"Nagato! Do you really think you've got me cornered?"
After a brief moment of shock, Obito quickly collected himself, fixing a cold gaze on Nagato as he slowly spoke.
A cryptic smile tugged at the corners of Nagato's mouth. "I can use all the abilities of the Rinnegan, and I even possess eight tailed beasts. How... exactly do you plan to win?"
A sense of trouble washed over Obito internally.
Nagato awakening the Uzumaki Clan's talent, sealing eight tailed beasts, and pulling off a sealing array that cut off space-time ninjutsu to escape—none of these things truly made Obito feel like things were slipping out of his control.
What genuinely caused panic to well up in the hearts of Obito and Black Zetsu was the Rinnegan.
As long as the Rinnegan remained in Nagato's eye sockets, no matter how powerful Nagato grew, he would always remain their chess piece.
It was only at this very moment, when the Rinnegan vanished from Nagato's eye sockets, that things changed.
Nagato officially declared his freedom from the control of Obito and Black Zetsu.
The control method established by Madara Uchiha was hidden within the Rinnegan itself. As long as Black Zetsu triggered the dormant countermeasure on the Rinnegan, no matter how strong Nagato was, he would instantly revert to a mere chess piece.
A chess piece whose life and death rested entirely in Black Zetsu's hands.
Obito swept his gaze across the surrounding environment. This plain outside the Rain Village had originally been covered in lush vegetation with slippery, muddy ground. After the map-clearing baptism by Nagato and Hashirama, the landscape had undergone a heaven-and-earth transformation.
The ground now lacked rainwater and thick mud, replaced entirely by a bare, massive basin.
Nagato stood at the center of the basin, with the Chibaku Tensei