With Obito joining the battle, Nagato, already at a disadvantage, was completely overwhelmed. Not only were the Six Paths of Pain restrained by wood-style clones, but even his true body was battered and bloodied, looking as if it could collapse at any moment.
And it wasn't just that. Obito's appearance also strongly suggested that Byakuya had likely been defeated.
This revelation struck like a bolt from the blue. Nagato had never once considered the possibility of Byakuya's defeat. Without Byakuya, he had no idea what course to take.
From the moment he met Byakuya, the man had represented overwhelming strength and unfathomable mystery in his heart. No matter how dire the situation the Akatsuki faced, Byakuya always resolved it with ease and elevated the organization to new heights.
Madara Uchiha noticed Nagato's moment of distraction and immediately launched an attack.
Nagato hastily retaliated, using Shinra Tensei to repel Madara and simultaneously pulling back to gain distance, frantically searching for a plan now that Byakuya had vanished.
Just then, Obito moved.
With a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, he rushed to Nagato and snatched out one of his Rinnegan eyes, crushing it in his palm.
"Now that Byakuya is gone, you're nothing more than a pawn to us," Obito said, his voice cold as Nagato reeled from the excruciating pain in his left eye.
Nagato didn't waste time arguing. Instead, he drew a kunai and turned it toward his remaining eye.
Whether his Rinnegan had been his from birth or entrusted to him by someone else, he couldn't let both fall into Madara and Obito's hands. If they managed to gain full control of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and convert it into the Ten-Tails, then even the combined might of the entire shinobi world would be powerless.
So, after losing one Rinnegan, his first thought was to destroy the other. That way, at least the world would retain a glimmer of resistance and hope. He would not betray the expectations of those who had placed their trust in him.
"You want to destroy the Rinnegan?"
Before Nagato could act, Madara Uchiha intervened, immobilizing him with a jutsu that left his body paralyzed, like it had turned to stone. He was completely unable to move.
Nagato stood frozen, staring in disbelief at how Madara had subdued him in an instant. They had been fighting on equal terms just moments before, so how had this happened?
Madara seemed to read his thoughts and explained calmly, "The Rinnegan was originally mine. When I implanted it into you to nurture over time, I also left behind a little something inside your body. It didn't affect you in daily life, but at critical moments, its effect is quite different."
He then added with a hint of disdain, "Still, you and that boy Byakuya did give me some trouble. If he hadn't been so arrogant and fallen for Obito and Black Zetsu's trap, and if we hadn't kept our guard up constantly, it's possible you might've actually succeeded."
With that, Madara reached out to take the remaining Rinnegan.
At that instant, a kunai cut through the air, aiming straight for Madara's face. He dodged with a flicker, avoiding the attack, but he didn't stop reaching for Nagato's eye.
Just as Madara succeeded in extracting the second Rinnegan,
Splurt!
The Second Hokage appeared in front of Madara, blade slashing down to sever his arm. The severed limb was immediately caught by a golden flash that streaked through the battlefield.
Madara frowned and stared at the two figures before him, his gaze dark and heavy.
He knew that figure well, Tobirama Senju, the man who had personally killed his brother Izuna. Even if Tobirama were reduced to ashes, Madara would never forget him.
And the other was likely Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage of Konoha and a master of the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Both Minato and Tobirama sized up Madara. Originally, they hadn't planned to intervene so soon, but now that Nagato had lost one Rinnegan, they knew they could wait no longer.
With a shared glance, they vanished from sight in an instant.
In just a flash, Tobirama was defeated by Madara. Despite Tobirama's immense strength, he still fell short before Madara. Were it not for his reanimated body, he would've been gravely injured, if not killed.
Meanwhile, Obito targeted the Fourth Hokage, not because he wanted to fight him, but to seize Madara's severed arm and the Rinnegan he had just obtained.
Though the severed arm had turned into a wood clone, it was still no match for Minato in battle.
Even with Obito joining in, the overall flow of the battle didn't shift much. He and the wood clone were still being suppressed by Minato. However, their interference did manage to draw attention away, allowing the long-hidden Black Zetsu to slip in and snatch the Rinnegan before burrowing underground.
