A special thank you to my patrons:
—Jacob Mooe, kevin Williams, ZaberZ, Jose Sierra, Salim, Acedia, kurtis newman, Fredrik Dahlman, Nithin Samuel, Little Sand, Dradin Hebrhal, Andrew Bryant, Luca August, Kyle.S406, Alin Kadas, Sarah Ann Thomas, sediaz.
You can read 30 chapters ahead of everyone on p@treon.
P@TREON - [email protected]/lessaservantofcosmos
(just replace the "@" with "a")
ps: Please support me on P@treon. I can really use your help!
-------------------------------------------------------------
This was unavoidable.
However, even after being cleaved in two, the Asura Path still raised its hand, aiming at Kagaya.
Strange Arm Rocket!
Its entire fist detached from the arm, slamming heavily into the Susano'o. However, it caused no damage whatsoever.
Seeing this, the Asura Path spoke calmly. "I see. Extremely high defensive capability, is it?"
After saying this, the Asura Path's two severed halves fell to the ground, unable to rise again.
Throughout, the Asura Path remained calm. Or rather, any Path of Pain faced its own demise with calmness—no frustration, no fear.
Because they were already "dead."
Kagaya no longer paid attention to the Asura Path, instead looking at the Animal Path not far away. "You're not attacking?"
Currently, the Animal Path was still male, not the female Konan would later use (Flower).
Hearing Kagaya's words, the Animal Path shook its head. "Victory is impossible. The reason I remained here wasn't to join the Asura Path in defeating you, but to delay you. Killing the Asura Path also takes time, which, in another sense, also delays time. So why should I intervene? Moreover, your speed is too fast; I couldn't assist even if I wanted."
Kagaya was somewhat surprised. "You're quite forthright, directly revealing your intentions. Are you so certain I cannot catch up to you?"
The Animal Path gave an eerie smile. The next second, its eyes closed, and the entire body lost all strength, collapsing to the ground.
This...
Kagaya was momentarily stunned, then quickly realized.
It could no longer receive chakra from Nagato, so this Path could no longer function.
Why couldn't it receive Nagato's chakra? Simple: the distance between Nagato and the Animal Path had exceeded Nagato's limit for transmitting chakra.
This meant Nagato had already moved far from this location, truly escaped. Kagaya would have a hard time catching up now.
Kagaya's expression darkened. "How could it be so fast?"
He hadn't rushed to pursue the Deva Path earlier because Kagaya believed the Deva Path couldn't move that quickly; even a slight delay wouldn't matter.
But now it seemed the Deva Path had not only returned to Nagato's side, but Nagato had also moved far away from here!
Kagaya didn't believe the Deva Path could move that fast. Although Kagaya didn't know exactly how far Nagato was, it couldn't be too close; otherwise, he'd be easily found. So, Nagato was certainly a considerable distance away.
From the time Kagaya sent the Deva Path flying until now, perhaps only about a minute had passed.
In one minute, the Deva Path not only returned to Nagato but also helped Nagato escape far from here?
If the Deva Path were Minato, then Kagaya would believe it.
But the Deva Path wasn't Minato. So, this definitely wasn't the Deva Path's doing. Likely, someone else had intervened!
Regarding rapid movement abilities, in Kagaya's memory, within the current shinobi world, aside from himself, there were the Raikage and the four from Konoha capable of using "Flying Thunder God" (whose names Kagaya couldn't clearly recall).
The Raikage wouldn't help the Deva Path. The four from Konoha wouldn't help the Deva Path either, especially since their Hokage had nearly been killed.
After thinking for a while, Kagaya could only think of one other person—Obito.
The Kamui ability was truly broken. Not only could it make the user "intangible," but it could also absorb the user into the Kamui dimension and release them elsewhere.
Theoretically, Kamui was a Flying Thunder God that didn't require markers. However, Kamui had significant startup and ending lag, whereas Flying Thunder God had almost none.
"Obito..."
