakure, previously held back, were freed to join the fray.
The furious Fourth Raikage charged in with a roar, demolishing Sasori's puppets one after another—until he finally crushed Sasori himself into pieces.
Watching his comrade fall, Deidara, soaring high above, cursed furiously, dropping a barrage of clay bombs.
Then, leaving behind a final explosive clone, he turned and fled.
He has the advantage of flying. Except for Onoki, who can stop him a little, no one else can stop him at all.
So they could only watch Deidara escape.
Sunagakure is probably the unluckiest of the Five Great Villages.
Tobi, who was separated from Obito, wanted to escape because of his playfulness, and he killed the ninja troops from the other four villages.
The key is...
He actually got away!
After all, White Zetsu is really top-notch in terms of escape techniques.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Tobi slipped away.
Even the ninjas from the Five Great Countries couldn't stop him.
As for the unlucky Sunagakure?
There were more than 400 ninjas when they had come.
And now...
Less than two hundred remain!
More than half had died.
Look at the other four great villages.
Kirigakure's loss was relatively large, but only a dozen or so people died.
In contrast, the difference was clear at a glance.
The Kages of the other villages also secretly despised Sunagakure's weak strength.
On one side, a large force rushed directly toward Akatsuki's base.
But when they arrived, they found the place already empty.
Except for one corpse on the ground—
Nothing else!
"What's going on here?"
One of Sunagakure's Elite Jōnin cursed.
His expression was ugly.
Did they win?
On the surface, it looked like a victory.
And a big one at that!
After all, Akatsuki's people, except for the two who ran away, and Menma, who never appeared from start to finish, the rest had died at their hands!
(Sasuke: Do I not exist?)
However, their real purpose this time was to recapture the Tailed Beasts stolen by Akatsuki.
But now...
Where are the Tailed Beasts?
They searched the entire Akatsuki base but didn't find ant trace of Tailed Beasts.
"Did Menma take them?"
They guessed.
After all, the outside world has been wondering how powerful Menma is.
But this time, he didn't even show up.
Could it be that Menma left with the Tailed Beasts ahead of time, abandoning the remaining Akatsuki members?
But what about this guy on the ground?
This person… should be the legendary leader of the Akatsuki, right?
The people present were a little confused.
"By the way, isn't there Sasuke? Where is he?" Someone asked loudly.
Then all eyes turned to Konoha.
"Sasuke should be with Naruto now, just outside." Jiraiya said.
At this point, it was impossible for him to hide Sasuke's whereabouts just to help Naruto.
Sasuke might be the only one who knows the truth.
After all, he is Menma's disciple!
As for that guy Hidan?
Forget it!
They had asked him before, but he had nothing to say other than swearing.
Obviously, this guy is just a fool who doesn't know anything.
"Then what are we waiting for? Hurry up and find him!" The Fourth Raikage shouted urgently.
Then the Kumo ninjas rushed out.
Seeing this, the other villages immediately followed.
...
Edge of the forest
A giant purple Susanoo faced off against Naruto, who had entered Nine-Tails Chakra Mode.
Sasuke said, "Naruto, get out of the way. You're not my match!"
Sasuke stood high between Susanoo's eyebrows, looking down at Naruto, who was glowing with golden Chakra.
"Sasuke, I won't give up!" Naruto shouted loudly.
"You idiot!!" Sasuke frowned and cursed.
Just as he was about to continue fighting to make Naruto realize the gap in their strength, a loud roar suddenly erupted behind him.
Immediately after, a fist crackling with lightning slammed heavily against the purple Susanoo.
Kacha~!
A crack appeared on the Susanoo's surface.
Sasuke looked down and saw that ninjas from the other villages had arrived.
'Did it fail?'
Sasuke thought to himself as his pupil power flared, instantly repairing the part that the Fourth Raikage had broken.
"Get lost!"
The giant purple Susanoo swung its arm violently, blasting the Fourth Raikage hundreds of meters away.
Boom!
A cloud of smoke rose from the forest.
"Lord Raikage!!!"
The Kumo ninjas rushed over to check on him.
Swish!
Swish!
Swish!
At that moment, more ninjas appeared around. They surrounded Sasuke.
Even Sasuke, who had awakened the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and had super Kage-level strength, felt pressure.
After all, there were too many opponents, including strong figures like Jiraiya and the Kages from each village.
No matter how confident Sasuke was in his power, this situation was frustrating.
"Sasuke, where is your teacher, Menma?"
"Where is he?"
The Third Tsuchikage Onoki floated in the air, looking at Sasuke inside Susanoo.
Menma-sensei?
Hearing this, Sasuke shook his head and said, "I don't know where he is."
He really didn't. Menma had only mentioned going out but never said where or for how long.
"Then what about the Tailed Beasts your Akatsuki organization captured?"
"Where are they?"
Onoki continued asking.
Hearing this, Sasuke frowned and asked, "Are you questioning me?"
He looked at the short old man in front of him with disdain.
"Sasuke, don't act arrogant! Cooperate with us and tell us where Akatsuki hid the Tailed Beasts!"
The Fourth Raikage, crackling with lightning, glared fiercely at the purple Susanoo in front of him, once again feeling his own weakness.
The last time he felt this way was when Ryosuke had come to Kumogakure and showed his overwhelming power.
That time, he had been seriously injured and knocked unconscious in an instant.
And it was in just one exchange!
He lost very very badly!!