Chapter 576: Obito's End?
In an instant, space seemed to freeze.
Konan's heart almost skipped a beat!
Through the reflection on the lake's surface, she saw the bloodstained figure standing behind her—
Obito!
How... could he still be alive?
Splash!
The smooth water surface suddenly shook violently, tearing the reflection into twisted fragments.
The woman rolled forward almost subconsciously. Behind her, a sharp blade thrust out close to her spine, slicing a huge gash on her tattered cloak. Her skin was torn, and her flesh gaped open as blood immediately spurted out.
The wound... was shallow.
"Tsk... she dodged it."
Obito waved the long sword in his hand in dissatisfaction, looking at the woman who had miserably dodged this strike.
He was covered in blood and riddled with scars. One arm was missing, and the mask on his head was half-shattered, revealing half of a ferocious face. The tomoe in his Sharingan spun tiredly and sluggishly.
In terms of being in a miserable state, Obito was obviously much worse off than Konan. However, he still had some chakra remaining, and his momentum at this moment was much stronger than that of the slightly dazed and surprised woman.
"But, it doesn't matter. You can't even use the Dance of the Shikigami anymore..." Obito licked the bloodstain at the corner of his mouth, revealing a chilling smile. "You can't escape, Konan!"
It was indeed so.
After unleashing that ultimate move, Konan had exhausted all her chakra. Her entire body was empty, without a single trace of chakra left. At this moment, she couldn't even stand steadily.
But the woman's eyes remained firm and sharp, showing not the slightest hint of despair and frustration—this made Obito feel quite displeased.
Having fought to this extent, is she still not in despair? Is she still unwilling to obediently surrender? Damn woman!
Obito frowned, the smile disappearing from his face. He snorted coldly, tightened his grip on the long sword in his hand, and charged towards Konan. Unexpectedly, the latter actually mustered her last bit of strength, condensed a paper sword in her hand, and charged towards him as well!
"Go to hell, Madara!"
Wanting to mutually destruct?
Indeed, Obito no longer had the strength to use Kamui... But, this level of dying struggle could not kill him!
A cold sneer curled up at the corner of the man's mouth. His three-tomoe Sharingan clearly judged the woman's powerless counterattack route. Then, his body forcibly twisted, narrowly avoiding the paper sword. The cold gleam of the long sword folded, and once again thrust fiercely towards the woman's body!
"The one who deserves to die is you!"
The man growled in a low voice!
The moment the long sword was about to pierce the woman's skin, in the instant Obito thought he had achieved victory, Konan smiled.
In the instant she should have been in despair, the woman revealed a bizarre smile!
"Shinra Tensei!"
Chakra erupted without warning. A familiar figure abruptly appeared to the side. With a wave of a hand, an unmatched power landed on Obito!
"Naga... Nagato?"
Time seemed to freeze. The ferocity on Obito's face instantly turned into shock and bewilderment.
Nagato... wasn't it said that he died?
Konan, deceived me?
In the moment between life and death, Obito finally realized that Konan and Nagato had laid out a set of traps for him... But, the key was, why did they suddenly stop trusting him and choose to break away?
He would never hear the answer.
Bang!
Shinra Tensei directly bombarded Obito's body, which lacked chakra protection. The violent power seeped from his epidermis into his abdominal cavity. His fragile internal organs were instantly twisted and ravaged by the giant force, turning into a mass of mashed meat. The expression of doubt froze on the man's face, and then his figure flew backward like a broken rag doll!
Obito's eyes widened as he landed on the ground like a piece of tattered cloth.
He was dead.
"He is dead!"
Konan propped her hands on her knees, standing there panting heavily. Looking at the body that had lost its breath of life, she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Yes, he's dead."
Nagato propelled his wheelchair out from his hiding place. He looked coldly at Obito falling from the air before retracting his arm.
"Next—" He abruptly turned his head, looking at the empty ground on the other side.
"Let me assist you in finishing up the rest of the matters," Zetsu popped his head out from the ground and smiled obsequiously. "New... Lord Leader."
Nagato's indifferent and cold Rinnegan looked at Zetsu, his gaze lingering for a long time.
"New, leader?" The corner of his mouth curled up as he said meaningfully.