With the eye in hand, Obito looked at Minato and said, "Fourth Hokage, back then, you failed to protect the Nine-Tails and Kushina. And even now, you still can't protect anyone."
The bitter words made Minato's brow twitch in anger as he launched another assault.
Vanishing with the Flying Thunder God, Minato reappeared with a Rasengan in hand and slammed it into Obito, pinning him hard to the ground with a massive burst of force.
Obito gritted his teeth, humiliated by being struck down yet again in the same way.
But after being repeatedly defeated by Byakuya, he no longer clung to pride. Using external power like Reanimated to achieve victory was still a way to prove his strength.
He bit his finger and summoned several reanimated shinobi, then vanished into the Kamui dimension, diving deep underground to a hidden chamber hundreds of meters below the surface.
There, he prepared to transplant the Rinnegan in the shortest time possible in order to gain full access to the power of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. Even if Madara was defeated in the meantime, it didn't matter.
The Ten-Tails, formed from the nine tailed beasts, possessed power that transcended the shinobi world.
Once Obito disappeared, Minato realized he'd lost track of him. Although the Flying Thunder God Technique could cross space, he didn't know Obito's exact coordinates, so he couldn't follow.
Sighing softly, Minato rushed back toward Madara's location.
He had lost the masked man, but if he could still seal Madara, the Fourth Great Ninja War could still be won. No matter how powerful Obito was, he couldn't take on the entire world alone.
---
While Minato joined the battle, the Third Hokage and others headed to the Allied Shinobi Forces' base.
Upon seeing Orochimaru and Jiraiya, Tsunade and the others initially assumed they were agents of the masked man, sent to attack them.
After all, according to their intel, both Jiraiya and the Third Hokage had died long ago.
And Orochimaru had been considered one of the enemy's key allies.
Just as Tsunade and the others were preparing to attack, Jiraiya raised a hand to stop them and said, "Tsunade, Orochimaru isn't our enemy. He's on the side of the Allied Shinobi Forces."
"T-He's on our side?"
Tsunade was still skeptical, but soon noticed that Jiraiya wasn't in the state of Reanimated. Not just him, Hiruzen wasn't either.
Seeing this, Tsunade was a bit stunned, and Ōnoki stepped forward, asking, "Hiruzen, you old fox, weren't you killed by your student? Don't tell me the Konoha Destruction Plan was some elaborate ruse you cooked up with Orochimaru? You Leaf shinobi really are... calculating."
Hiruzen rubbed his nose awkwardly, not knowing how to respond. There was no way the Konoha Destruction Plan was a conspiracy between him and Orochimaru, but openly admitting he had been killed by his own student was also difficult to accept.
The Fourth Raikage, uninterested in Jiraiya or Hiruzen, scanned the crowd and quickly noticed a pale-faced Killer Bee. He immediately rushed over.
"Bee, thank heavens you're alright!"
Killer Bee weakly replied, "Big bro… the Eight-Tails is gone. I'm no longer the Jinchūriki of the village, no longer your reliable partner, yo."
The Fourth Raikage patted his shoulder hard. "As long as you're alive, that's enough. Besides, we don't even know if we can survive this crisis. Byakuya's lost, and even Nagato with his Rinnegan has fallen."
He patted his brother's shoulders and sighed, "Rest up for now. After that, come with me to face Madara Uchiha directly. Maybe we can still win a future for the shinobi world."
Seeing the Fourth Raikage's determined, death-defying expression, Jiraiya quickly added, "Don't be too pessimistic, everyone. The masked man may have brought back Madara Uchiha with Edo Tensei, but we've got the First Hokage on our side. He can definitely defeat Madara."
"The First Hokage's been resurrected too?"
Ōnoki's heart filled with hope upon hearing that. "With the First Hokage back, we finally have a real chance to defeat Madara. I knew the Allied Shinobi Forces wouldn't lose!"
At that moment, Tsunade glanced at Jiraiya, then at Hiruzen and Orochimaru, and asked, "What's going on exactly? Why is Orochimaru on our side?"
