In the wilderness of the Land of Fire, the massive skeleton of a beast marked the entrao an underground ir.

  This was one of Akatsuki's hideouts. The Gedo Statue sat motionless on an altar, its hands bound by heavy s.

  The masked Obito sat on a stone chair in front of the statue. Through the single hole in his e mask, his Sharingan glowed faintly, its dim light flickering in rhythm with the unsteady fmes of the torches that illumihe cavern.

  Bck Zetsu and White Zetsu had brought three shog pieces of news, leaving the calg man in prolonged silence.

  Nagato, renowned for his invincibility as Pain, had beeed.

  Nagato had betrayed him, using the *Rinh Jutsu* to revive the dead of Konoha.

  And Naruto appeared to have betrayed Konoha, taking Nagato's body with him.

  From beh the mask, Obito's voice emerged, low and steady. "Nagato's betrayal was ued, but Naruto's as... they are even more surprising."

  White Zetsu asked, "What should we do now?"

  Obito turned his head slightly. "Did you overhear Naruto's versation with Konan?"

  White Zetsu replied, "No, that kid seural energy. If I got too close, I’d be in danger."

  Obito turned his gaze back. "The worst-case sario is that Naruto has set his sights on the Rinnegan..."

  "Additionally, acc to intelligeercepted by Akatsuki, the Raikage has called for a Five Kage Summit. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss Sasuke's punishment."

  "I had inally po use this opportunity to decre war on the Five Great Nations and reveal the Moon's Eye Pn to the world..."

  As he spoke, Obito ched his hand tightly on his knee. "But our ability to decre war depends on the power of the seven Tailed Beasts we’ve sealed in the Gedo Statue up to now."

  "And to wield that power, the Rinnegan is indispensable!"

  White Zetsu excimed, "Then this is bad! If Naruto has the Rinnegan, he could summoatue away at any moment and turn its painst us!"

  Obito replied, "o panic just yet. The Rinnegan's ocur power isn’t so easily mastered. It took Nagato years to summoatue successfully..."

  Though his words were calm, Obito’s mind was rag: Naruto possesses an Uzumaki physique parable to Nagato's. If he’s determined, it’s only a matter of time before he succeeds. Whether he defeated Pain or suddenly revealed his ambitions, I o loreat him as a mere child...

  "To be safe, I’ll take ara precaution."

  Obito slowly rose to his feet aended his hand toward the Gedo Statue.

  Whoosh!

  A vortex of Kamui spiraled out from his right eye, engulfing the eatue.

  Snap!

  The vortex closed, and the statue vanished without a trace.

  Obito said, "This will elimihe immediate risk."

  White Zetsu cheered, "As expected of you! Moving such a massive statue in an instant!"

  Bck Zetsu spoke in a low voice, "What’s your move?"

  Obito pondered aloud, "Deploy all the White Zetsu to search for Uzumaki Naruto's whereabouts. He should still be in the Land of Fire. Report to me immediately if you find any leads. We must recim the Rinnegan before things spiral out of trol."

  White Zetsu replied, "Uood!"

  Obito then turo Kisame Hoshigaki, who had been silently standing nearby.

  Not long ago, after the clusion of the battle between Itachi and Sasuke, Obito had revealed his true identity to Kisame. Among the members of Akatsuki, Kisame was the orusted most, apart from White Zetsu.

  "Kisame... I’m entrusting the Eight-Tails to you."

  "Uood."

  Obito’s gaze grew deep and ptive. "We ’t let a small setback throw us off course. The decration of war against the Five Great Nations will proceed as pnned. As for a certain pair of eyes, let’s see how the Five Kage help nurture them. Hmph, let’s pay a visit to our defeated warrior. After all, the matter of the Eight-Tails o be addressed, doesn’t it, Sasuke?"

  ---

  In the Land of Fire, Team Taka was resting in a forest as they prepared to head toward Konoha.

  Before Pain’s assault on Konoha, Sasuke and his team had attacked the Valley of Clouds and Lightning, retrieving only a tentacle from the Eight-Tails. Afterward, Team Taka had severed ties with Akatsuki a out on their mission to seek revenge against Konoha.