Muttering softly, Kagaya raised his head. He glanced at Kakuzu and Sasori, still fighting Kakashi and the others in the distance. After a moment of silence, he didn't go to assist. Instead, he took Karin and Haku, heading in the direction Karin sensed the Deva Path had fled.
Now that Jiraiya had disengaged, if Jiraiya plus Kakashi and Guy couldn't drive off Kakuzu and Sasori, they might as well just go dash their heads against a wall.
Most importantly, Kagaya had grown weary of dealing with Kakuzu and Sasori. Their strengths were on different levels; the gap was too vast. Kagaya had lost the desire to fight Sasori and Kakuzu. Kagaya's strength would only grow stronger. As for Sasori's puppet techniques and Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear, having reached their current level, their paths had essentially reached their end; further advancement was unlikely. Their roads had nearly reached their limits.
Need one mention that, in the original story, Kakuzu lived over ninety years, yet his strength remained stuck at the peak Kage-level, never entering the "Super Kage" tier throughout his life? Truly, in the Naruto world, to reach Kage-level, most paths could get you there. But to enter the "Super Kage" tier, you more or less had to have some connection to Kaguya's lineage.
In the Naruto world, below Super Kage, it was about talent and effort. Above Super Kage, it was about bloodline.
Bloodline trumped everything; that was no joke.
Look at Asura and Indra. Even after countless years, once they reincarnated, they could casually reach Super Kage. People like Kakuzu, exhausting their entire lives, could hardly catch a glimpse of the Super Kage landscape.
Throughout shinobi history, those who entered the Super Kage tier without any relation to Kaguya's lineage seemed to be only Minato in his lifetime.
But that was an exception, not worth discussing. One person being a genius didn't mean everyone in the world was a genius.
Therefore, Kagaya truly didn't care about Kakuzu and Sasori. Their roads had reached the end.
As a descendant of Indra, with the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, Kagaya had only just reached the halfway point of his journey.
"Not leaving?"
At the northernmost part of the Land of Fire, near the border, Obito and Nagato appeared.
Facing Nagato's question, Obito simply replied, "Waiting for him to come."
Nagato narrowed his eyes slightly. He naturally knew Obito's "him" referred to whom. But they had just escaped that person's pursuit. Now they were waiting for him to come? What was the reasoning?
Obito saw through Nagato's confusion. Glancing at Nagato, he explained, "He just fought your Six Paths of Pain. If we had confronted him then, he likely would have attacked immediately. So we first put some distance, giving him some time, so when he faces us, he won't attack on sight."
Nagato understood the implication in Obito's words. "You have business with him?"
Obito nodded. "Yes. Previously, I told you to prepare to deal with him. But now it seems he is indeed too strong, not suitable to be made an enemy."
"Cough, cough."
Nagato suddenly coughed twice. He was already extremely frail; his body deteriorated daily. Even Nagato himself knew he absolutely wouldn't live long. Coughing was practically routine.
"Next time we meet, with preparation, I believe we can fight."
Obito smiled. Although Nagato said he could fight with preparation, Obito also knew that Kagaya definitely hadn't gone all out either. If Nagato and Kagaya fought next time, it would undoubtedly be a major battle. By then, even if Nagato won, he wouldn't be in good shape. Given Nagato's physical condition, Obito couldn't expect Nagato to last long against Kagaya.
"Let's try first. If we can avoid hostility, we should."
Obito's principle remained unchanged. Although he himself turned to darkness due to his teammate's (Rin's) death, post-darkness Obito cared little for most people's lives. To reiterate, in his view, the deaths of Kagaya's two teammates—dead was dead. No need for major conflict over two dead people.
After all, everything in this world was false. Only the world of Infinite Tsukuyomi was real. People dying in this world—once Infinite Tsukuyomi was activated, Obito would revive them all, including Minato, Kushina, Rin...
That world was the true world, the world Obito desired, the ideal world.
In short, Obito truly didn't care about the people of this world. To put it bluntly, Obito didn't even see the people of this world as human.