Very soon, both sides finished explaining what had happened to them, and then fell into silence.
None of them had expected the enemy to move so quickly, with such a clear objective, and to carry out such precise strikes.
Killing Kabuto would remove the threat of Edo Tensei (Impure World Reincarnation).
Sealing the Gedō Mazō (Demonic Statue of the Outer Path) was an even more ruthless move, cutting off the plan right at the source.
As for how the enemy had learned about the Gedō Mazō, Obito guessed that Konan had leaked the intel.
Back then, he had indeed decided that Konan and Nagato no longer posed a threat, so he had not bothered to hunt them down. He never imagined that after Nagato's death, Konan would defect to Jiraiya's side and even lead Jiraiya to that snowy stronghold to seal the Gedō Mazō.
That really had been his mistake.
Madara sneered. "Ever heard of 'pulling weeds up by the roots'? You actually let Nagato and Konan walk away alive."
Obito's smile turned ice-cold. "You're scolding me? Weren't you the one bragging about how strong you are? And yet you still couldn't beat Natsuki. He blew off one of the Gedō Mazō's legs right in front of you, and you even let him get away afterward. That's your 'strength'? Natsuki was right—old relics from a bygone era should stop trying to stir up the world. You should just go back and take a nap."
"Oh? Obito, you've really grown a spine. You dare talk to me like that now?"
"Heh. You're an Edo Tensei (Impure World Reincarnation) body right now and under Kabuto's control. Why shouldn't I be bold? I was willing to follow the plan, but Black Zetsu went behind my back and colluded with Kabuto, using your Edo Tensei body to threaten me. There isn't even basic trust anymore—what makes you think I should be polite?"
Obito might have been a dead-last dropout once, but that did not mean he would stay a fool forever.
This was Black Zetsu stabbing him in the back.
How was he supposed to just swallow that?
"And you as well, Kabuto."
Obito turned his muzzle on a new target. "You reverse-summoned the Gedō Mazō without warning, and that's why it ended up like this. And wasn't Madara's Edo Tensei body already handed over to me? Yet you still summoned him over to protect you. So that earlier deal was just for nothing, is that it? Even if you're afraid of dying, that doesn't give you the right to touch my things as you please. Otherwise, I might as well kill you right now."
His loathing for this snake who had inherited everything from Orochimaru ran deep.
Kabuto had used Rin to threaten him, wrecked his plans over and over—he was absolutely deserving of death.
Kabuto, however, stayed perfectly calm. "Ma ma, no need to get so worked up. Protecting myself is for the sake of the operation. If I die, all the Edo Tensei (Impure World Reincarnation) bodies will lose control and disappear. Madara would vanish too. At that point, you'd be the only one left, Obito. Do you really think you can take on the entire Allied Shinobi Forces alone?"
Madara was laughing to himself on the inside. "Disappear"? At worst, he would be released from Edo Tensei and slip free of Kabuto's control. He would not shed a single tear over Kabuto's death.
Obito, on the other hand, fell silent. He did not actually have that kind of confidence.
The Allied Shinobi Forces were no pushovers. Even with a hundred thousand—now only ninety thousand—White Zetsu, victory was by no means guaranteed. And capturing the jinchūriki was far from easy.
Most importantly, Natsuki alone was the biggest obstacle, one he had no way to overcome.
So Kabuto might have a point. As long as this venomous snake stayed alive, the Edo Tensei (Impure World Reincarnation) army remained in play, and there was still a chance to win. Especially Madara—this absolute trump card simply could not be lost. If they did, their odds of success would plummet to nearly nothing.
"Fine. I'll let this one slide. But there won't be a next time." Obito forced himself to compromise.
"Relax. There won't."
The lenses on Kabuto's glasses flashed, hiding his expression completely.
He would certainly never reverse-summon something like the Gedō Mazō again. The thing just drained his chakra, even his life force, for free.
Fortunately, he had already removed the black receivers from his back, and his body had assimilated Karin's bloodline, granting him powerful regenerative ability. That was the only reason he had recovered so quickly.
But this matter was far from over.
As a snake, he held grudges very dearly. Being screwed over by Obito like this—he would definitely pay it back someday.
Madara suddenly said, "Four."
Obito blinked. "Already four, huh, nice wor… Nani? Four? Only four?! What have you even been doing, Obito?!"
Obito chuckled dryly. "Don't pin this all on me. It's not that I didn't try—it's that the enemy is too strong. Every attempt to capture the One-Tails and Seven-Tails was forcefully blocked by Konoha. The Three-Tails was secretly sealed away by Sasuke. Later, Nagato sent the Six Paths of Pain to invade Konoha, and they got beaten by that monster Natsuki. So tell me, what exactly was I supposed to do?"
Madara fell silent.
He had not expected Konoha to be this reliable. Not only had they saved the One-Tails and Seven-Tails jinchūriki, they had also sealed the Three-Tails. A single village had successfully protected four jinchūriki.
It was absurd.
"Hahaha! Konoha really is strong. If Hashirama were still around, he'd be overjoyed." Madara even found the mood to crack an inappropriate joke.
"Hmph. You've still got time to joke? If we don't come up with something soon, the Tsuki no Me Keikaku (Eye of the Moon Plan) is going to fall apart." Obito's tone was harsh. Unlike Madara, he could not remain completely unfazed with a Bijūdama (Tailed Beast Bomb) pointed at his face.
…
He thought for a while, then gave his orders. "Black Zetsu, go scout the locations of the jinchūriki, and make sure you also look for Gedō Mazō's severed leg. That leg should be with Jiraiya. Once we have the precise locations, we can line up our shots for another precision strike."
Black Zetsu nodded quickly. "I've already picked up a few things. Right now, the Allied Forces are deployed along the southern coastline of the Land of Lightning. The One-Tails jinchūriki, Gaara, is currently the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, and he's usually at the main headquarters in the rear. The other jinchūriki may be even further behind, but I can't be certain. From intel I overheard some time ago, the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails and Seven-Tails seem to be at Mount Myōboku."
"What? Mount Myōboku?!"
Madara frowned so hard he could have crushed a fly between his brows.
He did not know much about the Three Great Sage Regions, only that they were extremely mysterious locations, and he had no idea where they were.
If two jinchūriki had really escaped to Mount Myōboku, they would be very hard to find. The only way would be to capture Jiraiya, steal the contract scroll for Mount Myōboku, and use the summoning contract to find a path there. That whole chain of moves would be extremely troublesome. Things were proving far more complicated than he had thought.
In reality, Black Zetsu did not yet know that Naruto and Fū had already returned.
Ever since the Five Great Villages had decided to form the Allied Shinobi Forces, Black Zetsu's primary surveillance had been focused on the Land of Lightning. He had paid little attention to other villages.
Naruto and Fū had caused little commotion upon their return, and Natsuki had immediately used the Flying Thunder God to take them away—straight to the giant turtle. The intel Black Zetsu had overheard by chance was already out of date.
(End of Chapter)
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