This period was undoubtedly the most difficult time for the Akatsuki organization.
First, they spent five days and nights sealing the Tailed Beasts, and after only a brief rest, they continued for another nine days and nights using their thought projections.
Over the past half-month, the members of Akatsuki had barely caught their breath.
They were constantly worried that the Five Great Shinobi Villages might attack at any moment, so they had no time to rest during the sealing of the final Five-Tails and Seven-Tails.
In the past, sealing a single Tailed Beast for three days and nights was already exhausting.
After losing members, the five days and nights required to seal a Tailed Beast became even more grueling.
Now, it was an uninterrupted nine days and nights...
If it weren't for the fact that the Akatsuki members were all S-rank missing-nin, Kage-level shinobi with vast chakra reserves even by the standards of the Five Great Villages, and their true bodies were safely hidden in the underground base with Konan providing soldier pills to replenish their stamina and chakra, they would never have been able to endure for so long.
Moreover, while sealing the Tailed Beasts, they also had to control their incarnation clones to battle the elite shinobi of the Five Great Villages.
Although this helped pass the time, it was also mentally draining, much like those who played video games for extended periods in Yagyu's previous life—eventually, they would feel utterly exhausted.
Now, after enduring layer upon layer of fatigue, they were finally free. Deidara, the youngest member, felt like a prisoner released after serving his sentence, desperate to get some sleep.
"You've all worked hard. Go and rest now," Nagato's thought projection spoke in a gentle and human tone, quite different from the authoritative voice of the Deva Path, Pain.
Seeing how exhausted everyone was, Nagato first expressed his gratitude, then confidently declared, "Just focus on resting. I'll handle the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails from here."
At this moment, Nagato was like Sasuke Uchiha in the original story after his sudden power boost.
The sky had cleared, the rain had stopped, and he was ready to take on the world!
But it wasn't unreasonable for Nagato to feel this way.
Originally, he had planned to seal the Seven-Tails, then withdraw with the Akatsuki members. Once the Five Great Villages failed to find them and were forced to disband, he would lead Akatsuki in a surprise attack on the Cloud Village to capture the Eight-Tails. Finally, he would look for an opportunity to seize the Nine-Tails and attempt to become the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki by implanting the Gedo Statue into his body.
If he could become the Jinchūriki of the Gedo Statue, he would possess the chakra of all nine Tailed Beasts, and his legs might even be restored.
At his peak, with infinite chakra, he would undoubtedly become the new Sage of the Six Paths.
By then, neither Yagyu nor "Madara Uchiha" would be a match for him.
Bringing peace to the shinobi world would be as simple as demonstrating his power—or even just saying a word.
"Then we'll leave it to you, Leader," Deidara, unusually lacking in enthusiasm, yawned through his thought projection and said wearily, "I'm going to catch some sleep. I'll come support you after I wake up."
With that, Deidara's thought projection vanished instantly.
His true body, sitting cross-legged on a bed in a nearby room, immediately lay down and fell asleep.
"Since you're confident, Leader, I'll also take a break," Kisame Hoshigaki said, showing none of his usual demeanor and looking somewhat tired. "If you need me, just call for me."
"Thank you, Kisame," Nagato nodded.
Kisame didn't respond further, and his thought projection disappeared.
Thus, only Nagato, Konan, Black and White Zetsu, Hundred Faces, and Obito Uchiha remained on the fingers of the Gedo Statue.
Coincidentally, these five individuals were the only ones who knew the full truth.
Aside from Konan, the other four were the masterminds behind the scenes.
However, Nagato was at the bottom of the hierarchy, Obito Uchiha was second from the bottom, Black and White Zetsu were third, and Hundred Faces, Yagyu's special Wood Clone, was at the top.
Of course, in the eyes of Obito Uchiha and Black Zetsu, they were the ones at the top, and everyone else was merely a pawn in their game.
"Are you planning to take action personally?" Obito asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yes," Nagato nodded, brimming with confidence. "After sealing seven Tailed Beasts, the Gedo Statue has begun to awaken. Now that the Five Great Villages are fighting separately, and the Leaf's Wood Release user, the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, and Itachi's brother are all tied up by the former Hokage, this is the perfect opportunity to capture the Eight-Tails."