  Jūgo was alone by the river, filling a tainer with water. Birds chirped softly on his shoulder, and a gentle smile graced his lips.

  "Chirp, chirp, chirp...!"

  Suddenly, the birds scattered in arm!

  Jūgo turoward the forest behind him, only to see a blond-haired boy with a bandage over his left eye approag.

  "Hmm? It’s you..." Jūgnized Naruto immediately.

  During Konoha’s rge-scale search for Sasuke before the battle between the Uchiha brothers, one of Naruto’s shadow es had entered Team Taka, leaving a sting impression on Jūgo.

  To Naruto, who had returned from the future, Jūgo was also a familiar face.

  With a smile, Naruto greeted him, "It’s been a while, Jūgo. You really do have a way with animals."

  "They’re alright," Jūgo replied curtly. "Are you here to see Sasuke?"

  Naruto’s expression turned enigmatio, I’m here for you—or more precisely, for someone I only meet through you."

  Jūgo’s gaze darkened. "That’s not going to happen..."

  Whoosh! Whoosh!

  Suddenly, two shadow es lunged from the side, each wielding a Rasengan!

  Jūgo was shocked. "Shadow es... When did he—?!"

  Boom!!!

  The explosion forced Jūgo to retreat, skimming across the water’s surface before stopping in the middle of the river. His shoulders bore deep, cave wounds where they had been nearly severed.

  "He has Sage powers... strohan mine!"

  Naruto stepped onto the water, his demeanor calm and posed. "These minor injuries won’t be a problem for you. If you e with me willingly, I won’t have to get rough."

  Jūgo’s mind raced. Sasuke is ten kilometers away. If I unleash my Cursed Seal Sage Mode, Karin’s sensory abilities should pick up ouation here...

  Zzzzzz!!

  Cursed Seal energy coursed through Jūgo’s body.

  Naruto’s eyes narrowed. In an instant, he used a Body Flicker Teique rivaling Shisui’s speed to appear directly in front of Jūgo, pressing his hand against his chest.

  In his previous life, after Sasuke’s Rinnegan was destroyed, he had lost the venience of spatial manipution. Forced to seek alternatives, Naruto had specifically learhe Flying Raijin Jutsu!

  Now, having traveled ba time, the teiques engraved into his soul were naturally avaible to him.

  As for the spatial markers required for the Flying Raijin...

  "My es left the marker during the initial attack."

  Thud! Naruto’s left hand pressed firmly against Jūgo’s chest.

  Gurgle, gurgle...

  The energy of Jūgo’s Cursed Seal flowed tinuously into Naruto’s palm!

  Jūgo gasped, "You’re abs my chakra?!"

  As the Cursed Seal energy drained away, Jūgo’s body rapidly shrank until he reverted to a childlike form and colpsed unscious.

  "What a fasating body... No wonder Sasuke chose you."

  Naruto sighed, lifting Jūgo onto his shoulder aurning to the riverbank.

  Whoosh!

  Konan materialized from a flurry of paper. "That went more smoothly than I expected."

  "He’s actually quite strong," Naruto admitted. "To avoid plications, I had to strike first. If Sasuke and the others had arrived, the oute would’ve been hard to predict."

  His years in a post-apocalyptic world had instilled in Naruto araordinary sense of caution. He never acted without absolute certainty, and even when fident, he erred on the side of caution.

  Naruto gently id Jūgo down, removing the boy’s wet clothes and c him with Naruto’s own dry cloak to keep him warm.

  Konan asked, "You’re not taking him with us?"

  Naruto g the Cursed Seal mark on his left palm. "I’ve already absorbed enough of his Sage energy. There’s him along."

  Konan stared deeply at the bandage c Naruto’s left eye, silently marveling: Even with his optierves not fully ected, he’s already capable of using the Rinnegan’s basic powers. Perhaps he’s even more suited to these eyes than Nagato was...

  Naruto donned Jūgo’s damp bck cloak, the fabric ging to him as he turned, his own cloak billowing dramatically. "Let’s go. On to the destination..."