Return to Amegakure

Seeing Nagato agree to enter his dimension, Obito visibly breathed a sigh of relief, but Black Zetsu's eyes narrowed.

This insidious fellow was the one Nagato was most wary of.

No one knew what this thing, Black Zetsu, actually was. It spoke in incoherent ramblings, as if it were mentally deranged. One moment it claimed to be the consciousness separated from Kaguya, the next it claimed to be Kaguya's child. In short, it could be considered the greatest mastermind behind the scenes in this world, and the existence Nagato found most troublesome.

If he could, Nagato would have liked to kill it as soon as possible, but unfortunately, there was no known way to eliminate it in this world.

Sealing jutsu were useless; like Kaguya, Black Zetsu likely possessed an immortal body. Even the highest-level sealing jutsu would gradually weaken over time, and being broken out of was only a matter of time. Moreover, the most critical point was that no one could be certain how many Black Zetsus existed in this world.

One couldn't simply conclude that there was only one Black Zetsu just because they had only seen one, could they?

"Konan, let's go. We're heading back to Amegakure first." Nagato shook his head, not intending to waste his energy on the clingy, plaster-like Black Zetsu. After dispelling the Summoning Jutsu for the Lizard and Cerberus, he controlled the Six Paths of Pain to walk toward Obito.

At such a close distance, even without Black Receivers on his body, Nagato could still manage to control the Pains, though these Pains would no longer be able to use the abilities of the Rinnegan.

"Nagato, are you planning to leave?" The voice of Sage Katsuyu sounded in his mind. "What about your training?"

"Don't worry, I can already perceive the Natural Energy of the outside world now; the subsequent training for Senjutsu can be carried out anywhere. If you're worried about Tsunade, you can let a clone leave with me."

"Hmph, that was my plan all along."

"Is that so? Why don't you just join the Akatsuki as well? It won't be long before the world falls into chaos. All the ambitious schemers will crawl out from the woodwork. You can feel it too, right? The Otsutsuki clan is about to stir up trouble again. Coming to Amegakure and staying with me is safer for you!" Because of the Akatsuki's current manpower shortage, Nagato felt like he was breaking his heart over it. If he could lure the main body of Sage Katsuyu to Amegakure, the picture would be too beautiful to imagine.

"The world falling into chaos has nothing to do with me," Sage Katsuyu replied indifferently. "I can split into billions of clones; no one can do anything to me."

Nagato: "..."

Helplessly closing his eyes, dense black lines hung down from his head.

He suddenly remembered that this bug had stubbornly counted all 600 billion of Konan's Explosive Tags earlier.

Shaking his head in resignation, he felt this bug was truly ruthless; its skill points were likely all invested in survival. After learning the Senjutsu of Shikkotsu Forest, Nagato was very clear that there was probably no one in this world who could do anything to Sage Katsuyu; its survival ability was simply too strong.

Having nothing more to say about this, Nagato waved his hand and allowed Obito to suck him and the Pains into the dimension, instructing Obito as he left: "Don't forget those two prisoners."

Just after he finished speaking, Nagato, along with Sage Katsuyu on his shoulder and the Pains, vanished from the spot. Immediately after, Konan, as well as Tsunade and Hinata, were sucked into the dimension by Obito one after another. Once Obito sucked himself into the dimension, only Zetsu remained at the scene.

The area was empty, and even the clones of Sage Katsuyu had disappeared.

"Uh? Did they forget something?" White Zetsu looked left and right, and upon discovering that he was indeed the only "person" left in the green mist, he couldn't help but widen his eyes.

"Let's just walk back ourselves..." Black Zetsu's voice was also somewhat wistful, feeling completely ignored.

The expression on White Zetsu's face turned to shock; he fully understood the current situation.

"I haven't gotten on board yet! I haven't gotten on board yet!" He began to shout at the air, as if trying to call Obito out to give him a ride.

"Shut up, let's go!" After scolding White Zetsu, Black Zetsu closed his eyes. The two closed their aloe vera leaves and burrowed back into the ground, activating the Mayfly Technique.

It was unclear whether Obito had intentionally left Zetsu behind, but in any case, by the time Obito used Kamui to begin his first spatial transfer, Nagato had already noticed that the yin-yang man was missing from the group.

However... he didn't say anything. Wasn't having one less yin-yang man a very good thing? Everyone seemed to tacitly accept this status quo, and no one mentioned that Zetsu had been left behind.

"Is this an alternate dimension?" Just after entering this space, which was pitch black in every direction with only a white cube underfoot, the Sage Katsuyu on Nagato's shoulder spoke up, appearing somewhat surprised. Why was this alternate dimension so similar to Nagato's?

Tsunade also opened her right eye. Because her mouth was sealed, she couldn't speak and could only express her shock with her eyes.

"It's starting; we have to make a few trips to get back to Amegakure," Obito said.

Whether he was intentionally hiding his strength or not, it took Obito several spatial transfers to bring the group back to Amegakure. It was still drizzling with continuous rain here.

For Nagato, from the departure to capture the Nine Tails in Konoha to this return to Amegakure, the journey felt like a lifetime ago. But in reality, from a normal timeline perspective, only a few days had passed since he left Amegakure.

Everything remained exactly as it was when he left; Amegakure didn't seem to have changed at all.

Of course, that was on the condition that he hadn't died; otherwise, Obito would have had his tail held high in the air by now.

"Summoning Jutsu."

After returning to Amegakure, Nagato didn't say a word as he led the group to the spacious underground base. The first thing he did was summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

It looked like a tortured sinner. The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path opened its seven strange eyes and its mouth, which had its lips shaved away, as it crawled out from beneath the ground.

With a rumbling sound, it revealed everything from the chest up.

Its hands, locked by iron chains, were held in front of its chest, as if it were staring at its own palms with its nine strange eyes. The ten fingers of its hands were spread wide, palms facing the sky. It also looked as if it were grimacing at the heavens to express something, which, combined with its face that seemed to have been stripped of its surface to reveal the muscles, and its large mouth with no lips and exposed gums, appeared exceptionally eerie and terrifying.

When such a massive thing suddenly appeared, the shock and fear it brought to others were still very intense.

Especially the vast, indescribable aura of misery and pain radiating from its enormous upper body, which made everyone involuntarily narrow their eyes, their hearts heavy.

The people from Konoha, in particular, widened their eyes, their faces showing expressions of fear and shock. Even the old monster Sage Katsuyu let out an exclamation: "To think it's this thing."

Judging by its tone, it seemed to know the origin of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

Actually, strictly speaking, this was also the "first time" Nagato had seen the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path with his own eyes. How should he put it? His first feeling was disgust and discomfort, but he could also deeply perceive the power of this thing.

He felt that if he had brought the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path with him when he went to Konoha, the Pains probably wouldn't have even been able to find a reason for their failure. If this thing were operated well, absorbing the Nine Tails would probably be as easy as slurping noodles. He didn't believe that in its current state, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path wouldn't be able to withstand the Chakra of half a Nine Tails.

"There is indeed no Eight Tails Chakra inside."

Nagato closed his eyes, sensing the situation inside the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. In his perception, the statue was still just a lifeless container; although it possessed powerful life force, this life force was dead, existing only in the form of energy.

The seven Tailed Beasts within its body showed no signs of merging at all. But even so, the life fluctuations on the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path were already terrifying, giving people a very eerie feeling, as if it were a dead object that could come back to life at any moment.