Nagato didn't voice his next thought.
After sealing the Seven-Tails, not only had the Gedo Statue begun to awaken, but his compatibility with it had also increased. Even if the Akatsuki members didn't act, he could easily seal the Tailed Beasts alone.
In fact, he could almost seal them instantly.
In truth, this change had started to occur after sealing the Five-Tails.
Right after sealing the Five-Tails, Nagato realized he had become the center of the sealing process. The time required for sealing, which had been extended due to the lack of members, was reduced from five days and nights to just three.
In fact, after sealing the Six-Tails, the sealing time could have been shortened even further, to less than two days.
But Nagato chose not to do so, using the time to rest and recover from the chakra exhaustion.
Now, Nagato wasn't the least bit tired. Instead, he was full of energy.
This was the source of his confidence.
Obito and Black Zetsu, of course, were unaware of this.
Seeing Nagato so confident, they had no faith in him.
After all, Nagato's previous track record was abysmal.
Even with the infinite chakra provided by the Gedo Statue and his physical abilities restored to their peak, he had still been nearly instantly defeated by Yagyu, who destroyed the Six Paths of Pain.
Even though Nagato had now sealed seven Tailed Beasts, without his legs, he stood no chance against Yagyu.
Even if his next target wasn't Yagyu but the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, there was still a problem.
Yagyu possessed the Flying Thunder God Technique. Who knew if among the thousands of shadow clones of the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, there were any carrying Yagyu's Flying Thunder God kunai?
If there were, Yagyu could leave the battlefield at any moment and head to the Cloud Village to provide support.
In that case, Nagato's true body and the Gedo Statue would inevitably encounter Yagyu.
If Nagato couldn't defeat Yagyu, the situation would turn dire.
Thinking of this, Black Zetsu couldn't help but curse inwardly.
However, the target of his curses wasn't the overly confident Nagato, but Orochimaru, who was still watching from the sidelines, waiting for who knows what.
That bastard still refused to summon Madara Uchiha.
Once Madara was reanimated, Black Zetsu didn't believe Orochimaru could control him.
Even if he could, Black Zetsu could sneak attack Orochimaru from the shadows.
By possessing Orochimaru's body, he could remove the restrictions on Madara.
After more than ten days of intense battle, the Five Great Villages and the samurai of the Land of Iron would be no match for Madara Uchiha, who was nearly at his full strength, with an immortal body and infinite chakra.
While Yagyu was exhausted, Madara could easily place a curse mark on Nagato with his strength. With Black Zetsu's assistance, Madara could quickly be fully revived.
Once Madara was revived and reclaimed the Rinnegan from Nagato, capturing the final Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails would be a trivial matter.
When Madara became the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki, the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan could begin.
Just thinking about this filled Black Zetsu with excitement.
But that bastard Orochimaru was far too cautious.
Moreover, the damn guy had found a way to detect White Zetsu's Hiding in Surface Technique, making it difficult for Black Zetsu to sneak attack and control him.
Originally, Black Zetsu had thought Orochimaru would be the easiest to manipulate, but the guy turned out to be as annoying as Hundred Faces. No wonder they were once peers.
Clearly, Orochimaru was waiting for the perfect moment.
Until that moment arrived, he wouldn't play his trump card, Madara Uchiha, choosing instead to watch until the very end.
After all, this war had nothing to do with him.
The more people died, the better it was for Orochimaru.
White Zetsu clones had already discovered that Orochimaru was secretly collecting tissue samples from the dead on the battlefield.
Some of the reanimated shinobi joining the battle were recently deceased ninja from the Five Great Villages.
Unfortunately, Orochimaru was too cunning.
After reanimating the dead, he didn't send them to his own battlefield but to others.
Thus, the Five Great Villages hadn't realized that the reanimated army they were facing was freshly made!
If this continued, Orochimaru might end up the ultimate winner, unwilling to reanimate Madara Uchiha at all.
