Although there was some suspicion.
Neither Uchiha Obito nor Sasuke showed the slightest hint of retreating.
Uchiha Obito had his space-time ninjutsu, so even if it truly was a trap, safety was not an issue at all.
As for Sasuke, it was purely confidence in his own strength. After all this time training, his power had risen by several levels.
If he were placed back in the Land of Wind as he was before, then with his current strength, he could effortlessly defeat his former self.
"Naruto, Hyuga Neji!"
A determined light flashed in Sasuke's eyes. Those two must have been growing stronger just as quickly as he had.
And he absolutely would not lose to either of them!
Of course, deep in Sasuke's heart, he was somewhat worried about Naruto's situation. Uchiha Madara had already extracted the Nine-Tails from Naruto's body, and by all rights, Naruto should be dead.
But for some reason, Sasuke felt that Naruto was not dead and was still alive and well.
According to the intelligence White Zetsu had given him, no body of Naruto had been found on the battlefield.
That was also the reason Sasuke firmly believed, deep down, that Naruto had not died.
"We're almost there."
At this moment, Uchiha Obito's voice came from ahead, interrupting Sasuke's thoughts.
Sasuke raised his head and looked forward. Before them was a building shaped like a pipeline.
"Go!" Uchiha Obito said in a low voice.
The next instant, a spatial vortex appeared before the two. Uchiha Obito and Sasuke entered it simultaneously, and in a flash, they vanished from the spot.
Not long after the two left, several Hidden Rain ninja appeared at the very spot they had just occupied.
"Not here, and no chakra fluctuations detected in the surroundings either."
A sensory ninja opened his eyes and spoke softly to the others around him.
"Keep searching, and increase vigilance!"
"Don't let even a single bug slip through!"
The leader of the ninja squad wore a cold expression as he spoke in a detached tone.
With that.
The ninja squad streaked away as blurred shadows, heading off in different directions.
While the Hidden Rain ninja had detected intruders and begun searching everywhere, Uchiha Obito and Sasuke had already entered the interior.
Inside a fairly wide underground pipeline.
Uchiha Obito and Sasuke moved one after the other along the route of the tunnel, heading forward.
Judging by how familiar Uchiha Obito was with the route, clearly this was not his first time — he had traveled it often.
Back when he had been pretending to be Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Obito had always lurked in the shadows, so naturally he had long since mapped out every hidden passage in the Hidden Rain Village.
The reason Uchiha Obito dared to bring Sasuke directly into the interior was that he understood Nagato's personality extremely well.
The Hidden Rain Village's defenses had always been tight on the outside and loose on the inside. Once you broke through the outer perimeter and reached the interior, things became much simpler.
This was naturally because of Nagato's self-confident personality. Even having lost the Rinnegan, Nagato's character had not changed much.
In addition, a large part of the reason was Nagato's somewhat reclusive nature. In the entire Hidden Rain Village, only Konan could easily approach him.
Therefore, there were certainly no ninja guards stationed near Nagato's location. If a fight broke out, the Hidden Rain Village's ninja would not be able to rush over in time.
Before long.
The two used the underground passages and space-time ninjutsu to arrive in a rather spacious, dimly lit room above.
The moment Uchiha Obito and Sasuke appeared in the room, they nearly stopped at the same instant, their expressions turning grave as they looked at what lay not far ahead.
There, at the very front.
Nagato leaned casually in a chair, his gaze calmly fixed on the two who had just appeared in the room. His expression was extremely composed, as if nothing about this was unexpected.
"You're later than I expected."
Nagato looked at Uchiha Obito and Sasuke, his tone carrying a hint of indifference and disappointment.
"You knew we would come?"
Surprise and gravity crossed Uchiha Obito's face as he spoke in a low voice.
Sasuke, meanwhile, quickly scanned the surroundings, checking for traps, his body tensing slightly.
"If Konan hadn't left, how would you have dared to come?"
"Isn't that right, Uchiha Obito?"
A faint smile touched Nagato's tone as he calmly regarded Uchiha Obito.
Hearing Nagato's words.
Uchiha Obito fell somewhat silent. He realized he had truly underestimated Nagato.
The fact that Nagato had seen through his identity did not surprise Uchiha Obito much. Ever since he had taken back his eye from Kakashi during the Battle of Konoha, his identity had ceased to be much of a secret.
"Surprising as it is, you're still as arrogant as ever."
Uchiha Obito let out a low chuckle.
Knowing they were coming, yet he hadn't gathered reinforcements or set up traps in advance — if that wasn't arrogance, what was?
"You will never understand what Akatsuki meant."
"And you must pay the price for betraying Akatsuki. This is something only I can do personally."