Faced with Tsunade's question, Jiraiya and Hiruzen exchanged looks, then gave her a meaningful glance. Tsunade understood and followed them to a corner, where they explained everything that had happened.
After hearing the full story, Tsunade let out a long sigh, "So Byakuya didn't betray the Alliance after all. He infiltrated the enemy ranks to gain Madara's trust and even sent Jiraiya to Orochimaru in advance, leaving behind crucial contingencies."
"Too bad he still couldn't stop Madara, and died in the ambush…"
Jiraiya sighed too. He had once thought Byakuya was the enemy, but if that were true, Byakuya wouldn't have used the Heavenly Transmission Technique to send him away.
None of this was a coincidence. It was all part of Byakuya's plan.
But why hadn't Byakuya summoned the First Hokage himself with Edo Tensei? Was it a matter of time, or did he have some other reason? Jiraiya couldn't understand.
After a moment of reflection, Tsunade turned to Orochimaru and Shisui, her expression complicated.
"I didn't expect you two to have been working together this whole time, and even killed Elder Danzō in secret. And I, the Hokage, knew nothing at all."
Shisui replied calmly, "Danzō tried to assassinate me. I killed him in self-defense. As for working with Orochimaru, that was to repay the debt owed to the Third Hokage. If you don't approve of my actions, Lady Tsunade, you're free to leave the village again like before. I'll appoint someone else as Hokage. After all, none of you really cared about the village until things got desperate…"
Shisui then glared, "You only come back when it's time to put on a show."
Tsunade was never one for good temper. Enraged by Shisui's words, she immediately attacked. Shisui didn't hold back either, directly countering with Wood Release.
Seeing the technique, Tsunade was stunned. "Shisui… you've mastered Wood Release too?"
Shisui let out a cold laugh. "There's a lot the Hokage doesn't know. Root possessed many secrets, not just Wood Release. To tell you the truth, plenty of Uchiha in the Root have mastered it. If we judge solely by who can use Wood Release, then you're not qualified to be the Hokage of Konoha."
As the argument escalated, Hiruzen stepped in to mediate. "Shisui, Tsunade… the Uchiha situation is my fault. I… "
Before he could finish, both Tsunade and Shisui snapped at him, "You old man, if you know you were wrong, then shut up! If not for you, Konoha wouldn't be in such a mess!"
Hiruzen fell silent and turned to look at Orochimaru and Jiraiya, as if seeking help.
But even they were helpless. They respected the old man, but in many ways, he had been too stubborn, and he'd let Danzō run rampant. His mistakes outweighed his merits.
As the Konoha drama unfolded, Kabuto and Sasuke silently walked over.
Kabuto first greeted Orochimaru, then said, "My lords, Sasuke and I used Ryūchi Cave Senjutsu to pinpoint the masked man's location. He's deep underground, hundreds of meters below, and we've also detected the Gedo Statue's presence."
Orochimaru nodded and turned to the others.
"So he's gone underground. That must mean he's planning to transplant the Rinnegan and take control of the Ten-Tails. We have to stop him, but getting down there won't be easy."
Orochimaru then turned to Kabuto, "Kabuto, can you use Senjutsu to take us underground?"
Kabuto thought for a moment. "Orochimaru-sama, I can take two or three people underground with me. Any more would be impossible."
"Two or three, huh…"
Orochimaru began considering who should go. He would obviously be one of them. Jiraiya and Tsunade could go as well. But were there other key choices?
At that moment, Kakashi stepped forward.
"My Mangekyō can link with Obito's Kamui space. If we really want to stop him once and for all, I have to go!"
Everyone had heard by now that the masked man was Obito.
Back in the Academy, Obito was the class dunce, but not all underdogs stay underdogs. When Obito awakened his double tomoe Sharingan, he had already shown the potential of a Uchiha genius.
With Madara's training, he'd grown into a Kage-level powerhouse.
Now he stood as the mastermind behind the scenes of the entire shinobi world.
After a brief pause, Orochimaru and the others agreed to bring Kakashi along. Without him, even if they managed to defeat Obito, he could still escape.
The remaining members would go to support the First, Second, and Fourth Hokage in their battle against Madara Uchiha.