This was why Black Zetsu was in such a foul mood.
Just when his opponent needed to play one more card for him to win with a royal flush, ending the thousand-year game and allowing him to rise from the shadows to become second only to his mother, the screen froze, and the opponent refused to make a move.
Thus, Black Zetsu felt as if he had eaten something vile.
Now, Nagato's inexplicable confidence only added to Black Zetsu's unease.
This was the final stage of the thousand-year game, the decisive moment.
A single misstep, a single unexpected event, could lead to total defeat.
And the key to victory lay in Nagato's Rinnegan.
Excluding the Ōtsutsuki clan from outer space, there were only two pairs of Rinnegan in the shinobi world.
The first pair belonged to Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, the Sage of the Six Paths.
The second pair was the result of Madara Uchiha's fusion of Indra and Asura's chakra.
To revive his mother, Black Zetsu needed the Ten-Tails to be revived, creating a Ten-Tails Jinchūriki to cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Once that was done, Black Zetsu could sneak attack the Jinchūriki, transfer his mother's will from his own body to the Jinchūriki's, and use their body as a sacrifice to revive his mother.
As the weakest of the three brothers, Black Zetsu didn't dare target Hagoromo's Rinnegan.
He was well aware of his eldest brother's immense power!
Thus, after Hagoromo's death, the first pair of Rinnegan had been lost.
To create the second pair, Black Zetsu had worked for a thousand years, observing countless reincarnations of Indra and Asura.
Now that he finally had the second pair, Black Zetsu cherished these eyes more than anyone.
Nagato, not the true owner of the Rinnegan, couldn't use its unique abilities even with his physical abilities restored to their peak and the infinite chakra provided by the Gedo Statue.
Aside from summoning the Gedo Statue, all the techniques Nagato used, such as the Six Paths Techniques and Yin-Yang Release, were taught to him by Obito Uchiha.
This was the difference between the Rinnegan and the Mangekyō Sharingan—only the true owner could unleash its full power.
Without the Rinnegan's unique abilities and lacking his legs, Nagato stood no chance against Yagyu, even with the partially awakened Gedo Statue.
Black Zetsu was certain of this.
But in his current position, he couldn't stop Nagato.
Obito, who knew too little, either didn't realize this or had his own agenda and chose not to intervene.
Thus, Black Zetsu decided to help Nagato once more.
This time, he wouldn't let Obito relay the message to Nagato, lest the man have his own ulterior motives.
Using Yin-Yang Release, Black Zetsu merged with White Zetsu and issued instructions to the other White Zetsu clones.
Soon, a White Zetsu clone appeared in the room where Nagato's true body was located.
"White Zetsu, what is it?" Nagato asked.
"Yes, Leader," the White Zetsu clone nodded and smiled. "Lord Madara sent me to help restore your legs."
Hearing this, Nagato's eyes lit up.
Previously, Obito's method had allowed him to freely use the Gedo Statue's power, granting him infinite chakra and restoring his physical abilities to their peak.
If not for his legs being completely crippled—something even the Gedo Statue couldn't fix—Nagato's strength would have been even greater.
He had thought that only by becoming the Gedo Statue's Jinchūriki could he hope to restore his legs. It turned out that "Madara" had the ability to heal him all along?
Thinking of this, Nagato grew even more wary of Obito.
Given the current situation, he hesitated and asked, "How long will it take to restore my legs?"
"Immediately," the White Zetsu clone replied confidently.
This answer made Nagato's eyes widen in surprise.
"Let's begin, Leader."
"...Then I'll trouble you."
Squelch—Crack!
The sound of a blade piercing flesh echoed, followed by a cracking noise.
Soon, a figure emerged from the darkness.
Long red hair, with bangs covering one eye, a face so handsome it seemed almost boyish, belying his age of over thirty.
Dressed in a black cloak with red clouds, his pale skin visible above his ninja sandals, his steps were steady and powerful.
His purple, ripple-patterned eyes radiated a terrifying power, capable of killing the weak with a single glance.
Nagato, with his legs restored and his physical abilities at their peak, had finally returned!
...
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