The faint smile on Nagato's face vanished. A cold, powerful killing intent erupted from him in an instant, crashing over Uchiha Obito and Sasuke like a violent storm.
"In that case, let's settle things today."
Uchiha Obito's expression did not change as he spoke in a flat tone.
"You talk way too much!"
Sasuke kicked off the ground, his figure shooting forward like a loosed arrow, charging straight at Nagato.
Land of Earth, Iwagakure.
Not far from the gates of Iwagakure at this moment.
A soft tap sounded.
A black blur streaked through the air and lightly touched down on the ground.
Looking at the uneven, jagged peaks and the countless rocks in the distance, Yuto let out a sigh of admiration.
"Built among rocks and mountains. A truly natural fortress. If you wanted to attack all the way into the interior, it would probably take quite some effort."
Yuto observed the surroundings of Iwagakure, clicking his tongue in appreciation.
Soon, Yuto withdrew his gaze. He had already detected several sensory ninja who had noticed him.
However, he had never intended to hide his identity. Even if he was discovered, Yuto didn't particularly care.
"Uchiha Madara!"
Yuto's eyes narrowed slightly. A vast, terrifying pressure like a collapsing mountain and a surging tide erupted from him, shooting into the sky and scattering the clouds above.
The several sensory Hidden Stone ninja hiding in the shadows felt their minds go blank in that instant, every one of them knocked unconscious on the spot.
This immense, terrifying pressure was naturally detected right away by Uchiha Madara, who was inside Iwagakure.
"Yuto?"
Uchiha Madara's eyes snapped open, surprise and confusion flashing across his face, but his figure had already vanished from the spot.
Outside Iwagakure!
Uchiha Madara's figure flashed through the sky like a meteor, appearing before Yuto almost in the next instant. The ground beneath his feet cracked into a deep crater from the impact.
"Truly unexpected. I thought the next time we met, it would be me coming to find you. I didn't expect you to come to me instead!"
"Oh, your strength has increased?"
Uchiha Madara's eyes locked onto Yuto ahead, his gaze radiating undisguised fighting spirit and killing intent as he laughed and spoke.
"There are a few things I need to take care of first. To stop you from interfering, a fight is inevitable."
Yuto looked at Uchiha Madara with a light smile, his tone calm and composed.
However, the moment those words left his mouth!
Uchiha Madara's expression shifted slightly, and then a violent aura born of killing intent erupted from within him.
It collided directly with the pressure Yuto was releasing, and the sky itself rumbled with muffled thunder.
The words Yuto had just spoken were as if he had already won this fight — how could such a statement not enrage Uchiha Madara?
"You really think I can't kill you? It's just a bit of a hassle, that's all."
An astonishing aura began to radiate from Uchiha Madara's entire body, and the Rinnegan in his eyes emitted a faint purple glow.
"Fine, let's change locations."
Yuto nodded without further words and turned, vanishing from the spot.
Uchiha Madara naturally had no objection. This place was too close to Iwagakure. If the two of them started fighting, there was a real chance they would destroy the village.
As the two departed, most of the ninja inside Iwagakure breathed a deep sigh of relief. The combined pressure from Uchiha Madara and Yuto had been so terrifying it felt like a mountain pressing down on everyone's hearts.
At the same time, however, most of the ninja were bewildered. What exactly had just happened? A degree of unrest rippled through Iwagakure.
Kakuzu, Sasori, Hidan, Deidara, and the others suddenly appeared on a relatively high rocky outcrop within Iwagakure, gazing in the direction the two had gone.
"Strange. This really isn't a good time for a fight."
Sasori spoke softly, a note of puzzlement in his voice.
"If the First Mizukage Yuto dared to show up uninvited, he must have at least some measure of confidence. But Uchiha Madara's strength is no joke, and he's not easy to kill!"
"What's the point of doing this?"
Kakuzu frowned, equally puzzled.
"Point or no point, I don't know. All I know is the ninja world is about to get even more chaotic."
Hidan let out a loud laugh.
Deidara, looking somewhat more mature than before, shook his head slightly. "Something big might happen in the ninja world, maybe. But it won't descend into chaos."
"Unless… both the First Mizukage Yuto and Uchiha Madara die."
At those words, the air fell still for a moment.
"Weird. Where are Uchiha Obito and Sasuke? Those two aren't here."
Hidan curled his lip, then as if noticing something interesting, glanced around with curious eyes.
Only then did the others realize Uchiha Obito was nowhere to be seen, and puzzlement crossed their faces.
Come to think of it, they really hadn't seen Uchiha Obito or Sasuke for several days.
[
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