"Of course. Since 'Madara Uchiha' has already been killed by you..." Zetsu chuckled awkwardly. "From now on, you two are the true leaders of Akatsuki! Naturally, you will also inherit everything of Akatsuki..."
"Everything?" Konan limped over, looking at him with an unkind expression. "On what basis should we trust you?"
How could such a sneaky and suspicious person, who immediately fawned over a new master just after the old master died, be worthy of trust?
However, Zetsu merely bowed his body humbly: "I myself do not have any powerful strength, and can only exist by attaching myself to the strong... This is the meaning of my existence. Therefore, you two do not need to trust me. Just treat me as a tool and feel free to use me!"
"Or, you two can also just kill me directly!"
His nape was exposed defenselessly in front of the two.
Konan and Nagato exchanged a glance.
After a long silence, Nagato finally nodded.
"You will return to the base with us first..." He spoke indifferently. "Gather the remaining members, and let's seal the Three-Tails first."
"Do you want to dig out 'Madara's' heart to compensate Kakuzu?" Zetsu suggested. "In the previous operation, he lost almost all his hearts and combat capability."
"No need!" Konan snorted in dissatisfaction. "He and Sasori, the two of them, were actually beaten to the point of one dead and one injured by those two brats, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki. I haven't even said anything about punishing that trash yet!"
Nagato, however, looked at Zetsu with a playful expression.
Having just recognized a new master, he couldn't wait to present the old master's corpse as a gift?
Is your loyalty that cheap? Or... have you never offered your loyalty to begin with?
"Obito's heart has already been completely shattered by me. It has no more value to be utilized." The man shook his head, rejecting Zetsu's proposal. "Dig a hole and bury him. After all, he also contributed to 'Akatsuki' in the past..."
"As for Kakuzu, forget about the punishment... Right now, 'Akatsuki's' combat power is unprecedentedly weak, and the Tailed Beast collection plan has not yet been completed. We must cherish our existing forces!"
"Let's go, Konan, Zetsu!"
...
A moment later, in this completely empty place.
White Zetsu suddenly drilled out from the ground and walked towards the corpse of 'Madara Uchiha'.
"Oh my, what a tragic death," he chuckled while reaching out to touch the mask on Obito's face. "The internal organs have all been completely shattered!"
The corpse, which should have been completely motionless, suddenly reached out a hand and tightly gripped White Zetsu's wrist!
Obito, who was clearly as dead as one could be, suddenly sat up and resumed breathing!
"Let go, let me do it..."
His voice was hoarse. While speaking, he took off his mask.
Beneath the mask, the pupil of his other eye was actually grayish-white, like turbid lime. Upon seeing the light, it closed tightly, never to be opened again!
"This is the second eye."
Obito reached his hand to his eye socket and forcibly dug out the ruined Sharingan.
He stood up and casually tossed the eyeball in his hand onto the ground. With a light twist of his toe, the perfectly round eyeball was instantly crushed into greasy meat dregs.
White Zetsu continued to smile indifferently, handing over a glass bottle containing a Sharingan: "We reminded you before, Konan might have a conspiracy..."
"Hmph!"
Obito looked coldly in the direction where Nagato and the others had left, letting out a muffled snort.
"That damn woman actually set up such a trap..." he gritted his teeth and said. "Causing me to use Izanagi one more time..."
"If we hadn't prepared a spare Sharingan for you in advance, the one that would be blind right now would probably be your own Sharingan!" Zetsu added.
Obito kept a cold face and didn't speak.
He coughed a few times, and blood actually spilled from the corner of his mouth. The moment he sensed Nagato's chakra earlier, Obito had unhesitatingly activated Izanagi. However, he was still a thousandth of a second too late.
His internal organs were ultimately still injured.
Obito should rejoice. If he had been even half a beat slower and let the power of Shinra Tensei seep in a fraction more, then perhaps even Izanagi wouldn't have been able to save his life!
"Let's temporarily move from the light into the dark," Obito pondered, muttering to himself. "I'll let you be active for a while. By the end, absolutely everything will ultimately be mine!"
"Let's go, we'll leave this place first."
As he spoke, the two merged into the dirt, their figures disappearing.
The early morning sun was already half-hanging in the sky by this time. The sunlight was warm and brilliant, but the wind was bone-chillingly cold.
On the messy shores of Mirror Lake, only a shocking pool of blood remained, recording everything that had happened here.