"Found you…"
Naruto halted and gazed toward a shadowed spire in the distance, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
Looks like there's a barrier around Nagato's hideout—that's why his Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) couldn't lock on. But with commotion this huge, he didn't even need Haki to see it anymore.
"In the name of all that's sane, Madara, give Nagato's Rinnegan back…!"
Inside a dark room, Konan glared at Obito, fury blazing—especially when she saw the two blood-stained Rinnegan in his hand. Killing intent surged off her in waves.
After Deva Path Pain had been defeated, she'd sensed disaster coming. While Naruto was busy rounding up the Akatsuki, she'd tried to move Nagato to safety—only to be ambushed by Obito and Zetsu, who dug out Nagato's Rinnegan.
"Hmph." Obito snorted, pocketing the Rinnegan. "You've already lost. From here on, only I can create true peace…"
"You mean that Tsuki no Me Keikaku (Eye of the Moon Plan) Menma mentioned, right?" Konan's voice turned icy. "Hand over the Rinnegan, or we all go up in flames together!"
The room was crammed with explosive tags—packed so tightly they'd burst through doors and windows, spilling out like a white torrent. Everyone knew that when those tags blew, the surrounding blocks would vanish in a sea of fire.
Obito, however, looked utterly unbothered. "You really think something like that will work on me?"
Konan's fists clenched. After so many years around him, she understood Obito's ability all too well. With Kamui's intangibility, his body slipped into a separate space; no matter how powerful the assault, he wouldn't be hurt.
She did have hundreds of billions of tags—but she couldn't deploy them all at once. A single wave of explosions couldn't outlast his invincible window.
What she didn't know was that Obito was sweating bullets inside. If he weren't forcing himself to act calm, he'd have already bolted.
His Kamui space currently hosted hundreds of burly men limbering up their fists. If something exploded without warning and took him out, there wouldn't even be a corpse left—Mokuton (Wood Release) cells wouldn't help. Best case? A tree would sprout from his ashes.
"Konan… let him go."
Eyes tightly shut, Nagato's voice was weak. "With just you, you can't stop him."
Konan had just nodded when a new voice cut in from the side.
"You're still alive, huh!?"
The voice carried a shade of surprise.
Everyone turned to see a thread of flame curl and swell, shaping itself into Naruto.
Naruto eyed Nagato with interest. "Your life force is ridiculous. I thought you'd at least be down to half a life by now."
Sure, those with Uzumaki blood had absurd vitality—but Nagato was another beast entirely.
Three ultimate techniques used, Six Paths of Pain wiped out, even his eyes dug out—and he was merely more frail, nowhere near dying.
"Cough, cough…" Nagato shook with a harsh fit.
Konan hurried in front of him, sheets of paper flowing as she raised more explosive tags. Her eyes stayed locked on Naruto.
"What do you plan to do to Nagato?"
"None of your concern." Naruto's smile tilted. "And even if it were, could you stop me?"
Konan bit down on her lip, anger burning—but helplessness crept in. Against anyone else, she'd force a mutual kill with her paper jutsu if she had to.
But the golden-haired youth before her had the same immunity to physical attacks that she did.
Fortunately, Naruto wasn't interested in Nagato. His gaze slid to Obito. He held out his hand.
"Gimme."
"What do you want?" Obito's eye narrowed in wary suspicion.
"The Rinnegan," Naruto said, tapping Obito's pocket. "Hand over both, and I'll let you walk."
A tight pang stabbed Obito's heart. His hand reflexively clamped down over the eyes.
"What do you even want them for? They won't work for you. You're not their rightful host."
"If Nagato can use them, why can't I?" Naruto rubbed the corner of his eye.
He'd coveted Sharingan and Rinnegan for ages—hard-coded cheat bloodlines.
Transplanting Sharingan could get finicky—cells and all that.
But Rinnegan? If Nagato could wield them, someone sturdier than him absolutely could.
"What are you talking about? What does Nagato's Rinnegan have to do with you?"
Obito's tone tensed as he racked his brain for an escape.
"Didn't Madara give him the Rinnegan?"
At that, Obito's scalp prickled. He wanted to dig Madara out of the grave and shake him by the collar to ask why Menma knew any of this.
Seeing Obito neither speak nor move to hand them over, Naruto's smile cooled. He reached out, closing his hand toward Obito.
"If you don't give me the Rinnegan… you think you can run?"
"Mokuton (Wood Release)…!" Obito roared, face hardening.
Crack!
Growing wooden spears shattered beneath a single slap. Amid a spray of splinters, Naruto seized Obito by the collar.
"So stupid. At this range you try an offensive jutsu? Did water flood your brain?"
Naruto's fingers dove for the two Rinnegan—
—and then his grip loosened on nothing. The body he'd just grabbed simply… wasn't there.
Naruto didn't mind. He strolled to the window and looked out over the village, a smile cutting across his face.
"Izanagi, huh?"
(End of Chapter)
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